Supercape

Echohead "Does it matter?" said Echohead, drumming his fingers against his forehead in thought. "I mean, if he was a robot? does it matter?" The question was bugging him. "Judge a man... or a robot... by his actions. If he thought like Cardenas, acted like Cardenas, then he probably was Cardenas..." Except... "But our concern now is whether there is a real Cardenas, made of flesh and bone. Because if there is, he is missing and probably in great danger." He looked at the others. "Not much to go on, is there?" he said, quietly, with a meek face. "Just this mystery woman. I say we go have an interview with her, and do it fast. She may hold the key to the puzzle..."

GN As soon as the room door was open, Bernadette realised she was not in Kansas anymore. The room had been moved to a different dimension. A realm of hypervivid colours, rainbows, trees, fields, and sunshine. And everything sang. Everything was a musical note. the wind through the corn, the falling of leaves, the sunshine glittering through the rainbow. Everything created a note, and the combination was bordering on a cacophony; and yet in tune, melodic. Sitting on a tree stump, puffing on a pipe, scratching his orange beard, was the short and doughy form of the Leprachaun. "Welcome to musicland" he said, face as grumpy as ever. "Its a horrible place. A day here and you will lose your mind. I grew up here. If you are able to burn this entire nightmare to the ground, I would be eternally grateful." "Sunny sunny sunny times, Sunny glow, Sunny chimes, Sunny Sunny Sunny smiles, Pull down your pants let me tan your hides" Yes, even the Sun itself was singing, and if Bernadette looked closely, she could see the Sun had two merry eyes and a merry mouth. The Leprachaun groaned. "Please, take me to Hell instead. Satan himself couldn't torture me more..."

Rev "Get a taste of hell, suckers!" She flexed her cyborg fists. "That's right, isn't it? You go to Hell. Or something. Spawn of satan. Deal with the devil. Umm, wait... is that right? If you are from hell why do you burn up so easy? That doesn't make sense. Maybe its something else. Necromancy? Wait... isn't necromancy a deal with Satan or something?" She tapped her chin with two cyborg fingers, trying to steer her train of thoughts into some form of coherence. Her knowledge was a mish mash of school lectures, comic books, and hammer house of horror films on repeat whilst she was in the chop shop. "Why can't you just be like machine engines. So much easier to understand. The thingy connects to the other thingy, and you got to make sure the bendy bit isn't attached to the whaddyacall it..." Maybe she was tired. But she was a visual person, and she knew engines from how they looked, not what they were called. In any case, it was time to step up the heat. "Bomb voyage, suckers!" she screamed, and threw a stream of fire at her feat, exploding into a fireball. "Wheeee!" she yelled in delight, as the blast threw her back. She rode the wave and landed on her feet, unharmed bar a few more scorch marks on her t shirt and some smoke.

As Staggered only one action, but lets make it a fab one: Extra Effort Fireball, with an HP to counter the fatigue (HP now 2) Thats a DC 21 Reflex Save to Half Toughness save Then a DC 26 or 21 Toughness save (depending on Reflex save) For the fireball victims And given Rev is going to be reckless, that fireball may actuall affect her, too! But a 24 reflex save and evasion means she avoids the blast

2 Hero Points then The last IC post has been modified to include waking up!

GM "Stop it! Stop it!" yelled Juan. "Kill them! Kill them!" yelled Tazel. "Brute!" screamed Juan. "Punching choir boys! The Devil will be forging some special chains for you! Just stay still, let them bite you... call it pennance! If you do that, then you will be distracted and not pay attention to my escape!" "IDIOT!" Screamed Tazel even louder. The two remaining Choir boy-dogs, on all fours, scuttled around La Puma and, without any fear or hesitation, leapt at her. They seemed full to the brim of a bezerker fury, taking no mind to their own defence, purely forcused on attaching their strange Jaws to La Puma's strange legs. And one of them managed! He clamped his teeth around her thigh, and started to squeeze with ferocious strength...

Awesome, thanks! So the two remaining choir boy dogs will ferociously bite! ONe of them hits! Tis not a massive problem: a Toughness DC 18 Roll

You ok to post the punching IC?

We have a sense dependent FATIGUE 10 effect (with sleep extra!) So Reflex DC 20 will avoid the effect (clamping hands on ears or stuffing some of Summers fingers in, or something else...) Will DC 20 to avoid the psychic snooze (staged fatigue) Or if you just want to sleep, grab yourself an HP and we will proceed!

GM "His Goals?" said the Duke, stroking his elegantly cropped beard. "That is the question, is it not? Everyone has goals, the Leprachaun included. Well, let us speculate. He has a face like a slapped dog and the charisma of a silage farm. My first inclination is that he delights in sharing his sour demeanour. But! That would be at first glance. Perhaps something else is woven into the tapestry of his goals?" "Greed! Leprachauns, rainbows, pots of gold? Something like that, anyway. Maybe it is gold he is after? He has drawn a healthy crowd tonight, has he not? even with the mayhem and destruction, I daresay he stands to make a profit?" "Do you hear that?" asked Summer, cocking her head. "A lullaby!" Indeed it was! A lullaby, oozing into the Dukes department from every crack in the wall, reverberating off every bit of metal in the quaint room. So powerful it started to crawl into Bernadette's teeth, and into her skull! "Sleepy time, sleepy time, Go to sleep, 'twill be just fine, Nothing to be scared of, No need to cry, or wail, or weep, Honest, guvner, quite safe to sleep..." With every note, with every word, Bernadette felt a massive urge to put her head down and snooze... Summer and the Duke were already doing so! ... ... And Bernadette awoke. Summer and the Duke were still asleep, resting peacefully-as far as she could tell. The room was unchanged, but there was a certain delicious sunlight streaming through the windows, illuminating the dust of the room. Strands of music floated this way and that, originating from outside. Jocular, peaceful, enchanting. Bernadette could say she felt extremely well rested. The sleep had been refreshing, in a sense, although she did feel an edge-the song had sapped her strength. Not so much that it would impair her, but a subtle draining nonetheless. The Duke gave an almighty snore, but stayed asleep.

Thats a hit, and you can take 10 to carry on striking them! They do get a chance for you to miss from partial obscurement: Meaning attack 3 will miss But the first two will be KOd Post that IC and ill get to the response!

Echohead "Good job!" said Echohead, more than pleased with the result. "I mean... great job covering that bomb with a forcefield, Mirror knight!" he shouted, or at least shouted as loudly as his weedy voice would carry. "That certainly is well and truly covered with your forcefield, the bomb that is. Although everyone should stay back just in case the bomb penetrates your impenetrable forcefield!" He coughed, clearing his throat from the effort. "Seriously..." he whispered to Mirror Knight. "What the hell happened? An andriod? We need to get this rally cleared as soon as possible... the crowd would go nuts, and the Talon Iron thingy people, they look pretty trigger happy to me. If this exploded into a panic, we will have a problem. And more corpses..." He wiped his brow. "Pretty good mess we made of this, huh?"

GM The door opened with an ominous creak. A shack in the woods, an ominous creak. And there was a wood-axe hanging by the entrance, just to complete the triad. Lamentably, the axe was quite clean, without any blood stains or brains on its blade. "Come in then. You spotted some of my camera's. Not all." The shack was largely a quaint shack. One room, with one corner holding a basic wooden bed, another corner a basic stove. However, one wall was dedicated to a number of computer monitors and a tangle of wires and processors. Studying the cameras was a man, somewhat skinny but with a certain wiry muscle to his frame. With a fleck of tey in his otherwise black hair. He worse a t shirt and jeans, and was barefoot. He looked like a cross between a computer nerd, a hiker, and a marathon runner. "Welcome to my humble abode. Nightscale, is it? At least thats what you looked like. I have extensive files. I hope I don't have to be worried. I'm no threat..."

21 A pretty comfortable pass!

Rev Rev kicked herself for missing the window. The window... right...! Bats flying through windows, creating all sorts of havoc! A bat flying through a window was enough to inspire a young boy to become a superhero... very dramatic! Wings, flappity flap flap, that mousy face... She shook her head, freeing herself from the chaotic thought stream. "Thats a goddam cheap suit, and I guess that means you are a cheap vampire. You suck!" It wasn't the best taunt, but it was good enough. The guy looked angry enough to be titled, and tilted people made mistakes. And the bomb was still ready-as was her fireball, the ignition jet still smouldering in her hand. She would get them all at once! Burn them! Burn those fangs and those silly capes to cinders!

Echohead "A decoy!" Or was it a decoy? He put a finger to his microscopic chin. Perhaps an andriod decoy, or perhaps the man was always an android. In which case, an android had died on his watch. Probably just as bad. He didn't really have the time or inclination to consider the philosophical ramifactions. Maybe he could nab the brain of a philosophy lecturer another day. But right now, knowledge (philosophy) was hardly going to help him. Then again, when did knowledge (philosophy) ever help any hero, ever? Echohead did remember the past, and remember the paranoia. The people were already rioting, and this would create a vortex of fear. "Stay back!" he yelled in his weedy voice. "Stay back! Its a bomb! Bomb! BOMB!" That would probably work, at least for a moment. Hopefully. Maybe. He scratched his bald plate. He could pluck out the image of this from a persons mind. But only one person. Not a crowd. He needed help. "Predator? Mirror knight?" he called over the intercom. "Guy was an android. Circuits. Everything. Cant let the crowd see the body or we will have a conspiracy riot on our hand. Can... er... can you illusiony something?"

GM "What am I?" hissed Tazel. "Your pet demon? I had decades of that with the cursed Cantos!" He paused. Invisible, but La Puma could smell his sulfur. And see little flashes of light. Tazel was literally spitting fire. "But I think our interests align-and you have proved good to your word so far..." He burst into a flame, a vortex of fire and wind, quite easy to see now. The smoke around them swirled ominously, menacingly, but was now lit by the Fire of Tazel-it did not dissapate, not as such, but it was no luminescent, and what was pure smoke was now more of a bright fog. Quite spooky, perhaps even quite beautiful. A pale smoke, a pale moonlit smoke. "Get her!" screamed Juan. "She hit me! She hit me, right in the face! With her fist! Bully!" The dog boys started pounding towards her.

12 for Juan 14 for Choirboys Meaning Puma is up! Ill do a quick IC PS: Obscurement is now partial thanks to Tazel

Diamondlight August contemplated nudging the police officers memory. He was more famous for design, art, and restaurants-and even poker-than he was for laser vision, and he had been keeping that sight of things quiet recently. Would it help? Maybe. But he couldn't take the nudge back once made. No, it was better to wait and see how the dice rolled. Especially as Sea Devil approached. I mean, it had to be Sea Devil, RIght? Diamondlight kept a mental list of active heroes of freedom city, if not the USA, if not the world. There was an open invite to a free meal at the High Steaks (it was good for business). Even if he hadn't kept abreast of the public news, the word on the street, and the rumours circling his restaurant, Sea Devil was not the kind of hero one could miss. Kind of blunt, he thought. But blunt could be effective. "Dead bodies, eh?" he said to the Cop. "I think you have a steam roller on the scene. Look, if its okay with you, I'll see if I can smooth the waters? Plenty of capes visit the High Steaks. I might be able to smooth the rough edges? You don't want a panic on top of everything else..."

None from me - for now!

The Card Sharks Power Level: 7 (150/150) (Potentially up to PL 9 attack with rage and sneak attack) Unspent Power Points: 0 Trade-Offs: None In Brief: Shark-Human Clones Alternate Identity: Marina Club/Heart/Spade Birthplace: French Polynesia (Unknown location) Residence: Freedom City / The High Steaks Occupation: Security / Management of The High Steaks Description: Age: Unknown Apparent Age: Varies Gender: Female Ethnicity: Polynesian – Shark Hybrid Height: 5’7” Weight: 55 Kgs Eyes: Brown Hair: Brown / Red / Black. The Card Sharks appear to be normal women in their twenties of uncertain ethnic heritage, with brown skin. They are able to shed and reform their skin and internal structure to appear almost any humanoid shape. Alternatively, they can activate their shark-DNA to increase in size and strength and appear as a humanoid shark eight feet tall, complete with teeth and sharp claws. The clone-triplets look identical, but they have taken to different hair colour to aid in their distinction (sometimes matched by clothing colour). “Club” has brown hair, “Heart” has red hair, and “Spade” has black hair. History: The Card Sharks are the result of a seventy year project initiated by the Nazi’s and continued by SHADOW/OVERSHADOW. They are genetically altered clones of mutant woman with a debilitating skin condition. Over years, the genome was progressively refined until three identical clone “triplets” were created. Finally, SHADOW had its amphibious soldier template. And then the Freedom League of the day eliminated the experiment. The Zoss family collaborated with the Nazi’s and, in decades past, held onto some of the research. August Zoss, in his mission to root out the shadow of SHADOW from his companies past, found the files and the three triplets, frozen in ice. August Zoss gave them jobs and training and erased the file data. Personality & Motivation The Card Sharks have a cold, aggressive manner – the shark DNA has influenced their minds. They are also linked, able to telepathically communicate with each other. If one of them is seriously hurt, the other two will be unable to control their form, and turn into their shark-hybrid form which is even more aggressive. Their loyalty is thus primarily to each other, to survive and to thrive. However, they have slotted in well to the Zoss company, and are reasonably loyal to August Zoss. They take pride in their work as the security and business agents of the company. Powers & Tactics: The Card Sharks can shed their skin and alter their form, thus being able to mimic most appearances almost perfectly. They are able to regenerate from superficial injury, and retain some shark like super-acute senses. They prefer to use vigilance, stealth, and intimidation to achieve their security goals, including a fight. They usually carry a hold-out gun which they would use in any serious confrontation. If they adopt their shark-human hybrid form they are much more aggressive and dangerous, and this is something of a last resort if faced with serious conflict – or if their work involves aquatic duties. Abilities: 0 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 0 Strength: 10 / 22 (+6) in Shark Form (additional +6 with Rage) Dexterity: 14 (+2) Constitution: 14 (+2) / 18 (+4) in Shark Form Intelligence: 12 (+1) Wisdom: 12 (+1) Charisma: 10 Combat: 14 + 14 = 27 Initiative: +6 (+2 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative) Attack: +7, +11 Ranged in Human form Defence: +7, +4 Flat Footed (Additional -2 with Rage) Grapple: +9 (+18 in Shark Form) Knockback: -2 (-7 in Shark Form) Saving Throws: 4 + 4 + 3 = 11 Fort +6 (+2 Con, +4), or +8 in Shark Form (additional +3 with rage) Reflex +6 (+2 Dex, +2) Will +4 (+1 Wis, +1) (additional +3 with rage) Tough +5 (+7 in Shark Form) Skills: 112 Ranks = 28 PP Bluff 4 (+4) Diplomacy 4 (+4) Drive 4 (+6) Gather Information 8 (+8) Intimidate 8 (+8), +14 in Shark Form (size and enhanced trait) Knowledge (Business) 8 (+9) Knowledge (Civics) 4 (+5) Language 4 (Polynesian, English, French, German, Spanish) Medicine 4 (+5) Notice 12 (+13) Pilot 4 (+6) Profession (Gambler) 4 (+5) Search 8 (+9) Sense Motive 8 (+9) Sleight of Hand 8 (+10) (None in Shark Form) Stealth 8 (+10) (Same in Shark Form) Swim 12 (+12), 12 (+14) in Shark Form (higher STR and size category) Feats: 23 PP All-out attack Assessment Chokehold Distract (Intimidate) Environmental Adaptation: Underwater Equipment 2 Fearless Grappling Finesse Improved Aim Improved Grab Improved Initiative 1 Improved Pin Rage 3 (+6 STR, +3 Will/Fort, -2 Defence, 10 Rounds) Skill Mastery 2 (Sleight of Hand, Drive, Pilot, Disguise, Medicine, Stealth, Intimidate, Gather Information) Sneak Attack 1 Teamwork 3 Throwing Mastery 1 Equipment 2 In Shark Form: Startle In Human Form: Attractive, Attack Focus: Ranged 4, Precise Shot 2 Equipment: 10 EP Masterwork Silenced Hold out gun with non-lethal ammo clip: Blast 2 (Feats: Masterwork, Subtle, Stun Ammo) [7 EP] Masterwork Mobile Phone [1 EP] Mini Tracer [1 EP] Concealable Microphone [1 EP] Powers: 20 + 2 + 32 = 54 PP Regenerative Shark Physiology Container 4 (20 PP, Flaws: Permanent) [20 PP] Protection 3 [3 PP] “Thick Skin” Immunity 1 (Cold) [1 PP] Immunity 2 (Aging, Sleep, Flaws: Limited to half effect) [1 PP] “Regeneration” Regeneration 3 (Injured 1 / minute, Feats: Regrowth) [4 PP] “Regeneration” Super Senses 7 (Extended [Olfactory, Sight, Hearing), Low Light Vision, Scent, Tracking 2 [Normal speed, Olfactory]) [7 PP] Swimming 2 (5 mph) [2 PP] Feature (Iron Stomach, can eat anything) [1 PP] Feature (Shed Skin – as part of Morph, regenerative shark skin forms clothes that look like the real thing. Can shed these clothes as a move action [later creating new clothes], which can be worn by others or for other purposes) [1 PP] Supersenses 2 (Communication link 2; telepathy with other two Card sharks) [2 PP] “Clone telepathy” Body shifting Array (31 PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power 1) [32 PP] BP: Morph 8 (+40 Disguise, Any humanoid, Extra: Duration [Continuous], Feats: Cover Scent, Attractive, Precise Shot 2, Attack Focus Ranged 4, Flaws: Move action to change) [ 31 PP]“ Human with fine fingers” AP: Alternate Form 6 (Shark-Human hybrid, Extras: Duration [Continuous, Drawback: Full round to activate-3, One Way Transformation 2: Common, Minor [Hours to revert to human]) [31 PP] Enhanced Traits: Attack Bonus +1, Defence Bonus +1, Stealth +4 (Counters Growth effect) [5 PP] Enhanced Traits: Strength +4, Intimidate +4, Startle Feat, Sleight of Hand -8 [4 PP] (Clawed fingers, sharp teeth) Growth 4 (Strength +8, Con +4, +1 Size Category, Flaws: Permanent [+0]) [12 PP] Immunity 2 (High Pressure, Suffocation: Drowning) [2 PP] Strike 1 (Feats: Mighty, Variable Descriptor 1 [Tooth/Claw/Fin], Improved Critical 2, Drawbacks: Lethal Damage only) [4 PP] Swimming 3 (Stack for total Swimming 5, 50mph) [3] Drawbacks: -6 Involuntary Transformation (Uncommon [When sibling is in major pain, disabled, or staggered], Major [Unable to resist]) [3 PP] Vulnerable (Uncommon [Dehydration attacks/environment], Major [x2 DC]) [3 PP} Abilities 12 + Saves 11 + Combat 28 + Skills 28 + Feats 23 + Powers 54 – Drawbacks 6 = 150/150 PP

Planning a few updates fo Diamondlight as he nears Titanium, including some funky minions to help run his business-both regular and superhero antics. I have sort of decided upon the "Card Sharks" as a name, as they will be mainly based at the High Steaks HQ (which has plenty of poker tables). And as a love a pun, that literally means human-shark minions! Also, vague homage to the cheese of Charlies Angels, so female human-sharks. As they are sharky, certainly wont be playing the sexy cards (which would probably result in chomp chomp). Basic build follows. Any suggestion on fluff / concept welcome. Have vaguely tied their origin to my retired hero Sgt Shark (who, you never know, may chomp back into action one day...)

It was indeed!

GM The sky was clear, the air was crisp. Swooping upwards, Nightscale could get a good look at the shack. Abarely visible dirt track curled away towards the city at the horizon. Trees had been felled to make space for the shack, although it had not been clearly visible from the ground. Cut trees, with gnarled roots. The clearing was a perfect circle. The roof was thatched - easy enough to smash through even for someone without the amazing strength of a dragon. No car, no vehicle. Did the owner walk? or... fly? Whilst the shack ostensibly looked like a primitive and basic hut, the hidden technology secreted around the shack was in sharp contrast. And the hut itself looked so flimsy that a strong breath could blow it over. The whole thing appeared to revolve around alarms, not defence systems. At least, for now...

Diamondlight "Zoss. August Zoss." Sometimes fame had a swing. Sometimes it didn't. Too early to say which way the pendulum would fall today. "Yeah, I own the High Steaks. I'd give you a meal and some poker chips, but I think that would be called bribing an officer. Still, you deserve it, risking your lives and dealing with dead bodies. Can't imagine dealing with the public is a barrel of laughs some days." August spoke in a kind of ambigious transatlantic accent that could broadly be called "European" but little else. A voice full of inflection, soft, but not so soft that the almost perfect articulation could not be made out. "I'm serious though, these park murders are getting worse. A blight on the city. I'd like to help, anyway I can. What do you need?" If the cop needed some laser swords or walls of force, Diamondlight was all ready to proceed. But it didn't sound like it - no gunfire, no screams, no mad axe murderer jumping out of the bushes dressed in a halloween gorilla mask and nothing else. Not yet, anyway.