Avenger Assembled

Elegy: I propose we say the preliminary fight ends and we move straight into the investigation!

Mark wandered off to the mansion library while everyone researched, paging through volumes of Arabian lore in his usual distracted, short-attention span way. "It's really, really heavy," he said to Erin, "but if I work with Tempest, er, Nina and some of the other al-Darsahs, we can move it around a little. Disintevaporating it will be much easier when the time comes." Using the League scanners he was tapping into, Midnight found that there had indeed been an extra-dimensional incursion into the space around Socotra just before the gigantic corpse had appeared in the harbor. But this was no dimension he was immediately familiar with; it wasn't one the Liberty League had visited before, and was obscure enough that it wasn't in the usual Freedom League registry either. It did seem to be magical, as Cannonade had speculated - but that was all. Whatever was happening in Socotra was coming from terra incognita. "Wait a minute..." Mark looked up from the book he'd found and held it open to the others, revealing an artist's depiction of a red-skinned man in traditional Arab dress, one whose hand had been replaced by a single golden fist. "That can't be right, that can't be on Earth," he said doubtfully. The image was an artist's rendition of Hubal; king of the ancient Arabian pantheon, a moon god long since supplanted by Islam. He looked at the picture, then said seriously, "I think we need to go now..." --- Once everyone had their supplies, Mark opened a doorway and the heroes stepped through onto a jetty in Typhoon City harbor. The giant corpse was instantly obvious, looming over even the decadent skyscrapers and thrusting-high palaces by the harbor's edge. The floating wreck was perceptibly higher in the water than it should have been, a half-dozen lines of pure typhonic force in the water reaching out from various points along the shore showing where the al-Darsahs were doing their work to keep the harbor from slopping over. In the shadow of that great face, with mist still darkening what normally a clear blue sky, the air was cool - the faint, unmistakable noise of seagulls. Thousands of them. Behind them was the royal palace of the al-Darsahs, a sprawling compound dotted with statues of the royal family as tall as the several sub-palaces that surrounded the main building, a gaudy edifice of Arabian and Indian design with onion domes and curling gold minarets that served no spiritual purpose. It could have swallowed a half-dozen Midnight Manors, but lacked the character of that old house. There were uniformed guards posted in the green lawns and beneath the dragon trees that dotted the brick walkways of the palace grounds, but despite their assault rifles and body armor they did not seem interested in challenging the newly-arrived superhumans. Within a minute of their arrival, Nina al-Darsah appeared from over the harbor, riding a permanent wave that vanished as she leaped up to join them on the jetty. The usually sharp-tongued princess didn't seem as interested in her usual arrogant banter as she looked over at the corpse and said, "There's still no sign of Father. Not underneath or....inside, as far as Durian can sense." She swallowed, and took Mark's hand without seeming to think about it. "We have kept the animals of the harbor at bay as best we can, but they are many and this is a very great corpse."

Oh man, I'm sorry I haven't been offering more advice there, Elegy - I've been super-busy with IRL stuff and I just haven't been around enough to be a good help to you. My advice is keep it moving - if people don't post in a timely fashion, move on without them, and be consistent so people know you know what you're doing and that you're playing fair. Another thought is to stay combat-light: with only a few exceptions, posting speed in a big enough thread very often means that combat is really boring.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4182279/ Casey Jones goes on 18 Stormchaser goes on 15 Casey Jones: 18 Stormchaser: 15 Cobalt Templar: 9 Cavalier: 3 Minus their usual teamwork, the Barnstormers don't do a good job of supporting each other. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4182281/ =12 slowed by his condition, Casey Jones misses his punch at Cavalier. Stormchaser tries to just punch him with her power punches http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4182286/ = 31! With an All-Out Power Attack. 28 and it goes over his defense by enough to get the full +4 from autofire, so that's a DC 32 Tou save for Cavalier. Ouch!

Initiative time for Cavalier and Cobalt Templar

"Yes, poor Gina," agreed Irons as he opened the door. "It would be so, so nice if the family could get back together, but she disappeared years ago when she went off to the city to be an actress." He shook his head. "It's a shame, because it's just so important for families to stick together. Especially, er, at a time like this. We've been trying very hard to find her, and that's definitely something we'll continue in Freedom City." He pointed inside, and sure enough looking through the windows Miss A could see almost the entire Evans family inside - Charlie's wife and kids, Peter's wife and kids, the whole bustling extended family that she'd sent so many secret presents to over the years. But the parents were missing; or at least not visible through the rear window, and there were other things wrong too - the adults seemed content, albeit concerned, without any serious worry about the grandparents who were supposedly freshly unconscious in the nearby master bedroom - the kids, though, were obviously on edge. The younger ones, the ones still being cossetted by their moms, were all right, but the older ones like Charlie III were tense, fright and hope on their faces as they looked out at Miss A. They were the ones enough to see that something was wrong. --- Suddenly the pretense seemed to drop; both Stormbreaker and Casey Jones seeming to lose a certain pretense they'd been putting on. "Stop it, damn it," said Casey Jones, fury and frustration crossing the older man's face even as his colleague's expression seemed to go oddly slack. In a heavy Southern accent completely unlike his usual speech pattern, he yelled "Ah'm tryin' so hard and you're ruinin' everything!" And then the two Barnstormers went for Cavalier and Cobalt Templar, and the fight was on!

It's a traaaap! And yes, come to think of it, they _both_ sound like they're from around here, which is weird since he's pretty sure neither of these heroes are local.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4178234/ = 27 Cavalier just makes it!

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4178135/ = 14, natural 1 for Irons' Bluff. Miss Americana can tell that this story is totally bullcrap, particularly the part about her mom being helpful in a crisis situation and making sacrifices for her family. She can also tell that Irons is, however, legitimately concerned about the Evans' family and their situation, he really means that talk about how everybody in the family should get together during this crisis - it's obviously deeply emotionally important to him. With that natural 1, she can tell that Irons is hesitating as he calls Mrs. Evans by that name; at one point he calls her Ma and corrects himself.

"Oh, since the accident," said Irons seriously. "We've tried to make a space for everyone in the family, just as we'll do in Freedom City once we find a place there for Mr. and Mrs. Evans. This is a serious time of crisis, and everyone in the family needs to stick together." He walked by the boxes, some of them (particularly that wardrobe box she'd noticed immediately, still labeled "PAGEANT DRESSES - REGINA") very familiar to Gina Evans. "Even with her problem, Mother Evans was eager to help us out once we showed her just how urgent her son's situation was." He walked Miss Americana to the door, seeming not to notice her feelings about going inside. "Won't you come in? I would like to start getting everyone out to the city as soon as possible." - "We heard there wuz Grue activity around here," said Stormchaser as she flitted around in the sky. Sure enough, as Corbin listened, her accent _did_ sound different from the version he was familiar with from his own world - no, wait, this _was_ his own world, that other one had been his home for many years but it wasn't his native soil at all. "Some folks hear tell that there maght be Grue impersonatin' superheroes, pretendin' to be who knows what for their godforesaken alien purposes. Them folks is just a bunch of pod people anywayz." Her accent sounded almost...local? Ever the peacemaker, Casey Jones spread his hands. "Listen, I'm not one to pry, but we've had some real problems with alien infiltration in the last few years. You boys have both spent time in Freedom City, and I know how it is over there too. If it's not aliens, it's robots, and if it's not robots, it's demons, and if it's not demons, it's the damned Gorgon sending down clones. Anyway, all we need is for you boys to both submit to a blood screening so that we can make sure you are who you say you are, then we can all be on our way." - Caradoc stepped out of invisibility and parried the staff, smashing it against the side of the plane for a moment before the fast-moving man in armor pulled back his weapon. For a moment, the two figures faced each other as civilians scrambled for the rear of the plane, the doctors forming a protective cordon around their patient. Steve badly wanted to call Miss A, but lacked the internal ability to do so. Shouting, "Call Miss Americana!" in his mechanical voice, he raised his weapon at the costumed adventurer before him and said in Caradoc's voice "What is thy purpose here, varlet?" "You know damn well what I'm trying to do," spat the other man. "The name is Thresher, and I'm not going to let you take this anywhere!"

As the heroes talked, a sibilant hiss came from thin air just above the chalked circle on the parking lot. It was a voice like a great snake or other large lizard, like sandpaper rubbing together in a voicebox a little bit like a person's. It also sounded male, and maybe a little young. "Hey are you guysss coming? I can't go through myssself or I'll get in bad trouble. I know thisss is weird, but I promised Runsss I'd get her sssomething really great for her adulthood ceremony and I can't jussst go kill an ungulate for her like the other guysss, ssso I thought I'd get all her mammal friendsss to come to her party by sssurprise. C'mon, ssshe sssaid you guys do crazy ssstuff all the time!" There was the sound of a reptilian exhalation, and a faint sphere appeared about Min's head height inside the circle, the translucent ball acting like a window to reveal what sure enough was the head of a man-sized raptor, scales and short, patchy feathers on the head showing its ancestry that straddled both reptile and bird. "C'mon guysss, I'm worried about Runsss and the party. No one tellsss malesss anything but I think sssomething bad might happen. Sssince ssshe met you, her mother hasss been ssspeaking out againssst Orthodoxy and sssome of the believersss get pretty crazy when that happensss. We don't really have heroesss like you do. You wouldn't want to dump your friend who you fought that radioactive Orthodox sssupremacissst would you? Of courssse not." He had that kind of persuasiveness that teenagers are sure they have. "It won't be weird, anyone at Runsss' party isss probably pretty pro-mammal." "My name is Thinksss-And-Eatsss," he added proudly. "Nice to meet you."

I've lost track; when are you looking for a post from me, Elegy?

I deeply regret that "Synape" is just a typo and not the name of the actual PC.

"There have been others who were freed. Juveniles removed from their indoctrination chambers. A young man rebuilt by Daedalus from near-destruction. But none like me who remember the mind of a drone; there are none who lived as drones who have been known to survive the transition. Drones are programmed to slay those that no longer hear the voice of Omega, and there are...other factors." Steve fell silent for a moment, opting not to share his personal speculation that those who were taken by the Terminus from the streets of conquered worlds went mad as their bodies and minds were torn apart by alien science - his own childhood on Nihilor had given him the frame of reference to understand his situation upon his liberation. "I want you to understand that you and yours are right to fear and hate Omegadrones for who they are and what they represent," he told Keith seriously. "And you were right to strike me on that other world when you saw my face. They do represent a mindless abomination of science and technology ungrasped by all but a select few of even this mighty world's great minds. If you encounter one, you will do it a profound service by its destruction." He looked at Keith, bench creaking beneath him, then back at an advertisement across the way. "There is no justice in the Terminus. Only fate."

Armored Sorcerer PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 0 + 0 + 4 + 14 + 4 + 0 = 22 pp STR 34/26/10 (+12/+8/+0) DEX 10 (+0) CON 14 (+2) INT 24 (+7) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 8 + 8 = 16 pp ATK: +4 (+6 w/Magic) [+6/+8 w/Magic in Suit] DEF: +8 (+2 Shield, +2 Dodge Focus, +4 Base, +2 flat-footed) Grapple: +4/+6/+16/+22 Init: +0 Knockback: -9/-7/-3/-1 Saves: 3 + 5 + 8 = 16 pp TOU +12/+8/+6/+2 (+2 Con, +6 Protection, +4 Force Field) FORT +5 (+2 Con, +3) REF +5 (+0 Dex, +5) WILL +10 (+2 Wis, +8) Skills: 40 r=10 pp Craft [artistic] 3 (+10, Skill Mastery) Craft [electronic] 3 (+10, Skill Mastery) Craft [mechanical] 3 (+10, Skill Mastery) Concentration 8 (+10) Intimidate 10 (+10, Skill Mastery) Language 1 (Celtic; Base: English) Knowledge [arcane lore] 3 (+10, Skill Mastery) Knowledge [technology] 3 (+10, Skill Mastery) Notice 3 (+5, Skill Mastery) Sense Motive 3 (+5, Skill Mastery) Feats: 8 pp Artificer Beginner's Luck Eidetic Memory Jack of all Trades Inventor Ritualist Skill Mastery 2 (Craft [artistic], Craft [electronic], Craft [mechanical], Intimidate, Knowledge [arcane lore], Knowledge [technology], Notice, Sense Motive) Powers: 45 + 2 + 4 + 22 + 3 + 2 = 78 pp Device 11 (Power Armor, Flaw: Hard to Lose, PF: Restricted [DNA Scan]) [45PP] Enhanced Attack 2 (combat computer) [4DP] Energy Systems Array 10 (20 pp, PF: Alternate Power 1) [21DP] Enhanced STR 16 (servos, to STR 26/+8) {16} + Super-Strength 2 (Effective STR 35; Heavy Load 1.5 tons) {4} {16+4=20/20} AP: Blast 8 (nu-salt laser, PFs: Improved Crit, Precise) {18/20} Flight 3 (jet boots, 50 MPH, 500 fpm) [6DP] Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9DP] Protection 6 (armor plating, Extra: Impervious 6) [6DP] Shield 2 [2DP] Super-Senses 9 (Radio [Enhancements: Accurate [2], Extended [1], Counters Concealment and Illusion (Flaw: Limited [Magical Effects Only]) [2], Uncanny Dodge [radio]) [7DP] Enhanced Feats 2 (precognitive dodge, Dodge Focus 2) [2PP] Force Field 4 (wards) [4PP] Enhanced Energy Systems Array 8 (16 pp, PFs: Accurate, Alternate Powers 3, Subtle, Variable Descriptor 1 [magic/science]) [22PP] Super-Senses 3 (Detect Magic 3 [visual]) [3PP] Quickness 4 (x100) (Flaw: Mental Tasks Only) [2PP] costs abilities 22 + combat 16 + saves 16 + skills 10/40 + feats 8 + powers 78 = 150 pts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Design Notes: They took him from his bed and they took him to their world, as still happens even today despite all the precautions that Master Mages and magical heroes alike take. He never really figured out why - was he too articulate a champion for science when he appeared on television, too public about his adherence to the new scientific world of reason and rationality? All he knew was that they took him and they tortured him, using all the magic of the Fair Folk to show him just how little he understood of the universe. And when they were done warping his body and his mind with their terrible spells, they made him himself again so he could think about what he'd learned, tossing him into a dark cave with just a box of scraps. "Go ahead," sneered one perfect nobleman, "show us the majesty of human creation, scum." And they left him there, still gloating. This proved to be the last error most of them made. He didn't just build a battlesuit that was, in its modest way, a match for one built by Daedalus - he learned the spells and fell gestures of his magical jailers and turned them against them when they least expected it, combining fae magic with mortal science to become a man wrapped in cold iron armor unmatched by anything in that world. He escaped that prison and returned to our world, having learned much about the 'real' world, and is determined to make sure no one else is victimized by the magical creatures still lurking in the dark places of the world. OK, so this is a pretty straightforward Armored Sorcerer, combining magical powers with a science-oriented battlesuit. I figure he supplements lasers with light spells, calling on elemental incarnations of the earth to power his super-strength. He's built to battle the fae, in a nod to our site's use of the fae as a serious magical threat, but I could see him as an armored hero who became stranded in some magical realm in happier circumstances - perhaps among the Ptahmen of Duat during some great heroic crisis, who was there long enough to learn from the locals and become even better than he was. He's _smart_, with a peak human intellect and good Quickness, and can whip up inventions, spells, or magical artifacts as needed. He'd potentially be pretty fun to play, albeit a pain in the neck to bookkeep.

Despite his youth, Mark was no rookie - he knew better than to interrupt a colleague when they were presenting themselves. "Let's go," he said in agreement with Blue Fox's words, and within the twinkling of an eye they had reappeared in the Midnight Manor library room where Mark had left Trevor and Erin - by a quirk of magical power rather than muscle, they arrived just as Cannonade entered. "Okay, so are we ready?" he asked, looking at the others with uncommon concern. "Or...or maybe try and figure out who the dead guy is on the way?" he added. Normally Mark wasn't much for research, but three-mile-high corpses weren't really in his usual wheelhouse. He glanced over at the monitor, still displaying the pictures he'd got from Socotra. "Oh, right, the giant dead body!" He related the story to Joe and Eve, with rather less animation and more concern than Mark usually reserved for stories about giants and missing supervillain tyrants.

I would like to spend an HP to activate Frost's Insubstantial 2 as a reaction, Elegy, if that's OK by you. Transforming to an icy cloud will make him immune to physical attacks like a coin-machine gun.

Barbarian Paragon PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 14 + 4 + 14 + 0 + 4 + 4 = 40PP STR 34/24 (+12/+7) DEX 14 (+2) CON 24 (+7) INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 8 + 8 = 16PP ATK: +4 (+7 Melee/+8 Melee) DEF: +10 (+3 Dodge, +3 Dodge, +4 Base, +2 flat-footed) Init: +6 Grapple: +14/+21-+25 Saves: 3 + 3 + 5 = 11PP TOU +10 (+7 Con, +3 Protection) FORT +10 (+7 Con, +3) REF +5 (+2 Dex, +3) WILL +7 (+2 Wis, +5) Skills: 52 r = 13PP Climb 3 (+10, SM) Handle Animal 8 (+10, SM) Intimidate 12 (+14, SM) Knowledge (Tactics) 5 (+5) Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) 5 (+5) Languages 4 (Akkadian, Arabic, English, Hebrew, Base [Ancient Egyptian]) Notice 3 (+5, SM) Sense Motive 3 (+5) Ride 3 (+5) Survival 3 (+5) Swim 3 (+10) Feats: 25PP Attack Focus (Melee) 3 Challenge (Fast Startle) Dodge Focus 3 Fearless Improved Block Improved Crit (Unarmed) 2 Improved Disarm Improved Initiative Leadership Luck 2 Master Plan 2 Move-By Action Power Attack Skill Mastery (Climb, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Notice) Startle Takedown Attack 2 Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 45PP Container 9 (Divine Empowerment) [45PP] Enhanced Feats 7 (Attack Focus [Melee], Beginner's Luck, Dodge Focus 3, Eidetic Memory, Jack of All Trades) [7PP] Enhanced STR 10 (to STR 34/+12) [10PP] Impervious TOU 10 (Flaw: Limited [Physical Only]) [5PP] Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9PP] Paragon Array 4 (8 pp, PFs: Dynamic, Dynamic Alternate Power 1) [11PP] DBE: Flight 1-4 (10-100 MPH, 10-1000 ft per move) {8/8} DAP: Super-Strength 1-4 (Effective STR 39/54, Heavy Load 3-22 tons) {8/8} Protection 3 [3PP] costs abilities 40 + combat 16 + saves 11 + skills 8/32 + feats 25 + powers 45 = 150 pts ----------------------------------------------------------------- Design Notes: Black Adam has always been one of my favorite Fawcett/DC characters, and so I thought I'd take a stab at building a PL 10 version of him for the Freedom City setting. I built him with the idea that he is Conan the Barbarian with the powers of Superman; a powerful paragon with a few unusual abilities who just so happens to be one of the deadliest men alive even without the benefits of his superpowers. I had to cut some corners in the usual paragon mix; he's not quite as tough internally as some of his peers and can't go quite as fast as them - but he surely was a living god walking the Earth in the Old Testament times from which he essentially hails. He's grumpier than your usual paragon, but makes up for it with sheer combat prowess, both in personal combat and as a leader of a team. His allies may think he needs to lighten up a bit, but they know he can get them where he needs to go. Imbued with the wisdom of the gods, he can at least try his hand at most skills, though being behind on current events would be a solid complication for him. Perhaps he's been sealed away in a wizard's trap lo these many millenia; or maybe his patron pantheon withdrew their support at a critical moment and cast him into the outer darkness when they thought he seemed too haughty. Stripped of some of the Iron Age violence of Black Adam's story, I think this works fine as an ancient hero cast ashore in the modern era, one far away indeed from the lost world that he tried so hard to protect - ready to build a new life in a new one! I've built him as an Egyptian champion along the lines of Black Adam, perhaps an early opponent of Set, but you could build him as a Norse, Greek, or similar 'classic' champion just fine. He could easily be a champion of Guinee as well, albeit one with a more recent history than the Bronze Age heritage I've built this guy as. That would give a whole new meaning to "Black" Adam...

"I have been an Omegadrone since the day I was broken within a doomforge," replied Steve, his tone flat enough that it sucked the drama a more emotional man might have put into the words. "Even your most advanced science has been unable to remove the armor enfolded beneath my skin. Nor should I ask them to. I will be what I am until I am no more." The words rang with rhythm, like spoken poetry, something turned over and over in the speaker's mind like a precious stone. A train whizzed by, fast, a flash of light in the comparative darkness of the station. "There was a battle in the Terminus," he finally said. "I was freed by a...stroke of fate. It has not been reproducible." Guilt shaded the last sentence and darkened Steve's brown complexion slightly, shading along his scars. "It was thought better to keep this reality a secret. There are those who would take the news of an Omegadrone among them with fear, and those who would learn that one had been freed...and die, trying to free others."

"Certainly," said Irons equitably, the look on his face that of a tense, worried physician. "You run on back to your momma, boy. She's looking for you." Charlie III shot Miss A another wide-eyed look before he turned and headed back into the house with alacrity. As he left, Irons turned back to Miss A. "I still can't believe Suri was a Grue this whole time. I can't imagine what kind of damage he might have done in the short time he had. I checked for any sign of alien DNA on the Evans, but all I have is the cheap little litmus paper that Atomtech makes. I've never even used it before today." Glancing around at the life piled on the lawn, he said, "We had to clear the household out when the extended family started movin' in. There just wasn't room with all of Mother Evans' junk piled everywhere. No place for the family at all. She's got a real hoarding problem...or did before all this started. You're welcome to look her and Mister Evans over," he offered, gesturing back to the house. --- Suddenly, from out of the cloudy sky over Cavalier and Cobalt Templar's heads, two figures swooped down onto the scene. One was a dynamic woman in what looked like a dark blue leather flight suit, rainbow wings stretching from her back as she made a fast circle in the air above the two heroes. Concerned by this development, the Archtechnicians were moving to the shelter of their vehicles when the second figures approached, the fantastical figure of what looked to be a flying man in a train engineer's costume. "Howdy, folks," said the man, "My name's Casey Jones, and this is my colleague Stormchaser. We have reports of some alien activity here in Blackwater, and you fellas are about as alien as they get around here. You mind explaining what you're doing?" It wasn't a threat, really, but it certainly had some weight. "Aw, shoot, Casey!" exclaimed Stormchaser, "these fellas don't look like they're doin' no harm! Maybe they'uns is just here to catch the Grue guys too! Man, we had a mess of trouble with them back a few years ago out here and the Barnstormers have been keepin' an eye out ever since. C'mon, Casey," she gestured, "this one's another Star Knight! You know how much those fellers hate the Grue!" ---- It didn't take long for Steve to realize the tactical error he'd made - he could rip his way through the thin steel and aluminium of this plane with his bare hands, much less his armored Omegadrone flesh. But for the moment he was trapped on the runway, with no ability to leave without betraying his presence to the people inside. He was suspicious of some of them, the group inside the body of the plane growing strangely quiet even as they worked closely together, but so far he'd seen nothing to actually attract his suspicions. He thought of Gina, somewhere stored away in the cargo hold perhaps, and wondered if she knew just how many times he'd failed on this adventure. Until suddenly there was a knock at the secondary airplane door, firm and insistent. After the recent 'near-miss' with the fueling truck, the people aboard were evidently ready to have it out with those outside. Annoyed, one of the Archetech staffers opened the door with a call of "Who's there? This is a medical evac fli-" a moment before a man in a navy-blue bodysuit burst into the plane and sent the staff member hurling aside with a blow from a long silver staff!

Shapeshifting Archer Power Level: 10 (150 PP) Abilities: 10 + 10 + 10 + 0 + 4 + 8 = 42 PP Strength 20 (+5) Dexterity 20 (+5) Constitution 20 (+5) Intelligence 10 (+0) Wisdom 14 (+2) Charisma 18 (+4) Combat: 18 + 16 = 34 PP Attack: +9 (+15 Ranged) Defense: +15 (+8 Base, +7 Dodge Focus), +4 Flat-Footed Initiative: +5 Grapple: +14 Knockback: -2 Saving Throws: 2 + 3 + 5 = 10 PP Toughness: +5 (+5 CON) Fortitude: +7 (+5 CON, +2) Reflex: +8 (+5 DEX, +3) Will: +7 (+2 WIS, +5) Skills: 60r = 15 PP Acrobatics 10 (+15, SM) Bluff 11 (+15, SM) Disguise 1 (+5/+25) Drive 5 (+10) Languages 2 (German, Russian, Base: English) Notice 8 (+10, SM) Pilot 5 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10, SM) Stealth 10 (+15) Feats: 22 PP Acrobatic Bluff Attack Focus (Ranged) 6 Challenge (Fast Acrobatic Bluff) Dodge Focus 7 Evasion Improved Ranged Disarm Power Attack Precise Shot Ranged Pin Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Bluff, Notice, Stealth) Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 17 + 10 = 27 PP Device 4 (Collapsible Longbow, Flaw: Hard to Lose, PF: Subtle) [17PP] Arrow Array 7.5 (15 pp, PF: Alternate Power 1) [16DP] Blast 5 (Extra: Autofire) {15/15} AP: Damage 5 (Extras: Selective, Targeted Area [Cone], Flaw: Action [Full]) {15/15} [/array] Enhanced Feat 1 (Improved Ranged Disarm) [1DP] Ranged Supremacy 3 [3DP] Morph 4 (any humanoid, PFs: Covers Scent, Precise) [10PP] Abilities (42) + Combat (34) + Saving Throws (10) + Skills (15) + Feats (22) + Powers (27) - Disadvantages (0) = 150 PP ------------------------------------ Design Notes: Combining Jennifer Lawrence's two big 'superhero' roles, here's a pretty straightforward Mystique/Katniss mashup that combines the unerring archery talents of a sharpshooter with the infiltration talents of a shapeshifter. She can sneak around in disguise, hide if her cover is blown, and then unleash a devastating barrage of arrows from her sneakily collapsible longbow. With her Acrobatics, Bluff, Stealth, and Morph, there's really no reason she shouldn't be catching her opponents flat-footed almost all the time and thus Power Attacking them to the best of her ability. She could use some more mobility, so consider investing in some Wall-Crawling or Slow Fall to represent grapple guns built into her wrist shooters. She's PL 7 in melee without her bow, which means she can fight elite mooks hand-to-hand but will be in trouble when she's doing it. In combat, she could stunt a Mighty Strike or Enhanced Strength off her Morph Array, or maybe even Attack Focus: Melee to represent rearranging her muscles to deal with hand-to-hand combat. (Hmm, perhaps doing that is why she generally fights in melee in her native form! Interesting, interesting...) She could use some Concentration to keep her Morph up even when stunned. You could represent her Morph with Shapeshift, but this way she's a much better sneak! Another way to go might be to give her some immunities (aging, disease, etc) to reflect an ever-evolving shapeshifting form. With her skills and abilities, she could have a lot of backgrounds - thief-turned-hero, government spook turned same, or maybe a low-level mutant who supplemented her respectable, albeit modest, powers with strong training and devices.

Simian Infernalist "Beware the beast, Man, for he is the Devil's pawn." Attributes: 6 + 2 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 = 32PP Strength: 24/16 (+7/+3) Dexterity: 12 (+1) Constitution: 20/16 (+5/+3) Intelligence: 16 (+3) Wisdom: 16 (+3) Charisma: 16 (+3) Combat: 12 + 10 = 22 PP Attack: +5/+7 Unarmed/+9 Goetic [+6/+8 Unarmed/+10 Goetic] Defense: +9 (+3 Dodge, +2 Shield, +2 flat-footed) [+5] Initiative: +1 Grapple: +18 Knockback: -5/-3/-1 Saving Throws: 5 + 5 + 5 = 15 PP Toughness: +11 (+3 Con, +2 Growth, +2 Defensive Roll, +4 Force Field) Fortitude: +8 (+3 Con, +5) Reflex: +6 (+1 DEX, +5) Will: +8 (+3 WIS, +5) Skills: 56r = 14 PP Climb 12 (+15) Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 2 (+5) Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) 12 (+15) Intimidate 12 (+13/+15) Language 2 (Aramaic, Latin, Base [English] Notice 7 (+10) Sense Motive 7 (+10) Stealth 0 (-2) Survival 2 (+5) Feats: 8 PP Attack Specialization (Unarmed) Defensive Roll Dodge Focus 3 Ritualist Startle Uncanny Dodge (olfactory) Powers: 3 + 2 + 4 + 13 + 27 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 3 = 59 PP Additional Limbs 2 (feet like hands, Power Feats: Innate) [3PP] Comprehend 2 (speak to and understand animals (Flaw: Limited 2 [simians]) [2PP] Force Field 4 (shield of Kimaris, Extra: Linked (Force Field) [+0], Flaw: [Dodge Bonus]) {2} + Shield 2 (Extra: Linked (Force Field) [+0]) {2} {2+2=4PP] Growth 4 (Extra: Duration (Permanent) [+0]; Power Feat: Innate) [13 PP] Strength +8, Constitution +4, Attack -1, Defence -1, Grapple +4, Intimidate +2, Stealth -4, +5' speed, +5' reach, +5 Strength for carrying capacity only [heavy load: 1200 lbs] Goetic Array 11 (22 PP, PFs: Accurate, Alternate Powers 4) [27PP] BE: Blast 11 (flames of Flauros, PFs: Affects Insubstantial 2) {22/22} AP: Damage 10 (breath of Focalor, Extra: Area [Cone, General], PFs: Knockback 1, Variable Descriptor 1 [air/water]) {22/22} AP: Emotion Control 10 (temptation of Alocer, PFs: Insidious, Subtle) {22/22} AP: Paralyze 11 (curse of Barbas, Extra: Ranged, Flaw: Action [Full], PFs: Reversible, Variable Descriptor 1 [any monster]) {22/22} AP: Teleport 9 (900 ft/anywhere on Earth) (gateway of Dantalion, Extra: Accurate 4) {22/22} Leaping 1 (x2, running long jump 26 feet, standing long jump 13 feet, high jump 6 feet) [1PP] Super-Movement 1 (Swinging) [2 PP] Super-Senses 2 (Acute Scent, Low-Light Vision) [2PP] Speed 1 (10 MPH, 100 ft/round) [1 PP] Super-Senses 3 (Detect Magic 3 [visual]) [3PP] Abilities (32) + Combat (22) + Saving Throws (15) + Skills (14) + Feats (8) + Powers (59) - Disadvantages (0) = 150 PP ----------------------------------------------- Design Notes: A very special Oddball, one I've held in reserve until my recently getting a job. A while back Trollthumper and I were discussing magical gorillas, as one does, and he mentioned he'd kicked around an idea for a gorilla using an Ars Goetia to summon demons. He went with a more sensible Gorilla Druid, a natural enough spellcasting backstory for an animal mage. But what if a gorilla _did_ find a copy of a Ars Goetia left behind by some unlucky Victorian infernalist and did from its magical writings within learn such things, oh my yes? You might get a fellow much like this - a flame-tossing infernalist who can influence the souls of the weak-minded, walk through walls and across the world by fell powers, or even turn men into beasts! I drew the demonic powers from the Ars Goetia, a "little black book" of summonable demons first steered my way by TT. Lots of origins here if you don't like the "wild ape magically empowered" - perhaps he is the mightiest mystic of Gorilla Island, adventuring among the pale and hairless heroes of the wide world in order to battle the demons whose power is so intimately tied to his own. Or maybe he's a dimensional transplant from Earth-Ape, learning that demons are much the same whatever sort of face they wear. Or perhaps he was once a human infernalist who made a terrible bargain for power; though the demon he conjured was warded against taking his soul, it was able to transform him into a great beast and chuckle its way back to Hell. There's always a price to magic, especially the sort that draws on the pits of Hell itself.

"Nope!" said Mark. "It's about three miles long, so it's way bigger than anything anyone at UNISON has ever heard of. Even the old Greenland giants weren't anywhere near that big. It doesn't make a lot of sense, science-wise, but it is a real thing. I'm gonna go pick up our French friend, I'll meet everyone there at the Manor. Our friends there can probably fill you in pretty well. See you later, Joe." And with that, he vanished from Joe's apartment and appeared before the front doors of the Parkhurst Hotel. Mark remembered from previous visits that the local ghost population got really mad if you just popped inside without asking, and sometimes the mystics who worked there got agitated too if you broke their spells and stuff, so rather than risk getting into a fight with Eve's roommates he just stood there in front of the building and dialed Eve's emergency contact number. Her super-emergency contact number. "Hello! It's your good buddy Mark! We have a pretty serious crisis in Socotra we need to deal with. There's a really big corpse floating in the harbor and my girlfriend's dad is missing. Are you free?"

"Fenris: Baron Magnus Katastrof. A man" I know this was a typo, Arichamus, but this is how I will think of him from now on. "Fenris: Baron Magnus Katastrof. A man."

"Yes." There was the sort of silence between them that might have stretched on forever; the former drone like a statue as he looked across the station. The crowd was already thin at this time of day, and it seemed to thin further out now that the two men were sharing the same space. There was a lot of space on the platform; there was no need to too closely approach the now-overstressed bench they shared. Steve seriously considered suggesting that they move, but decided the suggestion lacked a certain gravity given the moment. He would not have understood the pun if it had been explained to him. "My name is Stephen Murdock," the former drone finally said. "I have been living among your people for nearly five years. And before that, for some two or three years as myself, elsewhere."