Avenger Assembled

May 26, 2011 Hanover Things had been strange for the last couple of weeks for Mark. With his parents gone and his relationship with Zarana petering out now that she was going back to the Lost World upon her graduation, Mark was something at a loss for what he was going to do with himself. His job at UNISON didn't start until the fall, which left him with a long summer of things to do. Since so much of his work at UNISON was going to be dependent on his powers, he'd decided to sign up for an additional round of testing: not at Claremont or the League facilities where he'd already been training, but in at the new high-tech Lab in town that promised to be able to handle all kinds of cases. With double-certification, hopefully he could skip out on part of his UNISON training and get right to work helping people in need! (He wasn't sure it worked that way, really, but he hoped to get lucky.) Following on a lead he'd gotten from another Claremont student, he made an appointment with a distinguished-sounding fellow over the phone and was there at the door promptly at one PM!

Harrier stared at Fulcrum for a long moment as she spoke of the natural value of the Terminus, incomprehension turning to suspicion on his face. "In the grim ghetto streets of the Black Slum, those proles who have abandoned all hope embrace Omega as their dark god of death and pain, the lord and master of a multiverse that he will one day pull down and feast upon for the greater glory of the end of all things. " He fell silent for a moment, his face implacable, before saying, "Do not expect me to embrace my destroyers, Mona. And yours, should they succeed in their dark plans for all of creation. There are enemies that cannot be bargained with, that cannot be reasoned with, that have nothing for you but your own destruction. It is natural to live. To love. Do not see justice in anything else."

Sharl flew in through the window, nimbly turning so that his emitter slipped right through the crack where it had been opened against the heat. Sticking his head out, he said, "Nice car, Baron!" The Tronik-born teenager knew nothing of cars; he'd seen the car in Gina's garage, but she'd never driven it with him around. This was certainly no hovercar, but from what he'd seen of Earth cars it was a very nice ride. He buckled himself in as the others boarded, an automatic habit he'd picked in very different circumstances. This car was unlikely to crash at supersonic speeds into the side of a sector, he was personally just about invulnerable to that kind of damage unless something fried his emitter, but his mother hadn't raised a fool!

"<That would be difficult,>" said Runs-With-Claws, looking quite satisfied with the prey the heroes had brought down for her. "<We can discuss that in a moment. But first...>" The raptors went around and made a ritual bow to the heroes, ducking their heads low and scraping their noses against the ground. (It was a gesture of humility, it seemed, particularly since Bloodfang had to be swiped across the face with Runs-With-Claws' tail before she would grudgingly consent to do so.) "<On behalf of the Forever Empire, you have my thanks and our gratitude,>" Runs-With-Claws said to Wander. <"You have helped us destroy the last champion of an old and vicious evil. Younglings will sleep soundly in their beds across the worlds for what you have done. Should you ever need our help, just ask.>" She seemed to assume that the most ferocious female there was the leader. For her part, Bloodfang was eying Wail. "<With your sonic powers, we may be able to power our zero-drive and take our ship to the Hearthworld after all. Would you consent to using your powers on our engines? I can rig up the required power absorption in just a few moments...>"

Giant Lincoln PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 22 pp STR 40 [16] (+15/+3) DEX 10 (+0) CON 32 [20] (+11/+5) INT 12 (+1) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 12 (+1) Combat: 28 pp ATK: +7 (+9 Melee) (+3 w/size/+5 Melee) DEF: +7 (+3 w/size/+5) Init: +0 Grapple: +11/+34 w/full size Saves: 12 pp TOU +15 (+5 Con, +6 Growth, +4 Protection) FORT +12 (+5 Con, +6 Growth, +1) REF +5 (+0 Ref, +5) WILL +7 (+1 Wis, +6) Skills: 15pp=60 r Bluff 2 (+3) Concentration 15 (+16) Diplomacy 9 (+10) Intimidate 8 (+9/+15) Knowledge: Civics 4 (+5) Knowledge: History 4 (+5) Notice 9 (+10) Sense Motive 9 (+10) Feats: 8 pp Attack Focus: Melee 2 Dodge Focus 2 Interpose Second Chance (Concentration checks) Startle Takedown Attack Powers: 65 pp Alternate Form 13 (Duration: Sustained) (Abraham Lincoln Statue) [65 pp] Growth 12 [36] -4 ATK/DEF, +12 Grapple, -12 Stealth, +6 Intimidate, 32 ft tall, 32K lbs, 20 ft Space, 15 ft Reach, x3 Carrying Capacity Immunity 10 (aging, life support) [10] Impervious TOU 10 [10] Protection 4 [4] Super-Strength 2 (Heavy Load: 192 tons) (PF: Groundstrike) [5] costs abilities 22 + combat 28 + saves 12 + skills 15/60 + feats 8 + powers 65 = 150 pts --- Design Notes: Here’s the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial as a PL 10 starting character. With Growth 12, he’s a bit taller than the Lincoln statue (32 feet to its 28 feet), but I tell myself that part of that was that Lincoln was a tall guy, so you slap some ranks of Growth on him and he’s taller than your average giant guy. With his bulletproof skin and immunity to most environmental concerns along with his great size and strength, he can convincingly rep being made of marble. (A Fort immunity would be way too costly, given his tremendous size) You could give him some low ranks of Density if you really want to get technical about it, but I think the weight distinction is basically academic given how much even a normal person made thirty feet tall actually weighs. True, I did already build Abraham Lincoln, but not cast in gigantic marble! In my mind, this could certainly be the spirit of the 16th President brought to life in giant marble, but I actually built this with a different idea. (Largely because the thought of ruining that lovely statue is depressing, since he’d have to stand up to get out of the building and would thusly burst burst his way through the roof): this is a Lincoln impersonator (of whom there are many), who one day gained the power to be the symbol for America that he always wanted to be! Imbued with the spirit of the Lincoln statue, he goes out to fight bad-doers. Consider him an all-American Captain Marvel-type, perhaps with a magic word. (IOW, while he turns into the statue, he himself is not the statue, just as Captain Marvel is not actually Zeus). If you did want to make this the statue, I’d definitely make that Growth Innate, and possibly Permanent. In that case, hopefully he’s got a Normal ID, or maybe just a hinge on the roof of the Lincoln Memorial. He’s not as strong as a powerhouse with Super-Strength, but with his massive size he’s still a great grappler. Between Takedown Attack and how his giant stone fists function as area attacks, he’s really good at goon sweeping, and with his high Impervious and Ultimate TOU he’s not as vulnerable as your typical squishy-giant guy. He’s a great addition to a patriotic super-team, and a good ‘Big Guy’: consider buying up his Charisma and giving him Inspire, or just Leadership to start with. With his massive Intimidate thanks to his size, he’s great at Startling, and he shouldn’t have any real trouble catching most people flat-footed. Remember to All-Out Attack when fighting the little guys, sucking up any damage your dropped Defense gives you for Ultimate TOU. He’s the symbol of America’s greatest President and most inspiring leader in the body of a thirty-foot marble statue. Let’s do this!

Of course, the Creator had withdrawn from Creation well before the conversion of the Northmen, thought Freedom Angel. Thrude's worshippers abandoned her people without any overt help from the Lord. But best not to dwell on that fact. He listened, impressed, at Thrude's words, nodding in satisfaction at the choice she had made. "You make the hard choice, Donarssdaughter. I am sure he would be pleased at thy humanity." And perhaps, Heyzel finally admitted to himself, I have been wrong about the Asgardians, or at least, wrong about them as a rule rather than individually. "Come," he said, exhaling a breath that exploded into mist in the air. "The guardians of this dimension will no doubt soon find you and have words about the ancient pacts and what led you to this place. Meet them fed and rested. And in the meantime..." The angel raised his flaming sword high and shouted to the sky: "THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!" His sword flared almost impossibly bright, and the storm faded, the sunlight breaking through the clouds as they melted away beneath the Light. "Viktor," he asked, "I believe as my fellow Leaguer, you can both follow our mutual duties and entertain our guest in this dimension?"

"<NOOO!>" The great dinosaur roared and bellowed as he failed to match Wail's mighty roar, and indeed the sheer force of the shout hurled him backwards into the empty park across the street, safely away from any nearby civilians as the great dinosaur tumbled down unconscious, his sheer bulk plowing into the soft grassy earth as he landed with a sound like the shattering of the world. The assembled parishioners, not to mention the crowd as a whole, began to cheer! While the humans celebrated, the raptors went into action, charging into the field and making short, vigorous work on the T-Rex; within seconds, they had efficiently slashed their way through the backs of his legs, effectively hamstringing the unconscious uber-predator.

Sharl had spent the plane ride visible on his laptop's screen, sitting in a program called "Apartment.exe" and reading the Swedish phrasebook that had appeared on his desk when Dragonfly had programmed his computer with her invention. He looked to have a decent space in there, and for all the world it looked like a running webcam with a view of someone's Freedom City apartment. Of course, a close inspection of the computer revealed no such connection: the kid with the glass Coke bottle and book were inside the laptop itself. He left both behind when he came out, though, shifting back into his costume's shiny symbol as he stepped right out of the laptop's screen, picked up his emitter, and leaned over to nudge Miss A's arm. "Hey, we're here!"

Staggered him again, so he's out

Staggered and Stunned!

Freedom Angel was silent as the storm of words raged over him for a moment, listening both to Fenris and Thrude with patient attentiveness. When there was a moment's peace in the inferno, he fearlessly put his hand on Fenris' shoulder and looked the man in the eye, his gaze seeming to find Magnus' face underneath the metal. "Brother, this young woman has done her best here to battle against the terrible power of an ancient evil. She has given of her very flesh to do so. The Greeks have the parable of the man in the river who drowns while people on the bank call him foolish for swimming. Be not that man, my brother. Let us help this girl heal her wounds, and learn the full truth of the fate of her family and her people, before you pass judgement on her. Neither you nor I are without sin." To Thrude, though she was all the raging fury of the storm, he said simply, "Daughter of Donar, the truth I have to tell you is fantastic, but you must believe it. If you know of the Logos and its speakers, then you know I do not speak falsehoods to you." He gave her a calm, level look, even as he offered her part of his tunic to help bind up her eye. "In ancient days, the worship of the old gods faded. As those who worshipped the Asgardians found new ways, Odin, like Ra, Svarog, and the other Skyfathers, chose to leave the Earth and let Man find his own destiny, bound as he was by the ancient pacts of Simon Magus not to interfere directly when not summoned to Earth." He eyed Thrude and added, "Time passed. In what you would call Germania, a monstrous ruler named Adolf Hitler seized power and began to work terrible, fell acts of sorcery among his many Earthly horrors. His magi used black magic to bind the spirit of your father to a mortal man, enslaving Donar to the service of foul men. When mortal mystics finally freed the Thunderer from his chains, Odin chose to pull up the rainbow bridge rather than risk any more of his sons and daughters being violated by the power of mortal magic." His face was full of all sympathy. "While I am not a child of the Asgardians, even...even we of Heaven believe that Donar and his brothers love their children. He will surely welcome you as his liver returned to his body. If you are able to travel home, take the chance. Your family awaits you there." He snorted, and added, "Thanks to my mistake in taking his pride as greater than his evil, your dire enemy awaits you there, and I tell you the truth, should you fight him again I hope you strike him one for myself and these others. Go, and fight your war where it should be fought."

Wail is up

"Let me help," said the angel, and soon he was guiding the old and sick through the gateway to the hospital and away from the scene of carnage wrought by the war between the Fenriswulf and Donarsdaughter. He reminded himself that the wolf was the monster, that it was he who had brought their war to Earth and risked the lives of so many for nothing more than the innate desire to sin. Thrude herself had suffered as much as anyone in the fight, which she'd waged for the people of Freedom against the monster, though with the usual Asgardian stubborn pride she was doing nothing to draw attention to her wound. And yet...She didn't believe me. She knew nothing of Odin, nothing of the Pact, nothing of the great Asgardian flight. What could have happened? When he was done, he called, "Daughter of Donar! My offer to you still stands, nay, is reinforced by the treachery of the Fenriswulf. Ask, and you shall receive. And before your pride tells you to stand alone, remember. You are not."

Biokinetic PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 30 pp STR 30 [10] (+10/+0) DEX 14 (+2) CON 20 (+5) INT 20 (+5) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 12 (+1) Combat: 28 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Melee) DEF: +12 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +6 Grapple: +6/+26 Saves: 10 pp TOU +8 (+5 Con, +3 Protection) FORT +8 (+5 Con, +3) REF +5 (+2 Dex, +3) WILL +6 (+2 Wis, +4) Skills: 64 r=16 pp Concentration 8 (+10) Diplomacy 9 (+10) Knowledge: Life Sciences 15 (+20) Knowledge: Physical Sciences 8 (+13) Language 1 (Latin) (Base: English) Medicine 8 (+10) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Feats: 14 pp Attack Focus: Melee (4) Beginner’s Luck Dodge Focus (4) Improved Initiative Power Attack Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 52 pp Immunity 3 (aging, disease, poison) [3 pp] Protection 3 [3 pp] Regeneration 0 (PFs: Persistent, Regrowth) [2 pp] Mutation Array [42+2=44 pp] Enhanced STR 20 and Impervious TOU 8and Super-Strength 6 (Heavy Load: 48 tons) AP: Healing 10 (Extras: Action [standard], Total) (PFs: Persistent, Regrowth) AP: Transform 10 (living to living) (Extra Duration [sustained] (+0) ) (PFs: Precise, Subtle) costs abilities 30 + combat 28 + saves 10 + skills 16/64 + feats 14 + powers 52 = 150 pts Design Notes: Here's my attempt at a life controller/biokinetic, modeled on the sadly absent Wesley Knight. The general idea is that our hero here can control the very stuff of life itself, molding and shaping humanity at his touch: he can enhance his own physique to incredible, superhuman levels and become super-strong and bulletproof, he can heal the injuries of others or his own with just a touch, even overcoming particularly damaging poisons or injuries, and perhaps most frightening of all: he can transform other living beings into whatever he desires with a touch! (Well, assuming they fail the Fort save). This is the Mutation power from UP, and plenty scary. Note that he can't actually take anything away, or kill somebody directly, but he can do some pretty gross things. He can be as subtle as putting someone in a short-term coma (dropping their INT/WIS/CHA to 0 and maybe giving them some immunities in the process) or as gross as putting their legs where their head should be and their nose in their navel! (That's a pretty straightforward rearrangement of DEX, among other things). Note that you shouldn't treat the latter power as an excuse to go crazy: an ideal use of the PC would be somebody who uses the power to heal and stun, maybe to punch robots or really bad guys if he's mad, and looks harmless right up until he gets sorely pressed by a very bad villain, and then shows him what it means to control life itself! He has some innate powers that don't require direct use of his attention, like an immunity to many physical problems that's natural to his way of living, and the ability to (eventually) regrow any injury short of death itself. It seemed like a doctor wouldn't want to completely overcome death, at least not his own death. Transform can't be used for yourself (that's what Shapeshift is for), so stunt a personal 'transformation' if you want to make him spaceworthy: that's why he's got that massive array! (You technically CAN stunt things like Shapeshift [i.e, Variables], but it's really not anything you should actually be doing. I went with the idea that this is a doctor, a basically friendly man who wants to make life better for others, and uses his powers to help long before he uses them to hurt. The Hippocratic Oath is one hell of a Complication for a superhero, don't be afraid to make use of it. You could change his medical background up some (his powers seemed the logical development for a really, really dedicated surgeon): maybe he's a tattoo artist whose interest in human flesh is artistic rather than scientific? (Did that sound creepy? Hmm, I guess it did) You could make him Jewish and give him a strange aversion to pork; who knows where that might come from, eh? :? His Transform is Sustained, so its changes aren't permanent: this makes book-keeping easier, gives people a chance to overcome it with more saves, and is generally aimed at making him less freaky all around. Maybe not be a weirdo with the guy, and he'll be very popular socially. Think of all the beneficial tricks he can do for his friends with his Transform! He's like the world's nicest, least dysfunctional plastic surgeon. (Stunt Continuous and have the person pay for any permanent changes you make, naturally) It's also touch-range, another way of keeping a very powerful character from being too powerful. Think about buying small powers to represent various personal upgrades: Flight and Speed for movement, more Immunities, more Regeneration. Or go ahead and buy a low-ranked Shapeshift, maybe with the Action flaw to make it tougher to use, and use that for the raw numbers of being able to rearrange your flesh on the fly. This character has the potential to be very creepy, but I think he's much more fun to play as the nice, kindly doctor who only wants to help people, but who is the wrong man to cross when pressed!

Amaryllis PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 26 pp STR 10 (+0) DEX 16 (+3) CON 16 (+3) INT 10 (+0) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 18 (+4) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+8 ranged) DEF: +12 (+3 flat-footed) Init: +7 Grapple: +20 w/TK Saves: 12 pp TOU +8 (+3 Con, +5 Protection) FORT +7 (+3 Con, +4) REF +7 (+3 Dex, +4) WILL +7 (+3 Wis, +4) Skills: 12 pp=48 r Bluff 6 (+10) Diplomacy 10 (+14) Knowledge: Life Sciences 4 (+4) Languages 1 (Lor) (Base: English) Notice 7 (+10) Perform (glam rock) 6 (+10) Search 5 (+5) Sense Motive 7 (+10) Feats: 16 pp Attack Focus: Ranged 2, Dodge Focus 6 Evasion 2, Improved Initiative, Move-By Action, Power Attack Precise Shot, Ultimate Save (TOU) Uncanny Dodge (mental) Powers: 60 pp Flight 3 (50 MPH) [6 pp] Gravity Flower Array [24+5=29 pp] Blast 12 ‘gravitic blast’ AP: Healing 12 (Extra: Total) (Flaw: Personal Only) ‘regeneration’ AP: Move Object 10 (Extra: Range [Perception]) (Flaw: Up or Down Only) (PFs: Indirect 2, Subtle, Variable Descriptor 1 (gravity/plant)) ‘gravity flower’ AP: Stun 12 (Extra: Ranged) (Flaw: Action [Full]) ‘stun flower’ AP: Telekinesis 12 (Heavy Load: 48 tons) ‘gravitic TK’ AP: Teleport 20 (anywhere in the Universe) (Flaw: Long-Range Only) (PFs: Change Velocity, Progressionx3 (1000 lbs)) 'wormholes' Immunity 12 (aging, life support, starvation and thirst, sleep) [12 pp] Protection 5 [5 pp] Space Travel 1 (1c) [1 pp] Super-Senses 7 (Accurate Analytical Extended 4 (x10000) Radio Sense [7 pp] costs abilities 26 + combat 24 + saves 12 + skills 12/48 + feats 16 + powers 60 = 150 pts ------------ Design Notes: An actual canon kid for once, here's Fleur de Joie and Dark Star's kid Amaryllis, a hero of the future! The idea is that she's both a plant and gravity controller, manipulating two basic parts of life to become quite powerful indeed. Her signature move is the 'gravity flower', an effect which lets her grow a giant daisy underfoot that pins her targets to the Earth with the sheer force of gravity! She has a variety of movement options that need explaining: she uses Flight to get around in Freedom City, Flight 3 being a respectable movement speed in an urban setting. She uses Teleport for planet-wide navigation, being careful to only go places with which she is very familiar, and using Space Travel to get from point to point in deep space. With her movement powers, she can get anywhere in the Universe, she'd better just be very careful about going off-course. She has all the immunities you'd expect from a space-going plant, and can survive on her own on the solar winds alone for the longest time. I figure that's also the descriptor for her Personal Healing, which has such a high rank since she needs it to boost her not-great Recovery Check bonus. (You cannot put Regeneration in Arrays, whatever your lying eyes tell you about Ultimate Power, as that is the devil's playground). She luckily inherited her mom's good looks and winning way with people, as well as her interest and training in life sciences rather than her dad's love of physics: she does like to fly in space, though! She's something of a Glass Cannon, hitting hard but having to be fast and lucky to avoid full-on hits herself. That's one reason she has Ultimate TOU, so that she can take it if she does get tagged by a Space Battleship's main guns, though it won't do much for her if it does happen. (Luckily, she has enough damaging powers to mess with them something fierce in return. A space-going hero can be fun, especially if they're better-known in space than they are at home. (Take a page from recent Nova stories for this, or other Marvel Cosmic Heroes who are much less 'all that' on Earth.). Amaryllis, the champion of the Lor Republic, the Lady of Vines, can have a bit of a homecoming shock when she comes home and finds out that she's just Fleur and Dark Star's daughter and that Ouroborous guy is making eyes at her again. It can be a little disconcerting. Not to mention she may have space-going complications aplenty, like making enemies with space pirates and other such ne'er do wells, or maybe getting called into service to help rescue a Lor planet from the machinations of the Gorgon! Or maybe getting a space-going boyfriend like a "Rogue" Grue, much to the outrage of your poor respectable mother! Note that her 'radar' is tricked out enough to be usable in combat: she can tell people apart via their 'life' energy, tell some pretty specific things about them, and even target them with her powers when she can't see them directly. She has some impressive range, too, with a range increment of 100,000 ft she can easily scan a planet's surface just by flying overhead in orbit. If you want to give her Silver Surfer-style planet-finding powers based off it, max out her Extended PF: 18 or 19 ranks should get the job done. Making that an AP off her main array (under our current rules, that's allowable) would also get that job done. She's all about life in space, and may well try to encourage people to do the same since she's probably going to be around for the era when people move out into space. She's a glam rocker, because she's very pretty and glam is rad, yo! (That's how the kids talk, right? I dunno) Not bad for a florist's kid from Chicago stock!

Cyborg Paragon PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 32 pp STR 30 [20] (+10/+5) DEX 14 (+2) CON 14 (+2) INT 20 (+5) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 28 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Unarmed) DEF: +12 (+4 flat-footed) Grapple: +11/+19 Init: +5 Saves: 16 pp TOU +8 (+2 Con, +6 Protection) FORT +7 (+2 Con, +5) REF +7 (+2 Dex, +5) WILL +8 (+2 Wis, +6) Skills: 60 r=15 pp Computers 10 (+15) Craft: Electronic 5 (+10) Craft: Mechanical 5 (+10) Knowledge: Physical Sciences 5 (+10) Knowledge: Technology 10 (+15) Notice 8 (+10) Perform (epic poetry) 4 (+4) Search 5 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Feats: 10 pp Attack Specialization: Unarmed 2 Eidetic Memory Fearless Inventor Online Research Speed of Thought Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (radio) Well-Informed Powers: 49 pp Flight 2 (PF: Move-By Action) (25 MPH) [5 pp] Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9 pp] Impervious TOU 6 [6 pp] Nanite Array [16+2=18 pp] Enhanced STR 10 and Super-Strength 3 (Heavy Load: 6 tons) [16+2=18 pp] AP: Datalink 9 (anywhere on Earth) (PFs: Rapid 6 (1m), Subtle) AP: ESP 4 (1 mile) (visual and auditory) (Flaw: Medium [Electronics]) (PFs: Rapid 6 (x1m), Subtle) Protection 6 [6 pp] Shield 4 [4 pp] Super-Senses 1 (Radio) [1 pp] costs abilities 32 + combat 28 + saves 16 + skills 15/60 + feats 10 + powers 49 = 150 pts ------------------ Design Notes: This is Harrier and Miss Americana, or rather Gina Evans', kid. This one is still plausible, much to Gina's chagrin. The idea is that they're both social outcasts with tremendous issues with personal interaction; in other words, Murdock is one of the few people Gina might let see her naked because he's not someone she worries about impressing. So they get drunk, they fool around, why not? I'll make the admittedly broad assumption that they manage to make something work enough to raise their son together, for certain values of together. He had a bit of a messed-up childhood, for pretty obvious reasons, and that's why his Charisma is relatively low. (At least he didn't get entered into any baby beauty pageants!) The basic idea here is that he's a super-genius and a cyborg: he inherited part of his mother's gigantic brain, but between her desire to improve the human condition and the basic mechanical alterations to his father's cells (and perhaps the ultimately dangerous effects of Terminus radiation on his DNA), the young fellow wound up being mechanically enhanced from a pretty early age: in my mind the Shield, for example, is a built-in force field generator, while his Protection is the result of metal wrapped around his bones. His folks managed to help him overcome their aversion to magnets, something that will help him function and fight in the magnetic World of Tomorrow! (Giving him such would be a great way to get some points back) His array is the product of the nanites that infuse his body: he can use them to pump up his physical strength or to access nearby computers by radio. He can scan an area's computers and machinery via that same power, letting him take in the whole scene quickly. With extra effort, he can search the entire city with a thought, finding anyone he wants as long as they happen to be in the area of a camera with the Flaw on his ESP. (This would be more a Drawback or a Complication if he lived in a country like Britain, of course. Take that, security state!) I figure his Super-Senses and all come from a similar source. Luckily he flies without the need to have a jetpack come rupturing its way out of his spine. Online Research lets you use Computers for Gather Info, thus with Well-Informed letting him know about situations thanks to his mighty technological powers. (It's a great feat, and convincingly lets you play hacker types who are socially inept.) His folks would probably like him to be more of a blaster than he is, but he's more inclined to mix it up than they are. That's why he's got Move-By Action on his flight, so he's not stuck in melee with people who hit harder than he is tough. He's got decent Impervious: he can shrug off bullets from anything short of military-grade hardware. That said, he could use more if you can scare up the points. Assuming you don't want to play this kid per se, I think he'd work just fine as a cyborg with flight there's no reason why every cyborg has to be a blaster/powerhouse or Japanese secret agent. Perhaps he's the result of deliberate implantation, or maybe he was infected by a nanite package. (Maybe by one of the other nanite characters on this very thread!) Cyborgs get a bad rap as a result of people trying to bring character balance to Shadowrun, but I don't think they're really all that bad. If you could implant something in yourself that would give you the power to fly, why not?

Junior PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 20 pp STR 24 (+7) DEX 24 (+7) CON n/a INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 8 (-1) Combat: 32 pp ATK: +8 (+10 Melee) DEF: +10 (+4 flat-footed) Grapple: +15 Init: +7 Saves: 8 pp TOU +10 (+10 Protection) FORT n/a REF +8 (+7 Dex, +1) WILL +9 (+2 Wis, +7) Skills: 64 r=16 pp Acrobatics 8 (+15) Climb 3 (+10) Diplomacy 11 (+10) Intimidate 11 (+10) Knowledge: Arcane Lore 8 (+8) Languages 2 (French, Spanish) (Base: English) Notice 8 (+10) Perform (ballet) 5 (+4) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Feats: 14 pp Acrobatic Bluff Attack Focus: Melee 2 Critical Strike [undead] Dodge Focus 2 Evasion 2 Improved Init Luck Power Attack Quick Draw [Draw] Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 62 pp Device 1 (Shovel) (Easy to Lose) (PFs: Restricted 2) [5 pp] -Strike 3 (PFs: Improved Crit, Mighty) [5] Immunity 30 (Fortitude Saves) [30 pp] Impervious TOU 8 [8 pp] Protection 10 [10 pp] Regeneration 15 (Recovery Bonus +9, Resurrection 1/week) (Flaw: Source [Flesh]) [7 pp] Super-Senses 2 (Darkvision) [2 pp] Drawbacks: -2 pp Vulnerable (fire) (common, minor) [-2] costs abilities 20 + combat 32 + saves 8 + skills 16/64 + feats 14 + powers 62 - drawback 2 = 150 pts ------ Design Notes: So the infamous Sister Sextus made out with Dead Head, stole some of his flesh, and then used it to perform certain terrible rituals on herself. Nine months later, a baby with chilly skin and a hunger for flesh was born in jail. Luckily the authorities weren't bad people, really, and they contacted Dead Head to try and figure out what to do with this most unfortunate of infants. Luckily, Dead Head turned out to be a surprisingly good father under the circumstances, raising his son (how does a baby revenant grow? fast!) and not minding his frankly terrifying diet, and with the help of his Freedom City friends helped train him to be a master melee fighter with his sharpened shovel, faster and more agile than any walking dead out to be. (Learning how to evade Wander was also a natural part of his upbringing) When the young thing came of age, he went into the world to seek his fortune and battle all those undead who sought to prey on the living! He learned ballet because his father wanted him to get some culture, of course, and the languages and Arcane Lore helped with the letters his mom wrote from Crazy Jail. This is a decent build for a zombie superhero, a fast, skilled combatant with a flashing blade and not that great scent. (His Charisma penalty is offset by decent skills: he's basically a nice guy and easy to get along with, he just has the disadvantage of being a zombie, if a well-put-together, not actively decaying one) With the Flesh flaw on his Regen, lifted from his father, he has to consume some variety of meat in order to heal injuries. I'd be inclined to say it has to be fresh, too; raw or unprocessed meat giving his body what he needs to reconstitute himself. It's up to you whether or not eating corpses would do it, but that's probably something a hero should avoid except in an emergency. (Though hey, if there's already a zombie attack going on, and you've got this Fort immunity anyway so it won't make you sick...) Drinking blood from a bottle like his 'cousin' Jack Jr. satisfied him when he was a baby, but as a baby becomes a child he has to start eating solid food. He lacks his dad's supernatural talents: that's probably for the best given his various issues with his mom and the many terrible magical friends she made during her storied and bloody career. As it is there's more of gravy than of grave about him; he's the guy you call in to fight a zombie uprising while the magic or science folks go to work cleaning up the damage the undead are causing rather than a spellcaster himself, and that's entirely OK! Naturally his horrible origins will cause him plenty of Complications. The undead turning hero is a pretty big step, and he's going to be under a pretty big microscope if he doesn't watch himself. And if he fails a Stealth check at the wrong moment, he just might get a little visit from the bogeyman he grew up hearing about...

The Kaiju gave a great howl as Wander's savage beating drove him face-first into the sidewalk, asphalt and concrete spattering everywhere as the great beast fell. He came under attacks from the raptors while down, the well-drilled team biting and clawing, and by the time the great radioactive monster was on his feet again he was looking decidedly battered, blood running down his flanks and shaking his head to try and clear the brain damage his massive skull had just taken. "<IMPOSSIBLE! I AM THE TYRANT LIZARD FUHRER! I WILL...I WILL CRUSH YOUR EGGS AND DEVOUR YOUR YOUNG! I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA!>" He threw back his head and gave a mighty, if somewhat less-mightier-than-before, roar. "<THE INFERIOR RACES WILL FALL BEFORE THE T-FUHRER!>"

A palpable hit! OK, I think it's time to knock this egg-sucker down to size. He is bruised and stunned. Have an HP, Wander. The Vs are up.

Okay: New round. The bad guy is bruised. Cannonade, have an HP for rescuing the kids. Willow, have an HP for helping your friend in a crisis instead of seeking your own glory. Wander is up.

Super-Genius PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 36 pp STR 20 (+5) DEX 18 (+4) CON 20 (+5) INT 20 [10] (+5/+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 32 pp ATK: +8 (+11 Melee/+15 Unarmed) DEF: +15 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +4 Grapple: +15 Saves: 10 pp TOU +5 (+5 Con) FORT +7 (+5 Con, +2) REF +7 (+4 Dex, +3) WILL +7 (+2 Wis, +5) Skills: 80 r=20 pp Acrobatics 11 (+15) Concentration 8 (+10) Gather Information 13 (+15) Investigate 5 (+10/+5) Notice 13 (+15) Search 5 (+10/+5) Sense Motive 13 (+15) Stealth 11 (+15) Survival 1 (+3) Feats: 18 pp Acrobatic Bluff Attack Focus: Melee 3 Attack Specialization: Unarmed 2 Dodge Focus 7 Evasion Power Attack Takedown Attack Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 34 pp Comprehend 3 (speak, read, and understand all languages) [6 pp] Enhanced Feats 5 (Beginner’s Luck, Eidetic Memory, Jack of all Trades, Master Plan, Well-Informed) [5 pp] Genius Array 5 (10 pp; PFs: Alternate Power x2) [10+2=12 pp] BE: Enhanced INT 10 (to 20/+5) {10/10} AP: Damage 0 (adds to Unarmed Damage 5; Extras: Area [burst, Targeted], Selective Attack) {10/10} AP: Damage 0 (adds to Unarmed Damage 5; Extras: Autofire, Penetrating) {10/10} Quickness 6 (x100; Flaw: Mental Tasks Only) [3 pp] Super-Senses 7 ([Acute Accurate Radius Ranged Mental], Analytical Vision, Danger Sense [mental]) [7 pp] costs abilities 36 + combat 32 + saves 10 + skills 20/80 + feats 18 + powers 34 = 150 pts ------ Design Notes: Here's my take on Batman as super-genius: a costumed adventurer/martial arts type whose superpower is just how smart he is. This would work OK for somebody like Marvel's Amadeus Cho, I think, or some other all-too-human guy whose powers come from sheer supergenius. He could be Watchmen's Ozymandius, except that was a terrible story. He speaks every language, because he is a cultured gentleman and also because he can just absorb that stuff into his brain thanks to how mighty it is! He can use his super-brain in combat to pull off a variety of tricks: by hitting weak spots he can pull off the effects of Autofire and Penetrating, by analyzing the weak points of a group he can goon sweep with the best of them, and he's virtually impossible to sneak up on thanks to his uncanny ability to track his opponents by outsmarting them. With his Enhanced INT, he can stunt all kinds of useful things: ESP to represent rapidly taking in a situation? Enhanced Charisma (but only as a stunt!!!) to represent being particularly socially adept? It's plausible. How did he get so smart? You could just say it all has the training descriptor, but I'm uneasy about using that without the Innate feat given how hard it is to justify nullifying training as it is. (Short of getting hella wasted, I guess, or some kind of intellivore. Which I did actually build upthread...) Our own Dr Archeville has a character who got his Enhanced INT from his Cthuluoid ancestry. Which character is it? The answer won't surprise you! With this guy's various feats, he can function decently in most settings that require a brain: it's another way to play a polymath type without abusing the Variable Power from Worlds of Freedom (for all that I love it so!). Which is good, because you don't want to come across as That Guy. His Well-Informed helps him be somebody who knows quite a lot about a lot of people. I didn't give this guy Skill Mastery, but that's certainly not a bad idea. Another thing to potentially give him is Detect Weakness, but his good Notice and Sense Motive (particularly with his default brain structure) are a good way to handle that. His INT is Enhanced, so you can powerstunt off it if necessary. Give him a Drawback where he doesn't speak alien languages if you want. He's not as smart as a real genius or gadgeteer, but he's still extremely competent. His Quickness lets him take 20 on Notice as a free action, giving him the ability to routinely hit DC 35 Notice checks without a problem, and in general he thinks 100 times faster than a normal human being. While other people have bigger and stronger brains, few people are quite so smart where it counts!

Scared as they were, the kids followed the nice hero who'd just been fighting a dinosaur on their behalf (and who'd distracted the little ones first), all of them heading together out of the church and into the big cemetery in the rear where it turned out their families were all waiting for them! Thank yous followed him as he turned back to the fight, from young and old alike in gratitude for the rescue. Luckily, the question, "...do the dinosaurs mean God isn't real?" was asked of the Reverend Stone and not of him as he went back into the action.

Freemason Abilities: 32 pp STR 10 (+0) DEX 18 (+4) CON 18 (+4) INT 14 (+2) WIS 18 (+4) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 28 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Ranged) DEF: +10 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +4 Grapple: +6/+20 w/TK Saves: 10 pp TOU +10 (+4 Con, +6 Protection) FORT +6 (+4 Con, +2) REF +6 (+4 Dex, +2) WILL +10 (+4 Wis, +6) Skills: 68 r=17 pp Concentration 8 (+10) Diplomacy 13 (+15) Knowledge: Civics 4 (+6) Knowledge: History 13 (+15) Languages 4 (Algonquin, Chinese, Dine, Spanish) (Base: English) Notice 13 (+15) Sense Motive 13 (+15) Feats: 21 pp All-Out Attack Attack Focus: Ranged (4) Benefit (2) (Hero of the People, Security Clearance) Distract (Diplomacy) Dodge Focus (2) Improved Initiative Luck (2) Move-By Action Power Attack Precise Shot (2) Skill Mastery (Diplomacy, Knowledge (History), Notice, Sense Motive) Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Well-Informed Powers: 42 pp Device 10 (Ring of the Freemason) (Hard to Lose) (PFs: Restricted 2) [42 pp] -Blast 10 [20+3=23] -AP: Create Object 6 (Extra: Moveable) (PFs: Selective, Subtle) -AP: Nullify 10 (all binding and imprisoning effects) -AP: Telekinesis 10 (Heavy Load: 12 tons) -Enhanced Feat 2 (Quick Change 2) [2] -Feature 1 (Holographic Playback) [1] -Flight 3 (50 MPH) [6] -Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9] -Protection 6 (PF:Subtle) [7] -Super-Senses 2 (Darkvision) [2] ---- Design Notes: Inspired by a picture I encountered on Project: Rooftop, here's Freemason: the Green Lantern with a star-spangled patriotic theme. My general concept here is that this is a historian who encountered a mystic ring emblazoned with Masonic markings somewhere in Mt. Vernon. Putting on the ring, he was granted the mystic powers of the Great Architect in order to fight for truth, justice, and the all-American Way! He's a patriotic hero par excellence; great with people and crowd control, popular with both the people and the government. He's a great member of a patriotic superteam, or just 'the government's only superhero in a setting where they've had some trouble keeping supers on their payroll. (i.e, Freedom City's) If he keeps a secret ID (or at least THINKS he does, given that he's presumably on the payroll of spooks), make him a mild-mannered historian (with a government grant!) by day and a superhero by night. I modeled his powers on Freedom City's own Lady Liberty, which seems like a perfectly plausible powerset for a magical patriotic hero. Perhaps the ring is a result of trying to duplicate the powers of the Spirit of Liberty by 18th century Freemasons? Note that Distract is only actually listed for Intimidate and Bluff, but there's no reason why Diplomacy shouldn't work: the idea being that he's giving them a sincere speech about how they should stand down (or maybe delivering a speech to school kids) and he's good enough and well-trained enough to hold and keep their attention. If he is a government agent, the source of his powers may prove complicated. (Or at least, a very viable source of complications) Superheroes with magic are OK, but the government usually doesn't have a great relationship with sorcery, so having someone with magic powers (even if he knows nothing about magic himself) may raise lots of awkward questions about origins and such. His ring only works for him, but his handlers may need some hard evidence before they find out that it's true. Does his Create Object generally have a brickwork look, or maybe pyramidal, like some Masonic symbolism? Why not, why not? You could justify some more Super-Senses too with the help of that big old eye of theirs. (In my mind, the symbol on his ring IS the pyramid-eye from the dollar bill.) Patriotic heroes don't often have a magical source (with the exception of DC's Uncle Sam), but they do in Freedom City, so why not run with it? An obvious source of Complications for a device-bearer like this is; who carried this ring before him? America has had a lot of bad times where it's needed heroes over the years, but it may not always have been in the hands of good guys. Run with the history with a character like this! Freemasonry is a common source for weird magic in fiction, why not make it a power origin for superhero comics? Just watch out for people taking a strange interest in you and your doing...

Sorry for the delay: Lone_Star, robots are immune to Fort saves. Do you want to try something else?

Once inside the jet, Sharl obediently buckled himself in as they prepared for takeoff. He could fly, and he doubted he'd be hurt by a fall, but he didn't want to risk damaging his mobile emitter. He wasn't sure exactly what that would do, but surely nothing good. He leaned back as they took off, marveling once again at the remarkable feeling of seeing acceleration without actually feeling it. I guess I'm lucky, this would probably make some people throw up. Good thing I grew up riding around in anti-gravs. When they were in the air, he slipped right out through his restraints and took out his laptop, or at least the one Miss A had been holding onto for him in the seat before him. He pressed a few buttons and then disappeared right into the screen.