Supercape

"Problems, problems. Of a different sort, maybe. How do ze English say? Ze grass is always greener on ze other side" replied Rene. "Life is not about getting what you want. It is about wanting what you have" He paused, stroking his beard and feeling sad for a moment. It was not as if the young woman did not have a point, after all. Her perception was bleak, but not mad. "It is indeed a strange age we live in. One that challenges our spirit. But, I do fancy this painting captures ze essence of it. Marsha, you have me moved. Yes, I would like the painting, it has a power. But can I deprive you of it?"

GM The sewers and subways of Freedom City sometimes felt like an endless maze of disused and crumbling tunnels. Perhaps it even was an endless maze. It was certainly easy enough to get lost in them, and rumours of the perils circulated the urban mythology. As Bloodline sank into the shadows of these very tunnels, he heard the subway train rumble and screech to a halt. From what he could tell, an emergency stop. In the middle of the subway. The rat he had let go snarled at him. There was something in those black eyes that felt vaguely unnerving. Something that hissed at him. Then, it bolted away into shadows blacker still. Footsteps. Lights. Something, or somebody, was searching for him. The group and the man.

I suppose a case could be made for an array of boosts, providing they were boosting the same thing. Something like: Boost (Strength) 10 [10 PP] AP: Boost (Strength) 20 (Flaws: Tiring) [20 PP] Buut do keep in mind that boost is one of things that is looked at very carefully. Especially if it is a broad boost like All powers or all traits, or it has slow fade in hours rather than seconds or minutes. I am not sure, but I think the only character we have with boost is Bloody Mess (link in my signature), which might give you an example of the kind of trade off we are looking for: He gets 24 PP of powers (rather deceptive in utility mind, as 12 PP of them are sort of mutually exclusive transport powers, so it is more like 16 PP of utility) for a 9 PP power. The drawback is it takes him a standard action to activate and only lasts a few minutes. Which is the kind of reasonable trade off goal post you are looking at. It is easy to get cheesy with boost! EDIT: Also note that his powers are kinetic, active ones, like movement or strength. In other words, faced with a fight he hasnt prepared for, he either goes in at reduced power, or misses a round (which is rather critical). Something like boost for Mind Reading or ESP might be considered more carefully, as those are generally "utility" powers, where having to prepare for a round beforehand is rarely of consequence. In essence, it is hard to give absolute guidance on the rules, I'm just explaining the thoughts that go into this!

Post awaaaaay! The bruises you can heal on the march, I think. So I make it: Blue Jay - 1 HP - Fatigued?

OOC for thread. Bloodline is hunted! Also, Bloodline starts off fatigued and with a hero point! Bloodline - 2 HP - Fatigued

GM June 6th, 10:00pm The Freedom City Subway... At this time, the subways were not exactly full. Well past rush hour, and that time after people had gone out for the evening, but before they came home. It was a twilight hour, busy enough, but not busy. A group of ten or so people were standing, waiting for the next train. They were of all types, colours, creeds, from a kid of seventeen to a man of seventy. Some were well dressed, some where barely dressed. About the only thing that was common was nervousness. A pacing, a sweat, a fidgeting. Furtive glances. They were lead by a man with grey hair and grizzled features, tall, but not freakishly slow. Slim but fit. With hard blue eyes, a trenchcoat, a hat, a thick sturdy folded umbrella (despite the lack of rain) and a very visible, slightly worn, crucifix around his neck, on a chain. Another time, such silverware may have made for an attractive target to any subway mugger. But on this day, the man who was wearing it gave of an aura of strength that would deter such foolhardiness. "All Death must Die" he swore, solemnly, as the train arrived. His followers repeated, with less conviction and gravity than the man. "And Death is here...I feel it" the man added, entering the subway car. All this was just about to come. And came to Bloodline is a vision of the future...

Just a quick note - Boost is not allowed in an array as per house rules (for fairly obvious reasons).

GM Murqin brought up his gun. For a fraction of a moment, he considered. "<Curse the both of you to the devil! My hands are dirty, by Allah, but I will not plunge them further! To hell with both of you!>" he shouted, turned, and ran. He had presence enough of mind to keep the gun. The Princes nurse, and Morsi, hesitated far less long. Both ran away. "Farewell, Amir! I leave you to the true enemy!" said Morsi, again, having enough wit to retort before fleeing. From the sounds on deck, the other guards were in no mood to hang around either, seeing Murqin sprint away. And in front of Amir now stood an form of pure energy, much as Morsi had been. Except...more determined!

Ok! So the Princes Initiative is a straightforward 1d20=17! Ill post the fleeing and activation of alternate form (a bit fudged, but hey...) then you are up!

GM A few moments later... "<Halt!>" Two police officers and the shuffling Sergeant K stumbled through the snow to the scene of the crime. it took a bit of soothing, and a bit of passing grubby money notes between grubby hands, but it seemed Sergeant K had strings he could pull, and was pretty slick at pulling them. "You have all evidence! excellent! Blonsky...the athletes....and what this is? A mine? I knew Blonsky pretty crazy is, you knowing? old communist KGB and that all, but...even I being surprised at this!" he shook his head. "How did he be the managing it? He is good the coach, yes, but not being the expert in biochemistry, I the thinking. Well, other peoples will the worrying about that! Now, I am off to the America! You get me special visa, the yes?"

This seems reasonable. As its selective, have you any objection to Temperance taking the smash and quick route?

Hey, sorry Thev, I keep visualising Timestop as a paralyse effect rather than, well, timestop. It does, however, pose a problem here. If you cant smash through walls, you cant get into the engine room, the ultimate destination. Is there a need to have timestop still active?

Sorry for delay! Really bad me! Ok so could I have a straight CHA roll for your authorative voice? its DC 5 to get Morsi and the Nurse running, DC 10 to break the will of the security man. Then, initiative roll.

Have a very happy vacation! The "Player Away" thread is the normal place to post!

Hero Point for Marcus getting himself into trouble. Triakosia - 2 HP - Unharmed.

GM "You got it, honey" smiled Marcus, enjoying the excitement. He may have been a talker, but he was light on his feet too, in pretty good shape. He creeped over to the Doctor, silent as a mouse. As Dancia turned the other way, she could see the lights on the elevator flicker. Something, or someone, was coming down. It seemed an age until she heard the lift land at the basement level. Her X-Ray Vision was unhelpful. The elevator shaft was lined with lead. Presumably it was not just biohazards that were dangerous here, but potentially radiation too. With a "ping", the doors slid open. Inside was a woman. Or at least, Dancia guessed it was a woman. The figure was dressed head to toe in what looked like an armoured hazmat suit, with gas mask and tinted glasses. Impervious, again, to her X-Ray vision. The figures breathing felt laboured, augmented by the gas mask. The figure brought up its gun. A large, hard revolver. It looked custom made. "Get out or die" said the figure. A woman's voice, she guessed, but hoarse, cracked, and gurgling. At that moment! "What! What! Who are you! No! No!" Doctor Singh had chosen the precisely wrong moment to turn around, seeing first Marcus, which scared him, and then the woman in the elevator, which terrified him. He staggered back, arms flailing... ...the impressive zap-ray-machine fired... And Marcus and Doctor Singh where gone...

Had a look at Grimalkins character. Had some ideas if you want to discuss.

Grim has maxed out at 250 PP so you are more than welcome to rebuild Grim as PL 12 with 250 PP, which is what most (or at least a lot) of the PL 14/15s did. There is no need to rebuild her at all, of course. But I think it is fair to say a general concensus at the moment is that PL 12, or maybe 13 at a push, is the sweet spot before threads dry up, villains constrict and so on. I would post a PL 12, 250 PP draft rebuild in character building (with link to old sheet), and go from there. We are pretty good at getting things approved reasonably quickly these days (as opposed to the "when it happens" of old). Of course it need not even be PL 12. You could build at PL 13, 11, or even 10 (i suppose technically even PL 7 250 PP although it gets a bit weird at that point!). My personal recommendation after going to PL 13 is I would never go above PL 12 now. Even then, I find PL 10/11 much more fun to play around (and easier to get threads going). I am not sure if there was any metagaming in the past, but there is no sign of it now. You really will have an easier time at PL 8-12 than before when you had to be PL 14+ to get into teams! Also: Check out my awesome Art of Complications thread! (shameless plug...)

Can do. But before I do - I will mention that after you left (I think) there was a general moment of reflection on the site, and a lot of PCs brought themselves down to PL 12 or so. If you look at active players we only have a couple at PL 14/15, and a couple more at PL 13. The reason for this was a general feeling that PL 15 is cutting yourself out of a lot of threads and is a bit disorted out of the tone of the site. No pressure to do this. I bring this up because it has been a change since gangs of PL 15 walked the streets of FC when you left. There are some still, but few and far between. You may wish to consider.

This sounds good! Welcome back.

Sorry for delay folks! For reference, lets call the bulkhead a Toughness 15 thing, and the door to the engine room a toughness 12 thing.

GM "Ceilings and..walls? whadyya hell ya mean?" bubbled Sammy Smooth, wringing his hands. His hair, combed over to hide the beginnings of male pattern baldness, started to sink, defying the liberal application of gels and sprays he applied to it before every show. "Whaddya mean ceilings and...oh hell no!" he gulped, clocking on to Thaelia's direct action. A few smashed floors later... "This is a damn ship guys! Ya can't just be smashing through every damn wall and floor!" said Smooth, not living up to his name. His hair and his demeanour were both in a spin. He pointed with one wobbling hand aft. The engine rooms. Which where silent. "No more digging, you dig?" he burbled. "Smash down below and you hole the ship! I'll never sing again!" he croaked. By the way his voice dried up, he wasn't in best to sing right now, either. The door to the engine room was thick, plated steel. Tougher than the doors above by far. But still no match for the four superheroes of the sea!

"You betcha, partner! Ze Varmints! Yee hah!" said Rene in his worst, and awful, American accents. He despised the simplistic American Westerns. And enjoyed them at the same time. He drowned his drink down his throat. Did imaginary wine make you imaginary drunk? If you imagined it. "Right than, Henri, Madame....we have been told not to go somewhere. And as you are both no doubt aware, telling somebody not to do something is baiting them. The only human response is to do it, just to spite the order. We shake our chains and wail at being controlled. Even if we lose control by doing it" he said, gently slamming his glass down. "Now, my legs are old and weak, my back is bent and broken. Do you think we could get some horses?" He killed the urge to get a revolver too.

Ok a few rolls! Firstly, with Jays Survival skill she cant fail at navigating home by starlight or just plain skill. Feel free to narrate that! Secondly, and again a bit of a fudge, two options: Force marched back home, fatiguing both you and Cord, taking turns in pulling. Meaning one DC 15 ENvironment (Cold) check. Or, slow and steady. not exhausted, but two Environment (cold) checks, DC 15 and DC 20. You both get +5 to fort saves from clothes, and +2 due to Jays generally awesome survival skill!

GM "Oh joy" sighed Cord, patting himself down. "You do know I just got knocked out by a rock, yes? Big stone thing? On my head?" That said, he helped Jay piece together a crude pull-cart. Gold was not a light man. The snow made it both harder and easier. Dragging the cart was a lot easier on snow than over rocks and uneven terrain. But on the other hand, even walking through snow was hard work. Pulling a cart behind did not make it any easier. And it was still cold. "I hope you know your way back. This is going to be a trek. And if I pass out, you better pull me too..." moaned Cord, struggling away. The sun was low, their shadows were long. And darkness, and the stars, loomed ahead...