Dr Archeville

FC:PbP is offering the community another "vignette" opportunity. If you'd like to read about our previous vignettes, check here. A few weeks ago, the reality-bending powers of Richard Milhous Lucas created the House of L timeline: a world where the Silver Age never ended in Freedom City. The world never really moved past the shiny optimism of the early 1960s, even keeping the same fashion choices. The Centurion survived the Terminus Invasion here It's a better world in many ways, a place of happiness, peace, and order. But it's also a deeply troubled world trapped in the mindset of an old man happier decades past, one where the revolutions of race, gender, and sexuality never really came to fruition. It's a place, in short, very much like the comics of the High Silver Age, leavened with just enough of the Bronze that minority characters actually exist. What happened to your character there, in that world with a bright side as shiny as its underbelly is grim? The Silver Age isn't friendly to all character concepts, but Rick's not a murderer: the people are there, they may simply be very different. House of Lucas Wander (Wander-L) is a cheerful, boisterous acrobat with super-strength, while Geckoman-L was adopted by the Raven and became his successor. Tell their story in that other world, give us a day in their life: give us a 'crossover' with the universe of House of L. The House of L threads can be found in Bayview for those interested in learning more about the style of the times, or you can just read pretty much any comics page on the Silver Age or Bronze Age. Perhaps even buy the relevant Green Ronin supplement! Who: Any player who is interested, for one or both of their characters. What: Write a one (1) page (single spaced) vignette featuring your character, reinterpreted through a lens of brightest Silver! (Or at least polished Bronze) When: The deadline for submissions will be Wednesday, June 30th by 11:59 PM EST (GMT -5). The vignettes themselves can take place at any time: the House of L timeline goes back to the 1990s and continues through into the future. Where: Anywhere. When you submit your vignette, please make a note clearly indicating in which forum it should be posted, as well as when it would be happening. Why: To enhance our community, to flex your writing muscles, to think more deeply about your character, and to earn a bonus PP for your character for the month of June. How: Once your story is finished and proofed, PM it to one of the Refs (angrydurf, AvengerAssembled, Ecalsneerg, Geez3r, Sandman XI, ShaenTheBrain, or myself). When all the stories are in, one of our staff members will post them to the appropriate forums (which is why we need you to be sure to tell us where it should go!), and provide links to them in this thread. DO NOT post them in a forum yourself, otherwise it will not be counted for this exercise. Post here with questions.

One more thing: if anyone already taken a Gold or Platinum reward, but one of the new ones is more appealing, you can trade in your old reward for one of the new ones. So, if you'd used your Gold reward to advance your PL 6 char to PL 10, but the idea of having an extra char slot or a ton of Equipment/Minions/Sidekick appeals to you, you can make that trade-in.

Also, Cyroa and Electra are now Platinum (and I'm now Diamond). Hooray :clap:

Sixteen PL jumps this month! Why so many? Keep reading, true believers! Arranged by Player, it looks like this: alderwitch Phantom: 1pp Psyche: 5pp (0 from posts, 5 from PL increase rollover) Angrydurf Ace Danger: 1pp Phalanx: 7pp (2 from posts, 5 from PL increase rollover) and is now PL 13 :clap: AvengerAssembled Avenger: 4pp and is now PL 15 :clap: Edge: 2pp Freedom Angel: 3pp and is now PL 11 :clap: Basarin Slipstream: 0pp Chumpsteady Rouge: 1pp Cyroa Dark Star: 3 Hellion: 8 (3 from posts, 5 from PL increase rollover) and is now PL 13 :clap: Dariusprime Fulcrum: 3pp and is now PL 12 :clap: Darksider 42 Rift: 3pp Dr Archeville Dead Head: 9pp (4 from posts, 5 from PL increase rollover) and is now PL 14 :clap: Dr. Archeville: 6pp and is now PL 15 :clap: Doctor Science (no posts since April 1st; archiving) Doctor Science: 15pp (from PL increase) and is now PL 7 :clap: Ecalsneerg Arrowhawk: 1pp and is now PL 13 :clap: Geckoman: 9pp (4 from posts, 5 from rollover) Electra Fleur de Joie: 8pp (3 from posts, 5 from rollover) and is now PL 13 :clap: Wander: 5pp ex3lev3n Razorwing: 1pp Galatine Pharos: 1pp Geez3r Atlas: 1pp Dynamo: 6pp Gizmo Jack of All Blades: 4pp Midnight II: 5pp Heridfel (last logged on early April; archiving) Hub: 5pp (from PL increase rollover) Heritage Gossamer: 1 Grimalkin: 8 (3 from posts, 5 from PL increase rollover) and is now PL 14 :clap: Lone Star Kid Cthulhu: 17pp (2 from posts, 15 from PL increase) and is now PL 8 :clap: Nyrath Aiko Karakuri: 5pp Mongrel Angel: 6pp (1 from posts, 5 from rollover) PengWolf The Curator: 17pp (2 from posts, 15 from PL increase) and is now PL 7 :clap: Displacer: 1pp playah Carbon: 1pp quotemyname Breakdown: 3pp and is now PL 13 :clap: Colt: 2pp Lukos: 4pp Raveled Ironclad II: 16pp (1 from posts, 15 from PL increase) and is now PL 7 :clap: Rhyvurg Crom: 1pp Sandman XI Quark: 6pp (1 from posts, 5 form PL increase rollover) Wesley Knight: 1pp +1 more (Ref point) ShaentheBrain Scarab: 1pp Skysong (last logged on late April; archiving) Physicus: 0pp Sorus Sage: 3pp Starsign Rycon: 20pp (5 from posts, +15 from PL increase) and is now PL 8 :clap: Taar Sarah Prescott: 1pp The 100+ Posts per Month Club Electra/Wander (113) VARY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT, NO. 1 After considerable debate, we have decided to change change the PL 6/90pp char option to PL 7/105pp. Thus, you may sart with a PL 7/106pp char and a PL 10/150pp char. Characters who were PL 6 (Curator, Doctor Science, Ironclad II, Kid Cthulhu, and Rycon) have been given an extra 15pp this month. Characters who started at PL 6 but were advanced to PL 10 due to hitting Gold status (Dead Head, Fleur, Geckoman, Grimalkin, Hellion, Hub, Mongrel Angel, Phalanx, Psyche, and Quark) were given an extra 5 rollover pp. We have also moved the maximum caps to PL 15/250pp. Advancement ranks now look like so: PPs earned Total PPs PL 1-9 106-114 7 10-24 115-129 8 25-39 130-144 9 40-54 145-159 10 55-69 160-174 11 70-84 175-189 12 85-99 190-204 13 100-114 205-219 14 115-145 220-250 15 15 for all, except PL 15, that's 30. And 10pp to get out of your starting PL. And for folks starting at PL 10: PPs earned Total PPs PL 1-9 151-159 10 10-24 160-174 11 25-39 175-189 12 40-54 190-204 13 55-69 205-219 14 70-100 220-250 15 VARY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT, NO. 2 The Gold and Platinum Player Rewards have been altered and expanded. (Both Announcements will be folded into the appropriate spots in the House Rules threads.)

Archived due to player absence.

Archived due to player absence.

Archived due to inactivity.

In your face, Quark!

I'd expect the improvements are going to be talked about/decided on in the Interrupting Cow thread.

And the fluff parts I'd asked for? Info on his alien race, what they're like, their culture and so on? Very advanced, compared to Earth? Less advanced? Tribes, monarchy, republic, theocracy, anarcho-syndicalist commune? These will all be part of his upbringing, his history, and thus shape his personality and outlook. I'm not asking for a dissertation, just a paragraph or so on what his world was like before the Grue rolled in.

Dead Head Dead Head's fried head hurtled through the air. It arced up over Avenger and Lukos, and hit its apex right over Dr. Archeville's hover-barcalounger. It passed over Dynamo and Jack of all Blades as it came down, but was knocked off it course by an errant blast by some flexing, posturing metahuman. It stopped when it struck Wesley Knight on the head like a coconut, and rolled onto the ground such that it was looking up at him, eyes slightly bugged, mouth agape, and tongue lolling out. And smoking.

If you had a readied action, yes.

Readied Actions would go off as a Reaction to Sprig's attack. So... who had Readied Actions? I think it was just Hellion (to attack with his Hellsword) and JoAB (to attack with StabPunch).

Doktor Archeville News Thread (1) And Blackjack (0) "... And I'm a Mutant" (1) Childhood Dream (1) Containment Means Never Having To Say KABOOM! (1; now closed) The Dragon Wakes (0; now closed) Fisticuffs 2: The Opening Credits (0) The Game's Afoot (1) Grue Invasion: AEGIS HQ (1) I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings (0) Interrupting Cow (7) No Mutation Without Representation (4) Opposites Attract (8) The Sounds of Science (17) Stocks & Bonds (0) Sturm und Dr... Archeville (3) This Woman's Work (2) "When They Hear Oom Pah Pah!" (4) Working The Bugs Out (1) 1+0+1+1+1+0+0+1+1+0+7+4+8+17+0+3+2+4+1 = 52 Dead Head News Thread (0) A'Walkin' Amongst the Lilies (10) Cold Case (11) Darkness Rising (0) Dead Men Do Tell Tales (1) Fisticuffs 2: The Opening Credits/Wander vs. Dead Head (8) Gods and Zombies (1) Green with Envy (0) Groundskeeping (15) Grue Invasion: Jail Break (2) Grue Invasion: Monsters in the Streets (Midtown)! (1; now closed) 0+10+11+0+1+8+1+0+15+2+1 = 48 Things I'm GMing, Using an NPC in, and Non-Canon Stuff And They Called Me MAD! (Non-Canon) (0) Delivery at Pier 18 (0) Go For Broken (Non-Canon) (0) Groundskeeping (2) "When They Hear Oom Pah Pah!" (1) [interceptors] Zombie Powder is a Helluva Drug (2) 0+0+0+2+1+2 = 5 / 2 = 2.5

In order to make sure the Refs accurately count all your IC posts and award you the due amount of power points, please post with a list of all the threads in which your character posted IC this month (including the News forum). Please also mark things from the Non-Canonical forum as being non-canonical, as those count 1/2 (2 posts made for your char in a non-canon thread count as 1 post for the char). And if you are GMing something, list those threads, too. GM-only posts -- as well as NPC Villain posts -- also count 1/2, and can be assigned to whichever of your characters needs a 'push' to get up in post numbers. When you make your list, please post a link to the IC threads -- preferably to your first post of the month -- so we can jump right to it. Help us help you :mrgreen:

Heh, just realized this thread's taking place before Doc upgraded his Screwdriver from Gadgets 1 to Gadgets 3, and before he added the Insubstantial and Shrinking features to his Belt. Prototypes? Writer error? Timey-Wimey Ball? Yes. ;)

"Veeellllll..." he said with a boyish grin, "since I know all you can do, I suppose it is fair dat you know all about mein skills und technology." He held up his techno-wand, disconnecting it from his Belt so she could get a better look. "Dis is mein Elektromagnetischer Schraubenzieher, de Electromagnetic Screwdriver. It started as an Electromagnetic Pistol, a potent blaster capable of firing beams of energy from any portion of de electromagnetic spectrum. Visible lasers, as well as invisible und penetrating x-ray lasers, microwave blasts, even a magnetic ray to move items around. But, vhile dat vas all useful und impressive, it was still primarily a blaster, a veapon, und I vanted someding more unique. So I redesigned it, set it so it could create very finely tuned energy fields, as vell as a communications link to de libraries und databases at mein home laboratory, and I had de perfect tool for any technological job." Then he did something she may not have expected: she handed the gadget to her. "Careful, it has three Daka Crystals in it. For a long vhile I kept it only at dat level, using it only as a tool und never as a direct veapon, partly to keep meinself challenged, partly to show off dat I could be an effective hero even mitout causing harm to ozhers. Unfortunately, dat did not alvays work as I vould like, so a few months ago I restored some of de previous functions. But I still use it mostly as a tool." He next pointed to the Belt which was keeping him aloft, a wide bit of gear covered in softly glowing "circuit" designs. The belt's "buckle" was a large A. "You haff seen how mein Gravimetric Belt lets me fly und protects me. You may haff read of some of mein exploits vhere I used de Belt's cloaking function." Suddenly he vanished, though she still felt him against her arms, then reappeared. "I am sure you haff heard about de teleportation function," he said, disappearing again and reappearing 10 feet in front of her, then popping out and back again into her arms. Fulcrume felt the tiniest bit of vertigo when he 'ported. "Ah, sorry about dat, de vormhole it generates for mein teleports causes a slight temporary imbalance in de inner ears of people around mein departure und arrival spots. Now, vhat many do not know, if de newspaper reports are an indication, is two ozher functions of mein belt: a shrinking function und an intangibility field. De first is based in part on some of mein grandfazher's research, de second on some of mein studies of Dark Star." Fulcrum was suddenly holding an action figure-sized Archeville in her hand! "I dink I'll hold off on demonstrating de intangibility functions," she heard his tiny voice through her commlink, "in part because I do not know how your energy powers would interact with it; it contains a few slivers of Daka Crystal, too. Having mein Belt overload up here vould be very bad!" And now he was back to full size, and now held up a corner of his lab coat. "Many people do not realize dat dis is an example of mein technology, too. Mein laboratory coat is made of an armored silk-like material, und deir are liquid micortubules through it dat both regulate mein temperature und help disperse certain forms of energy. It is not as good as a true suit of armor, of course, since it leaves mein head und lower legs exposed, und I leave it unbuttoned most of de time, but dere vas only so much form I vas villing to sacrifice for function." He released the corner of his coat, and 'reclined' back, hands behind his head, until he was floating perpendicular to her, as if in a hammock. "Mein home... I vas hoping to show you tomorrow evening, actually. It does haff robot servants; de primary butler is a robot gorilla butler. Dey do not haff lasers in deir eyes, dough de garden gnomes on de front lawn do; de lighting fixtures inside de house can be amped up to serve as laser turrets to fend off intruders. I do not haff a star ship -- yet -- but I do have a squid-shaped submarine, de Fjölnirskraft. I also haff a castle in Germany, built up from a small keep avarded to von of mein ancestors, und a space station in orbit over South America, vhich I lease out to ozher companies for low-gravity research und manufacturing und for astronomical und meteorological research" He flipped back up, and now 'stood' before her, his hands making excited gestures, "Und all of it I use in de service of ozhers, of Humanity. Und not just de 'defuse de alien bomb' und 'find a cure for de super-flu dat SHADOW is about to unleash' sense. I make Science look cool und hip because I vant ozhers to pursue de sciences, because I vant future generations to yearn for such dings und have de skills dey would need to make dings better for demselves! I vish to inspire people, just as you do!" "Oh, und I am a bit jealous of you, you know," he said before giving her a peck on the cheek with force field-covered lips. "Not only because you have a far better legacy behind you, but because you can feel de solar vinds against your lovely skin, because you und otzher Metahumans could truly touch each ozher even in environs such as dis."

Fluff is okay, but I'd like more, especially about his people and their world. What's their culture like? Their level of technology? Their views on other alien races? You don't need to list how much is from Enhanced [Traits], but you do need to list the total modifier. Thus: Str 8, 32 w/ Density (-1/+11) Con 10, 16 w/ powers (and fire), 20 w/ powers (no fire) (+0/+3/+5) (yes, that's a bit awkward. It's what you get for having two versions of the same Enhanced Attribute ) Also, Int of 8 is slow, suitable only for unskilled work. Is he supposed to be that limited? This is fine, though for efficiency you should go with an even number on Defense, and buy a rank of Dodge Focus for the odd number. Numbers (specifically, what he has from Enhanced Saves) are a bit off. And due to the two Enhanced Cons, you'll need to expand the Toughness and Fort lines a bit. Going by what's listed now (Enhanced Fort 2, Enhanced Ref 6, Enhanced Will 6): Toughness: +15 (Imp 10); +13 (Imp 10; in fire); +5 (no armor); +3 (no armor, in fire); +0 (no armor, no powers) Fortitude: +8, +6 (in fire), +1 (no powers) Reflex: +8, +2 (no powers) Will: +8, +2 (no powers) Adds up. Why those skills, though? I count 21 feats, not 23. Since Rage affects his Str, Fort and Will saves, and Defense, those need to be noted, too. Also, you have listed Rage 3 (+5 rounds). Does that mean he's got 2 ranks of Rage in the effect (for +6 Str, +3 Fort and Will saves, -2 Defense) and 1 rank for duration (10 rounds total)? Please alphabetize the skills listed in Skill Mastery. Looks fine. 2+6+6 = 14, not 12. Immunity to Fatigue and Sleep I can see, general "super-human" enhancements. But why Immunity to Entrapment effects? Also, be aware the Immunity to Fatigue effects won't protect you from the fatigue of Extra Effort, or his Rage. It looks like his Density should cost 22pp, not 26. 2/rank due to it being Distracting, -2 for the Drawback. The Immovable granted by Density isn't Unstoppable, you'd have to pay extra for that. The Protection from Density is Impervious, please note that. Also, it's traditional to list his total effective Str next to Super-Str. For him, it looks like it would be... effective Str 52, or 58 when raging. Those are Heavy Loads of 16.64 tons and 38.4 tons, respectively. This is off in a few places, too. Power Feats and Drawbacks typically go at the end, not the beginning. For the first Regen, you have 11 ranks (4+2+2+1+2), not 10. For the second, please list the total effective ranks, as well as the time. So, assuming all the rank numbers are staying the same, something like Regeneration 11 (Parasite Renewal; Recovery Bonus +4 [+9 total, +7 in fire], Bruised 2/standard action, Injured 2/5 minutes, Staggered 1/20 minutes, Resurrection 2/1 day; PF: Regrowth) [12pp] Enhanced Regeneration 4 (Parasite Renewal; Bruised 1 [to 3/no action], Injured 1 [to 3/1 minute], Staggered 2 [to 3/1 minute]; PF: Persistent; Drawback: Power Loss [fire, -3pp]) [2pp] Unless you mean the second Regen to be the 'base,' and the first to be the 'add on'. I'm holding off on checking the totals until the other stuff is sorted out.

I see nothing horrible here. Science, hooooo! :approved:

15 hours 30 minutes left for posting, folks! Get 'em in while you can!

He slammed on his 'brakes,' and hovered before her. "It has taken me almost three years of constant vork to get dis Belt to do vhat it can do," he replied in an even tone, "you got your abilities in de blink of an eye. Und you do not haff to vorry about your powers going out in an electromagnetic storm, or being taken from you." Her remarks about her appearance seemed to strike a chord in him. "Oh, liebchen, you should not question your appearance! You are a beauty!" Her expression indicated she felt otherwise. "No, really, you are! Your vavy, shoulder-length hair," he said as he ran force field-covered fingers through it, "very chic. Und dat smile of yours- oh! Lights up the whole sky, it does! Und dose eyes -- von blue as de seas und de skies, von brown as de rich, life-giving earth. You haff de whole vorld dere, reflecting all de beauty in it." "Now, your skin -- " he traced a line from her cheek, down her neck, and across her covered shoulders, "vell, vhat little I haff seen of it, dat is not covered by your costume -- has a remarkable radiant quality, von not due to de Terminus energy. Und speaking of your costume..." He made a quick circle around her, looking her up and down, "vell, size issues aside, I do not dink anyvon could pull dis off as vell as you." Once more in front of her, he hovered close and placed both arms around her neck, and gazed into her eyes, "shall I continue? Because I can, you know..."

Lightning 13 = DC 28. DH's got Toughness +18 (Imp 13), so he does need to make the roll. The one Injury he's sustained will impose a -1 penalty on the save. Toughness save vs. Dynamo's Quickening (DC 28) (1d20+17=18) Which fails by 10... putting him right back at Disabled again... and no HP to re-roll it. Sonuva... Part of me thinks that's hilarious, and would keep it. But part of me realizes that Dynamo seeing him get up and then 'die' again would do horrible things to his psyche. But, hey, getting killed is what Dead Head does, man ;)

Dead Head Doktor Archeville looked on as Dynamo used some long bolts to pin Dead Head's body & head back together, before applying the juice. The Frankenstein-ian treatment worked! The Revoltin's Revenants eyes lost much of the far off stare quality, and focused on Dynamo. "Whoa! This is new! Thanks, feller. Mind tellin' me yer-" To Dynamo's dismay, the power flow did not stop. More and more energy kept pouring into the zombie, particularly into the metal bolts now in his neck. They were already glowing cherry red. "Uh, you can stop now, y'know," he said, his voice warping due to the electrical current playing havoc with his vocal chords. And then the bolts in his neck exploded from the influx of energy. Dynamo was of course able to avoid the spray of molten metal, but now Dead Head's body was headless again, and his smoking braincase hurtled through the air....

"I vould not say more fun," he said with a sly smile, "since dere are several dings ve can do only after de chase is done." "Und it should be a good belt, given how much I haff vorked on it!," he retorted, sounding mildly insulted, though the smile indicated he was not nearly as insulted. "Und, ja, dat is vhat I meant, your safe energy vibrational speed. You can push yourself 'into de red' for brief periods, probably..." he paused to consult his E.S., which she may have noticed was attached by a few cables to his belt, "quadruple your speed, but sustaining it for more dan a few minutes vould tire you out." "'Far from sensitive electronic und people?' he repeated after her kiss, clearly feigning wounded pride. "What am I, chopped liver in a leather belt?" "De space shuttle? Vell..." he began, then paused until she got into her new flight position. (It gave him time to admire her, too.) "De Endeavour could go about 17,000 mph, approximately 23 times de speed of sound. However, escape velocity is 25,000 mph; dat is vhat de Solid Rocket Boosters are f-." And then she'd zipped away. And faster he went, matching her 40,000 mph. In a flash he was on her -- well, atop her, that is to say, flying over her -- but she barely saw him. She wasn't pushing herself, per se, not like she had on the Gravitic Press, but she was focused on pouring on as much speed as she safely could, and so like a racecar driver or marathon runner her attention was quite focused. But when he rolled under her, facing up, and she registered his presence, she also saw that his expression was more like that of a jogger going at a steady but not breakneck pace. "Ah, und here is your top safe flight speed," he calmly uttered. "Good ding I can go faster."

Doktor Archeville Archeville chuckled, "Avenger und Lukos will be fine. Lukos has a fantastic regenerative quality, von he has graciously allowed me to study, along mit other aspects of his 'condition'. It is quite fascinating, really, de cellular mechanisms of some of his abilities-" He chuckled again, this time a bit softer, "Oh, dere I go again, going off on tangents. Ja, Dark Star is a fine man, an inspiration to many, but I do not dink you could ever be as uptight as he is. It... it is von of de many dings I l-" "dat I love about you."