Supercape

So, Young Brittania is bound in Tylluans grip! dum dum daaah! they are currently 200 feet in the air. The real is Osprey is up!

So, Rene using his mystic paintbrush to morph, taking 10 on disguise roll for a DC of 30 for anybody to spot the dynamic duo are not actual goths (If they actually look). As an aside, I hope it doesn't rain, given the complication of his ink! (I leave that to you Tiff, if you want the mystic make up to run at an inconvenient time!)

Rene contemplated his friends question for a moment, stroking his beard as he was wont to do in times of reflection. "Non, my friend, I fear not. I can paint marvels of illusion, light and color, but in feats of perception my eyes and ears are old" he said, pressing his fragile spectacles onto said eyes. "It is to your keener senses and mind that we must trust" he explained. "What I can do, however, is even ze playing field! We may not be able to recognise her, but our task will be doubly difficult if she can see us, standing out like ze sore thumb, ripe for own caution to propel her away!" He took out his magic paintbrush, and with delicate movements from centuries of practice, painted a picture. Moments later, Rene and Marceau had vanished, and two heavily made up goths stood in their place. "What a ridiculous outfit!" sighed Rene "We may look ze part, but ze part is a horror to ze eyes!" he complained, his old accented voice coming out of a young, attractive and pale goth with a nose ring and half shaved head.

Pitch could not resist noticing the comment. "Lesser demon are you? Well, figures there is a social ladder wherever you go huh?" The deception of demons was unlimited, and could play in the most elaborate of schemes. But the other words sank home. Disgusting ways? If Nikki really was viewed as disgusting, then... Perhaps the enemy of my enemy is... ...well, not my friend, but not my enemy either! "Well, what say we take this Tadyofyla bitch down a rung or two, huh? I could sure do with jamming those words down here throat hard and heavy!" she suggested, clenching her fists in anticipation. She wouldn't underestimate the thing outside, but on the other hand, satisfaction was to be harvested from taking a demon down.

As the Caretaker is suggesting a split (Hronos time disruption will be dangerous in the medical wing) this is a concrete problem - either splitting the party of screwing with medical equipment. Which ever you choose, its an HP! Velocity - Unharmed - 2 HP Hronos - Unharmed - 1 HP

GM With bright light and her vantage point, Young Brittania could see the "Osprey" more clearly. The creature was only loosely human. It was probably nine or ten feet tall, with powerful wiry muscles and a hunched posture. Everything about the creature screamed "predator" - furiously strong, powerful and fast. Two large wings grew from its back, its eyes were black, and vaguely avian features littered its shadowy black form, feathers, lumps, bumps, and twisted tendons and sinews. "Reee.....veeennnngge!!!!" it snarled in a gutteral voice at Young Brittania. With that it launched itself at Young Brittania, wings flapping and body slamming into her. His hands were huge talons, able to rip flesh to shreds, and it was fortunate that instead of using them he merely took her in an iron vice grip and flew moonwards. "Paaaiiiin!" he groaned, full of fury and anger, and little if any humanity.

To kick off with Tylluan will flap his wings and attack YB. 1d20+12=21 Which hits, causing a DC 25 Toughness save, and, because of his improved grab feat, an opposed grapple roll: 1d20+28=38 for YB to oppose. He is also going to use his move by action feat to move up to 200 feet in the air (with, if he manages it, YB in tow). For reference to you ranged ground guys! After that, Osprey is up! For reference, I will say its a move action to get out of the Van (or into the drivers seat). The bonds are standard handcuffs (p136), so Toughness 10 and escape artist DC 35 to slip them. Alternatively, if it suits your vision of the Osprey, Ari, the alternate form change will snap the handcuffs but bruise him from the change!

Round 1: 33 Tylluan - Unharmed 28 Osprey - Unharmed - 2 HP - Bound 22 Catalyst - Unharmed, Fatigued - 2 HP, In Van 16 YB - Unharmed, Fatigued - 1 HP - Flying 10 Big Nelson and Crew [3] Unharmed, In Van 8 Synapse - Unharmed, 1 HP, In Van 3 Ministry Agents and Crew [3] Notes: 1 THug bleeding out, full light

Rene Rene drunk his wine with a glow of pleasure that warmed his eyes and mouth. "Oui, oui, ze horse manure. I remember it well!" he sighed. "But ze smell is not so offensive when veiled by the passage of time, is it not? How smells inflame the memory! For all it's aromatic offence, I would not part with that smell!" he sighed. "Those days were colder and more cruel, but had a simplicity and passion that is lost in the complexities of today. Maybe I am just old, but the days of old seem often golden. Ah, how I wish to amalgamate ze old and ze new!" "But enough rambling. Perhaps on other days, with more wine, and fine food, non?" he said, putting, with some reluctance, his glass down. "How may a helpless old man aid ze mighty Revenant?"

GM "Welcome to the Null Dome, Velocity. I am the Caretaker" The small bow was perfectly done, and perfectly polite. "I will be happy to assist you in any way, in accordance with my programming" came the melodic voice, now clearly recognisable as artificial - no human could possess such a beautiful control. The caretaker was an android of the finest calibre, it seemed. "Time in the Null Zone occurs outside of normal space-time events" he explained, slowly and calmly. "Within the local null-time, A Mr. Harrow arrived in the Null Dome quite recently as in perfect health. No harm has become of him. If you wish, I can take you to our medical facilities were he is currently resting" He paused a moment, before spotting Hronos. "I am aware of your artificial companions function. The Mechanodyname of time, a legend and a fact. His functioning in the Null Zone poses a threat to local time dilatation. It would be incautious to proceed to the medical facility in view of this" he said, not faltering from his polite tones.

So Harry will take the total defence action this round, using his standard action to boost his defence by +8! (due to improved defence 2 feat). For his move action, he will try a bluff / feint on the fighter (using set up feat to allow Revenant to punch him), taking 10 on the bluff roll, with a -5 penalty for move action, that is a DC 15 feint on the fighter. May work!

"Ow ow ow!" yelled Harry, clutching at his back as he took a step back. "That hurt ya bozo!" he moaned, wincing from the kick. "I'll get ya...i mean...my friend here will get ya! Get ya real good ya no good piece of guttersnipe trash!" he yelled at his assailant, giving Lucy a grip on her arm. "That's right! She's gonna knock yer block off! That's right, ain't it hunny?" he said to Lucy. "You heard me, save me from this guy, he kicked me really hard! you are strong and tough and all that...go and punch him! really hard!" he implored her. He shuffled his feet slightly to edge away, using Lucy as a shield but trying to stay subtle about it. "And look, its my partner! he's right behind you!" he said to the fighter, in an attempt to put him off guard. It was a weak ploy, but then, he looked like a panicking coward who just might be right when he showed relief on his face. Truth was, Harry looked like a panicking coward real good. Because he was one.

A night at the Opera. Lord Lucien Lockwood, known in the quaint colonial dimension (that had decided in a rather amusing fit of egocentricity to label itself as “Earth Primeâ€) as Lord Steam, took great delight in mixing business with pleasure. Although not all business was pleasurable. He had taken on his role as official inter-dimensional ambassador to this world partly as it was jolly exciting, and partly to escape a few unpleasant personal shenanigans back home. Out of sight, out of mind, out of trouble, as the government of Earth Victoriana had put it to him. He had ample time to indulge his hobbies, of which testing his mind with the torturous super powered crimes of this world, this city, was his favourite. But unfortunately, there was a steady stream of formal diplomatic work to do. He could pass a lot of it off to a few pen pushers, but even he had to sign a few forms and smooth the diplomatic creases every now and again. Travel between dimensions was by no means easy, but becoming more common. Instead of virtually unknown, it was now merely exceptionally rare. But rare happened, and when rare happened, he had to get involved, at least if it was between his home dimension and this one. It would seem that somehow some nefarious rapscallion from London, Earth – Victoriana had sneaked through his own portal, on the run from the police, to find haven in Freedom City. Whilst the rotter had been picked up quickly, such an event caused bristled nerves and a cooling of relationships, as they said in the diplomatic world. The last thing anybody wanted, from any dimension, from any world, was nasty criminals from outside their backyard running to their own one. Still, such awkwardness could be mitigated with a bit of wining, dining, and culture. And tonight, he had insisted on meeting the UNISON pen pusher assigned to the case at the Freedom City Opera House. The opera was Wagner, in German. Lucien was fluent in the tongue and always preferred it sung in its original form. If nothing else, it gave him a slight snobbish intellectual sting over his counterpart. Edward Smith was his name, as unremarkable as you could choose. He was a tall, thin man of about fifty years of age. There was no point pretending he was a dumb klutz. You didn’t get to be the head of interdimensional affairs with a lack of talent. His eyes were keen and his skills requisite to the position. Annoyingly, he also spoke fluent German, and commented on the song in such a tongue. Lord Steam sighed. Enough of the sabre thrusts and parries of diplomacy. He poured himself a generous glass of Champagne (as good, he conceded, in this dimension as his home one), and downed it with lazy fluidity, his hand lolling away, the liquid slipping down his throat without censor. “Mr Smith, my government does of course give its wholehearted apology for the misappropriation of interdimensional travel devices and the unfortunate escape of the criminal in question. We would like to give our reassurances that security related to such technology is upmost in our mind, and has been tightened and improved†he droned, knowing that both he and Mr. Smith where fully aware of both the absolute necessity of such platitudes and also how totally meaningless such rituals were. Mr. Smith paused a carefully judged moment, staring at the Opera without making eye contact. “And our agencies would very much like to know the details of where such interdimensional travel came from. It is our right to protect our soil†he said, in carefully neutral tones. The words had inflection, of course, but all passion had been surgically extracted out of his statement. In a sense, he was dancing the dance too. Of course, there was the rub. Lord Steam had his own personal interdimensional portal, and one that he kept to himself. The little rotter had, by scurrilous means, crept onto his staff over at his home dimension and jumped ship. Needless to say, he was pretty furious about the whole incident, and had indeed tightened up the security. He had personally modified the portal with what he believed was an uncrackable code, so that only he could use it. “Yes yes†he said, irritated at his vulnerability “One does of course perfectly understand your position. “Unfortunately, I am not privy to all information about every piece of interdimensional travel equipment. My government does not tell me everything, and I am sure you will understand views some information as sufficiently sensitive or valuable that it is not disclosed. As indeed, does yours. I am aware that my government is investigating the matter and takes it seriouslyâ€. Parry, counter thrust. None of it was lie, of course. His government did keep some things from him, mainly at the bequest of M, the spymaster general whose intellect matched his own and whose loyalty and mystery made him more valuable. And they where conducting an investigation, it was just that M and he had manipulated it to fail. “I am sure. I am sure†said Smith, sighing inwardly. “Of course the absence of such information and cooperation does strain relationships, and there may be an inclination to review current arrangements, including your own position†he said, keeping the tone threatening without being able to called on it. “Why of course, one would expect no less, and I am sure it is to everyones regret that such unavoidable incidences would damage such a cordial relationship†answered Lord Steam, responding in kind whilst lamenting the possible loss of his cushy job and excellent position. “Such incidences could arguably be avoided†replied Smith. “I shall remember that when one of your lunatics pops over to our dimension†replied Lord Steam, dropping guard with taut reply. “You may wish to consider that this lovely little dimension has a multitude of metahuman individuals with powers that could well allow them to travel across dimensions. As well as several intellectual masterminds who could conceivably construct such equipment totally out of the control of law enforcement agencies. And, I daresay, not only is the potential for such a trip from your home to mine more likely, it is also potentially far more devastating. We have no freedom league†he replied. “So, if and when we get the other side of the coin, I shall remember your position that such difficulties are avoidable. And hold you account to them, Sir!†There was a long uncomfortable pause, punctuated by the powerful notes and voices of the Opera below them. “Arguably avoided†said Smith. “Of course, we would not be in a position to support such arguments in every case†he conceded, giving a tactical retreat. There was no adequate response, as the vulnerability was definitely with Earth Victoriana in this case. Of course, a full concession was unthinkable in the clashing of diplomatic epee, but it was certainly a step back enough to resolve the matter. “We continue to be thankful for the magnanimous position of this dimension. And do enjoy the champagne. It compliments the Opera wonderfully†said Lord Steam, curtailing his inner victory.

or "Supercharging your Complications" This post is a personal opinion on how to maximise your fun from complications. It is based on my experience GMing here (and complications is the first thing I look at), my own experience of playing PC’s and various discussions with other players about how to effectively use them. Complications are your choice, and you can have as many or as few as you wish. I certainly have not written this to try and enforce them on people, or to cause any offence at the ones people have. However, I am aware that people often feel their complications don’t come up, and I am going to try and explain why that is and how you might be able to improve that. Any advice I give here has come from doing it "wrong" myself, and learning, slowly, how to do it better. It is but an opinion and it is for you to consider if you wish, not to follow as a requirement. I am going to approach this from the angle of how to have fun with complications. Used well, they can be a powerful engine to create and drive stories, and your own enjoyment. It is not written from a tactical perspective of how to get as many hero points as possible. From that perspective, the obvious thing to do is to by as many ranks of luck as you can get away with – hero points are very powerful and cheap to buy with the luck feat. For the purposes of example I am going to fabricate some imaginary complications and use a few of my own characters. Whilst this may be self centred, I didn’t want to pass judgement on any other players characters complications. However, I can assuredly say that some complications are more juicy than others when I look at them with a GM eye, and I will try and explain why. The Zen of Complications The first difficulty anybody (myself included) has with creating complications is that you are creating problems and hassles for your character. This goes against the grain for a variety of reasons. If you played (or play) Dungeons and Dragons, the mighty father to all RPGs, you will have most likely have ingrained in you a reflex to maximise or optimise your PC (I know I have, although I have given that urge a slow, painful death over many years). Furthermore, it is impossible to deny that part of the appeal of superheroes is to soar above the complexities and worries of the world (in some cases, literally soar). Complications are a self imposed demolition of such escapist fantasies, one it is not instantly easy to go along with. However, drama is fed by complications. Ultimately, you may find yourself in more control of your character by relinquishing your character’s ability to control. The Complication List Your complication sheet on your character is not there as a tick box list, it is there as a guide to the GM, yourself, and players, about the key complications your characters have. You can earn an HP from a complication even if it is not on the list. For instance, if you meet an NPC in an adventure, and develop a relationship with that NPC, then that NPC could be a source of complications such as being an innocent victim or bystander later on in the thread. Some complications, like “Don’t hurt bystanders†or even “Secret I.D†are (at least by me) taken for granted. There is no harm in putting them in your complication list, but there is probably no need to either. Personally, I usually don’t clog up my sheets with these “universal†or at least extremely common complications. Complications that aren’t When I look at complication lists as GM, seeing which one I can use (For those that don’t know, I almost never have a plot idea and advertise for PCs, I grab some PCs and organise a plot around them) the major issue I come across is complications that really aren’t complications at all. They are backstory, or plot hooks. Great for coming up with said plot, not great for kicking them into the playing field during the actual story. Sure, they may technically, possibly, be complications, but then so could pretty much anything in your backstory and you don’t need to repeat that again in your complication list. As I said above, not having something in your complication list doesn’t mean you can’t get a complication out of it. I shall give some made up examples of “Complications that aren’t†to explain this: “Enemy: Dr. Simian†Having enemies on your list is probably the most common example. This is a great back story, as it gives a built in antagonist to a thread. But every thread has an antagonist. Why is the enemy here a complication over and above your regular antagonist? This is an example of a complication that isn’t. It’s a great back story, it’s a great plot hook, but it doesn’t make your life any more complicated than having any other antagonist in the book. Of course, with a bit of effort you can make the Enemy complication work. If your enemy knows your secret I.D, or has particular information on you to make your life miserable, that certainly will create complications over and above your regular antagonist. And you can therefore get HP as an when those complications arise. But if this is the case, spell it out explicitly in your complication list so the GM knows why this Enemy will actually cause complications. You can also use Enemy in a broader sense, if you have a particularly bad reputation and in the course of the regular story this can create additional problems. For instance, Pitch has Enemy: Biker Gangs. Now, in a biker gang thread that is no complication at all, but say she is investigating some biker cult, and her reputation means she gets mugged instead of aided (the main antagonists being something or somebody else), you could call that an extra problem. Spiderman’s enemies being the police or J.J.Jameson are another example. Whilst he is fighting (e.g) the Rhino, he has all this bad publicity to make that fight more difficult. But there are other complications that are not really complications too. “War Veteran: Captain Example has seen too much war in his life and will become very upset if he sees war scenes†Excellent story, and you can write about his past and his inner turmoil. A great character. But this is backstory, maybe even a plot hook for him to stop a war. But how does it make his life complicated? Emotional distress is not a complication, it is fuel for good writing (which is important!). You can certainly make this complication work, but as it stands it doesn’t really work well as a complication. But it may do, with a little refinement… Making complications work So, how do you make a complication work? I will now make a simple and obvious statement. Complications cause complications. I know that is patronising and obvious, but it is worth reflecting on. How exactly will your complication make your characters life tangibly and materially complicated? Not emotional distress, not personality, not plot hook. How will it create a real, concrete pain in the backside for the character in the course of a thread? The answer is to make them applicable (they will come up) and tangible (they cause a true problem). Applicable complications: Complications that come up. . Making complications applicable is the first thing to consider. In other words, it can crop up. “Dress Sense: Mr Smooth only likes to wear the latest fashions and the best styles†So, this is an example of a complication which is very weakly applicable. Of course, it could potentially come up, but how are you, or the GM going to trigger this? I am sure you could work out a scenario in your head, as with any complication. But it remains the case that this is not an easy complication. “Darkness Phobia†Is much more realistic, a complication a GM can say “ah yes! Now this is something I can trigger!†If you look at Rene’s sheet, I will give a good example and a bad example: “Give me Liberty! Passionate - too passionate, about life, liberty, and politics. He will not be diplomatic or measured in his defence of these things, and will anger at any oppression.†As you can see this is rather vague. It is hard to trigger. So possibly he might anger or insult somebody, and fail any attempt at diplomacy. I keep it in as I think it may come up, and its an important part of his personality flaw not covered elsewhere, but I am fully aware that this a meagre meal for a GM. Of all his complications this is the one that is probably never going to come up. There are a lot of complications with such level of vagueness. Most often they are about a characters personality, such as impulsive, easily angered, and so on. Good descriptions of personality are vital for good writing and character, but not easy to actually put into play without diligence and effort. And impulsive and easily angered are the two best ones. Something like “shy†in is going to be really hard work to make a real tangible complication. My advice is if you are going to put in a character / personality flaw as a complication, try to spruce it up a bit with concrete examples and real problems. Onto a complication that is something that can easily come up: “Beware the Id! Rene’s connection to the dreamworld is not entirely conscious. The powers in his dream array may fail or work unexpectedly due to the essentially unconscious nature of dreaming – particularly if he conflicted about, or repressing something.†This complication, however, gives very wide scope to the GM. All sorts of failings and unconscious problems can be thrashed out with the GM to cause some of his key powers to work in unexpected and unreliable ways. It is easy to get this into a thread, if wanted. It is worth trawling through your complication list to really look at if these complications have ever come up, and if not, could they ever realistically come up. If the answer is no, or probably not, I would suggest deleting them or refining them to be more of a pain in the backside for you! Bring the pain: Making the complication hurt. The other quality a complication needs, other than just cropping up, is to be something that really does distress, hurt, or screw up the character. And by this I don’t mean “causes emotional painâ€. Emotional pain is just your characters response to something, it’s a not a complication in itself (although it could lead to a complication). If you want to go for emotional pain triggered by certain events, then it is probably worth being specific about what actually happens. Let us return to the fear of darkness example above. A complication that can easily come up. If your fear of darkness is “Reminds [x] of his bad childhood, and causes his anxiety, making him on edge†you have not made the complication (practically) hurt. You have just described an emotional response. Now, that emotional response may then lead to complications, such as snapping at the police officer beside you, who decides you are too unstable to lead the investigation, or scaring the child you are escorting out of the sewer – who decides to bolt away from you. But just being anxious and on edge is not, in itself, going to be a complication. Again. It’s great backstory, it will be good writing, but it because the effect of the fear is not specific, and unlikely to materially hurt, it is not a powerful complication to drive story or earn HP. You could however, make this fear of darkness more specific. He will flee, or refuse to enter. He may lose the focus necessary for his powers. Or you could hash things out saying that in darkness he will always fail his will saves, earning a HP for every deliberate fail (getting the worse effect) until he comes to some inner resolution. By hashing out this, you can create real problems for your character rather than just emotional distress. Again, complications need to hurt and create real problems. So, I will give an example of a very concrete, specific complication of Rene: The Ink well is dry His magic paintbrush needs magic ink, which takes time to make. His brush is good for several applications of magical effects, but is not inexhaustible. This is not the best complication to drive a story by any means, but it gives an example of a real concrete effect. At a crucial moment, to make the story neat, he runs out of ink, and bam, we have a real difficulty. Just as a said it is worth examining your complications to see if they will crop up, it is worth examining to see if they will actually cause some tangible problem. To go back to my initial comment: Complications cause complications. Finally: Supercharged Complications for fun. To end, let us step away from the whole issue of making your complications come up and count. To make complications really sing and be enjoyable, I have noticed as both a player and a GM that some complication’s are simply stand out awesome. Not because they are particularly applicable, or cause tangible problems, but because they immediately scream at a reader “storyâ€. These complications are few and far between, but if you ever GM, your eyes will pop at seeing them. You will immediately go “YES!†and realise that is a complication you and your player can have great fun with. It will power a story, over and above being a simple plot hook. As I said I won’t use other players complications, I will stick to that, although I know I have my favourite complications from other players. So I will give, and pardon my self congratulation, the best example from my own characters. Now, bear in mind this is my seventh PC on the board, so getting to this stage of complication took several attempts and a lot of learning. The example I will give is Pitch’s (what I think is) best complication. Twisted Tounges: Tazel, her pet demon, whilst technically fanatical (and who must obey her) actually hates her and would do anything to get her into trouble. He is bound to tell the truth, but of course he may tell it selectively or get her into all sorts of trouble by doing so, using deceit and manipulation. Given he is the source of her comprehend power, that would be one way of doing so (giving interpretations that are correct but misleading). For those of you unaware of Pitch’s history, I will not bore. In a nutshell she has a demon bound to her bloodline, Tazel, that lives inside her and can power up her physical strength. Whilst he mechanically is built as a summon / alt form array, he is in fact open to all sort of deceit, misinformation, and generally making Pitch’s life well…hell. Of course, she can order him to shut up (and give her some respite), but where’s the fun in that? Even when this complication is not actually generating HP’s, it has proven very good at powering a thread with truths, half truths, and lies. So that’s it. I hope this was at least interesting to read and reflect on, even if you don’t agree with it (which you certainly don’t have to). I for one feel complications are the main power house of the M&M system, not unique to it, but important all the same. Getting the most out of your complications is both difficult but highly rewarding. Using them is always a challenge for a player and a GM, but you can, by refining them, make that challenge easier.

I suspected as much Thunder! I am sure this was going to be used sensibly, but there is a cleaner way to do it which both actually makes it more effective and closes down the loophole! If you we're going after a pure utility communication power, you may as well drop the mind reading completely as its pretty superfluous, and plump the PP into more range or an extra rank of subtle. On a technical note, in response to Sorus, I refer to UP. It pears my memory did not fail me... You do not need extra effort to mind read the same person in the same scene. You only need extra effort to do so if you fail the opposed roll. If mind reading is used as a voluntary communication power, there is no need for effortless (as presumably every person you are contacting will choose to fail that roll deliberately!) hope that makes sense.in other words, no need for effortless unless someone is actively resisting. On point 1, I don't think you need any specifics! Anything to indicate broadly what sense you are buying would do. Pretty much up to you I guess. e.g. Supersenses 6 (mental kinetic energy sense, accurate, acute, ranged, radius) [6PP] Although you could replace kinetic energy sense with pretty much whatever you want to call it! Obviously the fine detail comes from power description as you say.

GM Kabir turned at the elevator, but stepped in nevertheless. He didn't hold the doors but Amir got in before the doors shut. "Yes, Amir, of course..." he sighed, straightening his tie and running his fingers through his hair. "Your help is always appreciated. But tell me, exactly how do you intend to help? Aside from your moral support and your financial one?" he asked, keeping his polite tones flowing. He pressed the lift to the top floor of the hotel. "I was just going for a bit of time out, my apologies. I have a room booked here, you see. And, to be frank, the pressures of diplomacy and politics do require one to recharge one's smile and demeanour every now and again..." he shrugged, apologetically. "Solitude gives rise to reflection and wisdom".

This all looks good bar two very small things. 1. Psycho-kinetic mental sense all adds up, but you should probably notate what sense it is - which in this case is, I presume some kind of mental blindsight. As it is, it doesn't actually define what sense you get! (I'd suggest saying the base sense is "mental blindsight" or something) 2. My one mechanical concern is sticking effortless on Mind Reading 1. The reason for this is as follows: Normally Mind Reading is not a combat thing, but an investigative thing (normally, not always). With Effortless, it means that even with Rank 1 you can just keep on trying until you succeed. It is a little bit of an edgy issue, as effectively you are massively cutting down the cost and get a garuanteed eventual "win" even with 1 rank of the power. So, this is technically legal of course, but its one of those rule loopholes. What effect where you going for here? if it is just to be in mental communication with people, you have that already as communication is, as per house rules, two way by default (and you could pump those 2 PP to improve communication power). My feeling is that it would be best to have mind reading as an alte power, built at higher rank without effortless to represent Thoughtspeed truly "Penetrating" the mind (with or without the surface thoughts only thing). As I say, it really depends on what you are going for here, but I hope you understand the concern about 1 rank of mind reading with effortless, from a mechanical point of view.

1d20+18=28 its all going well for now. But hey, feel free to GM fiat that if it works better with John getting away!

I would think Infrared vision would probably need penetrates concealment to pick up heat signatures through a van? Still, I will leave that to your call, Roo no need to stress over that point! If you feel she can see them, she could see six people in Bullet Tonys Van. And as you say... Initiative Rolls please for everybody! I am keeping Bullet Tony out of it for now as he is bound. Big Nelson and crew [3]: 1d20=10 Ministry Agents [2]: 1d20+1=3 "Opsrey" 1d20+17=33 For Reference: Big Nelson is a customised NPC. He has a shotgun and a leather jacket. His Crew are using the thug archetype, but are the more heavy type, so Attack and Defence is +4 (more skilled). They have machine pistols and leather jackets. Ministry Agents are using the "Agent" archetype, with normal pistols. "The Osprey" is in fact Tylluan (from the relationship map, the first Osprey formula victim). Other notes: We are now in full daylight thanks to Young Brittania As it is, the two vans are 50 feet from each other, and from the river. In between them all are the four thugs the real Osprey disposed of previously. The "Osprey" pretender is now seen more clearly, and is 60 feet away and 20 feet up, on a mast of cargo ship.

1d20+4=18 amazingly, the hound makes it!

The chains dug into the side of the hotel, and she used the two whips, thrown and coiling, to haul herself up beside John. "Normal singers don't scrabble up walls like some kind of man-spider!" she said to him. "I'm not the one taking you to hell, John. Looks like you are driving yourself that way all by yourself. Only I ain't gonna let ya!" she shouted, feeling the anger boil up inside of her, overwhelming her. He is not slipping away this time!!!! I'm not letting him!!!! The fire and smoke burned that bit brighter and darker with her rage, and her teeth clenched, as her blood filled with rage. She could have slammed him, hard, with her furious strength, but she mustered enough self control to restrain that violent impulse. Instead, she reached around him to bear hug him...

Ok So I presume Pitch is next to him again. She will activate Rage to give +4 Strength, +2 Fort, +2 Will, and -2 Defence as a free action, and then attempt a grapple. Unshifted attack 1d20+10=24 So I guess that hits - and its opposed grapple roll time. I make her grapple bonus +10 attack bonus, +8 strength (from Rage) 1d20+18=36 Well, after all the bad stuff, a string of food rolls. Guess she is fired up!

GM Detective chance tumbled to the floor, spaying earthy dust and dirt ahead of her and up into her face - an ignoble fall, if ever there was one. "What the hell...Revenant!" she shouted in frustration. She clung on to the ancient artifact with one hand and levelled her old and large revolver in the other. Her sunglasses had come off, revealing a livid multutude of scars around her eye and cheek. She could see fine - even in the darkness - but the scars now revealed in full glory certainly stamped their mark on her otherwise beautiful features. "Can't you give a girl a damn break. I damn near lost my face serving this city. All I want is a bit of payback" she grunted. "And the dead aren't going to stop me. Life is for the living..." She took aim and fired at Revenant's chest, her brow flexing in concentration. An explosion of fire shot from the barrel of the gun, as a fiery slug exploded in an incendiary blaze over Revenant. "Yeah, he told me you wouldn't like that..." she muttered, a half smile on her lips.

With Darkvision, that works out fine! 1d20+5=16 for her trip attack and she is well and truly down! Chance is on the ground and will respond by shooting a slug at Revenant with her magic revolver. And it burns! which means fire descriptor and Revenants vulnerability to that. If, that is, it hits! 1d20+8=24 Which it does. It is a base damage 8 effect. Double that up due to her vulnerability, for a Damage 16 effect and a DC 31 Toughness save!!! Following that, Arcturus is up!

1d20+10=28 hey ho! (and thats without the +4 bonus!)