Avenger Assembled

Joan blinked behind her mask, sorting back in her mind over the invitation she'd gotten. No, no one mentioned anything special. "No one mentioned any restricted diets," the black-clad titan hissed from behind her mask, her voice unwordly as her tentacles flexed tight around her body. "I made lobster nachos," she said, a little brusquely, still gingerly carrying the hot-pad wrapped crockpot. Geez, look how young these kids are. Neither of these kids look older than twenty-five. Joan herself had turned 30 that year, an age she felt with special keeness these days. Still in her full face-mask and body-concealing costume, Fusion showed no particular willingness to admit her appearance: up close as she stepped inside, it also became clear immediately that the octopoid wonder was over half a foot taller than either of the other two women: still, she wasn't as giant as Fulcrum! "Charmed," she said, shaking Silhouette's hand with her real hand, setting the crockpot down at the same time with two carefully curling suckered tentacles. "I heard about your work in the Fens. Good to know someone's working for the poor people in this city."

Joan Collier wasn't much for female bonding. Between one thing and another, despite her deep commitment to uplifting her sisterhood, she'd never related well to the majority of women, even women in the same profession she was. It wasn't that she was a misogynist herself; truthfully she hadn't had a lot of close emotional relationships with men, either. But when news had gotten around the community of some 'female bonding' among the Interceptors, a team she'd heard nothing but good things about, she'd decided to give it a try. Fusion dropped into the garden and faded into view, her tentacles waving in the air as she retracted them downward to wrap around her waist like a fleshy skirt. Following the directions she'd gotten, she walked up to the backdoor and knocked smartly, cooling hot dish curled under one arm. Contrary to rumor, Fusion did know how to party, or at least what to bring to them. Hmm, I've heard they're a dynamic team with a eye to the future. I wonder if they're media-savvy. It'd be nice to write a positive article about somebody besides those Young Freedom kids...

Sorus, you're still up. Sage-Paragons is entangled and stuck to the floor (but not bound)

That's a +5 Power Attack using Sharl's Affects Corporeal punch: DC 26 Tou save if a 23 hits him flat-footed. Aimed at Serpent-Man 1. If that knocks him out and he's a minion, Sharl will continue using Takedown Attack.

"Hey! You shouldn't do that!" said Sharl, pointing a finger at the Serpentmen. _Argh, they look like aliens!_ He knew that this world didn't have the programming problems his own did, but it was hard to not be a little unsettled by these shape-shifting monsters who turned from men to hideous reptilian things in an instant. _What are these things?_ He was tempted to retreat and call Gina or Miss A, but he couldn't just run away when heroes were fighting bad guys, especially with all the innocent people around. At his words, the teenager's body seemed to shift, his skin glowing and radiating a faint pattern like a wireframe drawing, He didn't just let go of the overhead strap; his hand went right through it! "Stop fighting! Can't you see how many people there are here?" Clipping right through the people in front of him, Sharl gave the lead serpent man a punch in the face!

Sharl goes on 10

Sage: Go ahead and save vs. the explosion. And then! Have an HP. DC 25 Reflex save vs. the Snare It's Constricting, so once it hits you you make a DC 23 Tou save as well.

"Wait, what did you-" Negator looked down at himself as light crackled and sparkled all along the dividing line between his sinister Counterverse half and his mad-eyed normal half. "I'm going to-!" Suddenly, a spectacular eruption of light cascaded from the unstable supervillain as he erupted in a brilliant explosion! Negator was gone in an instant, the shockwaves of his departure sending the whole room erupting into further chaos as dimensions shook and bounced, the blast vibrating all the Earths like an assembled gong. The Tiger cried out as the wash burned some of the black entropy from his hands, but then laughed malevolently and said, "Hah-hah! You do my lord's work, boy!" Behind his helmet, Overshadow shot a look at his counterpart. "Wait, what did you say!?!" Almost as an afterthought, he fired a blast of whirling energy from his fingers, not at Midnight or Wander, the heroes who'd laid out his allies with such murderous efficiency, but rather at the Sage who'd come with the Young Paragons team; gobbling her up in clanking chains of flaming shadow! "You told me that you planned to rule your world the same as mine!"

Sharl felt conspicuous in his black leather trenchcoat and mirrorshades; most people in Freedom City's mass transit didn't dress like he did at all! But it was an alien world and one he was determined to get to know before he departed. He'd expected Gina to object to his plans to roam the streets at night, but she'd actually seemed glad to see the back of him: she'd given him firm, gentle warnings about not getting into trouble, about calling if he needed help, given him a good cellphone to carry around along with his little pocket projector, but she hadn't said a word about him leaving the house while she was asleep. He concentrated, keeping his form solid, just another anonymous face in a busy city. He didn't notice the strange people in hats at first, not attuned at all to what should actually be happening in these ridiculously slow, bizarrely undercrowded subway cars that reeked of human ordure, but gradually their unease caught his attention. Sinister as they looked, he felt a kinship with the obvious aliens, if only partially. _I wonder if they're immigrants,_ he thought. _Or criminals!_ If watching superhero news all day had taught him anything, it was that criminals were everywhere. He shot a look down at the uneasy-looking man sitting next to him, the electronic teenager himself hanging onto the strap overhead, and said, "Sir, are you all right?"

22 Welp. He's out of the fight. Gizmo, have an HP. Everyone, let's make a DC 24 Reflex save vs. a Rank 14 Area [burst] Damage 28 Edge-Prime is down an HP, but fine. 20 Edge-Paragons fails the save. He spends an HP for Ultimate Toughness and is unhurt. The bad guys! Totentanz: 29 The much-abused Totentanz is actually fine Tiger: Fails the Reflex save and is bruised (for a total of bruisedx2 and stunned Overshadow: makes his Reflex save and is unhurt Everyone else, that's DC 24 Reflex/DC 29 Toughness, with Evasion having its usual effect.

Ultra Hero PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 26 pp STR 30 [14] (+10/+2) DEX 16 (+3) CON 16 (+3) INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 16 (+3) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+10 Unarmed/Healing/Snare) DEF: +12 (+3 flat-footed) Init: +7 Grapple: +10/+19 Saves: 10 pp TOU +8 (+3 Con, +5 Protection) FORT +6 (+3 Con, +3) REF +6 (+3 Ref, +3) WILL +6 (+2 Wis, +4) Skills: 48 r=12 pp Bluff 7 (+10) Diplomacy 7 (+10) Intimidate 7 (+10) Knowledge: History 5 (+5) Knowledge Pop Culture 5 (+5) Languages 1 (Spanish) (Base: English) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Feats: 16 pp Attack Specialization: Unarmed 2 Dodge Focus 6, Elusive Target, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Luck, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 62 pp League Array [32+8=40 pp] Blast 10 (Extra: Range [Perception]) (PFs: Indirect 2) 'Captain Thunder's Lightning' AP: Concealment 10 (all senses) (Extra: Affects Others) (PFs: Progression 2 [5 subjects]) 'Raven's Stealth' AP: Create Object 10 (Extra: Moveable) (PFs: Precise, Selective) 'Star Knight's Shield' AP: Enhanced STR 16 and Immunity 9 (Life Support) and Super-Strength 3 (Heavy Load: ~6 tons) 'Daedalus' Armor' AP: Flight 5 (total of Flight 10 (10000 MPH) and Quickness 20 (x2.5 million) 'Johnny Rocket's Speed' AP: Healing 10 (Extra: Ranged) (PFs: Accurate 2) 'Lady Liberty's Light' AP: Morph 10 (humanoids) and Mind Reading 10 (PFs: Rapid, Subtle) 'Pseudo's Grueness' AP: Snare 10 (Extra: Regenerating) (PFs: Accurate 2) 'Siren's Net' Flight 5 (250 MPH) [10 pp] Immunity 1 (own powers) [1 pp] Protection 5 (Extra: Impervious) [10 pp] costs abilities 26 + combat 24 + saves 10 + skills 12/48 + feats 16 + powers 62 = 150 pts --- Design Notes: Here's my build for a character like the Legion of Superheroes' Ultra-Boy, Amazo the DC villain, Marvel's Super-Adaptoid, or Argo the Ultimate Android from Freedom City: he has the powers of any of Freedom City's premier superheroes, the Freedom League, but he's only got them one at a time! (Note that the one-at-a-time thing is just for Ultra Boy, not Argo as such). Unlike Ultra Boy and similar characters, he at least always meets his defensive caps, and can always fly around and is really tough, the way a superhero should be! There are a lot of different archetypes on the Freedom League, so this guy can do a lot of things for his superteam: he can heal, turn himself and his team invisible, and generally pass for someone who has 'all the powers of the League' on a limited basis. An obvious way to change him up in-game would be to give him the powers of one of our PC superteams: the Composite Interceptor, Knight, or Young Freedomite! A couple of possible backgrounds for this guy: maybe he's a superhero fanboy who managed to copy the powers of his favorite superteam, or maybe he was an intern at the super-museum who got his powers from a horrible accident involving the secret origins of all his favorite supers? Or something else, maybe he's a superhero fanboy from the future who showed up in the past to join his favorite team, waving his new powers around to show them how awesome he is? And then, perhaps, they were a bit cool to his crazy time-travel aspirations. I'm not saying make him a bad guy or make him pathetic, just consider all the implications of a character with such a diverse power-base: that's why he's got a decent quantity of Luck, so he can pull off some big ol' power-stunts. This guy may seem powerful, but remember he doesn't have anything like the versatility of the people he's emulating. He's no Raven, Captain Thunder, or Daedalus, but he can do some of the things they can, and do them well. He's a jack of all trades and master of none, but there are worse niches to fill than that. And think of the boost you get for knowing people! It really is important to make sure your hero is meeting at least defensive caps at all times, because otherwise you will be a very sad panda indeed if Don't forget that unlike the heroes who he's emulating, all his powers do have one descriptor, so a Nullify Mutant/Magic/Psionics (or whatever his descriptors are) is going to shut down his powers even if some of them have the fluff of other descriptors.

Sense Motive: 28 OK, so he juuuust manages to avoid being flat-footed Tou vs 38 w/Autofire: 35 OK, he's bruised. Midnight Prime is up!

He actually is one of the Fearless ones. 21 Eh, I'll go with that roll taking Totentanz out. He's fine with world conquest, but world _destruction_ is bad for business, much less fighting kids. He'd rather be beaten unconscious than actually betray his employer. Wander-P is indeed up.

"Miss A is the coolest," said Sharl, though he actually had someone else in mind for that role. Gina wouldn't want to be mentioned, though. "She can fly, and shoot colored lasers in the background, and she's really smart and pretty. These guys are cool too," he added, pointed to Jack and Jill. "Jack is a Pokemon," he added with a wink in the swordsman's direction, "and Jill, well, you saw what she can do." To the O-team, he added, "I have a lot of free time, so I watch a lot of TV about superheroes and go online a lot. There are some crazy websites out there, heh-heh-heh."

Jewel Wasp PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 32 pp STR 10 (+0) DEX 16 (+3) CON 16 (+3) INT 16 (+3) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 20 (+5) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +4 (+10 Melee) DEF: +12 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +3 Grapple: +10 Saves: 11 pp TOU +8 (+3 Con, +5 Protection) FORT +6 (+3 Con, +3) REF +7 (+3 Dex. +4) WILL +6 (+2 Wis, +4) Skills: 48 r=12 pp Bluff 5 (+10) Intimidate 15 (+20) Knowledge: Life Sciences 7 (+10) Languages 3 (Hawaiian, Japanese, Swahili) (Base: English) Notice 13 (+15) Search 2 (+5) Sense Motive 3 (+5) Survival 2 (+5) Feats: 16 pp Attack Focus: Melee 6, Challenge (Fast Startle) Dodge Focus 4, Evasion, Luck, Move-By Action, Power Attack, Startle, Uncanny Dodge (olfactory) Powers: 58 pp Comprehend 2 (speak to and understand insects) (Flaw:Limited: Bees/Wasps) [2 pp] Flight 3 (50 MPH) [6 pp] Wasp Array [42+1=43 pp] Damage 10 LINKED Drain Wisdom 10 LINKED Paralyze 10 (PFs: Incurable Reversible) AP: Mind Control 10 (Extras: Conscious, Effortless) (PFs: Mental Link, Subtle) Protection 5 [5 pp] Super-Senses 1 (Acute Scent) [1 pp] Drawbacks: -3 pp Vulnerable (aerosol effects) (uncommon, major) (-3 pp) costs abilities 32 + combat 24 + saves 11 + skills 12/48 + feats 16 + powers 58 -Drawbacks 3= 150 pts --- Notes: First, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_cockroach_wasp and read the section on ‘Reproductive Behavior and Life Cycle’ OK, you’ve done that? Holy cow, what a freaking disturbing insect! So naturally I had to build this lady, perhaps stung and infected by a radioactive jewel wasp to its native habitat. She’s pretty good at what she does; she’s a competent scientist, good flier and observer, and she can stun bad guys by growing a stinger and jabbing them with it. And then...and then...well, let’s just say she’s got some difficulties with her romantic life, okay? Sometimes you can have all the parts intact but the drives are shifted in ways that make your relationships with others difficult. Particularly if they don’t want you laying your young in their midsection so they chew their way out, which is something I’ve...opted not to stat out here. (I feel I should note that this is not something a superheroic character should do) She’s got a Mind Control effect like the Queen Bees of various DC Comics: if you don’t want her to be dependent on jabbing people, keep it as it is, but feel free to give her a flaw where she has to hurt people with her sting before she can command their bidding. (That’s part of why she’s got the Reversible, so she can un-Paralyze them and still have them as minions) Note that being an insect totem and a mind controller aren’t necessarily impossible for a superhero: it’s all in how you do it. Admittedly, this archetype does have a lot of Fridge Horror behind it, but is it really any more disturbing than a Mythos-powered hero, or a demon, or anything else? Another possible way of tweaking this character is for her to be an alien with a wasp theme. There’s quite a tradition of those in superhero comics: there actually is one from the Freedom City universe, though she’s from the distant future of the Freedom Legion era. If you go with that route, maybe this character is that species first visitor to Earth, or even a time traveler from the future? Perhaps she hopes that the Earth of the past will be more accommodating to her species than the one of the future. Or maybe she was once an agent of that future wasp monarch, and has decided to join the side of the heroes of the past so that she can protect this era from her people’s tyrannical rule? So if you do play this character, how can you make her distinctive? It’s up to you! Just be careful about how you date...

"Hah, you German schweinhund!" spat the Tiger, the shadowy figure rising to his feet as terrible arcane power seemed to ripple through his black, bloated body. "I won't pay you if you don't kill them! Here, let a man show you how it's done!" And with that, he pointed at Wander and shouted, "Die, you filthy Western harlot!" He hurled a black, whirling sphere of pure death at her, a shimmering ball of terrible entropic light that zoomed so close to Wander that it singed the back of her hair! But it missed, shooting past the young heroes and into the heart of the whirling gears beyond! The whole complex gave a great shudder as the Tiger's blast seemed to rock it to its core. Totentanz staggered back, splitting blood from his mask, and said, "Verdammt fanatic! You almost hit me! This wasn't in my contract!" For his part, Overshadow turned frantically to the gears and boomed, "You imbecile! You'll bring time itself down on our heads!"

15 He is flat-footed! And that does hit! DC 39 with Autofire: 27 Woof, quite a hammering for Totentanz. (Still, better the NPC than the PCs...) He's stunned and staggered. OK, the Tiger is up. He's going to fire a Disintegrate at Wander-EZ01: 16 And miss! I'll Fiat a reroll, but Edge-Paragons is going to cancel my Fiat. Damn Luck Controllers! CT-Prime is up.

"Kinder, eh? A bad business." Totentanz followed his employers' orders, pulling his trademark pikes that crackled with life-draining energy and falling among the teen heroes like a wolf among sheep. Totentanz was among the most feared paragons on his own world, a mercenary famous for killing perhaps hundreds of his fellow paragon-mercs in warfare in Africa and the Middle East. Perhaps it was mercy that pulled his blows, perhaps he simply didn't take children seriously. He launched a savage barrage of attacks, moving in an unstoppable blur that roared towards the united young heroes...and ultimately missed all of them. "Hah!" he exclaimed, sounding unthreatened by his miss and by his vulnerable position. "Meine Fehler, kinder. A fight after all!"

OK, Totentanz is going to use the Rapid Attack power of his Super-Speed, allowing him to attack everybody. 30 Edge-Prime spends an HP to force him to reroll: 18 Electra has indicated that the Wanders Interpose for the Corbins. Totentanz misses them.

Edge-Prime: 12 Edge-Paragons: 11 Negator: 13 Totentanz: 40 Totentanz: 40 Erin-EZ01: 28 The Tiger: 28 CT-Prime: 21 Midnight-Paragons: 19 Wander-Paragons: 17 CT-Paragons: 16 Midnight-Prime: 14 Overshadow: 13 Sage-1 and Sage-2: 12 Edge-Prime: 12 Edge-Paragons: 11

Citizen: Quickness 2 (x5) (Flaw: Mental Tasks Only) [1 pp] Online Research [1 pp] +2 Charisma [2 pp] Ecal'd

APPROVED

Casting her eyes around for a target, Fusion decided to repeat the trick she'd used on the juggler. "Listen, honey, the only kind of French mind-bending I'm interested in comes out of a bottle of champagne!" She lashed an ankle out and entangled the tightrope walker by the ankle, 'cracking the whip' with her own body as she whipped the high-walker around and hurled him at the rope dancer. "Why don't we see how your hive mind works when I break all your heads!?" She said a bad word when she missed entirely, but it was at least satisfying when her target smacked head first into the far wall. "Or maybe I'll just toss you around myself!"

Wow, she's kind of a jerk, thought Sharl with the uncharity of even a friendly teenager. She's had a really, really bad time, I guess, he added a moment later, trying to be sympathetic. And I probably wouldn't be very nice either if I'd seen so many people die. He was too well-mannered to snark at someone who'd been through so much, he decided, especially after he'd been greeted so kindly by everyone here. "Yeah, they've got some really amazing technology-type stuff here," he said reassuringly, the way he might if he was stuck in his mother's waiting cube talking to her patients. "You can really learn a lot." Like maybe how to build a spaceship that works, he thought, a little unkindly. To Jack of all Blades, trusting that Miss A could handle the crazy science lady, he said, "Hey, is it true you can make a sword out of anything? Because that's really awesome! I mean, I've seen people in Freedom City with all kinds of superpowers, but that's like simple, but super-effective!"

Initiative time