Gizmo

I think you're up regardless, Cy. Jack was just reacting there, after the plants took their turn by attacking him.

"Oh, well, yuck," Jack grimaced as he dodged the plant creatures' attacks. As the pollen crashed against the door frame, he reflected that it was thoughtful of the monsters to colour-code themselves for his convenience. "We got Mama Nasty in here," he called out to the others in the backyard, "and she is pumping these Mushroom Kingdom rejects out. Keep an eye on the yellow ones, they're trying to give me hay fever or something."

"And we can take your guns away, chucklehead," Jack retorted. "I've got the stabby bits built in. What are you gonna do if I start waving three feet of pointy hellfire around while you're trying to hold me down? You guys could put me out, but not before somebody gets seriously jacked up." The fencer paused. "Pun not intended." Honestly, he didn't like Colt and Grim's chances in a melee fight against him period, but he wasn't about to get into that discussion.

Alternative Ideas: Lidaelle + Dead Head = Katie Dead: Surprisingly upbeat teen zombie infested with various insects. Jester + Tempest = The Pest: Puckish elemental sprite. Malice + Anybody = Uh Oh: + Jester = Jealous, + Magnificent = Maleficent, + Colt = Moar Dakka, etc. Young Freedom + The Midnighters + The Knights of Freedom = The Young Mid-Knights: Kinda like if the Scoobie Gang were the monsters. Jack of all Blades + Anybody = Some Guy Named Jack: It's like taking 10 on naming: Grim Jack, Doktor Jack, Jack of all Bows, etc. Gossamer + Fleur de Joie = Ivy: She got vines! For hair! Breakdown + Magnificent = Sensational: A Magician Named GOB... only awesome.

The idea arose in chat last night of a story where characters are merged together in the style of Amalgam Comics. We batted around a few variations, including combining PCs with other PCs, combining them with setting NPCs like the Freedom League and combining all of each player's active characters together. For reference, here's some of the results we came up with for the last one: Avenger + Edge + Freedom Angel = Longinus: Bat-winged fallen angel cast out for manipulating fate to help mortals. Now living on Earth, he continues to help the helpless, combining the strength of the righteous with the devil's own luck! Phalanx + Ace Danger = Dangerproof: Ancient mystic secrets gifted charismatic adventurer Ace Harris with invulnerability to all harm. The Man Who Cannot Be Killed travels the world foiling the schemes of SHADOW and other villainous organizations! Phantom + Psyche = Pasithea: Charged with protecting the collective unconsciousness of all humanity, this cloaked figure patrols the dreamscape, ensuring that the it says separate from the waking world.* Dark Star + Hellion = Darkfire: Young and arrogant, Derrik Profit sought to remove the demonic half of his nature with an occult ritual. Instead, he was transformed into a being of pure, pitch black hellfire possessing immeasurable power! Doktor Archeville + Dead Head = Doktor Totenkopf: An unfortunate accident in the lab ended the life of Doktor Archeville, but gave rise to the ghostly apparition known as Doktor Totenkopf! He still doesn't believe in magic, though. Arrowhawk + Geckoman = The Hawk: Chris MacKenzie was an average Scottish youth until an accident granted him superhuman eyesight and aim, retractable talons he could use to scale walls and a lightweight skeleton aiding amazing acrobatics! Wander + Fleur de Joie = Walkabout: On a parallel Earth, a nanotech virus turned all organic life into mindless automatons save for one girl, who used her powers over plant life to survive and fight back against the technological terrors! Atlas + Jester = Punchline: Grue experiments unhinged the mind of the man known only as Punchline but granted him a malleable, shapeshifting form, making him like unto a living cartoon! A very strong cartoon with a penchant for slapstick... Jack of all Blades + Midnight II = Nick of Time: A throwback to an earlier time, this hero is instantly recognizable by the "24/7" emblazoned on his costume. Absorbing energy rather than sleeping, Nick of Time is always on the clock! Grimalkin + Gossamer = Rapunzel: When Lynn de Havilland was a baby, she was switched with a changeling and brought to live in the fearie realms. Returning as an adult woman, her animated blonde locks are only the first of the powers she has learned! Divine + Seraph = Beholder: The daughter of Aphrodite and Apollo, Faith Morley is a goddess in her own right. Running a popular beauty spa in the West End, she possesses the divine ability to bring out the inner beauty - or the true face of evil - in her clients. Mongrel Angel + Aiko = Karakuri: A winged automaton covered in filigree and delicate etchings, Karakuri's artificial intelligence developed the spark of true sentience. She searches for the meaning of humanity while living up to her angelic appearance. Breakdown + Colt = Hoedown: Eddie Reynolds might not know much about this 'popular music', but he knows what he likes! With his trusty acoustic guitar and amazing sonic powers, he's ready to herd the bad guys right outta town!** Quark + Wesley Knight = Darian Knight: Growing up in a small auto-plant town, Darian was never going to be able to afford university. Using his biokinetic powers, he transformed his body and mind to their peak, becoming the ultimate student and earning his choice of scholarships. Scarab + Zephyr + Black Hand = Scarab Infinity: Decades in the future, the superpowerless teenage daughter of the very last incarnation of the Scarab dons a reflex-enhancing suit to carry on the name and prove that justice is truly eternal. Lidaelle + Magnificent = Valentine: Beautiful assistant to a stage magician, "Valentine" was bonded to an insect-like demon thanks to her boss's clumsy forays into true sorcery. Now, in times of stress, she transforms into an armored, supernatural monster! *Doc A had a differnet name for this one, but its completely slipped my mind. **... and he's a werewolf. Sorry, quote, Lukos is odd wolf out.

Jack shrugged irritably. "What am I, a zombologist? I don't know." Seeing his teammates fell the undead horde one at a time with their firearms was frustrating for the fencer, and not just because of his strong dislike of guns in the first place. The hero wasn't one to sit out a crisis and let others handle things. At this rate, by the time the shambling monsters had gotten close enough for him to work, there would be little left for him to do. As a trio of zombies crashed through the window and tore their way inside the house, he made up his mind. "Right, you ugly cusses, time for a lesson in why Jack of all Blades is the sex," he informed his oblivious opponents as he stalked forward, shimmering blade held loosely at his side. As he approached, one of the creatures finally noticed him and looked up, just in time to have it's skull bisected directly through its gummy orbs. Capitalizing on the momentum of his swing, Jack carved the next zombie in line from the top of its ear down through its opposite shoulder before pressing on and splitting the third from its navel to its scalp. Brushing past the corpses as they toppled to the floor, the swashbuckler casually skewered the beast immediately outside the broken window through is vacant face. "Pheh," he grunted in disdain, vaulting over the shards of glass and outside. The leap added power to a broad swing that brought down another set of zombies before the swordsman's feet had touched the ground. Bounding forward again, he began to cut a swath through the mob, gore and partially congealed body fluids trailing from his energy rapier as he moved through the crowd with a deadly grace. For once Jack was able to cut loose and reveal the full extent of his terrible mastery.

Alright, after extensive discussion in chat, we've determined that by taking 10 on Power Attacks, Jack will automatically take out every zombie he can reach. To that end, he's gonna use Takedown Attack 2 to do this: Take out the three zombies that crawled in the window Step to the window Take out the single zombie on the other side Step outside through the window Take out the five zombies surrounding the space outside the window Use his remaining four steps to reach three more zombies apiece Which totals 21 zombies taken down. Which is awesome.

Jack stopped fidgeting when the detective mentioned her father's connection to the recliner. Well, that's both touching an really, really depressing, he thought to himself. He was distracted from commenting on Colby's unusual dental work by a more pressing concern. "Woah-ho, am I going to be spazzing out with my powers here? You know what my skill set is, right? It's stabbing people. A lot. Often in the face." The fencer wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the ritual, but the idea of giving up control of himself like that was abhorrent to the rigorously trained fighter.

"Gah, tentacles," Jack grimaced as a flick of his fiery sword disposed of what was left of the charred plant monster. Tossing Hellion a vague, casual salute, the swashbuckler sprung on the remaining flora, burning a hole clean through it's stem with his blade. The wight of the creature's own head snapped it off to fall in a pile of the grass, flames licking about the remains. He turned his attention to the greenhouse at Fleur's warning. "I'll take 'creepy glowing rocks from the sky' for five hundred, Alex," he deadpanned as he strode forward and delivered a spinning kick to the structure's door, shattering glass and flinging the portal open. Stepping inside, Jack cast about with his sword, its flames illuminating the interior.

In the back yard, Jack's going to finish off Piranha 3 with a Power Attack 5 (1d20+12=30) Ooh, another crit! DC 36 with Autofire. Assuming that takes it out, he'll use Takedown Attack to take a shot at Piranha 1 as well: Power Attack 5 (1d20+12=30) Huh, go figure, another crit, same deal. Jack's being oddly consistent in this thread... three 18s in a row? If that deals with Piranha 1 off, he'll use his move action to kick in the greenhouse door! ...I mean, it's probably already open, but... y'know. Let me know how that works out before I make the IC post.

Jack gave the prince a bemused nod. Apparently my reputation precedes me, he mused. With a bit more surprise, he realized, Apparently I have a reputation. Myshel gave both the swordsman and Zakitaj a wry look. "There is no need to samespeak. The Flarerider has a softmild telepathic field that translates all languagewords," she explained, gesturing to her ship. The alien woman shrugged. "Tempesttalk just translates poorly." Introductions were made, and the group boarded the sleek vessel. Inside, the Flarerider had the sleek corridors and computer touch screens of the Enterprise mixed with the obviously jury rigged bare wires and components of the Millennium Falcon, all of it prominently featuring what looked like rich, dark wood paneling. Myshel led the group to the bridge, passing a pair of ladders which led to weapon emplacements on the top and bottom of the ship, respectively. At the head of the vessel, a panoramic screen simulated the view outside. Control stations displayed messages indicating rebooted systems at Myshel took a seat to the front left of the bridge, a pair of control sticks extending from the desk in front of her. Electricity rippled down the the Tempestian's arms as she gripped the controls with the ease of the supremely competent. She looked over her shoulder at the Earth heroes as though it were an afterthought, saying, "You may wish to bracesteady." With a shudder, the ship rose off of the ground and slowly rotated to point its nose upward. A flick of the pilot's wrist sent the Flarerider rocketing through the clouds, into the upper atmosphere and beyond. Holding onto the edge of a nearby console, Jack was distracted from thanking whatever technology was compensating for the tremendous strain of gravity they should have been feeling by the field of stars which opened up before them of the screen. "Well hot damn," he breathed softly.

...do you mean Disintegrate, quote? 'Cause that'd be one hell of an Intimidate.

Doktor Archeville: making obscure in-jokes for - and with - SCIENCE!

*grumble grumble* The worst part is that Jack's +16 isn't even that bad a Grapple bonus. He just can't catch a break when it comes down to the rolls. Boo. It's hard to boost that particular score without really focusing on it.

"Right, 'cause not delaying our horrible deaths sounds like such a good plan," Jack of all Blades quipped as gravity reasserted itself in the proper direction and he landed lightly on the floor. "Besides, weren't you planning of killing everybody anyway? You've made it clear you're 'v'ry, v'ry ev'l'," the swashbuckler added, throwing in a comical faux accent for good measure. His dimensional blade flashed forward, piercing the cosmic entity under the left side of his jaw and exiting out the right side of the top of his head. Jack swirled it around a bit as he withdrew it from the energy being, just for good measure. "This is your brain. This is your brain on energy sword," he announced.

Knowing is half the battle! At least, that's what I hear. Jack will try layering on another Taunt as a move action; that's DC 26 (nothing like working with Ace to make a Bluffer feel inadequate). Then he'll go for another Power Attack (unfortunately I assume his upgrade to PL 12 doesn't apply here, so I'm using his older stats): Power Attack 5 (1d20+10=15) Wurgh, reroll: Power Attack 5 (1d20.minroll(11) +10=28) His expanded threat range makes that a crit, for DC 32 plus up to +4 Autofire. Hurm, not sure how many HP he's got left now, so I'll leave it at that.

That's what Taunting does, Cy. It's the same as Demoralizing, which confers -2 on Attack Rolls, Checks and Saves, including Toughness saves. It doesn't do anything to Defense - that's what Feinting is for. In any case, I'm pretty sure it's his turn now. If I'm not mistaken, we're going EDS, JoaB, Phantom, Avenger, Ace.

Wait, did EDS save against Ace's Taunt? 'Cause that'd be the difference between another bruise or not, if he only got a 24 on his Toughness save. Also, what's going on with that snare? Is he entangled or helpless or what? Is Jackie B up in initiative? Argh, I don't know what's going on.

Well, I'm pretty sure a natural 20 makes that grapple check an automatic success, but: Grapple Check (1d20+16=18). ...yeeeah. Stesha! Kill it! Kill it with fire!

Jack gave the recliner a long look. "Golly, Detective, try not to overwhelm me with all of this impressive mystic spectacle," he drawled, raising a single eyebrow. Nevertheless, the acrobat took a seat. Shifting around reflexively to get comfortable, he spread his hands. "What now?"

"Don't question it," Jack told Colt. "Don't ask, don't argue, don't even react. It'll only encourage him." Nonchalantly, the swordsman stepped past the double Jester had left behind like a shed skin, ending up in front of the Temple and doing his best to ignore the chorus of kazoos his energy awareness was insisting were playing a very touching rendition of Amazing Grace.

Jack opened his eyes with a grimace. Necromancy always squicked him out; the animating magics felt almost like normal humans, but just a little bit off, like a piano out of tune or rotting fruit. It made his skin crawl. Flippin' uncanny valley... Shaking it off, he turned to the man on the floor as he called to the others. "Good news, bad news time, kids. Those things are dead enough we can go all out, and they're pretty weak, but whatever's got them doing the Thriller reenactment, this punk's got it too. It's like... an infection or taint. Only he's still kicking. I don't really get what the deal is, but I'm thinking we don't want to risk getting bitten or anything. I'm way too pretty to be a rotting corpse."

Jack winced as he watched Colt wave the sword around. It was like watching someone pluck a Stratovarius like a ukulele. To be fair, the cowboy's extensive and varied combat experience gave him a substantial edge over the average person, to the point where his immediate grasp of sword fighting would have been impressive to anyone judging it objectively. The swashbuckler, however, couldn't help but feel a little protective of his particular specialization. "Uh, sure, buddy," he said aloud, retrieving the sword the third thug had dropped in his haste to flee and slipping it into his sash. "I can show you the basics, if we get a minute."

*face palm* Well, it's certainly in keeping with Animaniacs and the like. "Hello, Nurse" indeed.

No worries, post as you're able!