Avenger Assembled

Pint-Size Powerhouse PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 44 p STR 40 [30] (+15/+10) DEX 12 (+1) CON 40 [30] (+15/+10) INT 10 (+0) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 16 pp ATK: +4 (+5 w/Shrinking) DEF: +4 (+5 w/Shrinking) Init: +5 Grapple: +20 Saves: 10 pp TOU +15 (+15 Con) FORT +15 (+15 Con) REF +5 (+1 Dex, +4) WILL +7 (+1 Wis, +6) Skills: 40 r=10 pp Bluff 10 (+10/+14) Climb 2 (+17) Notice 9 (+10) Sense Motive 9 (+10) Stealth 10 (+11/+15) Feats: 10 pp All-Out Attack Attractive (adorable) Fearless Interpose Luck Power Attack Second Chance (Grapple escapes) Takedown Attack Taunt Ultimate Save (TOU) Powers: 60 pp Enhanced CON 10 [10 pp] Enhanced STR 10 [10 pp] Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9 pp] Impervious TOU 10 [10 pp] Shrinking 4 (Extra: Normal Strength) (PFs: Innate, Normal Movement, Normal Toughness) [11 pp] Speed 1 (10 MPH) [1 pp] Super-Strength 4 (Heavy Load: 48 tons) [8+1=9 pp] AP: Leaping 8 (x500) costs abilities 44 + combat 16 + saves 10 + skills 10/40 + feats 10 + powers 60 = 150 pts Design Notes: Here’s a Pint-Sized Powerhouse, ready to strike adorable fear into the hearts of criminals everywhere. Though he’s just a wee little man, no bigger than a minute (i.e. in the Small size category, perhaps around 30 inches tall in his stocking feet), he’s strong enough to lift a locomotive and powerful enough to jump over a city block! He’s also a real tough guy, not afraid of anything, and able to take fantastic punishment thanks to his tremendous TOU and high Impervious. Given the number of HP that your average PC has in combat, his Ultimate TOU means he can take some tremendous hits from opponents far above his PL and be no more than lightly bruised. A lot of powerhouses are Intimidate monkeys, but given the size penalties for Intimidate I gave this guy a decent Bluff score and Taunt. I figure he’s learned to laugh at the absurdity of things: that’s one reason why he’s also absolutely Fearless. Is he a toddler given incredible strength and adult intelligence? Or perhaps he’s a Canadian dwarf with superpowers? (Non-comics fans: it's more likely than you’d think!) Another way to build this character would be to give him Density: as it is I didn’t do that, but you can fluff that his adorable little compact muscles are what make him so incredibly tough and strong. That would also help explain his relatively low Dex! That would also help him with his Knockback resistance, something that is a problem for such tiny characters. As it is, with his Leaping and Speed, he should be able to make it back into a fight even if he is knocked very far away from the fight. As you can guess, I’m using Attractive above _not_ to simulate sexiness, rather to show that he has a great deal of appeal to people with interest in adorable-looking types. Though he has that Fearless, maybe give him a Phobia as a complication. Perhaps zombies, or vacuum cleaners. Make sure you go with making him an adult if you play him as a PC, since clearly toddlers are not really what we’re looking for as PCs here. If you go with the crazy superbaby route, though he’d make an interesting antagonist for an adventure where the heroes have to talk him down rather than smack him up! I agree with other Refs that "Second Chance (Grapples)" is too overpowered, but I think a Second Chance on Grapple escapes is reasonable: that gives him an edge when dealing with people taking advantage of the size penalty to grapple checks. Perhaps with intentions of giving tummy kisses! Note that while he does have full life support, he does not have immunity to sleep. Thank God.

"Keep your name on the Freedom League registry," he said immediately, "even if you're on the reserve list, those are still valuable contacts for you professionally. I know you've mentioned an interest in working in law enforcement, and with your background I think you'd be well-suited to that role, either in the public or the private sectors. If you worked for AEGIS or UNISON, you wouldn't even have to give up being a superhero, you'd just have to make sure you put your costume on in your own time. As for the private sector, there are always people looking to hire bulletproof bodyguards, costumed or otherwise. Despite what movies tell you, super-bodyguarding isn't all working for Socotran drug barons or what have you, it's good, honest work."

"In ancient days, the gods of the Alphans lived together in peace," said Harrier, "until the day that dark Omega turned on the rest and began their slaughter. They could not be slain, however, so instead he stitched together their divine flesh and made an unbreakable armor for dark Nihilor." He looked away and said simply, "I have seen their faces from orbit. Some yet weep." Still considering what she'd said about the natural order of the universe, he said, "Early in my career, I assisted Miss Americana and others in the repulsion of the animate dead this October. The Terminus is to decay and entropy what those animate dead are to the natural order of life: the Terminus is not simply the end of all things. It is an end that hungers, that devours, that rises from its place to feed and corrupt on the universal life that lies all around it. And even those that may have left its grasp..." he looked down at his hands, lined as they were with the markings where his armor lay just beneath its skin "are forever altered by its fell touch."

"Awesome!" Sharl exclaimed, studying himself with gleeful pride. "I've been thinking about making a real costume back home, but this is perfect!" He pulled out his shades and put them on, posing as he hovered in the air. "I really look like a superhero now," he said with beaming pride. "Thank you! Sharl, Citizen, Sharl, Citizen! Nice!" he added, taking his shades on and off. "And this is something I can wear at home as a costume without anyone wondering what I am, because it still looks like regular clothes. This was a great idea." He flitted around, going back and forth, until he'd tested himself from all angles, even upside down, looking satisfied from every perspective.

"I was tough on you at first because you were dangerous," he said frankly. "You were the most powerful student in your class when you started, and even though some of them have since heightened their abilities beyond yours, you're still one of the toughest students we've ever graduated. And after that...it was because I knew you could be the best if you applied yourself. I have students who are more powerful; I have students who are smarter, students who are better at strategy. But I don't have anyone in my class who is the complete package the way you are: no one who has worked as hard and strived so much to get where she is today. Whatever anyone else says." He hmmed for a moment. "The Freedom League is to our school what college is like to most private high schools. Most students don't just see it as a goal, they see it as the only choice and the only path to success. But there's nothing wrong with being skilled labor, whether that's working as a reservist, as a super-agent, or any other career path that's open to you. I never made it onto the Freedom League," he said, "and while I may not be the most popular teacher here, I've done a lot of good with my life, and I've had a good one. And I think you can too."

There will be a short delay while Raveled revises the post he made without clearing with the Refs.

"There are many Earths in what mortals call the Cosmic Coil," agreed Heyzel. "Some are dreams of grace and love. Others, nightmares of bondage and despair." All the angels nodded at that, though rather sorrowfully, and the angel of freedom added, "But this world is better than most, thanks to the hard work of the heroes of Freedom. Your work here, all of you, is an inspiration to the blessed souls of Heaven. But then," he admitted, "that was one of the things that drew me from the fastness of Heaven in the first place. The reminder that there are those who battle for eternal justice even in this too-brief realm." He shot a look at his parents, and it sounded as if this had been something of a sore point. "YES, AND THE RIGHTEOUS JOIN US IN HEAVEN, WHILE THE OTHERS GO TO THE PLACES THAT THEY DESERVE," agreed Azrael with fatherly patience. "THAT YOU ENSURE MORE WALK THE SHINING PATH IS A RIGHTEOUS CAUSE."

Sharl thought about that. "So she's not going to have a real body, even inside the program?" He paid attention as Miss A showed him what she had in mind for the little girl, the image reminding him of a sophisticated 3-D gaming platform (one from Earth, anyway, Tronik's being much more realistic) or a high-quality animation. "Okay, yeah, I could see her liking that. Especially if she's been sick for so long, and she's never had a real body she could do something with." He hmmed. "I could take her flying inside the program or something, let her really enjoy herself."

Citizen: 3 pp Dimensional Movement 2 (any 'computer' dimension) (Flaw: Medium [computers]]) [2 pp] -This represents Sharl going to and from Tronik and other 'computer' dimensions, adding in the difficulty of navigating a complex network. +3 ranks of Bluff [1 pp] Add Language (Swedish) Doktor'd!

"Erin..." Archer looked like he was struggling for words for a moment before he spoke. "Everything you've done over the last few years shows me a student who can not only learn from her mistakes, but grow from them. You've gone from one of the students I worried about the most to one of the students I'm the most proud of, and you've tested yourself against the kinds of things that even most teenage superheroes never deal with. When you first came here, I didn't have the experience I do now with working with students who have a background like yours. I didn't give you the respect or the education that you deserved. All of my students are unique, and forgetting that was one of the biggest mistakes I've made as an educator. You haven't just grown past your own mistakes, you've grown past mine as well."

"I'm sure you'll pass," Archer told her with the reassuring awkwardness of any high school teacher trying to relate to his senior students. "You've already come much further than most of your colleagues, and I don't mean the physical distance you traveled." He hmmed at that, seeming to sense that he hadn't reassured Erin. "Sit down, Erin," he said, trying to make it a suggestion. "And relax. I'm not going to criticize anything you did today. You've already gotten the polish you're going to get in high school. You don't need to hear anything more from me about combat."

"I can do that," agreed Sharl immediately, thinking sympathetically about that poor little girl Gina had told him about before his trip to Tronik. "I mean, even if I never had a flesh body, I know what it's like to be digitized." He'd forgotten something of that faint feeling of disconnection that marked being in his hologram body; it wasn't actually unpleasant as such, just odd. "Is she going to be projected?" he asked, "Or just in a computer? Either way, it's good it's just for a couple of days. Do I need to learn Swedish?" he asked her. "I mean, I can just look it up with that fish translator thing, but it'll still be strange for her. I was lucky you were able to teach me English."

As his standard action, Freedom Angel pops an HP to activate Ultimate Diplomacy. That's 25 with the Combat Diplomacy penalty. (Hmm, should think about buying that challenge...) As his move action, he lands between Thrude/Doctor Archeville and Fenris, ready to Interpose on behalf of the former two if necessary.

From out of the ice and snow came an angel, bearing in one hand the flaming sword of truth, and over one arm the unbreakable shield of justice. When Freedom Angel landed, he popped his wings out with a "woosh!", scattering the falling snow all around him as a circle of glowing yellow light shone over his head in a gleaming halo. He was close to Doctor Archeville and Thrude, his spread wings partially blocking the great dire wolf's view of the heroic pair. The angel was all light in the darkness of the storm, for all that Heyzel was as cold as anyone else would be in this supernatural chill, facing down the great symbol of winter's darkness and hunger. "Fenris Lokison!" he pronounced in the perfect Old Norse of the Eddas as he pointed his sword at the wolf's face. He knew enough about the so-called Norse gods to be intimately aware of how outmatched he was against this great abomination, but he faced it fearlessly all the same. He certainly is very large... "Thou art in violation of the holy oaths sworn even by thy dark father that dwells below. I call on you, Father of Skoll, Father of Hati, to remember who you are. Does the mighty slayer-to-come of Odin sully himself with the blood of children and innocents when the terrible foes of his lifesblood yet walk the halls of Asgard? Begone from this place of mortals, and war with those worthy of the Fenriswulf!"

Zap is up

I'm fine with him catching him flat-footed, since Crow is coming out of nowhere! 18. I won't Fiat it; there are still plenty of bad guys in the fight for drama, and Crow's strategy deserves a reward. Heka failed by 9, so he's bruised and stunned. 11 and 20 He starts falling (but his Force Field stays up) Go ahead and post IC: don't forget that Heka is flying, so you can't kick him into the ground...this turn, anyway! ;)

"Things have been going great," agreed Sharl with a smile. "My family's happy to have me back, of course, and I'm just about caught up on all my schooling. And the city...well, now there are 'Net sites all about _me_." He grinned broadly at that. "Now I'm the paranormal thing people can't stop talking about. They just call me the 'Citizen'" Sobering a little, he added honestly, "I missed this place. Knowing there's so much outside Tronik and being the only person there besides Leroj who really _can_ know...my mind keeps coming back here. And to you," he admitted. "That's why I was so eager to come. What can I do to help?"

"Well, you see," said Freedom Angel seriously in response to Nick's question, "in the beginning the Earth was without form, and void..." He chuckled a little, then added, "But seriously, Fleur, I've been impressed with that as well. I've met people from dead Earths, both here and on other planes, and what you're doing is very special, and you have every right to feel pride for it. Not just anyone can breathe life into a whole planet the way you've been doing, or make the lives of so many innocents better. Giving people something besides survival is the beginning of giving them their spiritual lives back."

Mr. Archer's office was relatively spacious thanks to Claremont's big budget, but for all that looked like your typical high school gym teacher's space. there were the usual rows of filing cabinets full of school records, the pictures of school teams on the wall in their uniforms, and of course a few athletic trophies from years past. Claremont hadn't really competed with other schools since 1993, but Archer was evidently still honoring those teams from the school's past. There were signs around that this was no ordinary gym teacher, though: some of the students in the more recent pictures were flying or showing other signs of superpowers, and of course there were a few pictures of Mr. Archer in costume as well. He had never really made a secret of the fact that he had once been Hot Rod, one of the fastest men in the 1970s, and on the wall there were a few discreet pictures of him in the open-chested jumpsuit he'd once worn. Erin didn't pay much mind to those, though, not with Mr. Archer himself standing behind his desk. "Come in, Erin. Leave the door open." For all that Erin was much, much more dangerous to Mr. Archer than he was to her, Claremont obeyed the same regulation as any other licensed high school. "How are your classes going this term?" he asked her. "Senioritis setting in yet, or are you powering through?"

In late May, just a couple of weeks before Claremont's graduation, Mr. Archer took Erin aside after a particularly vigorous Doom Room workout. She'd been fighting simulations of nearly the entire Crime League solo, and though her costume was a little singed, she'd given as good as she got. "Erin," he said with that informality that only teachers could get away with. "Good hustle down there. I liked how you handled the bat when you hit Wildcard with Orion. Hit the showers, then join me in my office. I'll give you a note for history." She'd had some idea that Mr. Archer had a private office, most of the teachers did, but he'd never mentioned it to her. She'd certainly never gotten an invitation back there. Really, the whole conversation was strange: Mr. Archer usually only came down to talk to her when she'd been working out with another student.

"I'm available," agreed Sharl readily. "I told my parents I'd be gone a couple of days, and they won't be worried." Well, no more worried than any other parents would be under the circumstances. "No one can see me here, I'm on top of the sector building." Though he knew it made no sense, Sharl looked up at the green sky overhead and said into the phone, "I'm ready." Thanks to the emulator Gina had built into him, the transit wasn't the descent into madness that it had once been: a cascade of light built up all around him, he heard a wavering noise and saw a shimmer in the air, and soon he was 'reconstituting' himself in the very familiar surroundings of the Lab.

Tronik May 15, 2011 (Earth calendar) A month into his career as an independent hero, Citizen stood on the roof of Sector 30 waiting for Gina's return call. He'd stayed busy reconnecting with his family, explaining to everyone that he'd run away to join the plankton fleet but returned when he realized his mistake, and gotten back among his friends and back to his education. But somehow those friends didn't seem so close these days, and his education just a little less relevant when there was so much of the real world to deal with. He'd stayed busy flying scouting expeditions for Leroj to verify the correct development of the planned site of the new island, not to mention connecting with the old man and learning more about the original history of Tronik: he'd also kept busy saving the day! Tronik was a safer city to live in than Freedom, but with so many people and the fantastic flight speed he had in the program, it seemed like there was always a bus to catch, a fire to help fight, or even a criminal to fly down and smack around! Despite all that, though, when the text from Gina had come down, he'd made a point to drop everything...after telling his family where he was going. Luckily his new powers really had convinced them that the story he'd been telling them was true, which meant they had only a few doubts about him going away for a while to do who knew what? He'd left them with the ability to contact him, which was good; but as he waited for his call 'away', he was growing impatient!

Everyone at the unlikely dinner ate, all of them enjoying the meal Stesha had worked so hard to prepare despite her condition. Faced with another mother, Jeanne delighted in telling stories about her own expectancy, though from the sound of things the process was very different in Heaven. "At least you won't be chasing around a winged baby," she said with a laugh, "even if her father is a flier." It seemed some things were, between mother and son, even in the Hereafter. "I HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING YOUR WORK ON YOUR NEW WORLD WITH SOME PLEASURE, FLEUR DE JOIE," boomed the angel of death as he ate. "CLOSING DOWN A UNIVERSE IS DIFFICULT WORK. I AM PLEASED TO HAVE IT DELAYED BY MANY EONS YET. ESPECIALLY WITH SUCH WORK IN HEAVEN." "Has your doctor been able to tell you anything about the baby?" Heyzel asked Fleur, not immediately sure of exactly how things worked in the mortal sphere after so much time away. "Will you be able to give birth at home?" He knew, or thought, anyway, that most women preferred that kind of spiritual connection to the often sterile in too many ways procedures in hospitals. At least having been blessed by angels, he himself could be sure that said baby would be well and happy.

While a god and monster of a forgotten age dueled each other below, an angel flew overhead. Freedom Angel had left his League colleagues without him for some months during his long sojurn outside the city, and he had apologies to make. Not everyone would be as forgiving as Fleur de Joie had been, and though he'd been performing a higher calling, to neglect any duty was painful for him. Thus, in a moment of sinful introspection, he was almost glad when the winter storm erupting in the city as if by magic caught his eye. He fearlessly dived into the worst of the blow, his feathered wings beating the air, repressing a wince as he felt the cold settle in beneath his armor. It had been a long time since he'd flown through something like _this_, and evidently he'd lost the endurance of the mortal world in his time away from it. He mourned the bodies he saw below in a quick pass, then finally caught sight of the culprits. A giant wolf and an...Aesir? It took him only a moment to recognize both. Fenris and Thrude; Lokison and Thorssdaughter. But what are THEY doing here? Even Loki, the Adversary's ally among the Norse gods, had kept to the Pact that bound his fellows, and as for Donar, he and his get had stayed far away from the mortal realm since his supposed humiliation at the hand of the Nazis. How DARE they bring their war among these innocent souls?, he raged. Despite all that, at the sight of the monstrous wolf sinking teeth into flesh, he dived to separate them, wings folded behind him. Like or not, their struggle was here, and he knew which he preferred to win!

(01:45:24) ShaenTheBrain: (22:41:45) AvengerAssembled: What's the theo/philo DC to know who these people are? Fenris is probably pretty easy if you combine "giant wolf" with "Speaking Old Norse." Does Heyzel's Comprehend power let him know which languages he's speaking and understanding with the Babel Effect? (01:46:18) AvengerAssembled: Yes (01:46:26) ShaenTheBrain: Wait, nevermind. Thrude called him out as Loki's son by name more than once. (01:46:36) AvengerAssembled: And she wasn't lying! Thus... (01:48:16) ShaenTheBrain: Thrude's quite a bit more obscure than Fenris, but she did identify herself as an Aesir, reference Asgard, and was speaking Old Norse right back at the wolf half the time. So I'd say probably DC10-15 on Fenris and to know that Thrude's related to Odin/Thor/those guys in some way, DC20 to know who she is specifically. Just have Heyzel take 10 and get it all. (01:48:29) AvengerAssembled: Hooray! (01:48:38) ShaenTheBrain: And go ahead and copy/paste this chatlog into the OOC thread. (01:48:42) Gizmo: E, for Full Circle, did you want them to get out of there, or did you want them to eventually deal with the Hollowe'en episode directly? (01:49:02) Gizmo: (01:44:59) Sorus: aww, Jack And then she slapped him! With thorns! (01:49:03) AvengerAssembled: Up to you, she says.