Avenger Assembled

It has a TOU of 9; so it's injured.

20 OK, it's injured.

As they are PL 3 soldiers, the pilot and copilot of the middle chopper are unconscious via Takedown Attack. I can't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to hit the chopper too, so: it has TOU 9 and DEF 6, so assuming it gets a 19, your Autofire bonus is just enough to destroy it. I'll say it starts spiraling out of control. Spend another HP to steer it places.

"Even angels have generations," said Heyzel seriously. "The Adversary's fall happened before even my mother was born, and when my aged father was much different than he is now. But Heaven has wars aplenty, as those who would take the glory of love and righteousness for their own have laid siege. But we triumph, as we always do." He admitted, "That's part of what drew me to Earth. This is a place that _needs_ that love and righteousness, one where Good's triumph must be fought and strived for every day."

Citizen goes on 17; Rogue goes on 11 When she goes, Sneak Thief goes on 23

OOC

Continued from >Worn-Out Places The black dots faded, leaving behind them an ominous natural darkness. They were all standing on a cracked concrete floor, the distant sound of rumbling machinery and gunfire echoing in their ears. The air was rank and still with the heat of summer, and the sound of scuttling rats was at least as loud as the noise outside. And inside they were: the room around them seemed to be a damp, ruined basement, with only the broken remnants of stone steps leading up to ground level. As the heroes walked closer to the steps, thin rays of moonlight stabbed through the edges of the ruined ceiling. The bits of rubble shifted and moved under their strides, stirring up full regiments of fleeing rats in their wake. It was Trevor who recognized where they were first, thanks both to his piercing gaze and a sudden, nagging familiarity with the room. They were in the basement of the Rothsteins, the elderly Jewish couple who lived in the same sprawling block of mansions as his grandfather, a convival enough bunch whose main virtue as neighbors was being too busy with their poodle-breeding hobby to worry much about their elderly chemist neighbor and his quiet grandson. Standing in the rubble of their home, looking fresh enough to have been destroyed just a few years ago, it wasn't hard to guess what had happened. For his part, Edge led the way: with a gesture from him there were new stone stairs to climb, and he was up pushing open the door to gaze out at the scene outside. And what a scene it was: three night-black helicopters were whizzing by overhead, making a beeline for the shape of a very familiar house, leading the way behind a half-dozen armored vehicles coming out of a darkened city with a broken skyline lit only by searchlights. The Nazis were out in force tonight, and they were heading straight for the Midnight Manor. The helicopters were going to be in range of the Manor in seconds...

With questions answered, and the situation explained, talking cat and cosmic reality warper seemed satisfied with the quality of the team they were sending off to save all of reality from the Terminus. Mark hated to leave like so, so fast, but it wasn't as if they were going on a pleasure cruise: the multiverse itself needed saving. They weren't just preventing a possible destruction, they were making an actual destruction never take place. "We've been to Erde before," Mark commented, shooting a glance at Erin. "And I've talked to Hope about it a lot. I don't know what 1953 was like there, just that the early 50s were...a rough patch. We'll do all we can." --Then it's settled. Richard?-- With a final look from Rick, a smile that was only for Mark, the sidekick-turned-reality-warper waved his hand and suddenly the world around Young Freedom vanished beneath a black tide of inky dots, the last they saw Travis turning his back on his friend's fallen son to keep his eye on Trevor as they all vanished. END OF PART TWO Continued in >The End Of The Beginning

"I've never tried going out into space," Edge admitted. "At least, not without teleporting. Unless I really push my powers hard, I can't survive in space alone, and that's not a risk I'd want to take just for the sake of experimentation. So far I've been able to go anywhere on Earth I want, or at least anywhere I want to go. The biggest trip I've ever taken is here to Dakana, which is about 8000 miles." He hmmed. "As for what it looks like, these multi-colored dots swoop down and cover everything, and then I'm there. It's like things are breaking down into ink blots around me, and then reforming into wherever I'm going. From the outside, though, it looks like I'm the one breaking up."

"I'm on it," agreed Sharl, stepping out the door of his 'room' and into the network of cables and patches that he recognized as the hospital's computer system, looking a bit like an empty neighborhood full of the red cross-symbols that they used in hospitals in the 'real world', each building shaped like some part of the hospital's own network: a building full of simulated kids for the pediatric ward, one full of boiling tubes for the labs, and many others. He took to the air, speeding along as fast as he could in Tronik towards a disrupted area he could see a few 'miles' away. In a few seconds, less from the perspective of anyone on the outside, he'd be stopping the hacker who was invading the hospital's systems, and then he'd be out helping Dragonfly deal with the bad guys who were greedy and selfish enough to endanger the life of poor little Eira. At least, that's what he thought. To his enormous surprise, Sharl found there was someone else 'there' in the system with him: a young woman in her early twenties, black hair cut spiky short, wearing a black leather outfit and mirrored sunglasses that he immediately recognized. They stared at each other in shock for a moment, hero and villain interrupted in their work by mutual recognition. As it happened, Sharl spoke first. "Who...who are you!?!" Pushing back her glasses, his other stared at him with bloodshot eyes. "Call me Rogue. And you?" They made quick introductions, Sharl pegging her at not too far from his own age. "Son of a bitch, not even the best programmers get the outfit and accent right. I didn't expect to see anyone else from back home here. Where are you from?" "Sector 30..." Sharl frowned, thinking about how fast this conversation would be taking place outside. Surely they had at least a few seconds to talk. "How did you get out here? I thought I was the only..." "Twenty-five years to find a backdoor, Citizen. You think you're the only one who got curious?" She grinned crookedly. "Shame we have to meet like this, though. If this is your home system, I'd shift out into the Army base upnetwork. It's about to get unliveable in here." Suddenly her grin didn't look so cute anymore. "Look, Rogue, I don't know what you're doing here," said Sharl, thinking fast, "or who you're working with, but this is a hospital. There are sick people here, and my friends and I are trying to help upload a little girl into the network before she dies. If something goes wrong..." "Don't you get it, kid?" asked Rogue, who definitely didn't look cute anymore as she put her glasses back on to hide eyes that had started to twitch. "That little girl, your friends, things on the outside? They don't matter. None of this matters. The real world is in here: it's information, it's money, it's pure electricity. The people I'm working with only matter to me because they make sure I get a clean system at the end of the day." She flexed her fingers. "Now if this is going to be a thing in here, I'll stay out of whatever subsystem you're in. But that's because we're kin. All the other people here, they're ghosts, do you hear me? I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you and your friends are too busy saving your little girl to stop us from doing what we came here to do. You hear me?" "...yeah. Yeah, I hear you." Citizen raised his fists, hovering in in the air as he took a position to block Rogue's access from the rest of the system. "Let's go."

Minority Hero PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 48 pp STR 30 [20] (+10/+5) DEX 16 (+3) CON 30 [20] (+10/+5) INT 12 (+1) WIS 20 (+5) CHA 20 (+5) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Melee) DEF: +10 (+3 flat-footed) Init: +3 Grapple: +20/+23 Saves: 5 pp TOU +10 (+10 Con) FORT +10 (+10 Con) REF +6 (+3 Dex, +3) WILL +7 (+5 Wis, +2) Skills: 60 r=15 pp Bluff 10 (+15) Diplomacy 10 (+15) Intimidate 10 (+15) Knowledge: Civics 4 (+5) Knowledge: History 4 (+5) Languages 1 (Sioux) (Base: English) Notice 10 (+15) Sense Motive 10 (+15) Survival 1 (+6) Feats: 22 pp Attack Focus: Melee 4 Dodge Focus 4 Inspire 5 Interpose Power Attack Startle Takedown Attack Taunt Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 36 pp Enhanced CON 10 [10 pp] Enhanced STR 10 [10 pp] Impervious TOU 8 [8 pp] Speed 1 (10 MPH) [1 pp] Super-Strength 3 (Heavy Load: 6 tons) [6+1=7 pp] AP: Leaping 6 (x100) costs abilities 48 + combat 24 + saves 5 + skills 15/60 + feats 22 + powers 36 = 150 pts Design Notes: Here’s a Bronze Age-style Minority Hero: the sort of character that well-meaning white liberal comic book writers were churning out left and right in the late 1960s and early 1970s when they were trying to appeal to minority audiences, or at least to white liberal readers who wanted to feel like their comics were appealing to minority audiences. He’s an upright, inspiring powerhouse who’s a champion of his people and their interests against the Man who wants to keep them down: a complete inversion of all the old cliches about his minority group. I went with making this a Native American champion, but his brethern back in the day were black, female, gay, or who knows what else. Of course, that also means he’s part of all kinds of new cliches, the sort that tend to come across as painfully patronizing to modern readers. (i.e., black heroes are all streetwise ex-cons and say things like “Sweet Jive Turkey!”, while Native American heroes all are preachy environmentalists who get their powers from the Great Spirit) They may well have some frankly ridiculous or racist costumes, too. So mix those cliches up a little! Make a black PC from the suburbs who got involved in social justice movements in college; make a Native American PC who thinks magic is just superstitious nonsense designed to keep people down on the Rez. Make being a ‘credit to his race’ something that’s a conscious goal of his, but not something that defines his character: like it or not, he’s going to be judged for who and what he is, so he can do his damnedest to show that world that what he is is in fact a superhero. There’s still plenty of racism and injustice even in a basically nice setting like Freedom City, so a populist champion of the people is bound to have a niche to fill. Just, you know, don’t be an obnoxious didact telling minority groups how they should live through your superhero character. Playing these cliches without sounding ridiculous is a tough challenge, but not an impossible one. He's the domestic cousin of the Well-Meaning International Hero from upthread, and vulnerable to many of the same problems. As written, this guy is a tremendous leader with a formidable force of personality. He can’t quite go toe-to-toe with the big powerhouses, but he can almost certainly scare them or rile them up in combat enough to make a serious mistake. He’s effectively bulletproof and can rule the streets (or Rez) that he defends against street-level opponents without any serious problems. He’s also really hard to catch flat-footed himself, thanks to his very high Notice and Sense Motive: he’s canny enough that he’s not going to be taken out by just anyone. He’s street-level, but he can bring a lot of force to bear: his best bet is to get his enemies flat-footed by telling them off, then socking it to them with a Power Attack. He’s a strong guy who can actually fight! With Inspire backing up his allies, he’s a great guy to have on a street-level superteam. This character is all about acknowledging some cliches while discarding others entirely: in other words, he’s the perfect fit for a game like ours!

Fusion 2.0 PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 46 pp STR 30 [16] (+10/+3) DEX 16 (+3) CON 20 (+5) INT 24 (+7) WIS 20 (+5) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 16 pp ATK: +4 (+10 Melee) DEF: +8 (+2 flat-footed) Init: +3 Grapple: +30 Saves: 8 pp TOU +12 (+5 Con, +7 Protection) FORT +7 (+5 Con, +2) REF +7 (+3 Dex, +4) WILL +7 (+5 Wis, +2) Skills: 56 r=14 pp Computers 8 (+15) Craft: Electronic 8 (+15) Craft: Mechanical 3 (+10) Knowledge: Life Sciences 3 (+10) Knowledge: Technology 8 (+15) Notice 5 (+10) Perform (piano) 5 (+5) Sense Motive 5 (+10) Survival 5 (+10) Swim 6 (+9) Feats: 15 pp Attack Focus: Melee 6 Dodge Focus 4 Environmental Adaptation (underwater) Inventor Power Attack Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 51 pp Device 13 (Octo-Suit) (Hard to Lose) (PF: Restricted [DNA lockout]) [53 pp] Additional Limbs 2 (PF: Innate) [3] Elongation 4 (50 ft) (Flaw: Arms Only) [2] Enhanced STR 14 [14] Flight 4 (100 MPH) [8+1=9] AP: Swimming 8 (250 MPH) Immunity 8 (all environmental conditions, disease, poison, suffocation [all]) [8] Impervious TOU 8 [8] Protection 7 [7] Super-Senses 3 (Darkvision, Radio) [3] Super-Strength 4 (Heavy Load: 12 tons) (PF: INK’D!) [9] Immunity 1 (Drowning]) [1 pp] Drawback: -4 pp Normal ID (full round to don suit) (common, major) 4 costs abilities 46 + combat 16 + saves 8 + skills 14/56 + feats 15 + powers 55 -drawbacks 4= 150 pts ----------------- Design Notes: Lois Collier never meant to be a superhero. Though traveling to new places and meeting new people was interesting, frankly her mother's other line of work always seemed like a terrible hassle. Her relationship with her mom, though always solid at its core, was rocky enough that she didn't plan to ever imitate her either. The fact that she hadn't inherited her mother's octopoid mutation solved that problem for her, or so she thought: after all, with no powers, how could she be a hero? Instead she went into the sciences, working with marine scientists to help construct the new generation of underwater technology that marked the 2030s and beyond. Her pride and joy was the Octosuit, a multi-limbed suit of underwater power armor that let its wearer swim as fast as an airplane could fly, carry heavy loads, and do the work of ten underwater. She was in the middle of a test run in the mid-Atlantic when the Atlantean pirates attacked, and the armored scientist came to the defense of herself and her colleagues, pummeling the Deep Ones with her fists and lashing them with her long, whipping tentacles. Pictures made it out to the Net, of course, and within days talk of the new underwater heroine was all over the media. Lois was a little put off by this at first; having inherited her mother's brusqueness without Joan's social savvy, she was a little rough around the edges to be some team's favorite gadgeteer. With the solid build of a roughneck, she doesn't really have the looks you'd expect for a big publicity superhero, either. Instead she's a solo heroine, as her mother was through most of her career, a scientific adventurer in the fantastic worlds found just beneath the waves. Even the Atlanteans haven't found all there is to know down here, and the second Fusion has her mother's drive to learn everything she can about the world around her. Balancing her scientific career with her new heroing work is quite a challenge, but the Collier women have never backed down before, especially when there's a fight in the offing! OK, here's a build for an aquatic battlesuit constructed with an octopus theme. The lady inside is smart and in good shape for a battlesuit wearer: she's also had the good sense to have a rebreather surgically installed in her nose (thank the high tech of the 21st century for that) so that she's not totally screwed if she's dumped out of her suit while in the ocean. (OK, she's screwed, sure, but she's not gonna drown) I went with making this build a good fighter, but you should expand on that: If she is an aquatic scientist turned hero, she's probably going to want some Communication and some more Super-Senses: if she sticks with the octopus theme, some Regeneration and Concealment would also make a lot of sense. The INK'D PF is discussed in my Octopus Hero build, it's basically a Cone Area Visual Dazzle (with the Action flaw) as a Super-Strength PF. She can handle herself fine if washed up on a desert island. With her aggressive personality, she could definitely use some Intimidate and Fearless!

Sovem: Non-finished sheets go in Character Building, not the Bank. Just glancing it over, I'd put those points into your abilities and saves. Lucid would much rather get a PP for his physical weakness complication than just get beat up all the time because of crappy exotic saves.

Balder PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 66 pp STR 24 (+7) DEX 24 (+7) CON 24 (+7) INT 10 (+0) WIS 20 (+5) CHA 24 (+7) Combat: 16 pp ATK: +4 (+8 Melee) DEF: +8 (+2 flat-footed) Grapple: +15 Init: +7 Saves: 5 pp TOU +12 (+7 Con, +5) FORT +10 (+7 Con, +3) REF +7 (+7 Dex) WILL +7 (+5 Wis, +2) Skills: 52 r=13 pp Acrobatics 8 (+15) Diplomacy 8 (+15) Intimidate 8 (+15) Knowledge: Theology and Philosophy 5 (+5) Language 3 (Hebrew, Latin, Old Norse) (Base: English) Notice 5 (+10) Perform (contrabasson) 5 (+12) Sense Motive 10 (+15) Feats: 14 pp Acrobatic Bluff Attack Focus: Melee 4 Distract (Diplomacy) Dodge Focus 4 Move-By Action Power Attack Startle Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 36 pp Comprehend 3 (speak and understand all languages simultaneously) [6 pp] Flight 3 (50 MPH) [6 pp] Immunity 10 (aging, life support) [10 pp] Protection 5 [5 pp] Regeneration 1 (Resurrection 1/week) (PFs: Persistent, Regrowth) [3 pp] Strike 5 (PFs: Mighty) 'holy weapon' [6 pp] costs abilities 66 + combat 16 + saves 5 + skills 13/52 + feats 14 + powers 36 = 150 pts ------ Design Notes: From a possible (well, technically) future where Freedom Angel and Thrude decide to settle the differences between their respective Godheads the old-fashioned way (i.e., sexually), here's Balder. He's named for his late uncle, the Norse deity who got shoved into the Jesus-role in most of the post-Christianization chronicles of Scandanavia, when the newly Christian chroniclers were looking for a Jesus figure to shove into their mythology. (Our knowledge of traditional Norse religion only dates from the period after the local kings began to Christianize (most of which are deliberately melodramatic mythological accounts) along with a very few records made by Christian missionaries in the days when they were busy warring with their neighbors in order to persuade them to convert: imagine if our only knowledge of Christianity was, say, the Charlie Brown Christmas special and the works of Ibn Battuta, and you might have some idea of how weird that makes the historical record! He's a pretty badass dude: he flies around on his giant wings, smites the unholy with his huge flaming sword, and has a tremendous force of personality, just as the offspring of an angel and a Norse god should. As Shaen did with Thrude, I made it so that even with most of his powers suppressed, he'll be one hell of a surprise for anyone expecting a powerless superhero to be a pushover. He's a natural for Inspire: as is you'll need to stunt it off his Strike, but it's definitely something to think about buying with PP. I gave him those languages figuring that again, even without his powers, those are things with which his background would make him familiar. He's as good a diplomat as he is a warrior, as befits someone with his background. He'd make a great faceman for any group, and a natural fit into any kind of divine background. The Christianization of Scandanavia, like most stories of Viking times, is a story of violent bloodbaths and counter-massacres: one infamous story involved ensuring the Christianization of Sweden by catching the pagan king and his followers in his great hall, locking the doors, and burning them all alive. Hey, it gave their leaders a lot of advantages in their relationships with the rest of the world: Christians had states, and the new kings wanted states to break the power of their nobles. (Scandanavian history makes a lot more sense when you realize that these are the biker gang hillbillies of the Dark Ages, carrying out their blood feuds and vendettas like any modern street gang). Being a Christian in Viking times didn't mean you were a coward or a pacifist, as many a worshipper of the old gods found out when Olaf from the next valley over came by to ax them if they'd heard the good news.

"I was followed on ML1," replied Rick in response to Cobalt Templar's question, not looking in anyone's particular direction. "I wasn't able to see by who. But there's no significant Terminus activity there, and even less on CF2. As for Erde, this is the first Terminus activity anyone's ever detected there. Your Nazi overlords will be the toughest fight there. EZ1 is right on the edge of Terminus space these days." He spoke tiredly, and without much emotion. "My guess is, it would have been destroyed entirely by now if Omega wasn't using it for all this. That's where you'll have the most trouble with his people."

Wonderella PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 20 pp STR 30 [14] (+10/+2) DEX 16 (+3) CON 16 (+3) INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Unarmed) DEF: +10 (+3 flat-footed) Init: +3 Grapple: +21 Saves: 10 pp TOU +10 (+3 Con, +7 Protection) FORT +6 (+3 Con, +3) REF +6 (+3 Dex, +3) WILL +6 (+2 Wis, +4) Skills: 28 r=7 pp Bluff 8 (+8/+12) Intimidate 8 (+8) Knowledge: Arcane Lore 1 (+1) Knowledge: Pop Culture 1 (+1) Knowledge: Theology and Philosophy 1 (+1) Language 1 (Greek) (Base: English) Notice 3 (+5) Pilot 2 (+5) Sense Motive 3 (+5) Feats: 14 pp Attack Specialization: Unarmed (2) Attractive Dodge Focus (4) Equipment (2) Fearless Luck Power Attack, Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 75 pp Adaption 1 (Extra: Reaction [+4]) (PF: Subtle) [11 pp] Enhanced STR 16 [16 pp] Impervious TOU 10 [10 pp] Nemesis 2 (PF: Subtle) [19 pp] Protection 7 [7 pp] Super-Strength 5 (Heavy Load: 24 tons) [Dynamic] [10+1+2=13 pp] DAP: Leaping 10 (x2500) costs abilities 20 + combat 24 + saves 10 + skills 7/28 + feats 14 + powers 75 = 150 pts Equipment Invisibile Blimp (As Airship, but with the Concealment (all visual senses) power) [10 ep] --------- Design Notes: Here's Wonderella, the protagonist (not really heroine) of the demented Wonderella webcomic. To get some idea of her characterization. imagine Elaine from Seinfeld as Wonder Woman, and you've got the basic gist of Wonderella, aka Dana Price. She's got the Charisma of a brick, since she's not a very likable person, but just enough social skills for her 'friends' to put up with her: she has Attractive to explain why pyromaniac terrorist Devlin keeps hooking up with her on Valentine's Day. Her 'friends' Queen Beetle and Patrianna aren't included here, as they're independent characters, as is her sidekick Wonderita. (Wonderita looks like any perky teen sidekick until you cross her) I was able to afford her Invisible Blimp, something I am very proud of, and presumably a PC version of the character will be able to get better use of it than her comics self. (Comics Wonderella mostly uses it for parties, and so you can't get around without running through invisible beer cans). She can't fly, but she can totally jump hella high. Not enough points for her time machine; stunt it off the Blimp if you have to (it only comes up in every few adventures.) You could give her Rage plausibly enough, but I chose to cover her temper with Fearless and Intimidate: I figure she only really flips out when her Complications are riding her hard, giving her lots of HP. She's famous for her bizarre powers, which I think I've covered OK with Nemesis and Adaptation: she can tell plants to die with Drain Con 10 (Area [burst]) (Limited: Plants Only), she can Summon a giant Octopus big enough to subdue an enemy, and she can Adapt to a hostile environment (like hearing about her mom's sex life) by Morphing into a perfect sphere. An Immunity to Mental Effects via Nemesis also helps explain why she can deal with her local Starro-expy so equitably. Otherwise she's a basically one-dimensional brick: I went with Protection rather than a high Con to explain why she's able to get wasted so often. Very low Notice and Sense Motive, very little Knowledges: she's not very observant or smart. Still, she's got a lot of Complications and a lot of HP; it's not many characters who have canonically beaten up Squirrel Girl! Our game is a little too serious (and not comedically violent enough) for a Wonderella straight Expy to be a PC here, obviously. (For one thing, you do have to be a superhero, and Dana Prince is only one by a very generous definition of the term indeed) Sometimes characters who are fun to read about would really not make good PCs, and would probably not be a lot of fun to know in real life. So, how do you make this into an actually viable PC? My advice is to make this the former sidekick of an obnoxious sellout hero from the 90s, somebody everyone else hated but who fit in OK in the violent climate of the era. Now she's working to be a hero in her own right, and dealing with the Complications of her mentor's horrible, horrible reputation. Not to mention the machinations of Hitlerella, Jokerella, and trying to figure out what she did last night.

For his part, Sharl stepped right into a nearby computer screen. With only a faint ripple on the screen, he popped into view on one of the room's many monitors. As he did so, the previously blank screen shifted to show a cozy-looking room decorated in the pinks and flourishes that a little girl would probably like, with Sharl standing in the middle of it. It looked for all the world like the teenager had teleported somewhere that a webcam was active, but of course this was actually just a high-end simulation inside a fast-running, high-memory computer. "Ready for upload," he reported.

--The cosmic bombs will be radiating significant quantities of Terminus energies: hence why they are placed in worlds that do not know how to look, do not know to look, or have stopped looking for signs of Omega altogether. With the right tools,-- said the cat, giving Trevor a significant look as he arched his back, --you should be able to track them across the city. The allies of whom Richard spoke will know to be looking for you, we have managed to convey that much. I will not be able to come with you,-- he added, suddenly giving Erin the same look he'd given her that one time he'd dropped a dead bird behind her desk. --I must stay here and assist you in my own way. When the deed is done, and your mutual destinies complete, we shall all see each other again.--

--My colleague has the ability to transport you from world to world, tunneling through what your science calls the Zero Zone each time. Only that way can you avoid the attention of the Lord of the Terminus. You will have only hours, perhaps days, on each world to find the devices and disable them before you will be moved to another world. Be warned. There are no second chances and few respites: for all worlds to survive, you must spare the worlds you find, however...unpleasant they may be for you. Richard, are you prepared?-- Rick had fallen silent after the cat had begun to speak, and particularly after Travis had so firmly put him in his place. He seemed to start a little before he said, "Yeah, yeah I can do it. I just need a second with Mark." He took Mark aside, the blue and gold-clad teen looking more embarrassed than anything else, as the cat asked, --Are there any further questions? Time is short, but we dare not send you any more unprepared than you already are.-- Out in the corridor, the exchange between the two Lucases was burning with a quietly intense emotion alien to both men. "Mark. Mark, please, look at me." Mark and Rick looked at each other, Mark becoming conscious of Martha in the corridor behind him watching them both. "There are no apologies. There are no words. I'm...I know you'll do this." He put his hand on Mark's shoulder, Mark reluctantly looking finally at the man who'd done so much to make him the man he was today. "I've never stopped loving you, or being proud of you. I know you'll save everything. Just...be the man I used to believe I was." Mark looked his dad in the eye and embraced him tightly. "Just...just don't say or do anything else," Mark almost pleaded in his reply. "Just help us fix this, and after that, we'll...I don't know," he admitted, pulling back. "Things can't be like they used to be, not ever. Not even if we save the world, all your power goes away, and we all pop back up in the living room on Earth-Prime after this. We can't turn back the clock after everything..." His jaw tightened. "After everything you did." "I know," Rick agreed. "This is the end of what used to be, Mark. Good luck." Mark got a hug from his mom, of course, and a few words with her where she told him how proud she was after everything that had happened, and then headed back in to join the others.

Edge: Worn-Out Places (and GMing) Chaos Principle Noise of Thunder (and GMing) Harrier: Children of the Coil The Stars Went Out The Last Picture Show Citizen: All Things City of the Future (and GMing) Strange Visitors Freedom Angel: The Angel of Victory Perfect Storm Angels Unaware GMing: Summerstime Raptor Ready On Your Way Out Down Together Please put my points into Edge.

Immortal Swashbuckler PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 26 pp STR 16 (+3) DEX 20 (+5) CON 16 (+3) INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 12 (+1) Combat: 28 pp ATK: +6 (+12 melee/+14 swords) DEF: +13 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +5 Grapple: +15 Saves: 10 pp TOU +7 (+3 Con, +4 Protection) FORT +7 (+3 Con, +4) REF +7 (+5 Dex, +2) WILL +10 (+2 Wis, +8) Skills: 72 r=18 pp Acrobatics 10 (+15) Bluff 14 (+15) Knowledge (History) 10 (+10) Languages 8 (Pick 8) Notice 8 (+10) Ride 1 (+5) Sense Motive 13 (+15) Stealth 5 (+10) Survival 3 (+5) Feats: 19 pp Acrobatic Bluff, Attack Focus: Melee (6), Attack Specialization: Sword, Beginner’s Luck Dodge Focus 5, Eidetic Memory, Evasion, Jack of all Trades, Power Attack, Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 42 pp Device 1 (Sword) (Easy to Lose) (PF: Subtle [collapsible]) [4 pp] -Strike 3 (PFs: Improved Crit, Mighty) [5] Immunity 3 (aging, disease, poison) [3 pp] Protection 4 [4 pp] Regeneration 30 (Recovery Bonus 6 [total +9], Staggered 6 (1/no action), Disabled 8 (1/no action) Resurrection 8 (1/round) (PF: Regrowth) [31 pp] costs abilities 30 + combat 28 + saves 13 + skills 18/72 + feats 20 + powers 41= 150 pts --------- Design Notes: I did an Immortal build upthread, but that lady was more like Vandal Savage. This is a Highlander-style immortal; a lady who's deadly with a blade but who can't ever die herself. It's been a while since I've watched the show, but I've tried to represent her correctly. Her sword is collapsible to represent how people on the show were always whipping claymore and katanas out of who knows where: she probably carries it around in a swordcane. She's quite a bit tougher than the human norm, shrugging off damage that would hurt a normal person, and her Regeneration is...pricey! She can carry on in a fight, taking lots of dramatic injuries, but anything lethal and she'll just spring up as mad as hell and with a deadly blade in hand. (She's also a good melee fighter without it, as a build like this really should be.) She can be knocked unconscious, the better to escape a deadly trap later! She is capable of starving or suffocating to death (though she'll be back...) as the show itself demonstrated more than once; depending on exactly how old she is, that might have happened to her more than once. (And a fear of being closed in and thus suffocating is a great complication) No Quickening or electric head-chopping powers, since that's not really in-genre for a superhero. It's been said that immortals would be discontented with the human condition, that they would look at the world of 2011 and be horrified at how little man has grown. Man, screw that noise. Our lady here can travel from Freedom City to Australia in a day, have kids who'll grow into adulthood, and talk to anyone at any point in the world, or access nearly the sum total of human knowledge, just by pressing a few buttons. (Having issues with doing any of those things, of course, is a great complication) She also has indoor plumbing, and doesn't have to worry about her friends keeling over and dying of the Black Plague: she's also very unlikely to be burned as a witch (again). The present's pretty great, and the future's gonna be even better! We've had a lot of sybaritic bi immortals running around here, and that's cool I guess, but you know it's also possible that getting old won't change your sexual orientation one way or another: someone born in the highlands of Scotland in the 1600s is not going to have the same perspective on things like sexuality and culture that we do anyway. Read your Foucault, kids! The iconic immortal in the Freedom City setting is Daedalus, of course, but you've also got people like Medea running around. This lady probably got to know them pretty well over the centuries, or maybe she didn't: the world is a big place, and she'd have had no way of recognizing other immortals unless she got very, very lucky. Note that she's probably from 'historical' times, since she speaks a lot of languages instead of all of them. One possible way of explaining her powers is that maybe she's the daughter of Daedalus or Medea, or some other immortal, and she inherited their abilities much to the surprise of a parent who had no idea they existed, or had already moved on from that relationship. Immortality is often written of as a curse, but it really doesn't have to be. Earn your Forever Happy Ending by making everyone else happy too!

"Mm." The angel looked down at the graves himself, momentarily lost in thought. Samuel Huntsman, 3rd Infantry...Hey, I know that guy! "So you are as grateful to the genius of your mortal doctors as the infinite salvation of Providence?" He smiled a little at that, and added, "Don't worry, I don't say that to trap you. It would be a hard reward for physicians and scientists like those who helped in your creation to hear that their work was not actually important." He looked again at Victory and asked, "I confess I don't know you as well as you know me, brother. Did you fight in your country's wars?" There had been so many in the past, and some ongoing now, but he was too diplomatic to talk that way.

The Escapist PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 32 pp STR 26 [16] (+8/+3) DEX 26 [16] (+8/+3) CON 26 [16] (+8/+3) INT 20 (+5) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+12 Melee) DEF: +12 (+3 flat-footed) Init: +8 Grapple: +20 Saves: 9 pp TOU +8 (+8 Con) FORT +10 (+8 Con, +2) REF +10 (+8 Dex, +2) WILL +7 (+2 Wis, +5) Skills: 64 r=16 pp Acrobatics 7 (+15)* Climb 2 (+10) Disable Device 15 (+20)* Drive 2 (+10) Escape Artist 12 (+20)* Language 1 (German) (Base: English) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Sleight of Hand 2 (+10) Stealth 7 (+15)* Feats: 20 pp Acrobatic Bluff Attack Focus: Melee 6 Dodge Focus 6 Evasion Move-By Action Power Attack Second Chance (Disable Device checks) Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Stealth) Takedown Attack Ultimate Skill (Escape Artist) Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 48 pp Enhanced CON 10 [10 pp] Enhanced DEX 10 [10 pp] Enhanced STR 10 [10 pp] Nullify 8 (all binding and imprisoning effects) (Flaw: Touch Range) [8 pp] Quickness 6 (x100) (Flaw:Limited [Physical Actions Only]) [3 pp] Speed 1 (10 MPH) [1 pp] Super-Movement 3 (Slow Fall, Wall-Crawling 2) [6 pp] costs abilities 31 + combat 24 + saves 9 + skills 16/64 + feats 21 + powers 48 = 150 pts --------------- Design Notes: Here's the Escapist, the legendary Golden Age hero created by Joe Cavalier and Sam Clay for Empire Comics back in the 1930s and recently revived by (among other people), Max Roth. For those unfamiliar with the character, the Escapist (aka Tom Mayflower) was a young man given a mystic key and costume by his dying escape artist uncle, giving him the power to transform into the Escapist. Working with his team of allies and as champion of the League of the Golden Key, he fights injustice and slavery elsewhere, particularly the machinations of the evil Society of the Iron Chain. Neither of these would be that tough to integrate into the Freedom City setting, though of course you'd have to change things up to put a copyrighted character into our setting! That's why I didn't stick with authenticity too much. This is something of an "Ultimate Escapist", incorporating the several versions of the character that have been published over the years: he's juuust at the edge of superhumanly fast, strong, and tough, but he's not at his tank-tossing self that he was back in the Golden Age. Fluff his Slow Fall and Wall-Crawling as being part of his superhuman agility and training; he climbs up sheer walls because he's just that good, and survives long falls via careful application of flips and tricks. Unlike Mayflower, he's not dependent on his costume to transform; if you want him to be, treat that as a Complication rather than disable him in his secret ID. This character is the Ultimate Escape Artist. (Indeed, the Escapist has actually escaped comic book reality into the world of metafiction: no mean feat for a funny book guy! I didn't give him Insubstantial 1, because that would be cheating, but between his incredible Escape Artist and Disable Device there are no locks and bars that can hold him, even without his powers. With the help of his mystic abilities gained through the Golden Key, he can slip the shackles of gods and liberate the enslaved anywhere, and he can do it fast! The only way to hold him is to drop him in a solid sphere, and even then with his super-high skills and powers he can probably come up with _something_...his Nullify is cribbed from Freedom City's own Lady Liberty, who probably has a similar legacy in the Freedom City universe. (Hey, to keep that Freedom City connection, maybe this guy is the son of the Golden Age Lady Liberty, and inherited a portion of her powers...) He could use some Perform if you want, if you do want to make him a stage escape performer. He'd go great with my Combat Magician upthread as quite a surprise for anyone robbing a stage show. The Escapist's Shadow-esque circle of allies should be bought as their own characters, of course, maybe represented as access to various skills and feats on his sheet if you don't want them statted out directly. His Rivalry/Romance with Luna Moth is a good complication, as his conflict with vicious anti-hero Mr. Machine Gun. Maybe replace Luna Moth with a PC (if you can hack it), or make Mr. Machine Gun the Silencer to continue the Freedom City connection. It can be tough adapting a famous character like this one, but there's nothing wrong with playing an Expy like this, particularly of a character that was so influential on the medium of comics. (For those who don't get the joke here, investigate the works of Michael Chabon for further information!

Summers' face looked neither happy or unhappy. With all his wrinkles and his impassive look, he reminded Marston a little of the cigar store Indians he'd seen in old American Westerns. When he spoke, he sounded a bit like one of those Indians might have, his voice dry and gravelly and with a definite air of command that cut through Darwin's chatter like a crocodile's bite. "Mr. Marston. Take a moment to dress yourself and put away your equipment. You will find a storage locker large enough to hold your board in the gymnasium, and spare clothes as well there if you have misplaced your own." He folded his hands, and added with the same serious air, "I would expect an alva to know a Hayden board should not be carried around a high-traffic campus like this one."

The raptors made no comment in reply to what Willow had said, though they did shoot several glares her way. From their reaction, it seemed like they thought she was making fun of them: they certainly didn't discuss anything else about their history. Finally Bloodfang and her men were able to get the sonic unit set up for Wail, and a booming bellow from the hard-lunged hero was able to power up the ship below. "<We will take the Kaiju with us when we go>," said Runs-With-Claws, "<everything from our dimension will come with us when we reactivate the Ghost Zone Drive>." She bowed low to the humans, showing the back of her head again, and said, "<On behalf of the Forever Empire, the cause of justice, and my nest and myself, I thank you for the service you have done today. And for all that we have learned about each other.>" The brash young Bloodfang wound up being the last raptor onto the ship, and she stopped to look at all the heroes in turn. "<Thank you for your help. I owe you my life, and so does my mother. We will be grateful...>" She let out a low hiss, then added, "<But if all your world is like you...don't come looking for the Empire unprepared. I...I have to go.>" And with that, she ducked back through the hole in the floor, and the door beneath rumbled closed, revealing a shiny silver wall like the side of a movie flying saucer. With a shimmering glow, one readily familiar to Wander and anyone else who'd been in the Centurion's Sanctum, the saucer flickered out of existence, the shell of concrete it left behind subsiding slightly as the floor cracked. Dr. Metropolis would have a lot of work to do!