Avenger Assembled

She's back, baby

They all made their own individual way up to the party, where what started out as a cheerful society ball in the Germanic tradition soon turned sour. While Trevor and Erin and Ace and Talya both had time to get in a couple of dances, it was increasingly obvious that their Germanic hosts were getting angrier and angrier, and it didn't take long to figure out why. Dr. Sin had shown up, conferred with his aides in their room, and then (as a stealthy reconaissance found) simply left, probably with the help of one of the psionic teleporters known to be in his employ: whether he'd made one of the heroes or simply betrayed his putative allies, the deedwasdone. The Nazis had been stood up, and they didn't look very happy about it. Like the cowards they were, they slipped out too, leaving the Liberty League with the field, the hotel, and a very fine ski slope.

The Gorgon gave a brief, terrible cry and vanished at Ferros' and Miss Americana's attack; both heroes could tell it hadn't been in response to their approach, but rather a reply to Willow's silence. As the Gorgon vanished, the last of the animated plants crumbled away to ash, leaving the heroes with a very disordered square that had taken significant property damage. Thanks to their fast work and their direct engagement of Willow and her minions, they'd avoided deaths, though there were certainly plenty of injured to attend to. As for Willow herself, the Gorgon's final disappearance banished the last of her metal shell: the decaying "Gorgon-look" on her fell apart like so much decaying metal, leaving behind beneath a battered but very much Willow dryad. As Miss Americana took stock of the situation, an armored figure that looked like Daedalus flew down to assist her, but it was Sharl's voice that came from the machine. "Miss Americana! Miss Americana...what happened?" he asked her, his own fears displaced by the tremendous battle he'd missed, bigger even than the fight with the Crime League. "Where can I help?"

So that'd be Subtle 1, not Subtle 2. (Subtle 2 doesn't really make sense for a movement power anyway, as people can see you in motion!)

Trained to target the weak and helpless, Caradoc charged the already-wounded robot, scoring his blade's tip off the armored torso before slicing deep along one of the joints. Better to take it out now and prevent an enemy in their rear than to risk leaving the job unfinished, better to strike fear into any sentient observers taking in the fight. He didn't speak or banter as he had before; combat was for him a time of deadly earnest, and he treated it as such as he engaged the mechanical man. There'd be time for the others. Oh yes.

Citizen demands your smooth jazz!

Looking good. One last question from me: how are you justifying Subtle 2 on his movement?

For a moment, Indira thought she was alone in the garden on her arrival: she could hear no human breathing or footsteps, and sense no such vibrations. All she saw was a laptop computer sitting by itself underneath a park bench, its screen dimmed to avoid casting any glow in the darkened garden. At her approach, the computer snapped to life, Sharl's face filling the screen. He started a bit at the sight of her, but had seen enough of Indira's true form that her face didn't freak him out. "Hey!" he said, his voice a low electronic whisper. "Glad you could make it." He grinned. "Our third will be here in a minute."

Was there anything else you guys wanted to accomplish on the space station?

Does an 18 hit the injured robot? If not, I'll spend an HP to reroll. DC 28 Tou save for it, depending on how much Autofire he hits.

It was, Murdock decided, for the best that Dragonfly would not be his immediate superior. Evidently he still had much to learn about this place and its ways. "In any event, Mara, thank you again for this opportunity," he promised her, his face sober and still. "This is much more than a job for me. This is a chance for me to have a life, and a future that is more than just...existing." He gave her a firm, solid handshake, steeling himself for rejection since he'd already seen she didn't like to be touched: if she did, she found his skin loose on his too-hard bones, as if it had been taken off and reapplied inartfully. "I will not fail you."

Initiative time! Harrier goes on 21 Clown Robot A: 16, Clown Robot B: 12, Clown Robot C: 18, Clown Robot D, 16 The four clown robots have these stats and look like this, there are two at the front door (which Bishop can see if he looks out Melvin's bedroom window, since everyone could hear Caradoc's shout, and two more behind them at the curb.

Genius though he was, Melvin was putty in Bishop's hands at those words. Here was an adult praising his intellect and asking what all his science gadgets did. He was only too happy to show Bishop everything he'd built, all the way from a few simple AIs powering little Tinkertoy dogs that could woof electronically and sniff Bishop's hand, to the homemade computer that was comparable to anything a college kid could make in a collegiate computer lab: and this was a preteen working in secret! As far as Bishop could tell, Melvin had a strong intuitive grasp of computer science and electrical engineering, ranging from parroting words he'd obviously learned off the Internet to casually demonstrating how he'd made his own soldering kit! Melvin's computer wound up being the only downside; much to Melvin's chagrin, his internet connection wasn't working. "It looks like something's blocking the signal!" he exclaimed with a boy's wide-eyed excitement. Downstairs, Arleen frowned at Miss Americana, but she was obviously being won over. "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to try him there for a coupla weeks. I mean, he's already moved around so much, going to another school isn't going to hurt him any. And being at a school where he can learn science and isn't going to drive him crazy _would_ be good..." Without much to add to the conversation, Caradoc was on his feet and listening when he heard footsteps on the porch. He took a few steps, peered through the bars, and exclaimed "CLOWNS!" A moment before a red rubber ball erupted through the barred window and hit him in the chest in a flare of electricity! Though it exploded over his body, the cyberknight looked unhurt by the attack.

"We'll be very careful," Sharl promised Indira, delighted to hear her cautious assent. The prospect of adventuring in the city, particularly alongside his new teammates, was a very exciting one. He wasn't sure exactly where Koshiro had in mind for them to go, but now that they had a team it was just a matter of taking the journey. He was always one up for exploration himself. "Why don't we meet in the, ah, zen garden, they call it, sometime around eleven? They're still rebuilding that, and all the shadows will make it easier for us to sneak around. Once we're all there, we can figure out exactly where we're going."

"Actually, I was hoping we could talk," said Sharl, keeping close company alongside his fellow alien. Her homeworld was much further away than Tronik's new home, but on the other hand the metal shapeshifter was far more of this world than the boy of impulses and programs ever could be. Looking around, he leaned close to Indira and said, "So, hypothetically speaking...would you be interested in doing something more interesting than our homework tonight?" At her look, he said, "You're from far away, I'm from far away. There's a lot to see in this city that's a lot more interesting than our books, if you don't mind bending the rules a little. A lot of students get out and patrol as a group."

Gun-Toting Mutant Vampire From The Future PL 10 (150) Abilities: 22 pp STR 26 (+8) DEX 18 (+4) CON n/a INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+12 Blaster/Unarmed) DEF: +12 (+6 Dodge, +3 flat-footed) Init: +4 Grapple: +14 Saves: 8 pp TOU +8 (+8 Protection) FORT n/a REF +7 (+4 Dex, +3) WILL +7 (+2 Wis, +5) Skills: 13 pp=52 r Bluff 6 (+8/+12) Diplomacy 6 (+8/+12) Intimidate 10 (+12) Knowledge: Arcane Lore 5 (+5) Knowledge: History 5 (+5) Languages 1 (Romanian) (Base: English) Notice 3 (+5) Sense Motive 3 (+5) Stealth 11 (+15) Feats: 17 pp Attack Specialization: Blaster 3 Attack Specialization: Unarmed 3 Attractive Dodge Focus (6) Evasion Power Attack Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge: Auditory Powers: 72 pp Device 4 (Blaster) (Easy to Lose) [12 pp] -Blast 8 (PFs: Precise 2, Variable Descriptor 2 [any energy]) [20dp] Feature 1 (Temporal Inertia) [1 pp] Flight 1 (10 MPH) (PF: Subtle) [3 pp] Immunity 30 (Fortitude Saves) [30 pp] Impervious TOU 8 (Flaw: Not vs. Wood/Silver/Fire) [4 pp] Mind Reading 10 (Flaw: Duration [instant/Lasting]) [5 pp] Protection 8 [8 pp] Regeneration 6 (Recovery Bonus +0, Resurrection 1/week) (Flaw: Source [blood]) [3 pp] Super-Senses 6 (Darkvision, Precognition [Flaw: Unreliable]) [4 pp] Drawbacks: -6 pp Vulnerability (vs. fire) (common, moderate) (-3 pp) Vulnerability (vs. silver) (uncommon, major) (-3 pp) ------------- Design Notes: The vampire plague started small, with a single patient transformed into an undead mockery of life by viral infection, but spread like wildfire: within a few years of its initial appearance, human and metahuman alike had fallen beneath the talons and fangs of the new age. Many went mad from the change and became no better than wild beasts, but others of the newly-dead retained their humanity and realized the danger they were all in: vampire civilization was a corpse bleeding the planet dry, and very soon there would be no human race left, living or dead. Though a blood serum was eventually made, it came much too late and was only a stopgap measure as the last sentient scientists on Earth formed a final, desperate plan as blood ran in the streets all around them. With the clock to human extinction ticking down, you were selected among a group of volunteers, armed with an experimental weapon, and sent back using one of the world’s last time machines (most of the rest having been destroyed to keep the vampires from spreading their taint) to destroy the underground laboratory where the infection had begun. You expected to die in the process; you’d seen enough horrors as the vampire plague spread (and lived long enough with the Hunger) that you had no problem with that. But much to your surprise, you lived! In fact, there was no evidence of the synthetic vampire plague here at all, just research into vampirism that had reached a dead end. But the night was saved, and you weren’t destroyed by the process of saving our future from the plague that killed yours. You’ve even started acting as a hero now, the serum easily manufactured in contemporary labs, and you rest easy most nights. But one thing still bothers you. After all, the fact that you still exist, and that your memories of this era still hold true, suggests maybe you didn’t change as much about the future as you thought. No one knew for sure where the first plague-vampire came from, anyway. They just know it started with a single infected superhero. For double-Iron Age action, here’s a telepathic vampire with a big gun from the future. Woo! He’s an okay shot with his big gun, though less handy with our old-fashioned clunky firearms. He can’t do the big magic tricks of supernatural vampires, but he’s a more realistic (well, sort of) take on vampire powers. That’s why he’s not particularly vulnerable to holy items or magic; while his undead body can be pierced by wood or burned by fire, or poisoned by silver, he has no particular issues with the Almighty. He’s got no Drain Con; he shouldn’t be running around biting people and risking the spread of his infection! (But ever the urge is there, the hunger that only the serum can stave off!) His Precognition is something of a plot device, but his Mind Reading is a solid ace in the hole power that gives him an advantage in investigation and reconnaissance. Feel free to stunt a low-level ESP or some other power off it as necessary, or to sink in power points to make him an effective telepath. For a more realistic yet (again, loosely) take on vampirism, make him more like my Living Vampire build upthread. He’s not really any kind of a leader, but that’s something you could pick up with XP, buying up his Charisma and adding feats like Leadership and Master Plan. You could give him a team of hard-nosed young heroes as his allies if you did that! Note that while this is, well, a pretty Iron Age concept, it’s salvageable here: we’ve had characters with post-apocalyptic backgrounds before and we’ve had vampires before, it’s just a matter of how you finesse it. You don’t need to take this as a grim and gritty time traveler determined to save the world whatever the consequences. If you take this as a man delivered from a world of darkness to a bright and shining world of heroes, a world he is sworn to protect to make sure no dire fate ever befalls them, you get a much better idea of how to play him!

"I'll talk to her tomorrow," said Sharl. He knew Indira didn't sleep, but he didn't want to risk endangering the whole enterprise by wandering onto the girls' floor afterhours. "We're in American Civilization 101 together." Most of the alien students shared that class, along with a smattering of visitors from other places on this gigantic, underpopulated planet, which gave them plenty of chances to talk. Once they'd finished their chat, Sharl let his roommate get some sleep before retreating back to his computer for some actual rest, for all that sleep was tough: finally, some real action, on patrol and more besides! The next morning, as civics class was running out, the electronic teenager scooped up his pen and paper (he'd decided to try and be as much like the locals as possible, even if it meant writing with chemical dyes on wood pulp) and floated after Indira as they headed out onto the leaf-dappled lawn, the fall breeze whistling through his holographic body. "Hey, Indira!" he said. "Where are you going next?" he asked her sociably.

Citizen: Free Action Drop Possession and leave the suit, where Sharl is no longer dazed or staggered Free Action Switch to Affects Corporeal slot in array Move Action Fly into the apartment where Orion in Standard Action Punch him in the face! A crit! DC 28 Tou save, you filthy savage.

"Wait, don't-" At Bastion's punch, Sharl's world went white as he felt his borrowed electronic body shatter and crack beneath the sheer force of the other teenager's mighty blow. He'd never taken a hit like that before while jacking someone's system, and for a moment he expected to wake up back in Miss Americana's laboratory after being fixed up. But when he could perceive again, he could hear Devil Ray cursing and fighting against his own hijacked suit, and hear the sparks and hisses inside from the suit's damaged systems. "I'm in here!" he yelled at Bastion, a moment before a bullet slammed into the other teenager's shoulder. When he didn't look more than scratched, Sharl hesitated a moment before he stepped right out of the armor, his vision clearing once he was out of the suit. "Listen, you fight this jerk, I'm taking it to the sniper." And with that, he turned and flew soundlessly into the air, clipping his way through the apartment wall and confronting Orion directly. "You're shooting superheroes with bullets? Please." And with that, he slugged Orion right in the jaw. "You might as well have a freaking bow and arrow!"

12 Blagah, I'll spend the HP and pass that automatically. Is Orion within flight distance for me?

Get rid of the Mighty Blasts.

Vampire Sonic Controller PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 12 pp STR 20 (+5) DEX 20 (+5) CON - (-) INT 12 (+1) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 12 (+1) Combat: 32 pp ATK: +8 (+10 Sonic Control, +15 Melee) DEF: +14 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +5 Grapple: +20 Saves: 7 pp TOU +6 (+4 Protection, +2 Defensive Roll) FORT - (-) REF +7 (+5 Dex, +2) WILL +7 (+2 Wis, +5) Skills: 52 r=13 pp Acrobatics 10 (+15) Bluff 10 (+11/+15) Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 2 (+3) Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 (+5) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Stealth 10 (+15) Feats: 9 pp Acrobatic Bluff Attack Focus: Melee, Attractive, Defensive Roll, Dodge Focus, Evasion, Power Attack, Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 87 pp Device 2 (Costume; Hard to Lose) (PF: Restricted [Acrobatics +10]) [9 pp] Feature 7 (Buys Off Sunlight Drawback) [7dp] Speed 1 (10 MPH) [1dp] Super-Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2dp] Drain Constitution 2 (Flaw: Requires Grapple) [1 pp] Enhanced Feats 12 (Attack Focus [Melee] 6, Dodge Focus 6) [12 pp] Immunity 30 (Fortitude Saves) [30 pp] Regeneration 5 (Recovery Bonus +0, Resurrection 1/week) (Flaw: [source] Blood) [3 pp] Protection 4 (Extra: Impervious, Flaw: Not Vs. Magic/Silver/Holy) [4 pp] Sonic Control Array 10 (PFs: Accurate, Alternate Powers 2) [23 pp] Blast 10 AP: Damage 10 (Extra: Area [Cone]) AP: Stun 10 (Extra: Ranged, Flaw: Action [Full]) Super-Senses 5 (Accurate Ultrasonic Hearing, Darkvision) [5 pp] Drawbacks: -10 pp Weakness (Repelled By Crossed; dazed by Charisma checks from holy symbols) [-3 pp] Weakness (Sunlight; destroyed after 1 minute) [-7 pp] costs abilities 12 + combat 32 + saves 7 + skills 13/52 + feats 9+ powers 87 + drawbacks 10= 150 pts Design Notes: So there you were, living on your own away from other superheroes for the first time, with just your boyfriend for company. Things were grim and gritty, sure, but it seemed like you could do anything: he with his incredible combat skills and you with your powerful sonic scream. Until the gangsters you were fighting caught you by surprise one day at home, pinning you down and gagging you, delivering you into the hands of a torturer they’d hired at great expense, a specialist from Eastern Europe. He forced himself on you, doing more, and less, than you’d expected, and then he took the gag off afterwards. You weren’t breathing anymore, what was the point? When you screamed, and his body exploded to ash, he looked so very.._surprised_. What did he think, that you were just going to be there, half-naked and covered in your own blood, when your boyfriend kicked down the door to rescue you? For pity’s sake, you’re a superhero! Something you have to remind yourself of now every night that you hear blood swishing in the veins of helpless citizens, every time your screams leave a criminal bloody and helpless at your feet. You’re not just a canary anymore; you’re a bird of prey. All right, here’s a streetwise sonic controlling vampire in the vein of DC’s Black Canary. (Those of you familiar with Mike Grell’s run on Green Arrow will recognize the awful story I’ve tweaked a bit to explain the character’s creation) In a Freedom City setting, she’s probably a Claremont graduate, a Golden Age legacy brutally attacked some years after moving out of town. I figure she’s moved back to Freedom City to get some help for her supernatural condition, subliminating her predatory drives into heroism, taking a serum to suppress her hunger for blood. She's got a costume as a hard to lose device that keeps sunlight off her skin and buys off the drawback. (Perhaps one that gives her more bluff-related feats, its implausible cut distracting onlookers (especially male ones) from noticing just how much the costume actually covers.) Her old boyfriend, assuming he didn’t accept her transformation, is a good potential nemesis, especially since he’s carrying around all those pointy sticks! (Look, I’m not a Green Arrow/Black Canary shipper) She’s a PL 10 hand to hand fighter and great at bluffing and tricking, as befits a beautiful femme fatale vampire, but she’s likely to fall back on her blasts in combat, where she can either seriously hurt individual major threats or just shout her way through a room of thugs if necessary. She can’t be gagged to stop her powers anymore, after all, she doesn’t need to inhale to talk! Mix up her powers as necessary; this could be a vampire with a built-in fireworks display if you prefer, perhaps in the vein (ha-ha) of my Vampire Sidekick build upthread.

Powerhouse Shaman PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 20 pp STR 30 [14] (+10/+2) DEX 14 (+2) CON 30 [14] (+10/+2) INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Unarmed) DEF: +10 (+3 flat-footed) Init: +2 Grapple: +18 Saves: 9 pp TOU +10 (+10 Con) FORT +10 (+10 Con) REF +5 (+2 Dex, +3) WILL +8 (+2 Wis, +6) Skills: 52 r=13 pp Diplomacy 3 (+5) Intimidate 8 (+10) Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 15 (+15) Knowledge (Life Sciences) 5 (+5) Languages 2 (Cree, French) (Base: English) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Survival 3 (+5) Feats: 11 pp Attack Specialization: Unarmed 2 Dodge Focus 4 Power Attack Ritualist Second Chance (Ritualist checks) Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 72 pp Enhanced CON 16 [16 pp] Enhanced STR 16 [16 pp] Impervious TOU 10 (Flaw: Limited [Physical Only]) [5 pp] Gadgets 3 (Hard to Lose) (Extra: Action [Free] to Change) [27 pp] Speed 2 (25 MPH) [2+1=3 pp] AP: Leaping 2 (x5) Super-Senses 1 (Acute Scent) [1 pp] Super-Strength 2 (Heavy Load: 3 tons) [4 pp] abilities 20+combat 24 +saves 9 + skills 13/52 + feats 11 + powers 72 =150 pp ------------ Design Notes: From the pages of Exiles, here’s John Proudstar as Shaman II, the mystic support of Alpha Flight in a universe where the Canadian national super-team is the most prominent super-team on Earth. (The local Wolverine, the field commander of Alpha Flight, is surprised to hear there are universes where he joined the X-Men). The idea is that Proudstar, a mutant powerhouse who grew up facing prejudice as a Native Canadian and mutant both, was recruited to Alpha Flight by the first Shaman during a joint mission between the X-Men and Alpha Flight. (Though it’s not stated outright, I like to think it’s set in the same universe where Wolverine took Cyclops aside and said “Listen, kid, you’ve got a good thing going with that Jean Grey. Don’t blow it.”) Learning magic helped him calm his anger at the world, and now he’s a respected, valuable member of his team and a much-loved man. (Note that in the mainstream universe, John Proudstar died in his first mission with the X-Men as a way of proving that the Giant-Size X-Men were going to be a whole lot more serious than their SIlver-Early Bronze Age counterparts!) The challenge here was building someone who can function plausibly as both a magical consultant and a team brick; he’s something of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none, but he does have a lot of versatility. He’s fast, bulletproof, strong enough to throw a small car in a pinch, and he can reach into his medicine bag and pull out any 15-pp magical effect as a free action: if he needs a really sophisticated Detect Magic power-set, he’s got it, if he needs a ranged attack or something to heal injured allies, he’s got that too. He won’t ever take the place of a real mystic, but he’s certainly extremely valuable to have around. His dual descriptors are a nice bonus too: if he’s put in a mutant-nullifying field he can plausibly whip out a respectable magic effect (perhaps a Touch-Range Technological Nullify) and even if his magic bag is taken away he can still punch people in the face. One possible idea for him is to use his Gadgets to supplement his already impressive melee abilities, transforming him into a mighty, near-unstoppable powerhouse. In the Freedom City universe, this could work just fine as a generic powerhouse who’s undergone a mid-story career change. Maybe he hooked up with a mystic who taught him some magic tricks, or maybe he’s a street mystic who was exposed to gamma radiation and gained mutant powers from all the fallout. Perhaps he was a hero investigating the Labyrinth who was captured and subjected to the DNAscendant process! You could combine the two origins easily enough if you don’t like the idea of someone with magic and mutant powers: perhaps his gadgets are a utility belt and he’s a skilled mechanic in addition o being so strong, or maybe he’s purely magical. Sticking with the Labyrinth theme, this guy works just fine as a minotaur (perhaps a mini-Taurus) who has left behind his bulling days and has decided to fight with cleverness (and magical artifacts he’s manufactured) as much as physical strength!

Dr. Shark PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 40 pp STR 30 [20] (+10/+5) DEX 14 (+2) CON 30 [20] (+10/+5) INT 20 (+5) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 20 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Unarmed) DEF: +10 (+2 flat-footed) Init: +2 Grapple: +20 Saves: 8 pp TOU +10 (+10 Con) FORT +10 (+10 Con) REF +6 (+2 Dex, +4) WILL +7 (+3 Wis, +4) Skills: 68 r=17 pp Craft (Chemical) 10 (+15) Craft (Electronic) 5 (+10) Craft (Mechanical) 5 (+10) Intimidate 8 (+10) Knowledge (Life Sciences) 10 (+15) Knowledge (Technology) 10 (+15) Medicine 12 (+15) Notice 3 (+5) Sense Motive 3 (+5) Survival 1 (+4) Swim 1 (+6/+11) Feats: 13 pp Attack Specialization: Unarmed 2 Dodge Focus 6 Eidetic Memory Inventor Power Attack Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (olfactory) Powers: 52 pp Enhanced CON 10 [10 pp] Enhanced STR 10 [10 pp] Feature 1 (Iron Stomach) [1 pp] Immunity 4 (aging, drowning, environmental cold, high pressure) [4 pp] Impervious TOU 8 [8 pp] Super-Senses 6 (Accurate Acute Extended Tracking 2 [half-speed] Olfactory) [6 pp] Super-Strength 4 (Heavy Load: 12 tons) [8 pp] Swimming 4 (25 MPH) [4+1=5 pp] AP: Leaping 2 (x5) and Speed 2 (25 MPH) costs abilities 40 + combat 20 + saves 8 + skills 17/68 + feats 13 + powers 52 = 150 pts ------------ Design Notes: Here’s Dr. Shark, one of the more appealing members of Wonderella’s supporting cast. Once a respected scientist (and Wonderella’s 10th grade biology teacher), a laboratory accident mutated Dr. Tiberius Shark into a shark-hominid, driving him to the brink of madness and prompting him to declare a mutagenic crusade on the world. Luckily he and Wonderella go way back, though, so she talked him down with just a few casualties that were never referenced again thanks to the series’ usual Negative Continuity. He generally fulfills the role of a happier Curt Conners in Wonderella’s life, acting as her science consultant, occasional ally, and semi-occasional antagonist when he gets bored and slips back into old habits. I’ve tried to build him here as a brilliant, though not super-brilliant, scientist, with a speciality in medicine and the life sciences to set him apart from other gadgeteers; his shark abilities (only occasionally referenced in the strip) make him a decently competent underwater powerhouse. Despite his sharky nature, he doesn’t seem that scary, so while he’s decently intimidating he’s not particularly scary: he’s also no larger than the rest of the cast, so he doesn’t get any ranks in Growth. I’ve got with a humanoid version of the character, but not necessarily one who can pass for human like my Mako build upthread: in my mind he looks more like a Street Shark than his (slightly cartoony) strip appearance: if nothing else, having hands makes it a lot easier to justify a continued career as a scientist! Comprehend Sharks or Aquatic Life would be a valid ability to pick up with earned PP, as would the ability to transform completely into a shark to get around better underwater! (Or, for that matter, all the way into human so he can get around on land without any issues) He's got the feats to be competent in most areas of science and knowledge, and with a little tweaking could have any kind of "smart powerhouse" theme you wanted. He’d fit just fine into a superheroic setting, particularly in Freedom Ciy where the shark-man Megalodon is the local Lizard expy: a scientist constantly tormented by the beast he’s unlocked inside him. Perhaps this is a heroic Megalodon who has finally mastered the dark impulses inside him, or maybe this is another scientist forcibly mutated by the mad Doctor Langstrom to help him in his dark work! (Another possibility, if you want a degree of separation, is perhaps he was trying to recreate the lab accident that made the first Megaladon again, perhaps looking for a cure or to further study the first transformation, before another accident exposed him to the shark serum all over again!) An inner predatory drive is a good complication, as is a mistrust from the community given that they already have dire experience with a shark mad scientist!

Totally Legit Mage PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 40 pp STR 10 (+0) DEX 16 (+3) CON 20 (+5) INT 20 (+5) WIS 18 (+4) CHA 16 (+3) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+8 Staff Array) DEF: +10 (+3 flat-footed) Init: +3 Grapple: +6/+20 Saves: 10 pp TOU +10 (+5 Con, +5 Protection) FORT +8 (+5 Con, +3) REF +6 (+3 Dex, +3) WILL +8 (+4 Wis, +4) Skills: 56 r=14 pp Bluff 12 (+15) Craft (Electronic) 10 (+15) Craft (Mechanical) 10 (+15) Knowledge (Technology) 10 (+15) Notice 6 (+10) Sense Motive 6 (+10) Feats: 7 pp Distract (Bluff) Eidetic Memory Equipment 2 Luck Inventor Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 60 pp Device 2 (Armor of Ages) (Hard to Lose) (PF: Subtle) Flight 3 (50 MPH) [6dp] Impervious TOU 4 [4dp] Device 3(Mystic Robes) (Hard to Lose) (PF: Restricted, Subtle) [15 pp] Protection 5 (Extra: Impervious 4; PF: Subtle) [10dp] Shield 4 (PF: Subtle) [5dp] Device 6 (Staff of Power) (Hard to Lose) (PFs: Restricted 2, Subtle) [27 pp] Staff Array [27+3=30dp] Blast 12 (PFs: Accurate, Improved Crit, Precise) AP: Damage 10 (Extra: Area [Cone]; PFs: Reduced Progression on Area 7) AP: Move Object 12 (Heavy Load: 48 tons) (PFs: Accurate, Indirect, Subtle) AP: Stun 12 (Extra: Range [Ranged]; Flaw: Action [Full]; PFs: Accurate, Improved Crit 2) Gadgets 1 (Hard to Lose; Standard Action to switch) (PF: Subtle) [8 pp] costs abilities 40 + combat 24 + saves 10 + skills 14/56 + feats 8 + powers 60 = 150 pts ---------- Design Notes: A man, a plan, an amazing knowledge of science. You were going to be a superhero! But you needed something to differentiate you from those other gadgeteer guys, something that would make you stand out in a forest of scientific geniuses in lab coats with funny accents. Then, one day, it came to you: magic-type heroes really seemed to be in lately, so you’d style yourself after a wizard of ancient lore. You were sure that magic was just something that ignorant people called superpowers and that mystics were either deluding themselves about the way their powers worked or trying to fool everyone else; you’d always been very good at letting people believe whatever you wanted them to believe (which was great for fund-raising), so why not go on doing it as a hero? Sure, maybe it was a little unethical, but you’d be saving lives and doing good, and if people thought you were just some magic guy they’d never try and steal your dangerous high-tech devices. So you put a tiny portable generator in an impervium-cored rod, mounted a daka crystal at the tip, and you had yourself a ‘Staff of Power’ that let you blast people with lightning or move things around with cunningly-placed diamagnetic waves that just happened to look like magic hands; you took an old flight harness and modified it to look like a magic breastplate, and you ran impervium fibers through a Kevlar robe, charged them with power, and got yourself a bulletproof coat to wear into battle! Now you are, by all appearances, a mighty wizard, if one who doesn’t socialize with his putative peers much, so sit back and enjoy yourself. What could go wrong? Well, obviously a lot, since there is such a thing as magic out there, as you are no doubt going to get an up-close-and-personal demonstration of as soon as someone out there figures out what you’re about. For real fun (as long as everyone’s on board with it), see if you can get yourself on a mystic superteam where you persuade your allies that your magic is just that subtle that you can hide it from mystic probes, and just that powerful that you can blast your way right through nullifying wards. But that’s what complications and the HP that come with them are for; given your massive persuasive abilities you can probably talk yourself out of most bad situations, or at least talk bad guys down until help can arrive. Electricity’s a pretty broad descriptor: check out Doc’s Electricity page on his thread for a good idea of some of the many effects you can power-stunt, at least as long as you can plausibly sell it as some sort of crazy magical effect. Note that with your good INT and Beginner’s Luck, you can roll +5 on any Knowledge, including Arcane Lore, so you’ll have at least an idea of what that demon-looking creature (obviously some resident of a weird parallel dimension) is jabbering about while it throws balls of flaming death at you. Note that ideally this guy will eventually confess his secret to at least his teammates, hopefully before (rather than after) his deception has led them to make a serious mistake in dealing with a magical threat, or even being targeted by same. He’s on the naughty side of heroism, but liar or not, he’s still out there fighting the bad guys and being there for his friends and the world when they need him, and that covers a lot of scars. This build is obviously inspired by Doc’s Electrokinetic Gadgeteer and his Poseur Mage build, whose picture (and very loose concept) I used for the above build. If you change the fluff and feats around, he makes a perfectly fine “mystic with magic artifacts” build, or “gadgeteer with a battlesuit and lightning gun”, for that matter.