Raveled

Oh man, Blue Jay is all over that. "Are you going to eat those grubs?" "Grubs?" "Under the log." "O.o" "... 'Cause they're good-looking grubs."

Blue Jay had enjoyed the music, but now it seemed that the band was taking a break. She had observed from her high perch, and only the narrowness of the wall had stopped her from trying out some of the dance moves Mali and Sam had taught her, but now that it was over she hopped down and started walking through the crowd. She was still angry that Water Boy got off scot-free thanks to Top Hat. The way she walked, and the fact that she wore a mask and had a bow strapped to her back, got her extra room in the crowd and let her see farther than she would normally be able to, so she was able to spot the lead singer for the group talking to... a cat that walked on two legs? Her biology lessons came back and identified it as a cheetah. That still didn't explain what it was doing here, and standing upright. And then it was gone, as fast as that. Blue Jay kept her distance from Riff, watching him carefully. He seemed to be talking to something in his hand.

I'd look up the first trilogy in the Horus Heresy. It starts out with Dan Abnett and, well, it's pretty damn good. Flight of the Eisenhorn ties into it and it also pretty well done. If you like Star Wars, it's hard to go wrong with Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy. A lot of folks think of it as an unofficial Eps. VII, VIII, and IX. If you like urban fantasy, take a look at Perdido Street Station and Bloodsucking Fiends. Pretty much anything by Steven Brust is pretty enjoyable. Dragera is a look at a fantasy world from the point of view of an assassin, and Phoenix Guards is a fantasy version of the Three Musketeers.

Tona stood back and let Sam work on the window. She was impressed by how easily the other woman got it open once she cleaned some of the crud off it, cranking open a slim opening. "Okay," she said, swinging a leg over the lip of the window. Fingers and toes found niches easily and she lowered herself down. It was a tight fit but it seemed to be going well -- until her rucksack caught on the window. Tona struggled but there simply wasn't any room. She sighed and leaned back into the room, hanging off the lip, her upper body inverted. She wriggled and the bag fell over her head; the archer hooked her arm and caught it at the last moment, swinging her head back upright. She opened a zip pouch on the front of the messenger bag and pulled out a small plastic bag, inside of which were a number of tiny electronic devices that looked a bit like resistors. Not that Tona knew what a resister looked like; they were a new tool for her. She tossed the bag over to Sam and slipped further through the hole. "Meet me by the front gate," she said, and then began her climb. Fingers and toes found their holds in the rough brick of the facade and she descended quickly and with ease. The walls of the campus even blocked most of the wind; the climb down the side of the building was almost as easy as taking the stairs. Once her feet touched the grass she was off and running, making for the front entrance. She paused at the corner of the building and peeked around; Changling's blonde figure was unmistakable, talking to some of the other students. Male students mostly, and mostly they were drooling over her. Of course, Tona could see why they would, but right now it was a useful distraction. She sprinted to the gate and slipped through, waiting on the other side. She didn't have long to wait. A started up and rolled towards her position. She crouched and opened the plastic bag, shaking a couple of the little devices into her hand. Now, she was supposed to twist the wires together like... so. And then she had five seconds before they were stuck fast. The young woman breathed slowly, forcing the heart to beat slower, even though it wanted to speed up in anticipation. One-one thousand, two-one thousand -- a dark blue sedan rolled past. Tona fought the urge to hunker down next to her cover, knowing that movement drew the eye. Three-one thousand -- she rolled out of her position and slapped the micro-tracker on the bumper of the car. Four-one thousand -- she kept rolling until she was in cover next to the opposite pillar. Five-one thousand -- and she let out the breath she'd been holding since the car appeared. Once the vehicle was out of sight, Tona stood up, brushing her pants off. "Well," she muttered to no one in particular. "That part went right, at least."

"Don't be stingy, Gabriel." Glowstar flew into the air and circled around to the side, easily flanking the shark-men. "This is a party, spread out and meet new people! Here, I'll break the ice with a little dancing." The young hero summoned a ball of black-red energy and tossed it easily from hand to hand, then suddenly grabbed it with both and stretched it out to a large arc. He wound up and tossed the blade of solid energy, angling it to hit as many of the shark-men as possible while avoiding the heroes. "Limbo down, everyone!"

Glowstar Right, let's get odd here. Move Action: Flanking the shark cultists. Free Action: Stunt off Terminus Control Array. Strike 12 (Extra: Area/Cone [General]) Standard Action: Glowstar's going to wing off a huge arc of Terminus energy, hoping to catch the rest of the shark cultists. So that's DC 22 Reflex save for half, and DC 27 Toughness save if it hits. Free Action: Burn HP to cancel the Fatigue there.

Glowstar's Ini. (1d20+6=21) Hm, same as Gabriel... And they have the same Ini bonus... And the same Dex!

"I am the servant of the Light, and the Light shall protect me," Starlight said. She floated into the air and remained hovering a handful of centimetres above the deck, keeping pace with Synth as the pair approached the main airlock. "I have faced Grue before, and all manner of other cosmic horrors. The Meta-Mind will care nothing for the lives of individual Grue. It will happily throw themselves against us in waves, uncaring for their own lives." The pair came to the airlock and Starlight faced it, still hanging in the air. "I will try to funnel them into a smaller area," she said to Synth, raising her hands in the air. The air around the airlock thickened as Starlight manifested her power, sealing off the room except for a narrow opening barely big enough for one or two Grue. "It will be up to you to handle them when they attack," she finished.

Tory was led through the ship, given time to gawk at the high-tech nature of it all but not allowed to dawdle. In good time he was delivered to the brig and the -- open, unlocked, but still a -- cell that held his roommate, Vincent. Vincent looked up at Tory, eyes still red from crying, and gasped in shock. "Whu... Tea-Oh! What are you doing here?" Tory glanced around and stepped inside the cell gingerly, clearly expecting the door to snap shut behind him. "I dunno, man. These superheroes showed up and started asking me a bunch of questions. But Vinny, what's wrong with you? You look like someone just died!" Vincent threw his head back into his hands. "Oh man, T-O. I messed up big time. I'm done, I'm a washout, I'm finished." Tory sat down next to Vincent and threw an arm around the other man's shoulders. "Hey, keep it together, man. Nothing can be that bad. What happened?" It took several minutes, but Tory got the story out of his roommate. At the end he patted Vincent's shoulder, stood up, and walked up to one of the crewmembers standing guard. "Hey, where'd your captain go? I want to talk to her." The city passed by in eerie silence at Jubatus sped through it at super-speed, his own perception of time cranked to the max. It didn't take long to find the subway station the commuters had passed through; it was on the west edge of the city center, where the high-rises and skyscrapers started making way for smaller buildings on bigger lots. It was right at the edge of the city's business district, in other words, and even now there was a fair bit of traffic in and out of the station. The man-cat took the steps down easily. What he saw was typical of a subway station in a modern city; turnstiles to pay for the fare, long stone quays for people to wait on, small stalls selling almost any sort of food providing it could be stuck on a stick, and a pair of dark, cavernous tunnels leading into the city's subway tunnels. There was maybe twenty passengers waiting for trains. A quick glance confirmed that the station wasn't at rush-hour just yet; a train had just departed, and the next one wasn't scheduled for a full ten minutes. A dark plastic bubble sprouted from the ceiling every so many feet; security cameras, no doubt. Perhaps that would be a profitable avenue of exploration.

Blue Jay agrees. Teleportation! :argh:

Ironclad Party Time Glowstar Street Sharks Just Another Fishing Trip? Right. Starlight Starlight's were meant to fly Right By My Side Blue Jay Mistaken Identity Riffsational Last Stop Paint the Town Roughin' It Helping Hand to Hand GM Medical Maladies Last Stop You Can't Go Home Again

"We've apparently been drafted," Ironclad informed Victory, eying the Romans. She didn't much like the idea of being drafted, but as long as no one tried to enforce the chain of command she could live with it. "And the Nazis are... Excuse me. Are these Lenape the same from our world," she asked the Centurions. "The people native to this continent?" She shook her head. "I know the Nazis bent their philosophy in a circle to justify allying with the Japanese, but I can't imagine them finding many Aryan ideals in Native Americans! We should contact these Lenape," she advised, "and see if they won't help us fight the Nazis."

Ironclad is going to use her Mental Quickness to take 10 on a Know/History check to recall who the Lenape are/were. Result of the check is 15.

A quick point: the Attractive feat is more than just looking good. It is social panache, it is being able to use what you have to catch someone's (everyone's?) eye. Someone who looks good but it socially awkward really shouldn't have the Attractive feat. Powers should be alphabetized, even within the Device. I don't see anything here that would convince CT to give her the orange ring. Obviously that's KD's choice, but I don't really see anything spectacular about her. The powers are okay. They're kind of genericly power-ring ish, though. I would direct you over to AA's force controller; perhaps adapt that as a way to make Stronghold quite different from CT.

The group broke up and the heroes went their separate ways, with instructions to regroup in several hours. Each went to alert their loved ones and comrades as to where they would be, and gather what supplies they needed, and as the skies darkened they reconvened on the lawn in front of Freedom Hall. At first there was nothing to suggest that the Lor were anywhere around, or that they ever had been; but after a minute of mulling about the familiar green glow descended, focusing into three coherent beams, out of which stepped the Commander, the Ethnologue, and the Engineer. Commander Brey stepped forward and shook everyone's hand briskly, again. "Well then! I'm glad to see we didn't scare anyone away, heh heh heh. Are you already to get teleported up?"

Power Level: 10 (150 PP) Trade-Offs: None (Medium)/+5 DC/-5 ATT, +5 TOU/-5 DEF (Huge)/+5 ATT/-5 DC, +5 DEF/-5 TOU (Fine) Abilities: 0 + 6 + 2 + 10 + 0 + 4 = 22PP Strength: 40/10/1 (+15/+0/-5) Dexterity: 16 (+3) Constitution: 18/10 (+4/+0) Intelligence: 20 (+5) Wisdom: 10 (+0) Charisma: 14 (+2) Combat: 14 + 12 = 26PP Initiative: +3 Attack: +7 Melee, +7 Ranged/+5 Melee, +5 Ranged (Huge)/+15 Melee, +15 Ranged (Fine) Grapple: +7/+28 (Huge)/-6 (Fine) Defense: +7 (+4 Base, +3 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed/+5 Def (+4 Base, +3 Dodge Focus, -2 Size) +2 Flat-Footed (Huge)/+15 Def (+4 Base, +3 Dodge Focus, +8 Def), +2 Flat-Footed (Fine) Knockback: -2/-12/-2 Saving Throws: 3 + 4 + 10 = 17PP Toughness: +1/+15/+5 (+0/+4/+0 Con, +1/+1/+15 Protection, Impervious 0/9/0) Fortitude: +3/+7/+7 (+0/+4/+0 Con, +3/+3/+7) Reflex: +7/+7/+7 (+3 Dex, +4) Will: +10/+10/+10 (+0 Wis, +10) Skills: 44R = 11PP Computers 9 (+14) Craft (Electronics) 10 (+15) Craft (Mechanical) 5 (+10) Intimidate 0 (+2/+6/-6) Knowledge (Biological Sciences) 5 (+10) Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 5 (+10) Knowledge (Technology) 15 (+20) Stealth 0 (+3/-1/+19) Feats: 9PP Accurate Attack All-Out Attack Dodge Focus 3 Equipment 2 Inventor Power Attack Equipment 2 [10 EP] Size: Medium [1 EP] Toughness: +5 [0 EP] Features: Communications Computer Infirmary Lab Living Quarters Power System Security System [2] (DC 20) Workshop Powers: 65 = 65PP Device 16 (80 PP, Hard to Lose, Feat: Subtle [Collapsible]) (Size Suit) [65 PP] Communication 5 (Radio, 5 miles, Feat: Subtle) [6 PP] Immunity 9 (Life Support) [9 PP] Incapacitation Array 5 (10 PP, Feat: Alternate Power 2) [12 PP] BE: Snare 5 [10/10] (Glue Grenade) AP: Stun 5 [10/10] (Taser) AP: Trip 5 (Extra: Area/Burst [General]) [10/10] (Quake Grenades) Protection 5 [5 PP] Resizing Array 19 (47 PP, Feat: Alternate Power) [48 PP] BE: Enhanced Feat 16 (Attack Focus Melee 8, Attack Focus Ranged 8, Extra: Linked [+0] [Enhanced Save, Flight, Shrinking]) + Enhanced Save 4 (Fortitude, Extra: Linked [+0] [Enhanced Feat, Flight, Shrinking]) + Flight 5 (250 MPH, Extra: Linked [+0] [Enhanced Feat, Enhanced Save, Shrinking]) + Shrinking 16 (+8 ATT, +8 DEF, -16 STR, -4 TOU, Extra: Linked [+0] [Enhanced Feat, Enhanced Save, Flight], Feat: Normal Movement)[46/46] (Go Home) AP: Enhance Strength 14 (Extra: Linked [+0] [Impervious Protection, Growth]) + Protection 9 (Extra: Linked [+0] [Enhanced Strength, Growth]) + Growth 8 (-2 ATT, -2 DEF, +16 STR, +8 CON, Extra: Linked [+0] [Enhanced Strength, Impervious Protection]) [47/47] (Go Big) Drawbacks: (0) = 0PP DC Block (see below) Totals: Abilities (22) + Combat (26) + Saving Throws (17) + Skills (11) + Feats (9) + Powers (65) - Drawbacks (0) = 150/150 Power Points First we had time, then we had gravity, now we have a battlesuit that controls size. It seems every superhero universe has at least one person who can shrink down or grow big. The Atom, Giant-Man, even Sky Scrapper, everybody needs somebody who can fight kaijus on their own level. However, Growth and Shrinking are problematic powers in Mutants & Masterminds, because they mess around with the all-important caps that the system is build around. Simply putting Growth and Shrinking into an array results in a lot of messy numbers, so in order to get around that I came up with... This. Here we have a battlesuit that can is designed to shrink down to mouse-size, but the polarities can be reversed to turn the wearer into a fifteen-foot tall, ten ton bruiser. Anything in between that is messy and undercapped, but cut me some slack -- I'm only human. This is achieved with gratuitous use of the Linking Extra and Enhanced Feat, to make the Huge size entirely +TOU and +DC shifted, while the Fine size is a damn nice sneaker with a couple of tricks up with sleeve. Why doesn't the Incapcitation Array scale with size? The Snare and Trip are utilized by means of a launched grenade, so they might revert to normal size once they get a few centimeters from the suit itself. And the taser doesn't get nastier because big electrons carry the same charge as really small electrons.

So is the mithril supernatural, or alien in origin? Your character doesn't need to know this in-universe, you understand, but you the player should know these things.

I would avoid making them opposite-sex twins. It just leads to squickiness. Do both siblings have to eat and sleep, even when in the dimension? Or could they take their lunch with them? How would the twins react to someone trying to save the dimensionally-shifted one? Off the top of my head, I can think of a half-dozen PCs who could build a gate or a spell to go get them.

Ironclad stepped up to the display and studied it carefully, openly interested in the apparent high tech. It was odd to see a group dressed in lorica segmentata clustered around a holographic display and talking about it with such familiarity. However, she tried to not let her desire to dismantle the projector distract her from studying the overall tactical situation. "That's the city," she said for Victory's benefit. "Nazis are over here. You don't need a drone," she added, turning to address the centurions. "You've got me and Victory. Trust me, we can get up there, have a look around, and get back before your wine warms up. Just point us in the right direction."

Starlight floated serenely down the corridor, barely flinching as the hail of bullets streaked past her face. She raised one finger to suddenly-forming lips and shushed the terrorist, then held out her opposite hand. A great, golden glow surrounded it and in a moment it leapt out, splitting into a thousand shards just before it hit the criminal and spearing her in a hundred different places -- all in perfect silence. "It is rude to make too much noise," Starlight informed the outmatched thug, "when others are trying to be sneaky."

Starlight Free Action: Per discussion in chat, spending a HP to add Subtle to Blast. Standard Action: Blast! +5 Power Attack, but since these are minions she can Take 10 for an attack of 15 and hit automatically. DC 30 Toughness save for the poor sap.

Tona was quickly coming to the realization that this guy was simply moving too damn fast to land a punch on normally. She didn't have her arrows, so she'd have to get creative. She let the human blur grab her arm and force her towards one of the wooden beams holding the balcony aloft. At the last moment though, she put her legs out straight and ran up the beam, flipping over the fast-moving man and landing behind him. She kept the momentum up and ran into his back, slamming him against the pillar. She did a second time and a third, leaving a bloody faceprint on the wood as she let the man's body slither to the floor. The small woman forced herself to step back and glance over the dance floor, her breath coming harshly and her blood pounding in her ears. It seemed Mali had dealt with her own assailant neatly enough, that the danger had passed for the moment. Tona shook her hands out as the adrenaline pounded through her. Her body still wanted to fight, and her training told her to keep on these guys until there wasn't any chance of them getting up again. She plunged into the crowd suddenly, making a beeline for the restrooms.

So it is. Okay. Blue Jay Move Action: Acrobatic Bluff. Skill Mastery makes it DC 25. Speed Freak's opposed Will save, vs DC 25. (1d20+6=11) So he's flat-footed, now. Standard Action: Punch 'em, with full Power Attack. Blue Jay's melee attack check w/ +5 Power Attack, vs Speed Freak's flat-footed Def. DC 25 Tou (1d20+10=14) Oh that's just barely. Speed Freak 2's Toughness save, vs DC 25. (1d20+8=10) Whelp. He's down. We are now out of combat rounds, folks.

Suit's Toughness save, vs DC 26. (1d20+8=9) And down he goes. Kit is up next.

Suit's Sense Motive check, vs Crimson Tiger's Feint. DC 32. (1d20+11=18) He is flat-footed!