Avenger Assembled

Adamant is immune to Telepathy. (But not, I hasten to add, mental effects!)

APPROVED

"Holy cow, holy cow, it's Adamant." Mark didn't looked scared so much as he looked appalled. "He's a monster sort of, uh, animated suit of armor made by the god Hades. He fought the Centurion, Horus, even villains like Superior, as part of his mad quest to purge the world of all divine magic." He thought of his own secretive arcane heritage and shuddered. "My dad told me he was probably the toughest single opponent the old League ever fought. He's invulnerable." With the heroes not attacking him yet, Adamant resumed punching the mountain, making great booms that shook the rock below at every strike. "So one day, after he started actually killing innocents for the first time...the Centurion threw him into space," Edge added in a hushed whisper.

"All my teaching was done one-on-one, since I am the only teenager in the place where I used to live," explained Quo-Dis as she delicately drank her Coke, the straw sliding past luscious red-painted lips as she drank. "So it was a very great change," she agreed, toying slightly with the delicate gold necklace she was wearing, the long pendant hanging low beneath her throat, as she took a deep breath. "What we discussed was very different. I miss those days sometimes," she admitted, "but learning among all of you is much more important than whatever I learn in classes."

"I have only seen a few pictures," Harrier admitted, "but your description will be adequate. The disguise will need to be as elaborate as possible, to hide the reality within." He climbed onto the table, staring impassively at the ceiling. "My mother told me those stories. She had a great gift for telling stories, she had been...a writer, back when she and my father had a world to write on. As long ago as that was, I suppose I am the only one left who remembers them. Even those prole children who were not taken to be changed must be gone by now."

The spectacle of the fanged and toothed daughter of the king attacking his royal personage in his royal chamber was enough to briefly stun the Atlantean guards into submission, leaving the heroes to grapple with the hissing, spitting princess. Though Fusion entertained a brief, horrifying vision of a vampiric water monster, her tentacles lashing out to help restrain the ferocious princess about the arms and legs, but luckily Nereid seemed unable or unwilling to take her more slippery form. Theseus gave a cry of surprise at his daughter's assault, but luckily the quick reflexes of the assembled heroes stopped her from sinking claw or fang into his bare-skinned torso. "The shadow-death!" he cried. "Quickly, take her to the orichalcum chamber! She may yet be saved!" The burly Atlantean guards went into action then, by main force grappling Thetis and carrying her out of the throne room as she shrieked murderous defiance and foul oaths. Shocked, the room was silent before the king addressed the heroes. "Tell what has happened. Quickly." As she was the best grappler in the room, Fusion had gone to help deal with the princess, and down the hall helped seal the now vampiric (though hopefully not vampire, that poor little girl!) Thetis inside a perfectly sealed golden sphere that would 'purge the infection from her.' Frowning, Fusion shot a glance down at her left undertentacle and the deep bite mark left there by the squid monsters she'd swept aside with it. She hmmed, and pulled her tentacles back inside her body (at least as far as they would go), before she headed back to rejoin the others.

Quo-Dis gave Corbin that impenetrable stare for a long moment, then brightened. "Oh, okay. If it's not something you're ready to do yet, I understand. I don't want anyone to have to do something they don't want to do." As if the faux pas, if that's what was, hadn't happened, she cocked her head when the waiter came over and ordered their bourbon steak burger with the garlic and potato fritters. She looked as if nothing had gone wrong, reaching over to take Corbin's hand and smiling winningly at him. She really was quite lovely.

"That's not true," said Quo-Dis. "Zaranna goes with boys all the time, and she doesn't love them. She says she wants to experience the whole world before she has to go live in the jungle again, and I think that's very healthy for someone with such limited time. She can be very strange sometimes, but ultimately she's very practical." She folded her arms and looked away, the argument making her tense. "I just think that when you have only a few decades at most, you should be enjoying yourself with great deeds, not wasting what time you do have with...doing nothing."

"Don't you want to?" she asked, frowning suspiciously at him. "Zarana said this dress was very hot, even though I assured her the low neckline and the slit keep it well-ventilated." She gave Corbin a worried look, and lowered her voice to a whisper when he seemed determined to murmur. "I mean, we are as emotionally compatible as we are likely to be, and I'm sure we're both physically capable. If you're concerned about our safety, let me assure you that I've had extensive physical training about interacting with humans, and we are not biologically compatible without the use of vril technology."

"For two years now, so I've only just arrived," answered the beautiful blonde. "There actually are no schools like Claremont where I'm from. I've never been...taught alongside other young people before." Brushing hair behind one ear, she looked at the others, wincing at what was evidently a social faux pas. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask an embarrassing question," she added, wincing. "I only asked because I intend to have intercourse with Corbin, and I would like to have a larger knowledge base than only what Zarana and our health class has taught me about boys."

"Corbin is very interesting to me. Not many teenagers are so interested in the recent past of his people the way he is." It took Corbin a moment to put that into context: it wasn't often his interest in ancient archeology got that label. She listened carefully as Blake described his relationship with Jessica, then studied the other girl herself in turn with laser-like intensity. She had a deep stare; one that seemed to bore right into you, but it wasn't an unfriendly look either. "My roomate, Zarana, has many relationships, but I've never had a chance to talk to both parties at the same time before. Dating is very interesting so far. Have the two of you had intercourse yet?" she inquired seriously.

Blake fell, and seemed to fall forever, as the flames of eldritch energy burned across and through his body. Then, suddenly, as if from nowhere and everywhere, he heard a blast of celestial trumpets and felt a strong, powerful hand grab his. "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? AND NOT ONE OF THEM FALLS TO THE GROUND APART FROM THE CREATOR'S WILL!" Heyzel of Heaven, the angel of Freedom, swooped down from the clouds above to catch Blake by the hand, pulling the pure human soul so discarded by the Adversary from the pit of destruction. "Live free, Blake Salazar!"

Even with the help of Midnight's wetsuits, the sudden transition to the underwater world of Atlantis was disorienting for the surfacer heroes: the enveloping feeling of water all around them, the shift from artificial electrical light to the glowing fungal-infested rock that Atlanteans put in their buildings, and the inescapable knowledge that they were thousands of feet below the surface of the Ocean! It didn't help that they'd appeared in a crowded room, some dozen or so well-dressed Atlanteans starting as people simply appeared in the room with them. Luckily, there were two people in the party who had been in this very room before! Being back in her native environment seemed to revitalize Nereid, the princess finding her feet within seconds of arriving under the water. As for Fusion, Joan Collier unhesitatingly curtsied...well, half-curtsied, anyway, she had her all-American pride to the only king on Earth she really respected. "King Theseus! I bring your daughter with grave news!" For her part, Fusion took to the water without hesitation, her tentacles drifting out somewhat as the water supported the weight of her whole body. It felt really, really nice to be here...nicer than she'd even remembered. Theseus, a powerful man with a chiseled physique, smoothly trimmed beard, and wearing a tightly-clinging shirt of pale green mail, stepped down to study them. "Thetis? Child, you're hurt!" He put his hand on his daughter's arm, all fatherly concern. "What's happened?" Nereid looked up at her father, and suddenly her eyes turned black and her teeth turned to a pointed lamprey's maw. "You are overthrown, my loving father!" And with that, she leaped straight for her father's throat!

"Quo-Dis," said the Ultiteen, a hint of firmness in her voice. "I call other people by their names, at least when we are not training or fighting, and so would like to be called by my own name." From the sound of things, she'd had this conversation before with other teenagers. "It's a pleasure to meet you both," she said with a smile. "I enjoy meeting people. How long have the two of you been a couple?" she asked. When the waiter stopped by for their beverages, she immediately ordered a Coke "from the bottle, please", sighing a little as she glanced at the wine list.

Quo-Dis stepped out of the car looking gorgeous in a red dress, cut high at the leg, and tall heels that still didn't bring her up to Corbin's great height. She walked in them with smooth ease, though, her natural command of vril making balance a snap. She took Corbin's hand and gave him a bold look. "Yes, let's." As they walked into the fancy restaurant, she hmmed, thinking about what she'd heard from Corbin about Blake's relationship with his girlfriend. She paid little heed to their surroundings, not having any particular interest in how they served food here, but focused on the teens when the waiter brought them over and Corbin started making introductions.

"It's not that difficult, honestly," said the immortal teenager seriously. "Frankly, I'm surprised at how short your curricula is. In my...old school," she elided, covering for the personal history that she knew was confidential in the school records, "Our historical education went back millenia, and that was if you preferred other fields." She smiled. "At least your stories about yourselves are interesting. Just like you, Corbin." She studied him, her eyebrow raising. "Why don't you tell me a story about your people?"

Hmm. I should have had you specify what the Array was set to before the combat started, but since I didn't bring that up, I'll let you go with this! (After all, _fighting_ Otaku isn't the important thing here...) 10 That's a failure, and it loses 11 Toughness. His Shao Kahn armor with real working Hellfire Control, Oh No! 31 Will save! Otaku isn't scared of you!

Otaku gave an "Awp!" as Midnight's powerful jolt fried the systems in his mechsuit. "You...you wei-faced jerk! I'll show you the true power of power!" And with that, he gathered his fists and made a series of elaborate martial arts gestures in the air with his 'mystic' hammer. "Gomulka! Burn in the fires of Yami Hell!" And with that he seemed to throw a ball of white-hot flame at Midnight, a shimmering blast of pure mystical burning and death that...missed the dark avenger entirely and buried itself in the far wall, leaving a smoking crater behind. "Aiee!" he exclaimed in reply, anger on his face. "I'll show you all!"

Harrier studied Miss Americana impassively, only his segmented eyes showing his inner turmoil. To look different, to really look different, to wear a face that others couldn't see..."I would not want to be a gladiator again, anyway. I have seen too much of that life to wear it as a disguise...a knight in shining armor, then." He hmmed and admitted, "I was raised on the same stories that many on Earth were. That would be a fine thing." He looked at Miss A and added, "And you? You wear the classic style of superheroines. A sensible choice."

"Or maybe," said Mark, staring up at the long-past heavens, "I need to do things they never did first. It's time to go, Cannonade." And with that, Mark waved his hands, black dots suddenly pouring from his fingers, sweeping around both of them like a painter's brush. "I want to go back!" he was saying through gritted teeth. "I want to go back! I want to go..." Black inky dots washed over both men's visions, and for a second it was as if they were outside everything altogether. And suddenly, with a pop!, Cannonade and Edge were back in an isolated corner of the Super-Museum, the bustling place looking like they'd never left.

Wow, the Fort DC was that high even with Mark's Evasion? OK, I spend an HP to reroll my Fort save. Failing that, I perform the following actions: Free Action: Mark spends an HP to cancel his stun. Free Action: He then power-stunts Transform 15 (metal to flesh) (Extra: Duration [Continuous]) (PFs: Innate, Precise) [60 pp] off his Reality Warping Array. Standard Action: He blasts Rasputin. Critical hit! Boo-yah! Mark's goal here is to turn Rasputin into a real boy! That's a DC 30 Fort save (Reflex if he's a construct) to avoid becoming alive again He'll spend one more HP for Medicine via Beginner's Luck if necessary. Let me know what happens, and I'll post IC.

Military Fairy Abilities: 58 pp STR 34 [26] (+12) DEX 18 (+4) CON 28 [24] (+9) INT 14 (+2) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 20 (+5) Combat: 24 pp ATK: +6 (+5 w/Growth, +8 melee w/size) DEF: +6 (+5 w/Growth, +6 w/size) Init: +8 Grapple: +24 w/size Saves: 9 pp TOU +14 (+9 Con, +5) FORT +12 (+9 Con, +3) REF +7 (+4 Dex, +3) WILL +6 (+3 Wis, +3) Skills: 19 pp=76 r Intimidate 15 (+20/+21) Knowledge: Arcane Lore 8 (+10) Knowledge: History 8 (+10) Knowledge: Tactics 15 (+17) Languages 2 (Arabic, English) (Base: Old Norse) Notice 12 (+15) Sense Motive 12 (+15) Survival 4 (+7 Feats: 16 pp Attack Focus: Melee 3, Benefit (Security Clearance), Dodge Focus, Improved Initiative, Luck 2, Master Plan 2, Power Attack, Rallying Cry Startle, Takedown Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 24 pp Growth 4 (Extra: Duration [Permanent]) (PF: Innate) [13 pp] Immunity 1 (aging) [1 pp] Protection 5 [5 pp] Super-Senses 3 (Acute Scent, Darkvision) [3 pp] Super-Strength 1 [2 pp] costs abilities 58 + combat 24 + saves 9 + skills 19/76 + feats 16 + powers 24 = 150 pts --- Design Notes: So a few years ago, the US Army tried summoning a troll into the body of a volunteer soldier. You know, it wasn’t even the least logical or most dangerous experiment the Army has ever carried out! It went OK, producing an eight-foot-tall powerhouse with the mind of a tactical genius and strength to rend steel in his bare hands. His lack of Impervious makes him less than useful on the battlefield, though: tough as he is, a volley of sustained machine gun fire can take him down. So the experiment wasn’t repeated, and the US Army was left with its very own troll. In the wake of recent budget cuts, they’ve farmed him out as a superhero! So here’s a different take on the super-soldier archetype, drawing heavily on Norse mythology for his powers rather than your typical serum and such. Who says the government can’t pay for magic, either by twisting arms of magical bad guys or just by offering cash dollars to your more typical comic book mage. He lacks some of the traditional vulnerabilities to electricity and sunlight that your typical troll has, but that sort of thing should be added by you if you want to give him more points: he’s pretty darn formidable as it is! He’s a great goon sweeper, a very good planner and leader, and very, very scary in combat: wouldn’t an attacking eight-foot-tall troll in a patriotic superhero costume scare YOU? (Well it would scare me!) Some possible tweaks on this character might make him a super-soldier in the _Norwegian_ Army: who’s to say they don’t want their own super-powered agents? You also might want to delve more into the mythological side of things: how do heroes from the Norse pantheon feel about one of their antagonists being mastered by the US Army? Or worse, do they see it as an old foe returned in the guise of a new body? He makes a great antagonist for that Viking-powered PC you’ve got running around somewhere in your story. Save up points to actually buy him that hammer; as it is he just uses it for intimidation purposes and is much better fighting with his fists in melee.

Black Prince PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 54 pp STR 24 (+7) DEX 24 (+7) CON 24 (+7) INT 12 (+1) WIS 16 (+3) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 32 pp ATK: +8 (+13 melee) DEF: +13 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +11 Grapple: +20 Saves: 8 pp TOU +7 (+7 Con) FORT +8 (+7 Con, +1) REF +8 (+7 Dex, +1) WILL +8 (+2 Wis, +6) Skills: 17 pp=68 r Acrobatics 8 (+15, Skill Mastery) Climb 8 (+15, Skill Mastery) Diplomacy 4 (+6) Intimidate 8 (+10) Knowledge: Civics 4 (+5) Knowledge: Current Events 4 (+5) Languages 4 (Arabic, English, French, Swahili) (Base: Native) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10, Skill Mastery) Stealth 8 (+15) Survival 4 (+6, Skill Mastery) Feats: 23 pp Acrobatic Bluff All-Out Attack Attack Focus 5 (Melee) Benefit 3 (Security Clearance, Status, Wealth) Defensive Attack Dodge Focus 5 Hide in Plain Sight Move-By Action Power Attack Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Climb, Stealth, Survival) Takedown Attack Track Uncanny Dodge (olfactory) Powers: 15 pp Leaping 2 (x5) [2 pp] Speed 2 (25 MPH) [2 pp] Super-Movement 3 (Slow Fall, Wall-Crawling 2) [6 pp] Super-Senses 5 (Accurate Acute Scent, Darkvision) [5 pp] costs abilities 54 + combat 32 + saves 8 + skills 17/68 + feats 25 + powers 15 = 150 pts --- Design Notes: This is the head of state of an isolated sub-Saharan African country, a powerful man at the peak of physical perfection who also happens to be imbued with the mystic powers of jungle animals. (Actually, he’s probably better off as the king’s heir, just so you don’t get weird questions about who’s running the show at home. Unless he’s a constitutional monarch, which helps explain why he’s so busy with being a superhero in America). He doesn’t have ridiculous powers or implausible super-science: he’s just fast, strong, and as deadly as the great cat which gives him his powers. This kind of hero is easy to be stereotypical: he’s a black guy from the jungle with animal powers, hurr hurr! The best way to make him awesome (without making both him and his country an equally insulting counter-stereotype) is to play up the fact that he’s a _king_, a monarch of the people, a man of dignity and power who battles for others because it’s his duty as a sovereign. This doesn’t mean you have to make him some dour son of a gun: dignity doesn’t mean an inability to laugh, it just means you should always be able to make sure that the joke is on someone else. Give him more Wisdom and Charisma for a more experienced build: like a lot of my character concepts, this is a construction suitable for Year One of the archetype. You can easily move some points around and buy him a palace or embassy if you want, but as it is he’s his own man, looking to earn his kingly legacy through heroic deeds. The complication of his dual role is, of course, a natural for him, as is the forever living in the public eye that comes from his monarchical ties.

Utopian Envoy PL: 10 (150) Abilities: 60 pp STR 26 (+8) DEX 26 (+8) CON 26 (+8) INT 12 (+1) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 14 (+2) Combat: 32 pp ATK: +8 (+12 Unarmed) DEF: +12 (+4 flat-footed) Init: +11 Grapple: +16 Saves: 10 pp TOU +8 (+8 Con) FORT +10 (+8 Con, +2) REF +10 (+8 Ref, +2) WILL +8 (+2 Wis, +6) Skills: 18 pp=72 r Acrobatics 7 (+15) Climb 2 (+10) Diplomacy 13 (+15) Intimidate 8 (+10) Knowledge: Current Events 4 (+5) Knowledge: Civics 9 (+10) Knowledge: History 4 (+5) Notice 8 (+10) Sense Motive 12 (+14) Survival 3 (+5) Swim 2 (+10) Feats: 12 pp Acrobatic Bluff, Attack Specialization: Unarmed 2, Beginner’s Luck, Dodge Focus 4, Eidetic Memory, Elusive Target, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Jack-of-all-Trades, Luck, Move-By Action, Stunning Attack, Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (auditory) Powers: 13 pp Comprehend 3 (read, speak, and understand all languages simultaneously) [6 pp] Device 1 (Shield Bracers) (Hard to Lose) (PF: Indestructible) [5 pp] -Enhanced Feats 4 (Defensive Attack, Improved Defense 2, Ultimate Save [Toughness]), -Luck Control 1 (force rerolls) (Flaw: Limited (Only Attack Rolls Against You [-2]) Immunity 1 (aging) [1 pp] Speed 1 (10 MPH) [1 pp] costs abilities 60 + combat 32 + saves 10 + skills 18/72 + feats 12 + powers 13 = 150 pts --- Design Notes: Here’s a Utopian Envoy, another significant reworking of a Freedom City universe archetype. He’s strong, fast, and tough, at the absolute peak of human physical perfection: just like his Utopian brothers and sisters. (Utopia Isle, of course, is populated by the descendants of Atlantis located in the Bermuda Triangle, using high technology and superpowers to keep their location a secret even from the world of 2010). The last Utopian envoy was a PC here, but I think you can safely build a second variety without any worries about that old character. The classic Utopian envoy was Envoy back in the Golden Age! His bracers are my attempt at building Wonder Woman’s Amazonian bracelets on a PL 10 PC’s budget: Deflect is way too overcosted to be of any actual value for a character who has other things going on. So instead he has various effects associated with them that he can use to simulate shrugging off the strongest of attacks via bouncing them off his bracers. It seems a good homage for a character who’s a fairly straightforward homage to the Golden Age Wonder Woman. The books don’t say what Utopia Isle is actually like. If I were you, I’d make it a fairly straightforward takeoff on Golden Age Amazon Island: full of bizarre schizotech where the Utopians wrestle in the Greco-Roman style here but over there build Purple Healing Rays, where worship of the old gods is combined with a practical, rational comic book science that produces impossible feats. It should be a pleasant place to visit, though deeply odd to outsiders. Utopians tend to be brave, trustworthy people who are horrified to find out about lies and deceit from their less-honorable regular human friends. What a cultural clash, eh?

"The weapon is typically used for melee combat," replied Harrier, staring down impassively at the power pike he'd carried for so many years as he passed it off to Miss A, the energy at the tip dying down as it left his fingers. "One uses the scanner to assess the weaknesses of a target before confronting them with an energy strike that matches their greatest vulnerabilities. I primarily use the blasts to attack enemies I can't catch in the air, or those who are far away but need attacking now." He hmmed quietly. "This weapon has survived...considerable damage," he elided. "Its resilience is impressive. Without it, I would have died in the Terminus."