Dr Archeville

"By a thread," the zombie replied. Then his left arm fell off, landing with a wet thud on the ground. "Man, I gotta get me some better stitchin'," he said as he picked up his arm and slung it over his shoulder. In truth, he didn't need stitches, or anything of the sort, as all his parts fit together perfectly. He just liked to put on a show. "So, let's put out these fires here -- don't want 'em to spread none -- then head out to th' Forest!"

Looks alright, just one question: why is her suit done in four separate devices, not one? Also, the Armored Shell's power should be Protection, not Toughness. And please bold the names of all the powers, as you did with the Blasters.

Haven't heard back from you here in about a week. Hope all's well!

"Oh, you may be surprised at some of de places I haff gone," he said as he leaned back. "But I do hope your leads prove useful. I vould hate to dink I just made a bad investment in you, Mister... ?"

Indeed. Now the question is: where do you take the collected evidence?

"I haff de opposite problem," he replied, though Thomas could see his attention was starting to drift elsewhere, to a woman who had just entered and removed a heavy winter coat to reveal a more revealing outfit underneath. He took Thomas' number and put it with the notepad and pen back into his pocket. "Mein identity is a public record, as is mein home address. But, de few attacks I haff had to repel from it are more dan made up for by de help I have given to de numerous people who haff come to me. Vhich is another reason I started ArcheTech, in fact, to help more people und to give meinself a bit of privacy vhile at home." He drained his coffee, then waved the barista over, "cheque, please; I am covering both of us." He turned back to Thomas, "if you must go, I shall not keep you vaiting. I vill give you a call sometime next veek to set up an appointment for dose tests."

Sadly, that does indeed miss. Move Action to move. Standard Action to Ready to blast Archeville if Gossamer moves. (I.e., to not set him off, it's your Stealth vs. his Notice) End of round 2.

"I'd watch whose aim you're criticizing, missy," the armored antagonist retorted as he bobed and weaved away from Gossamer's hair. A quick burst from his jetboots had him flip over the chair Archeville was strapped to, so now the Doktor was between the two combatants. He aimed his left gauntlet blaster at Archeville's stomach, "but you should also watch your step, or else I gut him here and now. I'm almost done getting what I want from him, and once I am, you're going to let me and my men go."

The Doktor smiled, and responded with his best 'put my patient at ease' tone. "I vould like dat very much, Thomas. Few people actually call me dat, most simply refer to me as 'de Doktor'. Und of course if you are made uncomfortable by any of mein tests, I vill stop." "I do hope de call for help offer goes both vays," he continued as he searched his coat pockets for something, "but for me to do dat, und to set up further meetings, I vill need some vay to- ah!" He withdrew a notepad and pen from one of his pockets, and laid them on the table, "I vill need a vay to contact you. Do you have a number I can reach you at? Here is mein, und mein home address," he jotted down on the pad, then tore the paper off and passed it to Thomas.

"Superhero? Vell, some haff called me such... I haff put out a few fires, saved a few lives... however," he leaned forward a bit, "in addition to de advanced technological tools I use in mein crusades against villainy, I am also de CEO of von of the top technology research und development companies in de city. So not only is mein company a potential target for de criminals behind de recent series of heists, but so am I, if diese criminals decide to start going after people actively using advanced technology." "So," he reached into a pocket on the inside of his labcoat and retrieved a small clipped bundle of cash, "take me to who you know, und I can make it very worth your time."

Huzzah!

:approved:

"Wantonly destroy property?," the armored ringleader smugly replied. From his kneeling position he had been partially able to see her; now he rose and faced her directly. "I don't think so. I've seen you in the news, Doctor de Havilland, and know you're one of those do-gooder types. Always swooping in to save the day, with a minimum of bloodshed and collateral damage." "I, on the other hand," he said as he raised his right gauntlet, which was crackling and sparking as if about to overload, "don't have that problem." An intense bolt of energy shot out of the gauntlet-blaster and made a beeline for Gossamer. It singed a good portion of her hair as it slammed into the stairs behind her and destroyed them, through up a cloud of dirt and ash, but she herself was unharmed.

Next is Gossamer getting shot in the face. Well, maybe not the face per se. His successful use of the Assessment feats tells him Gossamer's Attack and Defense are both lower than his own, but not considerably so. He's thus use Power Attack on the shot, decreasing attack by -2 to improve damage by +2. Attack vs. Gossamer; EE to improve ranks of attack by +2; Power Attack for +/-2; total DC of attack is 28 (1d20+9=11) That misses! IC post coming soon.

"Oh, dat is simple," he replied, smiling. "Mein greatest accomplishment is ArcheTech, mein company. Brilliant as I am -- und I am brilliant -- I know dere is only so much I can do, so much I can learn, before de Grim reaper claims me. So I set up a series of research laboratories, und staffed dem mit de brightest und most driven men und vomen I could find. But it is not just de vork dey do, you see." He leaned back a bit and spread his arms slightly, "it is also de people it helps. A sizable portion of ArcheTech's profits go back to de community, to grants und scholarships for continuing education, to hospitals to provide better care for all, und to other philanthropic programs. I aim to leave dis vorld in better condition dan vhen I entered it, but doing so means tackling problems on multiple fronts. Give a man a flying car, he vill fly for a year. Teach a man how to build a flying car, und he can soar for a lifetime." "Vhich, in a vay, brings us back to vhy I decided to seek you out. You say you haff learned much of yourself in de past month. I vould like to help you learn more, in mein own vay, und in so doing further mein own 'supernatural' research projekt. If possible, I vould like to talk mit your whole tribe, but I do realize dat such a meeting vould take a long time to set up, if it ever could occur. But, for now, vould you be villing to let me run a few tests on you? Nothing overly invasive, some bloodvork, taking vital signs, dings dat vould be done at any normal medical physical examination."

Ah, indeed not. You still want those three feats (and her Will save re-lowered)?

"Seven hundred tons?," he repeated as he circled around her, "vell, dat vould be... de amount of vood burned per day by de new Seneca Sustainable Energy plant, in Eugene, Oregon, to power 13,000 homes... de amount of melamine-tainted baby formula recalled by a Japanese manufacturer in September of 2008, vhen de contamination was first acted on... de amount of illicit narcotics estimated to have been consumed in Iran in 2001... no, no, dese are still too nebulous. Oh! I know!" Archeville had by now come back around to the front of Fulcrum, and was readjusting his wand-gadget. The hologram of the gravity pad readout split, and one copy shrank and moved down and to the left. The other image disappeared, and was replaced by a giant dump truck, one so big that the men standing in front of it barely came up to the midpoint of the wheels. "Dat is Caterpillar's 700-ton autonomous mega dump truck," he explained, "developed in 2008. 700 tons is not de amount it can carry, dat is how much de truck itself veighs! Or...." More adjustment, and the image split again, the new one changing into an elephant. "Approximately von hundred of dese." The Doktor seemed quite interested in her tales of college life, and seemed to focus almost entirely on her. Of course, who knew what he was really thinking with that dizzying brain of his. He was probably running calculations and crunching numbers and such, looking at this all as strictly a professional, scientific matter... right? So why did she get the feeling there was more than just dispassionate scientific curiosity in those eyes? "Mit dat focus on art, vhy transfer to Seattle, und not to de Freedom School for de Arts? I hear deir programs are qvite excellent, und draws students from all over; I am sure any prejudices you faced growing up vould be lessened if not wholly absent dere."

The speech you gave and the circumstances do put things in your favor... Sense Motive check to oppose Intimidate (1d20+9=20) ... but not +16 points in your favor. Using Extra Effort to improve his Blast by 2 ranks (to Blast 11). GM Fiat to nix the fatigue; you get a Hero Point. Move Action to use Assessment. I need a Bluff check from you, to oppose his use of the Assessment feat. You do get your Attractive bonus on this, since this is an attempt ti deceive him. Sense Motive check for Assessment (1d20+9=29) :shock: You'd need to roll an 18+ to beat that Standard Action to be determined by whether or not he reads you (i.e., how you do on the Bluff check).

Hope it's a good one!

Oh! Well, if you still want to go with that, then what you originally had -- the Astral Form power -- would work. It'd be Astral Form (Flaw: Requires networked electronic devices) [4pp/rank] As an AP of Electrical Control 6, you could have 3 ranks in it. Which gives a range of 1,000 feet. Note that that's the total range form your meat body, not the distance you could "hop" with each use, so she couldn't use it to scan more than a few blocks away. Do you want to go with that or the Teleport she's got now? Speaking of the Teleport/Electrical Control you have written now, it appears you've spent enough point to get Electrical Control 6, but you have it listed as Electrical Control 5. As Electrical Control 6, your Teleport 10 (Medium/Electrical Devices) could have two more ranks, or two power feats (like Easy or Progression or Turnabout).

"No brothers or sister, or even cousins. My birth was particularly difficult, und mein mother passed avay shortly after I vas born, leaving me to be raised alone by mein fazher. He, too, vas an only child, de son of..." He paused a moment, "de son of a very amoral und unethical man, whose many misdeeds I haff strived to fix. He had two sisters, but I know almost nutzing of dem. Of mein mother's side, I also know little; she vas Romani, von of de groups almost exterminated by de Nazis, und even de families dat survived vere often split und cast to de four corners of de Earth." "De co-minglings you mentioned, vere dey all betveen members of your tribe mit de condition? Or vere dere any between one mit de condition und von non-afflicated outsider? Und a second qvestion -- related to de first, und to de issue of procreation, und, yes, you may ask me two next -- vhat is de lifespan of von mit de condition? Gray volves live for tventy years at most in captivity, at best half dat in de vild. Human live an average of about 70 years, depending on genetics und environmental conditions. Does de condition alter de lifespan?"

"No, no, I shall pay a fair amount for de ride," the strange Doktor replied. "In fact, I vould pay a fair amount for any further information on dis string of high-tech robberies. Do you know anyding more? Or know somevon who knows somevon who vould know? I ask not just out of professional curiosity und concern, you see, but also personal safety."

"Was bein' honest somethin' ya had trouble with before ya got turned?," the zombie asked, cocking his head to one side. "'Cuz if so... well, I can see how it'd be even harder for ya now. But, fer what it's worth, my advice is t'let her know about any skeletons in yer closet. If th' relationship is strong enough, if there's enough love an' understandin' there, then it'll survive." Dead Head got that far-off look again in his eyes. "Lot of 'em out tonight. Either somethin' really nasty or really funny is goin' down. Looks like they're headin' this way," he pointed to the east, then began shambling that way. "Speakin'a trouble, y'all heard any more from them folks what crashed yer weddin'?"

Remember that if they're Minions, you can Take 10 on your attack roll.

Now here's my problem: what I've done is clearly a use of the Trick function of the Bluff skill. But he's only got +1 on Bluff (no ranks, Charisma 12/+1). Using Extra Effort to get a +2 on the roll. (and an HP to nix the fatigue) Bluff check (1d20+3=19) Not bad!