Raveled

Blue Jay's reflex save, vs DC 29. (1d20+12=14) Whelp! Would have to roll a 17 to beat that save, so I didn't expect that to happen. Blue Jay's Toughness save, vs DC 25. (1d20+10=19) Yikes. Hm, I think I'm going to let this result stand.

Cannonade's up next.

Blue Jay paused before entering the room, observing the man for a moment. He seemed intensely ordinary, with no glow of powers or obvious weapons on him. Still, he had attacked someone and it had been serious enough to call her out in the middle of the night. That accorded respect, so she stood just outside of range of a lunge as she addressed him. "I am not a witch," she said, keeping her tone flat and calm. "I didn't come here to kill you, and I don't know any monsters." She stepped closer, keeping her eyes fixed on his as she switched to her second mother tongue. "<Why don't you tell me why you tried to kill someone and were shouting my name?>"

Gene felt his stomach sink as he saw the robot swiftly repairing the damage they had done to it. Set's words didn't help his peace of mind, either. "Enchanted plutonium? Doctor Metropolis is going to be really mad about all this." Still, the mech and the cobra guards were a threat to the city; they could worry about possible radioactive decontamination later. The mech was literally the biggest threat, but it seemed like not everyone could get down and hit the mech's vulnerable points. TNTeen could do something about that, at least. He flung great handfuls of spheres at the mech's legs, coating them thickly. He brought up one fist... and paused. "Okay, everyone," he yelled out. "Get the mech!"

Well it worked so well last time. TNTeen's going to make a called shot against the mech's leg, hopefully bringing it down to street level and letting everyone get a good shot in. +2 All-Out attack for +2 Att/-2 Def. TNTeen's ranged attack, vs Cobra Mech's leg. DC 22 Tou (1d20+9=15) Well I guess I'll spend one of those 4 HP. TNTeen's ranged attack, vs Cobra Mech's leg. DC 22 Tou. HP Reroll (1d20+9=28) ... Yeah, that'll do it.

Callie Summers sped through the streets of a sleeping Freedom City with the sort of disregard for speed limits that only enough wealth to buy a Ferrari car dealership could bring. Tona spent the rid clutching what support the passenger seat had, eyes shut and heart beating like a hummingbird's. At least the ride forced her to focus on her own terror, not on the situation. When they arrived the girl took a few minutes to let her legs recover from being jelly, and then they were marching up to the sanatorium. The guards frowned at her quiver and bow, but didn't make a matter of the many sharp edges she was bringing into a building full of the mentally disturbed.

Power Level: 10 (150 PP) Trade-Offs: None Abilities: 0 + 4 + 2 + 8 + 0 + 2 = 18PP Strength: 10 (+0) Dexterity: 14 (+2) Constitution: 12 (+1) Intelligence: 18 (+4) Wisdom: 10 (+0) Charisma: 12 (+1) Combat: 8 + 8 = 16PP Initiative: +2 Attack: +10 melee, +10 plasma bolt, +4 ranged Grapple: +10 Defense: +10 (+4 Base, +6 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed Knockback: -5 Saving Throws: 9 + 6 + 6 = 21PP Toughness: +10 (+1 Con, +0 Protection) Fortitude: +10 (+1 Con, +9) Reflex: +8 (+2 Dex, +6) Will: +6 (+0 Wis, +6) Skills: 20R = 5PP Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 11 (+15) Notice 9 (+9) Feats: 16PP Attack Focus (Melee) 6 Attack Specialization (Plasma Bolt) 3 Dodge Focus 6 Move-By Action Powers: 25 + 4 + 15 + 22 + 9 = 75pp Alternate Form (Flaw: Action/Move to Change) Damage 5 (Extra: Action/Reaction) [25PP] (Plasma Body) Flight 2 (25 MPH) [4PP] (Lighter Than Air) Insubstantial 3 (Plasma Body, Flaw: Permanent) [15PP] Personal Plasma Array (20 PP, Feats: Alternate Power 2) [22PP] BE: Strike 10 (Feat: Improved Critical 2 [18-20], Extra: Penetrating [6]) (Plasma Hands)AP: Blast 10 (Plasma Bolt) AP: Drain Toughness 10 (Plasma Cutter) Protection 9 [9PP] Abilities (18) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (21) + Skills (4) + Feats (16) + Powers (75) - Disadvantages (0) = 150/150 PP Why are all the people made of fire or water or phosgene gas so afraid of melee combat? If you are made of a volatile substance you can hurt people just by hugging them! That’s this guy’s deal -- not the hugging, but he can turn into starstuff, and his mere touch is enough to burn (at 5 x 10^6 degrees Kelvin! ) The main power to focus on here is the Reaction Damage, more commonly referred to as Aura. Anyone who attacks this guy in melee is going to take a Rank 5 damage effect, making him the ultimate mook-sweeper who never has to buy Takedown Attack. It could technically be twice the rank it is and cause a Rank 10 Damage effect, but not only even more hideously expensive (a full third of a PL 10 PC’s budget, tied up in a single power) but it would likely be shot down by the refs. At half rank, I think it properly reflects the experience of punching/stabbing/hugging something made of space-fire. He can also fly (since most energy controllers can) and focus his plasma into either a burning punch, a bolt of burning air, or a torch capable of slicing through steel in seconds. Of course the elephant in the room is the non-existent Skills and Feats. I figure this guy is an astrophysicist who figured out how to get intimate with the stars he studies all day, but such an anemic selection of non-combat stuff means the character probably wouldn’t be too fun to play. This sheet has fully half its points invested in Powers and less than 10 PP invested in non-hurty mechanics. It’s just too thin in any department but combat to have much traction.

It is Subtle because there is no obvious glow around things or around her when she's using her powers. Things just sort of fling themselves around. She can induce Reduced Visibility by filling the air with dust. I got rid of the Cold because, yeah, it doesn't really make sense, and clarified that Hamper Movement is one-half. She doesn't miss with her Pyrokinesis because she isn't tossing a fire ball or something. She is literally agitating the molecules of her target, forcing them to move faster and create friction. As long as she can see something, she can heat it up.

Blue Jay crouched behind the outcropping as Gold exploded the world around her, flinging rocks and dirt and snow at her. She was sheltered on the lee side, though, and had time to carefully choose her next shot. Gold wasn’t coming along quietly, and her attempts to remind him about what he was leaving behind had backfired. His mention of someone from a Kay Bea Gee was something to follow up on, but right now she needed to put Gold down. Her first couple of shots hadn’t done it, so decided it was time to soften him up a little. Jay dashed out into the open, nocking and loosing a green-fletched arrow in a blur of motion. It impact on Gold and the glass cylinder snapped, and the aid started hissing and smoking as it ate away at his shirt.

Sorcerers? Attacking Wander, and now talking about Blue Jay? She could only consider one possibility. "I don't know how much help I can be to Project Freedom," Tona said, speaking slowly and picking her words with care, "but I do not relish the idea of someone being hurt because of me." She felt a stab when she remembered the Day of Wrath, when someone used her face to get close to her friends, and tried to kill them. Intellectually she knew this wasn't the same situation, but it was close enough for her to feel guilty. She shuffled her feet for a moment, working through steps of a plan. "Um. Would it be possible to... get a ride to Project Freedom?"

Player Name: Raveled Character Name: Maelstrom Power Level: 10 (152/161 PP) Trade-Offs: +5 DC/-5 Att, +5 Def/-5 Tou Unspent Power Points: 9 Progress To Platinum Status: 11/30 In Brief: One half of a Foundry experiment to create the most powerful psychic ever. Alternate Identity: Rachel Colletta Identity: Secret Birthplace: Foundry lab Occupation: Superhero, reporter Affiliations: Freedom City University, the Daily Word Family: Nathan Colletta (brother) Description: Age: 25 Gender: Female Ethnicity: Italian/Cyborg Height: 5' 4" Weight: 110 lbs Eyes: Brown/Gold Hair: Black Rachel Colletta is a short, slim woman, with an olive complexion and sharp features, full lips and long, glossy black hair. Her hair is her most immediately striking feature; it reaches to her mid-back and it usually fixed in a complicated braid. Her makeup tends towards dark rouges and greens, playing up her strong bone structure and darker complexion. When on the job Rachel wears dark-colored pantsuits with contrasting blouses and running shoes. She doesn't wear any jewelry, though she does carry one of several big, chunky purses. In her off-hours she usually wears jeans or tight shorts, athletic shoes, and tee-shirts. When fighting crime, Maelstrom lets her hair hang free. She wears a rich purple bodysuit with an orange collar, belt, and shoes, with orange lines connecting them and running down her arms to the back of her hands. She wears a purple cloak that connects to her wrists, a purple face domino mask, and orange contact lenses. A medical scan of either twin will reveal a web of electronics and circuits digging into their brain. They are aware of it, but believe that it exists to boost their powers. In truth their memories and personalities are housed in the electronics, not in their grey matter. Power Descriptions: Rachel Coletta is psychokinetic, able to impart kinetic energy and direction to objects with just her mind. She has enough care to move things gently or very fast. She can extend her powers to let herself or a few others fly, and can protect herself from harm by either diverting an attack or using something in her environment to intercept it. She can even stiffen the fabric of any outfit to spread out the impact of a blow. She can even let her power run wild through her surroundings to create dangerous terrain. Rachel cannot project pure force, and so has to manipulate her environment to find 'ammunition' for her psychokinetic abilities. As a last resort, she can directly agitate a target's molecules, heating them up sharply and even making them catch on fire. History: Nathan and Rachel Coletta started life in a tank. Talos had often encountered biological heroes with psychic abilities, and while his own creations were largely immune to such powers they did represent an interesting avenue for attacking biologicals. His experimentation in creating a purely artificial psychic were unsuccessful, however, and eventually he had to swallow his pride and create a living psychic. A pair of them in fact, twins, one harboring internal powers while the other one expressed external powers. The experiments proceeded apace until the lab was attacked by a team of superheroes. As part of the self-destruction sequence, the tanks holding the semi-conscious Rachel and Nathan were ejected, landing far from the location of the former base. The twins woke up with fragmentary memories and implanted identities, but the drive they were supposed have to seek out the nearest Foundry base got scrambled. The pair made their way to civilization, finding short-term work here and there before settling in Freedom City. Rachel found herself fascinated by the political processes in the city, how the various groups interacted and fought against, and compromised with, each other. She took journalism classes at Freedom City University and applied for jobs with all the major city news organizations. After doing a few independent pieces, her resume was eventually picked up by the Daily Word; not exactly where she wants to be, but at least her foot is in the metaphorical door. Personality & Motivation: Rachel Colletta is a passionate and driven woman, given to strong opinions and a burning need to uncover the truth. Perhaps because of her blank past, she is never content until she learns all the facts in a matter, and she's willing to use a wide array of tools to uncover the truth. Her favorite is probably verbal jousting, trying to get her target to reveal something without giving away too much herself. Powers & Tactics: Rachel Colletta is psychic artillery, capable of laying down an impressive amount of destruction in a short time. She knows this and tends to hold back, using Accurate Attack to more precisely land her blows. She only uses her pyrokinesis in situations where none of her other powers can affect a target. Tactically she prefers to go for groups of weaker targets first, removing them from the battlefield before focusing on the bigger targets. Complications: Secret Past Rachel isn't human, not strictly; her and Nathan were both created by the Foundry, even if they don't remember it. Actually Artificial Rachel's mind and personality is housed in a computer distributed throughout her brain. This leaves her open to powers that normally only affect computers, like Datalink or an EMP attack. Hypermetabolism Rachel's psychokinesis is fueled on her own body reserves, which means she burns a lot of body fat. Normally she can keep up with her expenditure, but if she can't either her powers or her body would begin to fail. Motivation Rachel wants to prove herself as a serious reporter. This can lead her to pursue leads unwisely. False History The Collettas' history is elaborate, but ultimately fake. Enough digging will reveal this. Abilities: 0 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 6 = 20PP Strength: 10 (+0) Dexterity: 14 (+2) Constitution: 14 (+2) Intelligence: 14 (+2) Wisdom: 12 (+1) Charisma: 16 (+3) Combat: 10 + 8 = 18PP Initiative: +2 Attack: +5 Grapple: +5/+6-+20 w Move Object Defense: +15/+9 (+4 Base, +5 Dodge Focus, +6 Enhanced Defense), +5/+2 Flat-Footed Knockback: -2/+1 Saving Throws: 5 + 3 + 11 = 19PP Toughness: +5/+2 (+2 Con, +3 Protection) Fortitude: +7 (+2 Con, +5) Reflex: +5 (+2 Dex, +3) Will: +12 (+1 Wis, +11) Skills: 64R = 16PP Bluff 5 (+8) Concentration 9 (+10) Craft (Writing) 8 (+10) Gather Information 7 (+10)Skill Mastery Knowledge (Art) 8 (+10) Knowledge (Streetwise) 8 (+10)Skill Mastery Knowledge (Pop Culture) 3 (+5) Notice 8 (+9)Skill Mastery Sense Motive 8 (+9)Skill Mastery Feats: 10PP Accurate Attack Dodge Focus 5 Power Attack Quick Change Skill Mastery (Gather Information, Knowledge [streetwise], Notice, Sense Motive) Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: 12 + 3 + 49 + 3 + 2 = 69PP All powers have the Psychic Descriptor Enhanced Defense 6 (Psychoactive Interception) (Telekinesis) [12PP] Flight 1 (10 MPH, Extra: Affects Others [+1]) (Pair Flying) (Telekinesis) [3PP] Psychokinesis Array 18 (36 PP, Feats: Dynamic Alternate Power 5, Subtle, Variable Descriptor [bludgeoning, Slashing, Piercing]) [49PP] DBE: Environmental Control 1-8 (7 points worth of effects [Distraction, Hampered Movement {half movement}, Heat, Reduced Visibility], 5 - 1000 ft radius) (Psychoactive Storm) (Telekinesis, Fire) [1-32PP]DAP: Blast 1-15 (Feats: Indirect 3) (Psychoactive Pitch) (Telekinesis) [4-33PP] DAP: Blast 1-10 (Extra: AoE/Burst [General]) (Psychokinetic Storm) (Telekinesis) [3-30PP] DAP: Blast 1-10 (Extra: Range/Perception) (Pyrokinetic Ignition) (Fire) [3-30PP] DAP: Move Object 1-15 (Feat: Precise) (Psychoactive Motion) (Telekinesis)[3-31PP] DAP: Flight 1-11 (Stacks with Flight 1 for Flight 2-12, 25 MPH to 50,000 MPH, Feats: Progression 3 [Affects Others, 25 targets], Extra: Affects Others [+1]) [3-36PP] Protection 3 (Psychokinetic Reinforcement) (Telekinesis) [3PP] Super-Senses 1 (Communication Link [Nathan Colletta], Feat: Subtle) (Sibling Link) (Telepathy) [2PP] Drawbacks: (-0) + (-0) = -0PP ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC 15 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical) Psychoactive Pitch Ranged DC 16-30 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical) Psychokinetic Storm Ranged/Area [Burst/General] DC 16-25 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical) Pyrokinetic Ignition Perception DC 16-30 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Energy) Distraction Area DC 5-15 Concentration DistractedAbilities (20) + Combat (18) + Saving Throws (19) + Skills (16) + Feats (10) + Powers (69) - Drawbacks (0) = 152/161 Power Points

Gene watched the melee developing, sheltering in the alley as he considered his options. Will was handling the soldiers and Tsunami and Set were handling the towering robot directly, which left the angry woman speaking ye olde style. "Lady, I hope you're ready to drop and roll," he called out. He concentrated on the sphere of pulsing kinetic energy in his hands and directed it outwards with a grunt. The ball broke, and an innumerable number of tinier spheres flew out, adhering to mech arm holding Sekhmet. They wiggled into cracks in the armor and coated the limb in a fine spread of pulsing energy, and when Gene clenched his fist they all fired at once. The overlapping detonations sounded a whole warehouse of firecrackers going up at once, and Gene gave a little dance when he sw, through the drifting smoke, a female figure dropping to the ground.

TNTeen's going to make an attack specifically against the Cobra Mech's arm, trying to get it to drop Sekhmet. Using +2/-2 All-Out Attack, and -4 for attacking into melee. TNTeen's ranged attack, vs Cobra Mech's arm. DC 22 + Autofire Tou (1d20+5=22)

The sun was beating down hot, and Derek felt the sweat trickling down his back and soaking into his white undershirt and heavy, green, cotton tunic he wore over that. The leather riding boots didn’t let his feet breath, and the brown trousers and green felt hat made him feel like an idiot, but he kept a smile on his face with an actor’s skill and waved his hands at the crowd. “Come forth, all good gentlefolk of the land,†he called out. “Come to this here yard and try out to join Robin Hood, and my Merry Men!†Behind Derek, men in tunics and jodhpurs and stupid felt hats sparred and tumbled and flirted with women in period dresses, and around them the whole madness of the Renaissance Faire tried to drown them out. Derek would have been mortified for anyone on his soccer team to see him in a silly costume, but it was an extra job for a few weekends and he really needed the money. He had expected to move carts around or roast chickens on spits, but when the actor for Robin Hood had shown up drunk the second day in a row, they had grabbed all of the Merry Men and tried to find one of them that could say the lines without stumbling, and Derek gave the best reading. So here he was, gathering a crowd to watch his archery. He barely noticed the two well-cut girls near the front of the crowd, one with very visible muscles and the other with a much-pierced face. He set his feet facing the target, just like Bowman in the comics, drew the bowstring up against his chest, and let fly, spearing the target a couple handswidth from the bullseye. He felt good about that, even though he knew that his arms would be aching by the end of the night, and he rubbed at the red spot on his forearm that the string always snapped against as he turned back to the crowd. “Well, my good gentlemen and gentlewomen? Can you do better than Robin Hood?†“Yes.†The tone was flat and dismissive, coming from the lady with the piercings. Her eyes were hard as she stared at Derek, and he was taken aback. “Well, then I welcome you to try, young lady.†His voice was a bit more brittle, a bit harsher, than it should have been, but he hadn’t been expecting such cold hostility and the only thing he could do was put her, perhaps cruelly, on center stage herself. If the girl was scared of performing, she didn’t show it, snatching the bow and the offered arrow. She looked at both, then back at Derek. “Where are the rest of my arrows?†“One at a time, please. Everyone gets a shot, after all!†The girl sniffed and turned to the target. Her form was different, side-on to the target and holding the bow straight and tall. In one smooth motion, without any sign of trembling or hesitation, she nocked, drew back to her ear, and loosed. The arrow landed square in the bullseye. Derek’s eyebrows climbed into his stupid felt hat and the crowd broke into spontaneous applause. “That is a very, very fine shot. Uh, m’lady.†He coughed, momentarily at loose ends. “Would you like to perhaps put on a demonstration?†The woman narrowed her eyes and gave a very slight smile. Fifteen minutes later there was a rough firing line of people standing edge-on to the targets, pulling as far back as possible, checking the position of their elbow, and loosing several arrows before changing their stance. Tona Baudin walked away, Mali Benjawaman at her said. “You’re so serious about your bow shooting,†Mali said to her, mock serious. “Most of those folks just came here to walk around in the sun and eat roast chicken.†Tona shrugged one shoulder, smiling a tight smile. “You get very serious about punchy movies,†she pointed out. “Anyway, let’s get some of that chicken.â€

Blue Jay >Cold Cold War >The Innocent >Mission of Mercy >Vignette TNTeen >Extracurriculars >Some Things Should Never be Found Maelstrom >Welcome to Earth >Vignette GM >Ice Age Cometh >Visiting Hours >Welcome to Earth

GM Gene got back into his civvies and met up with his family, bleeding slowly from his arm. He was soon whisked off to the hospital, and his parents were too concerned about the obvious wound to ask where he had been during the wintry melee. The artists were some of the first to return, grumbling about how their exhibition had been crashed by a supervillain not even old enough to shave. People gathered up their tools, while people shied away from the statues that had come to life and attacked everyone. The crowd gave them a wide berth, until a brawny man with a sledgehammer smashed one to pieces. The crowd cheered, and he was making a start on a second ice sculpture when the police arrived. In short order they patted down Ice Age and confiscated the inhaler with the red dust. Before long the entire area had been roped off into a crime scene, and the police began processing witnesses to an assault with a blizzard. Just another day in Freedom City.

Happy birthday to the man who makes this mad dream possible.

This wasn't the first time Tona Baudin had been woken up in the dead of night, alarm ringing in her ears, but it took her a long minute flailing in her sheets to realize that there was no attack, no Omegadrones swooping in from the sky to pluck her away to the meat factories. Instead, it was her cell phone ringing. She grabbed it and hunted for the key to press to make it be quiet, wasting precious seconds before she remembered that she had to hold her finger down and move it across the front of the device. She glanced over at her roommate, but Cerys was still asleep under the moonlight. "What is it," the archer hissed into the phone. The voice on the other end told her to report to the headmaster's office. To a young woman used to midnight raids and flitting across a city's rooftops at night, it hardly seemed the oddest request. A few minutes later she was standing in the office in rumpled jeans and flip-flops, listening to Callie Summers. She didn't much look like the old headmaster, at least until she shot a gaze that bored into the girl. Tona stood silent and still for a few minutes, thinking furiously. "I... have no idea who that is," she admitted finally. Her heart rate had barely recovered from the adrenaline surge earlier and now it ratcheted up again, as she wondered at the point of this midnight pop quiz.

Happy birthday to Doctor Archeville, and may there be many more to come.

Okay, in the hopes of setting this guy up for something, Jay's going to use an Acid Arrow to Drain his Toughness. Since he using all AoE attacks, full Power Attack and full All-Out Attack; Jay's Def is -5 for this round only. Blue Jay's ranged attack, vs Gold's Def. DC 20 Fort (1d20+15=31) DC 20 Fort to resist Tou Drain.

Gene had a confusing, but fun and productive time shoring up the rope bridges and platforms that made up the village. As the time for the feast approached, he was feeling like something of an expert, and he started giving the platforms a hard eye as he traveled over them. It was the sort of faux-expertise many teenagers displayed after being immersed in an activity for a day or so, but to Gene the feeling was very real. He settled down next to Cho, looking over the spread of food. "That is an awful lot of food," he said, swallowing his drool. "Um. There's nothing like fried beetles or monkey brains in there, is there?"

Well, that was certainly something to break up the day. Blue Jay fixed her grapnel and lowered herself down, touching onto the pavement a good distance away from the center of devastation. She eyed the destruction warily, her keen eyes picking up that it was slowly expanding. She kept her distance from the glowing man, but also kept her hands well away from her weapons. She racked her brain for things Mali complained about when she drove downtown. "I know the parking tickets are ridiculous," she said, "but you didn't have to destroy the rest of the cars on the road."

Blue Jay's Ref save, vs DC 25. (1d20+12=27) Nope, sorry Gold!

Jay hits a 25 Notice without rolling.