Avenger Assembled

In the surprise round, Devil Ray shoots Pyre with a barrage of spearheads! I'm using the following stats for him. If you've read LXG, think Nemo's spear machine gun. Have an HP for being the blastee here. Attack vs. DC 13 That hits (it's DC 13 since the Uncanny Dodge-less Pyre is without his dodge bonus). The damage goes up by 2, since it was an Autofire Blast. That's a DC 27 Tou save. He uses his Move Action to fly 50 feet in the air. Init time! Devil Ray goes on 10

The infant fish-monsters were very surprised at the suddenly growing trees, cowering away from them and hiding in the shadows before scampering up to investigate the fruit. They clearly weren't obligate herbivores by any means, and many of them still were eager to eat the hot dogs and sandwich meat they'd stolen, but others eagerly tore into the fruit. Fleur had at least distracted all of them, and was feeding many of the rest. As for Devil Ray, he reacted fast at the sight of the Freedom League member on the scene, cursing and aiming his spear gun at Fleur instead of at the giant devil-man. "Oh, please! You know how many thousands of these things there are down there? Nits make lice, honey, and we all remember what these things do when they grow up. The way I see it, I was doing a little civil service till you and Four-Arms here decided to start something. Well, down where I come from, you don't start none if you ain't prepared to get none!" And then, he suddenly turned and fired a burst of spear-heads directly at Pyre as if out of a machine gun! The spears hit, scoring superficially across Pyre's tough hide while doing no real damage, while Devil Ray took to the air on a column of fire that erupted from the back of his armor!

DC 15 Pop Culture check, and DC 15 Notice check, Cube.

The little fish monsters were very agitated by the sight of the four-armed demon, some of them tumbling over each other in their efforts to get away from the giant monster, others forming up into little hissing teams to scratch and bite at him. Up close, Pyre could see that the little Deep Ones were even smaller than they'd looked on first appearance. While they were menacing enough in a large, hostile group, upon a closer look they were about the size of a toothy, angry-faced toddler. The fish monsters hadn't shown much interest in the glasswares shop where Fleur de Joie had been shopping, but she could get a look at them outside as they stepped into action: while an isolated few had humans pinned down, a group was climbing all over a terrified hot dog stand guy and nipping to see if he tasted good, the majority were focused on a particular few stores: the taffy shop was being mobbed by tiny fish-monsters, as well as the hot dog cart and the street cafe, the little fish monsters devouring their way through the wares inside. And then suddenly, just as Fleur stepped out, a black and red figure in power armor erupted from the ocean to land on the pier just by the edge, one of the fish monsters impaled on the tip of a giant speargun he wielded. "All right, you tasty little bastards, I'll show Orion who the mighty hunter is...oh hey, new guy!" he said, waving to the four-armed demon man. "If you were doing something here, my bad, my bad. You want in on this?"

Fleur, Pyre, and others deal with creatures from below.

Mid-November 2011 Continued from The Meaning of Torture It was a quiet afternoon in Riverside, the pre-Thanksgiving season the last time that the area wouldn't be overrun with tourists and shoppers looking to avoid the various megamarts located outside the city: Freedom City was better than most American metropolises at keeping out big-box stores, but that meant that street-level commercial areas were very, very busy come the holidays. With the summer tourists mostly gone from the wharfside shops, and only a few hardy souls taking in a New Jersey beach in November, the commercial piers were quiet today. Until suddenly, they came. A scuttling horde of green-tinted figures, their scaly bodies looking like piscine versions of human beings, came scampering up the sides of Pier 13, sending the occupants of the local pier shops and the tourists on the nearby boardwalk fleeing! The little fish-things hissed and chittered at each other as they overran a block of shops, a fishy invasion that soon had people fleeing the block. "The Deep Ones are back!"

Midnight: You were right about the cause of death. Someone pinned this girl down, injected poison into her, and then threw her dead body into a high-end deep freeze. But wait, there's more. Appearances aside, this is the corpse of Greta Ratner: the DNA matches, the fingerprints match (good thing Midnight was thoughtful enough to secure those, or have Erin secure them for him, earlier in the day), everything. The face is the same, too, just softer and rounder, and indeed the whole body looks younger. This can't pass for the Greta Ratner of today without the fire, but it could easily have been just how she looked in the past. Indeed, looking back in some unpleasant image searches reveals the truth: This looks like the dead body of sixteen year old Greta Ratner.

TT: There are a decent number of missing blonde teenagers out there, but since Cannonade has to search both NJ (where they are) and ID (where Greta Ratner is from), he can't nail down any specifics. Greta Ratner actually did have a decent-sized family, she's the youngest child and only daughter in a family of seven. She was born on a compound in Idaho; her parents were members of a Christian Identity sect. She actually hasn't seen them in years; she broke off all contact about three years ago: some people thought that meant she was breaking ties with the movement, but actually just the opposite!

Murdock didn't speak, though he did nod at Ellie's approach, his eyes still riveted to the situation before them. He wasn't tense, not really, but all those eyes on a platform where he and his employer stood made him extremely aware and alert of everything that was going on. And there is an unknown enemy out there, one who threatens Mara's life and livelihood all the while. That there genuinely was a secret, lurking threat somewhere in the crowd, or perhaps watching from afar and scheming all the while, was a comfortable thought in Murdock's mind, slotting neatly into his view of the world, even a shining one like Earth-Prime.

"Their security's good," muttered Sharl when he joined the others, still tapping away at his tablet like any other computer nerd. "Claremont good." He wasn't eating either, but he had his own reasons for that. "They don't bother to lock the student accounts down, though. Stupid. Miss Americana would..." He shook his head, then showed the recordings he'd found to the others. "It looks like transformation's on the menu here, whether or not the students themselves know it." He folded his hands before his face the way Miss Americana did sometimes when she was especially deep in thought. He missed the days when he could just send text messages directly to the brains of all his colleagues. "Barring us having the good luck to see someone warp like that, I think we need to get inside that special dorm," he suggested. "See the people that can't function around the others."

APPROVED

Looks like a fun character! Your math at least appears to work okay, but you're right about formatting concerns. Note his Growth-boosted Con as well as his Enhanced Con: CON: 30/26/10. You don't need to say PF Fearsome Presence, just note that those are the Enhanced Feats in that Array slot. I would write this as: You should note what his Effective Strength actually translates to lifting-wise, Heavy Load wise if nothing else. Permanent is a duration, not a power feat. (Note that Permanent Growth does cost as much as Sustained Growth, something you did get right). Note that his Protection is tough hide or what have you, take a look at Ecal's demon build for some formatting ideas. Looks like a good sheet, all in all; just a matter of fixing stuff like that.

Burning Ghost PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 22 pp STR 10 (+0) DEX 10 (+2) CON 18 (+4) INT 20 (+5) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Vengeance Powers) DEF: +10 (+3 flat-footed) Init: +5 Grapple: +6/+20 w/Move Object Saves: 15 pp TOU +10 (+4 Con, +6 Protection) FORT +7 (+4 Con, +3) REF +7 (+0 Dex, +7) WILL +7 (+2 Wis, +5) Skills: 14 pp=56 r Concentration 8 (+10) Craft [Chemical] 5 (+10) Craft [Electronic] 10 (+15)* Craft [Mechanical] 10 (+15)* Intimidate 7/15 (+7/+15)* Knowledge [Technology] 10 (+15)* Notice 3 (+5) Sense Motive 3 (+5) Feats: 12 pp Dodge Focus 4 Eidetic Memory Inventor Second Chance (Concentration checks) Skill Mastery (Craft [Electronic], Craft [Mechanical], Intimidate, Knowledge [Technology]) Speed of Thought Startle Ultimate Save (Will) Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 63 pp Container 9 (Extra: Duration [sustained]) (Burning Ghost) [45 pp] Blast 10 (PFs: Accurate 2, Affects Insubstantial 2) [24+1=25 pp] AP: Move Object 10 (Heavy Load: 12 tons) (PFs: Accurate 2, Affects Insubstantial 2) Enhanced Feat 1 (Fearless) [1 pp] Enhanced Skills 8 [intimidate 8 (to 15 (+15))] [2 pp] Flight 1 (10 MPH) [2 pp] Immunity 7 (Fire Damage, Suffocation) [7 pp] Protection 6 [6 pp] Super-Senses 2 (Acute Scent, Infravision) Gadgets 2 (Hard to Lose; Free Action) [18 pp] cost abilities 22 + combat 24 + saves 15 + skills 14/56 + feats 12 + powers 63 = 150 pts ----------------- Design Notes: Here's my build for the Burning Ghost, a so-far-unexplored Claremont plot hook. The Burning Ghost, the Spirit of Vengeance, was summoned to Freedom City in the 17th century when Lucius Cabot murdered a witch and sold his soul to the Devil for immortality. Unable to attack Cabot directly, the ghost was bound to the land where Claremont itself now stands. When assassins sent by Cabot murdered Constance Vervain, the mystic guardian of the area and wife of the British governor during the Revolution, her husband went mad, possessed by the flaming ghost, until finally he perished in battle with the American heroes who Cabot had successfully framed for his wife's murder. Again and again, the Ghost has returned to empower those looking for revenge; an angry construction worker in the 19th century when St. Thomas Aquinas, the school that once stood where Claremont does now, was being built, then William Warner, a much-bullied student in the 1930s. Only recently has the Ghost been tamed to serve heroic ends; the Iron Age vigilante Hellrider (whose secret identity was a troubled student at the dying Thomas Aquinas) was partner to the Burning Ghost rather than its pawn, a hero in his own grim way in the dark days of the Moore administration. (And precisely because vengeance did not consume him, Hellrider was able to retire safely after the Terminus Invasion, and still runs a motorcycle shop near the area) It's not that hard to imagine a high school student once again becoming host to the flaming wrath of the Burning Ghost, teenagers being notorious for their strong emotions, viciously petty politics, and a thousand other things that can bring forth dark powers. And there's nothing to say such a teenager, if he or she were sufficiently strong-willed, couldn't master that ghost even as Hellrider did in the 1980s, using the power within to fight for justice as a true hero: the time of Lucius Cabot's destruction is coming very soon now, and the Spirit of Vengeance's fury at its centuries of confinement may have lessened with the final promise of justice. The idea I've gone with here is that the Spirit of Vengeance's current host was a teenage gadgeteer, an angry young man or woman with a talent for whipping out just the right gadget in a crisis. With enough strength of character to master the desire for flaming revenge, said student now has powers for reasons that go far beyond just intelligence! (This also gives the Ghost depth, as you don't expect a Ghost Rider expy to be a talented inventor) I've tried to build this as something of a mystic fire controller, since the Ghost's Insubstantial 4 and Affects Corporeal Blasts don't really work if you assume the ghost is a person these days. Without the ghost's empowerment, this build works just fine for a grumpy street-level gadgeteer at a solid PL 7, as it is he's a fine PL 10. The once-grim nature of the Ghost means the new inheritor of the legacy will have lots of Reputation complications to overcome, especially if he or she was something of a delinquent around campus before their new empowerment. The Burning Ghost has generally meant trouble in the area, and even the Hellrider may not be particularly popular with those who remember the bad old days of the 1980s...

Street-Level Archer PL: 7 (105) Abilities: 24 pp STR 14 (+2) DEX 14 (+2) CON 14 (+2) INT 14 (+2) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Bows) DEF: +10 (+3 flat-footed) Init: +6 Grapple: +8 Saves: 18 pp TOU +4 (+2 Con, +2 Defensive Roll) FORT +7 (+2 Con, +5) REF +10 (+2 Dex, +8) WILL +7 (+2 Wis, +5) Skills: 16 pp=64 r Acrobatics 12 (+14) Bluff 8 (+10) Climb 3 (+5) Knowledge (Streetwise) 8 (+10) Language 1 (Spanish) (Base: English) Notice 12 (+14) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Stealth 12 (+14) Feats: 16 pp Acrobatic Bluff Attack Specialization: Bows 2 Defensive Roll Dodge Focus 4 Evasion Improved Initiative Luck Move-By Action Power Attack Precise Shot Quick Draw Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 8 pp Device 2 (Bow) (Hard to Lose) [8 pp] Blast 2 (PFs: Improved Crit 2, Mighty 2, Variable Descriptor 1 [bludgeoning/piercing/slashing]) [9+1=10dp] AP: Speed 1(10 MPH) and Super-Movement 4 (Slow Fall, Swinging, Wall-Crawling 2) cost abilities 24 + combat 24 + saves 18 + skills 16/64 + feats 16 + powers 8 = 105 pts -------------- Design Notes: Here's my build for a street-level archer, just about right for a gritty 'realistic' archer hero who has recently begun his career. This could be a high school student (perhaps the captain of the school archery club) who has just taken up a bow and arrow to fight crime in his spare time, a young man who needs recruitment into a place like Claremont, or perhaps he's an Olympic athlete who has just begun moving into the realm of the superheroic. He doesn't have the many trick arrows of your typical comic book archer, even the more limited selection like more 'realistic' superarchers like Arrowhawk: instead he fires arrows, be they pointy or otherwise, and can put swinglines on some to better get around in the city. So he's not perfectly realistic by any means, but he fits the "gritty, street-level" standard thereof well enough. His saves are great, letting him stand up to some pretty serious threats close to his PL. He's a really good shot with his bow, though like most archers he's in trouble if forced into serious melee combat. Still, at PL 4, he can at least ward off a thug or two until he can evade or retrieve his weapon. (I made it hard to lose to represent having a strap for it or something, or just as a reflection of how strong archers can actually be!) His skills are fine too; he's great at sneaking and feinting, and since Acrobatic Bluff works at range he should be able to power attack most opponents without any worries. His biggest weakness is that he's also pretty vulnerable to being caught flat-footed, and he doesn't really have a good way of fighting groups. He's only 21 pp at character creation for you folks looking for an archer sidekick, preferably not one you will abandon when he's got a problem with drugs. With Ref permission, perhaps this is a new self-styled Arrow, trying to get Bowman's attention to get a job! You can customize him however you want, perhaps adding some wealth and business skills to represent a rich kid with a bow, or maybe some Survival to represent someone raised in a rural setting like a Native American reservation, or even Streetwise to depict a street kid with a powerful weapon! Being an archer is a great niche to fill in comics, and there are plenty of good potential sub-niches out there for the discerning Bowman.

Vampire Weather Controller PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 0 pp STR 18 [10] (+4/+0) DEX 12 (+1) CON n/a INT 14 (+2) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 12 (+1) Combat: 16 pp ATK: +4 (+10 Melee/Weather) DEF: +10 (+2 flat-footed) Init: +1 Grapple: +14/+20 Saves: 10 pp TOU +10 (+4 Protection, +6 Force Field) FORT n/a REF +5 (+1 Dex, +4) WILL +7 (+1 Wis, +6) Skills: 56 r=14 pp Bluff 4 (+5) Concentration 9 (+10) Intimidate 9 (+10) Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 3 (+5) Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 3 (+5) Languages 2 (Romanian, Russian; Base: English) Notice 9 (+10) Sense Motive 9 (+10) Stealth 4 (+5) Survival 4 (+5) Feats: 18 pp Attack Focus: Melee (6) Attack Specialization: Weather (3) Dodge Focus (6) Environmental Adaptation (Stormy Weather) Move-By Action Second Chance (Concentration checks) Powers: 102 pp Feature 7 (Buys Off Sunlight Drawback) [7 pp] Feature 1 (Weather Sense) [1 pp] Flight 2 (25 MPH) [4 pp] Force Field 6 [6 pp] Super-Senses 1 (Uncanny Dodge [tactile]) [1 pp] Weather Control Array [25+1+2+2+2+2=34 pp] BE: Environmental Control 8 (Extra Selective Attack; Flaw: Range [Touch]) (1000 ft) (mix and match) (PF: Precise) [25/25] DAP: Blast 10 (PFs: Precise, Variable Descriptor 1 [any weather]) [22/25] DAP: Damage 10 (Extra: Area [shapeable]; PFs: Precise, Variable Descriptor 1 [any weather]) [22/25] DAP: Move Object 10 (Heavy Load: 12 tons) (PFs: Precise, Variable Descriptor 1 [any weather]) [22/25] DAP: Obscure 8 (Extra: Selective Attack; Flaw: Range [Touch]) (1000 ft) (visual and auditory) (PF: Precise) [25/25] Drain Constitution 2 (Flaw: Requires Grapple) [1 pp] Enhanced STR 8 (to STR 18 [+4]) [8 pp] Immunity 30 (Fortitude Saves) [30 pp] Protection 4 (Extra: Impervious; Flaw: Not Vs. Blessed/Fire/Silver) [4 pp] Regeneration 6 (Recovery Bonus +0, Resurrection 1/week) (Flaw: Source [blood]) [3 pp] Super-Senses 3 (Acute Scent, Darkvision) [3 pp] Drawbacks: 10 pp Weakness (Holy Items; dazed by Charisma check) [-3 pp] Weakness (Sunlight; dead in 1 minute) [-7 pp] costs abilities 0 + combat 16 + saves 10 + skills 14/56 + feats 18 + powers 102 - drawback 10 = 150 pts ----- Design Notes: Here's a build for a Vampire Weather Controller, based on Doc's earlier build along these same lines. (What can I say, it's a classic vampire archetype!) This is a character not directly empowered by her transformation, rather her transformation into a vampire toughened and strengthened her without actually increasing her weather control abilities. I'm a big believer that vampires with superpowers should still be a threat, even just versus minions, even if their powers are nullified: she's a PL 7 vampire if her weather control abilities are nullified, and a fine street-level weather controller if her vampiric heritage is nullified or altered. Unlike Doc's build, she can keep her "weather shield" up without actually dropping PLs: while it's a power and subject to nullification or the effects of being dazed or stunned, it doesn't take away from the force of her lightning bolts or the darkness of her thunderstorms. Depending on descriptors, her weather shield may be the source of some potent complications: being able to walk outside during the day is a potent ability, but a superhero who's constantly causing floods may have some moral issues to grapple with! (If you don't like that idea, maybe she just sets up a cloudy shield overhead). She's a serious threat in melee, at least compared to your average squishy weather controller: this is a weather controller who could easily fight the leader of the underground mutants hand to hand. The way her weather shield works does mean she's really vulnerable to her mutant abilities being nullified, but that's the risk you run when you're a vampire superhero running around in the daylight. She has the 3/pp mix and match weather control variant, letting her drop various effects adding up to 3 pp a rank in up to a 1000 foot radius all around her; not as powerful as typical weather controllers might be, but she does have her formidable vampiric abilities to back it up! I figure her main attack is generally a lightning bolt (as is common with your weather controllers) but she can also hit single targets with focused tornados or anything else she can work in under the rubric of weather: she can do the same all around her, hitting everything near her with a localized storm or other effect to strike down her enemies. She has lots of potential power stunts, look at your typical weather controller for ideas! Note that, as a point-saving measure, her area effects are all centered around her: her Environmental Control and Obscure all form where she's standing. Good thing she's got so much range! Mechanically her Weather Sense is Precognition with (Limited -2 [the weather]) applied. Where did her powers come from? In my mind she's a mutant, and that's why her abilities weren't particularly empowered by her vampiric transformation. Perhaps she was part of one of those gritty teams of adventurers in the 1980s and 1990s, one that went missing around the time of the Terminus invasion and got confused with all its counterparts that bore similar names. But in reality it had been a battle against the lord of the vampires that killed her team rather than her, with only one hero surviving tht last great battle, a torrential downpour smothering the fires in the crypt before they could destroy her as well. Another way is to build in a history as a hero active in another city, one that came to an abrupt end when she moved out and moved across the country. With the rain that follows her everywhere, she might have done just fine as a Seattle hero.

Murdock had seen pictures of the CEO's lover in the security files he'd begun assembling, and of course Ellie had visited Mara during the last stages of the facility's construction: he stepped back like an opening canal gate at her approach, stepping forward again to screen his employer from the press of the crowd, ready at her signal to let through those of the well-wishers who she wished to speak with. A muscular, scarred figure in a security uniform, he was there as the obvious muscle of Mara's guards, a tactical situation he understood only too well. When she signaled she did wish to speak to the people approaching her, he gave way just enough. He had only once or twice imagined himself back on Nihilor, ready to open fire on the proles who approached Shadivan Steelgrave too closely as he addressed them about their doom. It really had been a good start to the day.

"I will," promised 'Caradoc', humor in his voice too at the obvious joke. "Working for HAX has opened me to many new opportunities, even in just the short time I have been there. I was content with my life, but the change has been very...pleasant. If you come around, I will make sure to be part of the tour. Good day, Miss Americana." He flew out from the back alley as was his wont, the many buildings around the Lab concealing his travel. It had been a day for revelations and repair, one he wouldn't soon forget. Indeed, he was already thinking ahead to the future...

He'd already promised not to reveal her secret, but this was the sort of secret that required double reassurances. He knew that, as well as how fatal it would be to pity her, better than most people could have. "I will not reveal anything that I have seen here tonight. You are healer, ally, and friend. I will never betray your confidences, to the very best of my ability." He activated his holographic projector and offered her a shining hand to shake. It was kinder than showing her what lay beneath, even if she already knew.

Harrier shook his head at that, as he always had when Miss Americana offered him something against the pain. "I will be fine. I have experienced discomfort like this before." He studied himself in the mirror. "I shall certainly use my holoprojector for the return trip home. Looking like a different Omegadrone would not serve me even among friends, much less the city at large." He looked to Miss Americana. "I will leave you to your interrupted sleep. Thank you again for all your help."

Harrier respected Gina's evident wishes and spoke nothing of what he'd seen, instead stripping down and armoring so she could look over his outer shell with a professional eye. She was experienced in dealing with his body, and even rattled was easily able to move him from exam table to scanner and back again. Miss Americana found that his worries about his shell were largely misplaced: though there had been significant corrosion to his outer shell, making him look rather like an Omegadrone who had been left out in a field for a few decades, the metal itself was still sound and its internal repairitive processes were ongoing. He'd be fine in a few hours.

Murdock knew something about pity, too. "As you prefer, Miss Americana," he said with a little nod, speaking to the robot since that seemed to be what she preferred. He turned and walked out to the front room, taking a seat that groaned slightly under his heavy weight and thinking back to the dark days of his childhood. He'd seen people broken psychologically a thousand different ways, some of them so badly they simply hid in corners and died alone. Things were different here, though, different enough that someone like Gina seemed to be could be more than she'd been, could be more than a fearful woman in a corner. Like so many things about Earth-Prime, it was glorious. There was no part of him that wanted to dismiss her pain, for all the physical pain he'd seen: he knew better than anyone what inner turmoil truly was.

"Thank you for being honest with me," said Murdock, his own voice flat and straightforward as was his usual style. "You have a fine name. Two fine names. If your work will be finished today, I will return at this time tomorrow so you can perform my examination." His work still needed doing, but he was equally worried about his friend. The look of terror on Gina's face was still in the back of his mind, a fresh layer among many horrors.

"Ah. A mechanism. My concerns are not urgent," said Murdock, weighing his words carefully as he processed the nature of what he discovered. It explained a great deal about Miss Americana, for all that it gave the woman in question entirely new depths. He was not entirely pleased with the discovery, given how he'd avoided learning the secret identities of other heroes, but he supposed this could not be avoided. "I am sorry to have disturbed you while you were working. I will, of course, keep your secret as I would any other." Finally, as she worked, he asked gently, "May I know your name?"

"Yes," agreed Murdock, remembering that conversation all too well. "I was uncomfortable with the deception at first," he admitted, "but I have come to see its wisdom. Even when I choose to show my true face in public, I prefer to have the choice to wear another when I must." He studied her closely, as if for the first time. "You could not have teleported or shapeshifted while sleeping, and I know no one came through that closed door. Is this body a holographic construct as well, like your assistant? Is it malfunctioning today?"

"Miss Americana!" called Harrier, bending over his fallen friend. "You have to tell me what is happening, or I will have to call for help," he told her without hesitation. He wasn't blind to the way she was obviously hiding something, particularly since she hadn't told him the name of the woman in the other room either, as if that was the greatest secret of all tonight. "I cannot help you without the truth. I will keep your confidences as you have kept mine, but I will not let my friend suffer without knowing why it has happened."