Fox

"Well, I'm convinced!" said Elizabeth, after waiting for a beat, and in a tone that implied she could do with some convincing. "Sorry about that! I've been busy, maybe I'm working off old rumors. And drama can be fun!" She swept her arms out, two people spinning together out of nothing around her - each was more the impression of a person than an actual person, a moving stained-glass storybook character that glowed and danced on its own inner light. A prince spun a princess in a music-less dance, delicately, barely touching. "It's what makes for great stories, you know? The drama, the dance, the kiss...!" The prince dipped his dancing partner low, and they both dissolved before they could quite bring their lips together. Elizabeth looked entirely too satisfied. "It's the best," she sighed. "And I do love a good story! How did you two meet?"

One of the final iron bars gave out with a satisfying crunch, and Wraith pulled herself back into something a lot more humanoid - though, disconcertingly, she'd traded many mouths for zero mouths and it didn't entirely help sell her on her humanity. Still, it gave her arms, and one of those arms grew to be half the size of the rest of her, great clawed fingers wrapping around the damage she'd done to wrench part of the cage off the rest. The hole would let them exit in ones and twos, if they were careful; she'd tried to not leave any sharp edges. Goodness knows what was growing down here, and Earthlings were so fragile. She evened her mass back out as the broken bars fell, skittering halfway back up the statue to watch. "I do not know if you can understand me," she said, peering intently at the Atlanteans, "but we would very much like it if you -" - she made an exaggerated pointing gesture, one climbing claw extended toward the captured group - "- would please come with us-" - she turned the hand to point back the way they'd entered - "- as quickly and calmly as you can. We will take you...somewhere." They'd never actually decided how to get anybody out. That seemed uncharacteristically short-sighted. She turned her head back to Miss Grue and the...octopus-person. He smelled odd, but at least he wasn't trying to kill anybody. "Did we have a plan? Can we fit them in your ship?"

"Uh huh...." Elizabeth was having a hard time deciding where or not this was going to be the fun kind of meddling. She'd at least hoped for some good gossip, but not all gossip was good. "It wasn't a bother!" she said, suddenly cheerful. She flashed a concerningly-convincing toothy grin at the both of them, one after the other. "Besides, you're on a rooftop! Anybody who doesn't like it can go inside, you know? Half the dorm rooms have speakers in them, and I bet they could all drown you out if they had a problem. Does, um," she said, gesturing back and forth with a casual finger, "does Judy know about Alice? 'cos I'm absolutely in favor of positive drama and people figuring out their own relationship boundaries and all, but she doesn't seem the type."

Well, that had promise, and even more as she got closer to the building. Mystery lights and music seemed like entertainment, or at the very least, mischief; she was fairly certain that students weren't supposed to great shows of power quite that flashy, since you never knew who would be looking across the bay at the school. The whole Krampus situation had been a heck of a thing, after all, and the teachers put a lot of value on a low profile. She tapped a sneaker's toe against the ground as she judged distance, squared her shoulders, and stepped forward, flickering from the ground to the rooftop's edge in as graceful a motion as she could manage. She didn't get to flex her teleportation much; she really ought to spend more time with it in the gym, and resolved to do so as she tried to fix her balance. "Aha! You are going to be in so much trouble if you can't...convince...?" She trailed off, accusatory finger deflating as she looked at the...pilot? "I have no idea who you are. Friend of yours, Micah?"

Elizabeth walked out of the classroom building with her phone out and a frown so deep that snow-white eyebrows were threatening to overtake her nose. Two cancelled dates - not one, but two, on Valentine's Day, all while she'd been in class. Two! More than one, which was more than zero, which was less than acceptable. What were they going to do instead? Probably date each other, actually. She stopped mid-step on that, checking the timestamps on the text messages. That was kind of adorable, and she'd hoped that they would, but she'd also hoped that she'd get at least a couple fun dates out of them before setting them up, and now they'd jumped ahead of the script and that wouldn't do at all and she was going to be mad about it because she had every right to, darn it, and so there. So she wore her frown and hummed a cheery tune and tried to figure out what she was going to do with her day now that she couldn't have fun casual dates or play matchmaker.

"It's weird that it is natural." Elizabeth was running a finger along the cavern wall near the stairs, a furrowed brow drawn across her mask in comedic marker. "Is it weird that I'm a little more worried about the normal cave than the mummy tomb? If they chose this place then this cave was either really convenient, or really important, you know?" She pondered for a moment and then stepped in two directions at once, one Masque moving toward the group and one Masque moving toward the darkness, each pursued by their own set of glowing lights. "Don't worry, Masque," said the one, "I'll...scout it out?" She sounded a little bit less sure than she could have. "Godspeed, Masque!" cheered the other, with an equally nervous mock salute. "Try to be a scout and not bait!" "...thanks?" The Masque that stayed turned to her friends, shrugging. "Couldn't hurt? In stories the big hidden caves are always full of monsters."

Wraith (MAXED) Hydra the Queen (5) Masque Every Choice We Make (14) Please split the Wraith posts evenly between Eclipse, Grim, and Gremlin, so that they each get 1pp. Ref point to Masque, please.

Sure, I'll throw Masque's name in there if you'll have her. Drama! Romance! A story! Everything she loves.

Gyre Power Level: 10 (150/150 Power Points) Unspent Power Points: 0 Trade-Offs: ±X Attack / ±X Damage, ±X Defense / ±X Toughness In Brief: Electric WitchVenomBeetleBlade. Catchphrase: Theme: Alternate Identity: Need a name. Ex-cop? Birthplace: Residence: Base of Operations: Occupation: Vigilante. Affiliations: Family: Description: Age: Apparent Age: Gender: Ethnicity: Height: Weight: Eyes: Hair: History: Personality & Motivation: Powers & Tactics: Power Descriptions: Complications: Cop: Cops aren't beloved by the citizens of the city; some can smell them a mile away, badge or no badge. Ex-Cop: As Gyre is no longer a member of the police force, ranks in Profession confer no bonus to Wealth (if, indeed, a Bedlam cop would qualify anyway). Joined at the Everything: The symbiote is a part of its host - it's theoretically feasible to separate the symbiote, but it would be extremely (and potentially lethally) traumatic for the both of them. Ride or Die: The death of the host means the death of the symbiote. The symbiote is not inclined to see that happen, and may attempt to override its host under overwhemingly lethal conditions. Abilities: 4 + 2 + 6 + 2 + 4 + 2 = 20PP Strength: 14 (+2) / 20 (+5) Dexterity: 12 (+1) / 16 (+3) Constitution: 16 (+3) / 22 (+6) Intelligence: 12 (+1) Wisdom: 14 (+2) Charisma: 12 (+1) Combat: 12 + 8 = 20PP Initiative: +5 / +9 attack form Attack: +10 Melee (+6 base, +4 melee focus), +6 Ranged, +10 Spines Defense: Base: +6 (+4 Base, +2 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed Attack Form: +12 (+4 Base, +8 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed Grapple: +12 / +15 Attack Form / +17 Defense Form Knockback: Base: -2 / -1 Flat-Footed Attack Form: -4 / -3 Flat-Footed Defense Form: -12 (-6 Impervious, -4 non-Impervious, -2 Unstoppable) / -11 Flat-Footed Saving Throws: 6 + 7 + 6 = 19PP Toughness: Base: +5 (+3 Con, +2 Defensive Roll), +3 Flat-Footed Attack Form: +8 (+6 Con, +2 Defensive Roll), +6 Flat-Footed Defense Form: +14 (+6 Con, +2 Defensive Roll, +6 Protection), +12 Flat-Footed Fortitude: +9 (+3 Con, +6) / +12 (+6 Con, +6) Reflex: +8 (+1 Dex, +7) / +10 (+3 Dex, +7) Attack Form Will: +8 (+2 Wis, +6) Skills: 104R = 26PP (Skills in italics are from/boosted by symbiote.) Concentration 4 Diplomacy 4 Disable Device 4 Drive 4 Gather Information 8 Intimidate 8 / 12 Investigate 14 (+15) Knowledge (Civics) 8 Knowledge (Current Events) 2 Knowledge (Streetwise) 8 Knowledge (Tactics) 4 Medicine 2 Notice 8 Profession 4 Search 8 Sense Motive 10 Stealth 4 Survival +8 Feats: 16PP Accurate Attack Attack Focus (Melee) 4 Connected Contacts Defensive Roll 1 Dodge Focus 1 Equipment 1 Improved Grapple Improved Initiative Interpose Luck Precise Shot Well-Informed Symbiote Feats: Acrobatic Bluff Fast Task (Feint) Dodge Focus 3 [to 4]attack form Improved Critical 2 (Claws)attack form Takedown Attack 1 / 2attack form Equipment: 2PP = 10EP Flashlight [1EP] Handcuffs [1EP] Heavy Pistol (+4 Damage) [8EP] Powers: 1 + 15 + 74 = 90PP (All powers have the 'biological/symbiote' descriptor unless otherwise noted.) Enhanced Feat 1 (two minds; Second Chance [mind control]) [1PP] Regeneration 13 (symbiote healing; Recovery Bonus +3 [auto-success in symbiote form], Bruised 3 [no action], Staggered 2 [5 minutes], Injured 3 [1 minute], Disabled 2 [1 hour]; Feats: Persistent, Regrowth) [15PP] Alternate Form 5 (75PP symbiote form; Drawbacks: Action 1 [Move]) [74PP] Assault Array 8 (16PP array; Feats: Alternate Power 2) [18PP] BP: Damage 5 (Feats: Linked (Stun), Mighty) + Stun 10 (Extras: Linked (Damage); Flaws: Limited [Daze]) [6+10= 16/16] (claws; slashing, electric) AP: Blast 10 (Feats: Accurate 2; Extras: Autofire 1; Flaws: Action [Full]) [12/16] (spine throw; piercing) AP: Damage 10 (Extras: Area [Burst], Linked [Stun]; Flaws: Action [Full], Limited [Outdoors]) + Stun 10 (Extras: Area [Burst], Linked [Damage]; Flaws: Action [Full], Limited [Outdoors]) [5+10= 15/16] (lightning strike; electric) Enhanced Strength 6 [6PP] Enhanced Constitution 6 [6PP] Enhanced Skills 6 (Acrobatics +8, Intimidation +4, Survival +8) [4PP] Enhanced Feats 3 (Acrobatic Bluff, Fast Task [Feint], Takedown Attack 1) [3PP] Super-Senses 17 [17PP] Bioelectricity Awareness [mental; Very Common [3], Acute [1], Radius [1], Ranged [1]] Electricity Awareness [mental; Very Common [3], Accurate [2], Acute [1], Extended 1 [1; 100'], Radius [1], Ranged [1]] Ultravision [1] Ultra-Hearing [1] Dual Forms Array 10 (mode shift, 20PP array; Feats: Alternate Power 1) [21PP] BP: Attack Form [4+6+1+3+6= 20/20] Enhanced Dexterity 4 [4] Enhanced Feats 6 (Dodge Focus 3, Improved Critical [Claws] 2, Takedown Attack 1 [to 2]) [6] Leaping 1 (x2) [1] Speed 3 (50mph / 500' per Move / 1000' All-Out) [3] Super-Movement 3 (Slithering, Wall-Crawling 2) [6] AP: Defense Form [4+12+4= 20/20] Immovable 2 (Extras: Unstoppable) [4] Protection 6 (Extras: Impervious 6) [12] Super-Strength 2 (Effective Strength 30) [4] Drawbacks: (-0) + (-0) = -0PP DC Block why Totals: Abilities (20) + Combat (20) + Saving Throws (19) + Skills (26) + Feats (16) + Powers (90) - Drawbacks (0) = 191/150 Power Points Gyre! First semi-solid concept I've had in a while. What do you do when you're one of the rare mostly-honest cops in Bedlam, and a raid on someone shipping Weird Things into the city goes horribly wrong? Well, you probably lose your job and almost certainly get a bullet in your head for your troubles, but if you luck your way into a symbiote, maybe you become a vigilante! A lot of this is obviously a send-up to the classic symbiote-style characters - your Venoms, your Witchblades even. The electricity is a fun take on it, though, and the switch between the sleeker, lethal form and the bulkier tanky form amuses me...for all that it's obnoxious in the math. This particular symbiote is probably some little slime-bug creature that got pulled into our world from somewhere else - could be space, could be some other-dimensional shenanigans, but now it's been experimented on to make it into a weapon and really, really should not be working this well. Symbiote form is definitely more 'feral monster' than 'sexy monster', though we'll see how I figure that balance out, if there's balance to bother with. It's that kinda town. I obviously have a lot of trimming to do; as is the norm for my sheets, I made a wishlist and now I have to trim it down to either 150pp (if I want to stick it in one of my vacant PL10 slots) or 180pp (if I want to eat one of my vet awards and leave those 150pp slots sadly empty). (I also haven't, you know, double-checked most of the math since it's likely to change anyway.) One of the obvious approaches is to strip out the dual-form array and stick with a single mode, maybe building toward having that later; I could make parts of the build more efficient that way. I could also make the base human less proficient in a number of ways, but I like the idea that she's fairly competent even without playing host to something else. Overall reductions are also an option, making her less effective all-around with the goal of building back up to that - even a PL drop on the idea that it's early in her vigilante career and she and the symbiote need to get more used to each other. The only thing giving me real pause here is that there's some amount of overlap with Wraith, in the spooky-looking wall-crawling monster-'shapeshifter' investigator department. I can tweak some things it that starts to bug me.

Cannot find my old scratchpad, even in the archives. Curious! Ah, well, time to start a new one, then; I don't have all the old builds saved locally, but I'd probably have to have rebuilt them anyway...? These are generally characters I may play myself; pure concept builds that can be cheerfully stolen and used will be marked as such. Build Index Gyre, Symbiote Host; PL10 / 150PP (draft, 2020-02-02) Proxy, Surveillance AI Who's Here to Help; PL10 / 150PP (draft, 2020-03-28) Nocturne, gravity-powered mean teen; PL8 / 150PP (draft, 2020-05-04)

"Aww, you don't have to build me things to have me by," said Elizabeth. She was smiling, but she could read the room and was headed to the door. "I'd be happy to come around again. Or you could come my way! That's what friends do, you know?" New friend! She could have cheered, if it wouldn't have looked cool. So instead she flashed a wide, toothy grin, gave a casual wave, and disappeared through the door. The sound of some suspiciously swing-like humming followed her down the hall.

The slug-thing chewing through the cage stopped, startled; Wraith had not anticipated being bound up by tentacles. In hindsight, she probably should have, but she'd been underestimating the...enemy? The enemy that spoke English, that didn't want the Atlanteans to be eaten? It was a solid grab, she had to admit, but there was a reason Kinigosi only taught grappling against animals and aliens. She relaxed, most of her body slipping into a more liquid state that oozed out of the octopus-man's suckered grip like so much mercury, reforming into something more sensible on the other side. It also reformed a trio of solid black eyes, flat on the back of the metal-eater to look up at their assailant. "Please don't do that," her body hummed, in English, mouths returning to their work on the cage. "We are very busy."

Well, that attack certainly hits Wraith. Reflex Save vs. Snare (DC20): 1d20+10 12 What a poor roll. I'd HP that, but she has selective Insubstantial 1 and immunity to suffocation, so I think it's just her pride that's injured.

Elizabeth blinked in surprise, and couldn't entirely hide a wince, but at least the wince very quickly became open curiosity. "You know, I kind of expected more...um...." She waved a hand, and a brief illusory pattern of clockwork and computer circuitry formed in the air. "I guess this makes sense, though! You make a robot body, you make it like a non-robot body, right?" She cocked her head, making a study of a level of super-science she'd bet she'd never actually understand. "....I'm not going to lie," she said, finally, squinting at an inorganic eyeball, "it's pretty gross. But I bet if you made my skin transparent, I'd be kinda gross too. ....please don't do that, though."

"It's okay!" Elizabeth was smiling, if a little bemused; she didn't actually know how her double worked, and she was pretty sure it didn't obey physics, which left a lot of her answers less than satisfactory or helpful. Still, it was kind of fun to discuss. "I'm...really not someone who can criticize other people for being curious," she laughed. The double was laughing too, but they glanced at each other at some unseen feeling or conversation and she finally gave a bow - and disappeared, burning away in a soft light like she'd been made of so much flash paper. "'Weird' means a lot of things at Claremont," mused Elizabeth, still grinning, "but sure? Gross can be fun, too."

Wraith had slithered up the statue like some kind of alien lizard, as Miss Grue distracted the guards - on inspecting the cage, their surroundings, and the guards, she'd assumed a peaceful option wasn't on the table, and time was running short. So, she changed. The thing that had blobbed partway into the cage could have been a sea-slug, if sea-slugs had a half-dozen bar-grasping hands and far, far too many mouths. Mouths full of concentric rows of ever-more teeth, mouths that set themselves against the iron cage and started grinding at it with an uncomfortable efficiency. It tasted awful - she'd never been over-fond of impure iron - but at least she could let dust and fragments fall instead of trying to take them into herself. Wraith wasn't sure if she trusted any of the metal here....and, for all that she was trying to free them, she wasn't sure she blamed the Atlanteans for not trusting her.

Elizabeth reached up to squish the device behind her ear, while Elizabeth turned to watch Eira circle them with a sort of confused amusement. The two glanced at each other and started counting down the questions on their fingers. "We have a connection but it's kind of weak until the double goes away," said one. "We get emotion and a sort of intent but not a lot of, you know, deep conscious thought. Senses are hard but music's easier because it, you know, moves you so at least the beat and stuff rides on the emotions part." "Never had a problem with distance," added the other, ticking down another finger. "I've, um, never done 'relativistic velocities' so I really can't answer that one. Stuff that blocks magic shuts it down, but that stuff also shuts down the double, so, you know. Moot point." The first Elizabeth shrugged. "It's fun to mess with people and keep them guessing, but I guess it's technically like two minds? But, you know, the same mind...I don't know what the science version is. Like two of the same app running at the same time? I know what I would do, most of the time...." She trailed off, exaggerating the shrug with one hand hung loosely outward. The second Elizabeth mirrored the pose exactly. "....so it's kinda easy to coordinate with myself, especially with the little bit of connection. And when the double goes away, I get all the memories. It's pretty great for studying."

"The one and only!" chorused the two Elizabeths, grinning ear to ear as they waited for the music to start. When the music kicked in the be-scienced Liz's eyebrows shot up, and her foot immediately began tapping to the beat. The less-scienced Liz pouted, leaned in to put her ear against the patch, and finally resigned herself to leaning back, eyes closed, brow furrowed, as if concentrating. Then she, too, started tapping her foot - hesitantly, imperfectly, but on the same beat. "That's really cool," said the one. "I'm pretty sure my laptop has Bluetooth, so I bet I can put all kinds of stuff on here." "How do I turn it on or off?" asked the other, cracking open a concentrating eye. "I probably can't get away with it all the time. I'm not allowed to have a double in class - they decided it was 'too disruptive'."

Distracted guards? A delicious-looking iron cage? Sure, sez Wraith! She'll climb up to the cage, shapeshift to om-nom-nom mode (minus the normal healing, since she isn't hurt!), and try to eat the door to the cage off its hinges (if there's an apparent door), or just eat a hole in it (if there's no door!), or (if I've misread and the cage itself is not iron) she'll default to trying to eat the chains away. Drain Toughness 12 (Extras: Affects Objects, Linked [Damage], Flaws: Limited [Objects], Limited [Metal]) [6pp]+ Damage 12 (Extras: Linked [Drain], Flaws: Limited [Objects], Limited [Metal]) [4pp] That's a 12pp reduction to toughness, and then a DC27 toughness save against damage.

Elizabeth gave a low whistle as she entered, peering at the walls and floor with open interest. "Ooh. Two years and I didn't know you could decorate like all of this. I really need to see if Abby and I can spruce our room up!" The little circle of science she regarded for a moment, reaching up to push her hair out of the way and feel the skin behind her ear. "It seems like the kind of thing you'd get good at with practice," she said to no one in particular...and then, disconcertingly, she stepped out of herself. One Elizabeth dropped her hand as another moved to the side, and the two Elizabeths wordlessly turned to each other and played a quick game of rock-paper-scissors for the right to science, or be scienced. "Always good to have a helping hand!" quipped the winner (?), while the other made a good-natured grumbling noise, picked up the quarter, and set about applying it to her more victorious self just below and behind her ear. "We'll be ready in just a second."

APPROVED!

The fix has been made. APPROVED.

Aha! That rule applies explicitly to extras, not feats. By way of example, imagine that you have, say, this power and Strength +4: Damage 6 (Feats: Mighty) [7pp] This hits like a Rank 10 damage power. If you want to add feats to that, fine, add feats (their cost is never based on the rank of the power!). If you want to add extras, which are supposed to scale with the power's effective rank, you'd have to buy them as if they're going on a Rank 10 power, not a Rank 6 power, so they'd be more expensive than normal.

There is an optional rule (Under the Hood: Strength and Mighty Damage, Ultimate Power page 39ish) about balancing Mighty against modified touch-range Damage powers. I don't think we've enforced that here, though, if for no other reason than it would be a severe pain on bookkeeping. It's an edge case, though, and I'm willing to believe I missed a caveat somewhere. If you know where in the book you saw that, and it wasn't the Under the Hood bit, let me know and I'll take a look.

Doktor'd MASQUE What? Fox submitting edits? Unpossible. 19 unspent points on Masque. Fluff Please increase Elizabeth's age to 17. Skills (-3 free points) Please add: 3 ranks of Bluff [ Bluff 11 (+14, +18 Attractive)SM ] 2 ranks of Concentration [ Concentration 10 (+10) ] 2 ranks of Notice [ Notice 10 (+10) ] 2 ranks of Sense Motive [ Sense Motive 10 (+10) ] 3 ranks of Sleight of Hand [ Sleight of Hand 15 (+18)SM ] Feats (-3 free points) Please add the following feats: Improved Initiative (this will increase her Initiative bonus from +3 to +7) Fast Task [Trick] Redirect Powers (-4pp -9pp = -13 free points) The following is a new power: Comprehend 2 (Speak Any, Understand Any) [4pp] (liar's tongue) The array's getting a boost and some updates, largely simple (increasing budget, collapsing blast and dazzle into a single power, boosting concealment, boosting illusion, boosting duplication and adding +survival). It should now read as follows: Trickster Array 22 (44PP array; Feats: Alternate Power 3) [47PP] Blast 8 (Extras: Linked [Dazzle]; Feats: Accurate 3, Homing) + Dazzle 8 (visual; Extras: Linked [Blast]) [20+16= 36/44] (will-o'-wisp) Concealment 10 (all sense types; Feats: Close Range, Selective), Morph 10 (any humanoid [2], +50 disguise) [22 + 20 = 42/44] Illusion 10 (all sense types [4]; Feats: Progression 4 [100' radius]) [44/44] Duplication 11 (155/165PP clone; Feats: Mental Link; Extras: Heroic, Survival; Drawback: duplicate inherits conditions) [44/44] A note on the Duplication, since it's always a bear - your Duplication's budget is (Rank x 15)pp, and you have to have enough ranks to cover (your pp - Duplication's cost). In this case, the sheet's 199pp; that minus 44 for the duplication is 155, which needs at least 11 ranks of Duplication (total budget: 165) to cover costs. Math is fun.