Nerdzul

Luke Landers Aka NightScale Power Level: 8/10 (150/150PP) Unspent Power Points: 0 Trade-Offs: Human form: None In Brief: Friendly neighborhood fire breathing monster. Bad powers, good people. Catchphrase: “I’m fire, I’m death… God now that I say it out loud it sounds lame” Theme: None for now Alternate Identity: Luke Landers, Nightscale Birthplace: Unknown Residence: A trailer park in Southside, Freedom City Base of Operations: Claremont Academy Occupation: Student (but much likely to take whatever odd job he finds) Affiliations: None for now Family: George Landers (Adoptive Father, 39 years old Dockworker), Johanna Bowers (Adoptive mother, 37 years old, Waitress), Gabriel Landers (younger brother, 11 years old) Description: Age: 16 (2004.15.08) Gender: Male Ethnicity: Caucasian (German). Height: 5'11'' Weight: 165 lbs Eyes: Green Hair: Blond (dyed black) Luke is a young man, in his late teen he has a lean athletic build, he is green eyed and has a playful smile almost permanently stuck to his lips. He tries to stay clean shaved (he consider the first few sprout of beard to be pretty ugly looking), but doesn't always find time for it. He dyes his naturally blond hair black, although he had sparks of his natural color show up here and there. Naturally pale, his skin has a tanned hue due to the time spent outside. He has a few tattoos, a black band on one arm, a tiger on his right shoulder and an abstract tribal that goes up from his right leg toward his back. He dresses casually and on the cheap side, clearly assembling his outfit thanks to bargain bins or the salvation army shops. Well worn sweatpants or jeans, sneakers that had seen better days, sleeveless t-shirts, tank tops or flannel shirts, faded old hoodies, with the logos of rock bands from ages ago. He wears no jewelry, with the exception of a simple leather strap around his neck and a fang necklace, he doesn't own a watch, he worn a stolen one for a while, but he had ditched it when he had his change of heart. When change shape Luke becomes a massive scaled monster, taking the semblance of a western dragon, like the ones you see in fantasy books, or old depictions of monster slaying saints and demigods. He has polished black scales, with golden hues, sharp claws and a collection of fearsome fangs and long series of golden crests that go from the back of his neck to his tail. His eyes lose their natural coloration and shift to a solid yellow-gold. He flies on bat-like wings, with all the grace that a beast of his size could muster (so none of it). He hasn't figured out his super-hero costume yet (but he definitely wants one), during his first few attempts he just did his best to hide his face and dress in black, matching the coloring of his scales. A bit of a show off, he is definitely gonna find a way to wear his Claremont uniform without the sleeves once he enrolls properly. History: Luke doesn't exactly know where he comes from. What he had managed to pierce together, after a few extremely awkward confrontation with his adoptive parents, Johanna and George, is that he was born from a dragon egg, stolen by a warlock, kept human by a spell that his mother helped maintain. For what purpose? He isn't sure, but by the way mom and dad evade the subject it must have been something nasty. They were his caretakers while he grew up. The couple however, young and still without children of their own, became fond of him and before their master could enact his plans they snatched Luke and ran away. "Assistants to an evil wizard" as previous work experience didn't exactly help them finding remunerating professions. Being in hiding didn't help either. To make end meets they both had to take a series of odd jobs, staying long hours away from their trailer. Still, they always did everything they could to find time to raise their son. A few years after their escape, the couple had a child of their own, Gabriel. Now Luke loved his little bro, but things got even more hectic in the small family and the boy found himself frequently alone as his parents had to get extra shifts with another mouth to feed. Crime was rampant in his neighborhood and every day the boy could see the local ‘families’ and gangs getting fat out of their misdeeds, walking around like they owned the place, while himself and his hardworking parents had to keep their heads down, struggling every month. It was unfair. And himself? Well, he was sure that no one would mind if he learned from their example. Besides, he wanted to help his family and there was nothing wrong if he relied on the five fingers discount from time to time to get something for his little 'bro right? He was fourteen, when after a string of pickpocketing, shoplifting and small burglaries, he was caught in the act and sentenced to serve time in the, perhaps ironically named, Freedom Juvenile Hall. On his first day he got into a scuffle to protect his new bunkmate, Matt Warner, an orphan and petty thief, with a playful spirit and a motor mouth, that was one head shorter than Luke and had caught the attention of a teenage gang. One that of course soon set its ire on the boy himself. Eventually Luke ended up earning an extra month inside for bad behavior and frequent fights. Few of those ended well for him, despite his determination to make himself tougher every time he found himself in the dust. After a while, two or three months perhaps, weird dreams and nightmares, began to plague him, alien, unfamiliar, scary at time, yet strangely fascinating. The spell trapped his monstrous soul was faltering. As the weeks kept going, Luke realized that he was growing stronger and sure, something had to do with the training he was getting at the school of hard knocks, but it could not just be that. Soon, he could easily bend metal with his bare hands and did not even feel the punches that just a week before had left him with bad bruises or broken ribs. When he got out, Luke confronted his parents and they eventually confessed. It was so absurd. More importantly for a teenage boy though, they had lied to him all his life. He wasn’t their son. He wasn’t even human. Strong words were traded and Luke stormed out swearing that he didn’t want to see them again. There were not going to be tears going down his cheeks. Not at all. (yeah…well) Whatever. He didn’t need them anyway. With his powers still growing, he felt like he could do or take whatever he desired. Who could stop him right? He could breathe freaking fire now. He and his friends got the money they wanted and no longer had to keep their head down while walking the streets. It felt great. Life in the neighborhood though, well it did not get better, not with both the 'families' and a teenage monster with an oversized ego running around. It was Matt the first that tried to show him, but the sixteen years old just ignored his friend. He changed his mind though, not long after in an ER waiting room. Matt had been shot in back alley to send Luke a message. He survived, barely and no thanks to him. The next day, as the boy walked down the streets to go and tell his parents that he was sorry (they forgave him, as parents do), he swore that he was going to become a better man. Clean up his act. Use his powers for good. His first few attempts though, well, they hadn’t been without some collateral damage and he isn’t exactly loved in the neighborhood. Only when his last ‘heroic act’ ended in a literal dumpster fire (more of a landfill, but well…) he decided that good intentions weren’t going to be enough and started looking into some place that could help him become the person he wanted to be. And that was just when news of his exploits had reached a certain school for gifted youngsters. Personality & Motivation: Luke has a playful, friendly attitude. He is boastful, cocky, sometimes arrogant and definitely a show off, but he can manage to not take himself too seriously (not as much as he would want to, though, but he tries). Despite being quite extroverted, he doesn’t always make friends easily and believes that trust should be earned, although he knows that he had to do so himself. He cares deeply for the ones that are close to him however and is ready to put his life on the line for them. He has a bit of a big brother complex and feels responsible for his family and friends (excessively so at times). He loves his adoptive families and despite the frequent clashes, the boy wants to make them proud. He has a soft spot for his neighbourhood and while sure, he can see the big picture and knows that his powers can be put to a good use, but he would much rather see the friends he had grown up with prosper. The young man is pretty impulsive and will frequently throw himself into a new shenanigan without much thought about the consequences. He is very hungry for life and passionate about fulfilling his desires, respect, wealth, power, friends, lovers, Luke wants it all. He is also quite possessive and more than a little jealous. Perhaps this is due to his draconic nature, although, he himself recognizes that it would be an easy excuse to justify his more selfish tendencies with what he is, rather than who he is. He had let this side of him rule his choice in the past, but today he tries his best to channel his ambition for a good cause. He is working on a personal code of honor, but at the moment it’s more of a vague idea rather than a strict set of rules. When he change to his natural shape, Luke’s finds some traits of his personality deeply magnified, he is more prone to just follow his whims and emotions, more possessive, more greedy, more arrogant. He doesn’t know if that’s a side effect of his power, or just another side of him that he hadn’t fully explored. Powers & Tactics: In his natural draconic form, Luke fight with raw strength, trying to overwhelm his opponent and push them to submit. He likes so snatch his targets from the ground and bring them to the sky where he feels like he could more easily intimidate them. He tries to resort to dragonfire only when he feels like he is not going to cause much collateral damage (after learning from experience). As so far he hadn’t fought anything that could really pierce his natural armor and nor has learned of its weak spot, he fight with abandon caring little for defense and just trying to shrug off the hits. As he has spent most of his life as a human however, he is finds himself much more comfortable in that shape. While still imbued with a sense of invincibility he had been on the receiving end of more than a few beatings and he fights more pragmatically. He relies on his enhanced strength and speed, but also banking upon his powers and the abilities he had picked up on the streets to sneak close to his targets and trying to neutralize them. When he unleashes his supernatural side spectral manifestation of dragon form follow and enhance his movements, giving him an extra edge and claws that could even cut immaterial targets. The rest of his powers are mostly a recent discovery, used to confuse his enemies, peer into their motivations, keep an eye on his friends and at times even track stolen properties. Power Descriptions: With some effort, Luke can switch between his human form and his natural dragon shape, even when he is changed however; he retains a portion of the strength and resilience of his bestial soul. His skin maintain the properties of the powerful natural armor of his monstrous side, but only appear as such while otherwise being seemingly normal. As a human, he can conjure echoes of his dragon form, spectral wings to help him jump, generate blast of wind, or even run faster, claws, fangs and horns to enhance his fighting abilities as well as a powerful dragon breath. A cone of flames resembling a weave of molten gold, the fire burns deep and clings to its target for a while even after the weave has passed. His dragon soul gives him a natural resistance to the supernatural and a connection with the sin of greed enough to perform feats of magic. It is largely an instinctive process, not relying on gestures or formulas, but still requiring concentration. He can create illusions to confuse his foes, manipulate the emotions, by looking into someone’s eyes (although, the most frequent one is a feeling of yearning and desire), he can force his target to reveal what they desire the most and sense the presence of riches by scent alone. He has a strong supernatural bond with anything that is part of his ‘hoard’, all of his material possessions, but also the people he has a strong emotional attachment with and can try to locate them even at great distances. Finally he has access to a sort of ancestral memory of his race, however, so far, Luke lacks the ability to delve deeply into it and could only catch glimpses of information with great effort. This tie however, grants him knowledge of a long dead language, whose true nature he is currently unaware. Accessing skills that rely more on instinct and practice rather than knowledge had proven to be easier however, providing him with sharper senses and increased persuasiveness. When he transform, what he loses in agility, he gains in massive size and enhanced strength. He can fly, but he is as agile as a monster of his size could be. He has powerful fangs and claws that cut deep and lacerate both flesh and armor. Even his magic loses some of its subtlety and he can no longer affect any emotion, but fear with a powerful roar. Complications: Broke: He comes from an impoverished family, doesn’t have much to his name, no personal vehicle, lives in a trailer park. His clothes are usually well worn. Much likely he has to take mundane odd jobs to help himself and that might interfere with his super heroics. His moral code prevents him from using his powers to fix this (for now at least). Former Criminal: He used to be a petty criminal, but he had decided to stay on the straight and narrow since his powers fully manifested, although he doesn’t mind using the skills he had picked up before his epiphany if needed for the cause. He had a short stint in juvie and is criminal record is not clean. My friends. My Responsibility: some of Luke's friends are petty criminals and do remember that Luke was too before his change of heart and they would much rather have him back that way. On his side, they still are his friends and the young man wants to keep them safe. Possessive: he is very possessive of the things he has, at school, he is the kind of guy that will think up an excuse about why he can lend you a pencil, he hates parting of any of his things with passion. He never forget a debt (although on the other side of the coin, he doesn’t forget his either) That also applies to relationship, making him a bit of a jealous partner\friend Stolen “property”: the people that brought him into this world have done so planning to use him for some kind of ritual and consider him like a missing property. They have lost tracks of him when his family went in hiding, however, the more openly he gets into superheroics the more likely it is for him to be found out. Arcane component: his blood, his heart and his scale are probably very sought after arcane components, unscrupulous hunters might be after that. Power Level: 10 (Built as PL8) Tradeoffs: none Power Points: 150/150 ABILITIES 22PP Strength: 26/16 (+8/+3) (Heavy Load: 920 lbs. / 230 lbs.) Dexterity: 18/14 (+4/+2) Constitution: 26/18 (+8/+4) Intelligence: 10 (+0) Wisdom: 12 (+1) Charisma: 12 (+1) COMBAT 14PP Initiative: +4/+2 (+4/+2 Dex) Attack: +4, +6 Melee (+4 Base, +2 Attack Focus), + 8 Draconic Might (+4 Base, +2 Attack Focus, +2 Accurate) Grapple: +16/+11 (+8 Melee Attack, +8/+3 Strength) Defense: +8 (+3 Base, +5 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed Knockback Resistance: 8/2 SAVING THROWS 11PP Toughness: +8/+4 (+8/+4 Con, Impervious 8 ) Fortitude: +8/+4 (+8/+4 Con, +0PP) Reflex: +8/+6 (+4/+2 Dex, +4PP) Will: +8 (+1 Wis, +7PP) SKILLS 20PP (80R) Bluff 9 (+10)Skill Mastery Climb 2 (+10/+5) Diplomacy 4 (+5) Gather Information 4 (+5) Intimidate 9 (+10)Skill Mastery Knowledge (Streetwise) 5 (+5) Languages 1 (Atlantean, English [Native]) Notice 9 (+10)Skill Mastery Search 10 (+10) Sense Motive 9 (+10)Skill Mastery Sleight of Hand 6 (+10/+8) Stealth 6 (+10/+8) Survival 4 (+5) Swim 2 (+10/+5)Swimming FEATS 15PP Attack Focus (Melee) 2 Beginners Luck Dodge Focus 5 Fearless Interpose Luck 2 Move-by action Skill Mastery (Bluff, Intimidate, Notice, Sense Motive) Takedown Attack POWERS 68PP Draconic Power 8 (16PP Array; Feats: Alternate Power 5) [21PP] (Descriptors: Dragon, Magic) Base Power: [16PP] (Additional Descriptors: Draconic Might) Enhanced Strength 10 (Feats: Accurate 1, Affects Insubstantial 2, Improved Critical 2 [18-20], Variable Descriptor [Spectral Energy Manifestations of Claws, Fangs, Tail, Wings]) [16PP] Alternate Power: [16PP] (Additional Descriptors: Fire, Molten Breath) Damage 8 (Extras: Area [Type: General; Shape: Cone; Size: 80ft], Secondary Effect; Flaws: Action [Full]) [16PP] Alternate Power: [10PP] (Additional Descriptors: Psionic) Emotion Control 8 (Flaws: Sense-Dependent [Visual]; Feats: Mind Blank, Subtle) [10PP] Alternate Power: [16PP] (Additional Descriptors: Fool's Gold, Greed Magic, Psionic) Illusion 8 (Sense Types: Auditory + Visual; Flaws: Action [Full], Phantasm; Feats: Progression 8 [2,500ft / 1/2-mile radius]) [16PP] Alternate Power: [16PP] (Additional Descriptors: Wind, Wings) Stun 8 (Extras: Area [Type: General; Shape: Cone; Size: 80ft]; Flaws: Action [Full]) [16PP] Alternate Power: [5 + 5 + 5 = 15PP] (Additional Descriptors: Greed Magic, Psionic) Mind Control 8 (Flaws: Limited [One Command: "Tell me what your heart desires"], Sense-Dependent [Auditory]; Feats: Subtle) [5PP] Super-Senses 5 (Valuable Object Awareness; Descriptor Frequency: Very Common; Sense Type: Olfactory, Default: Radius, Ranged; Extras: Acute, Tracking) [5PP] Telelocation 8 (Range: 2,000 miles / Continental; Extras: Duration [Sustained, Lasting]; Flaws: Limited [Can only sense relative direction, not exact location]; Limited [Personal possessions and close acquaintances]; Feats: Subtle) [5PP] Enhanced Constitution 8 [8PP] Enhanced Dexterity 4 [4PP] Immunity 1 (Aging) [1PP] Immunity 20 (Magic; Feat: Selective, Flaws: Limited [Half Effect], ) [11PP] Impervious Toughness 8 (Drawback: Weak Spot) [7PP] Morph 1 (Dragon Form, Extra: Duration [Continuous], Flaw: Action 2 [Standard Action], Feat: Metamorph ) [1PP] Leaping 3 (x10, Running Long Jump: 180ft long x 90ft high) [3PP] Speed 3 (50MPH, 500ft per Move Action) [3PP] Super-Movement 1 (Slow Fall) [2PP] (Descriptors: Dragon Magic, Spectral Wings) Super-Senses 6 (Acute Tracking Normal Olfactory Sense; Danger Sense [Sense Type: Olfactory]; Darkvision; Uncanny Dodge [Sense Type: Olfactory]) [6PP] Swimming 1 (2.5MPH, 25ft per Move Action; Can take 10 on Swim checks) [1PP] Abilities (22) + Combat (14) + Saving Throws (11) + Skills (20) + Feats (15) + Powers (68) = 150/150 Power Points Old Build