pc Lament PL 10/12

[Supercape]

Lament (a.k.a. "The Duke of Despair" a.k.a. "The Sultan of Sorrow")

 

Power Level: 10 (229/239 PP)
Unspent Power Points: 10
Trade-Offs: +2 Tough / -2 Defence
In Brief: Voodoo Showman housing Psychic Horror
Alternate Identity: Luther Earl LeGrasse
Birthplace: New Orleans
Residence: On tour. Has large home in centre of New Orleans
Occupation: Magician, Entertainer, Musician
Affiliations: Various shows and entertainments.
Family: Ella Lagrasse (Older sister, New Orleans Politician), Violet Lagrasse (Younger Sister, Jass Singer), Vincent Lagrasse (Father, retired whiskey distiller), Margreet Lagrasse (Mother, Cook)

Age: 26
Apparent Age: 26
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Mixed
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 60 Kgs
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Bald

Luther is a thin man of sleight build, although execrises enough to compensate and be of average strength. He lost his hair in his early twenties, and is clean shaven. When he appears as the great Voodoo magician "Zombo!" he dressed up in some deliberately torn dinner jacket and with white eye make up.

His super hero identity, Lament, is just a bold and magnified version of his stage costume. He wears a ridiculously tall purple top hat, make up, ragged purple jacket and coat tails, and a false white goatee stuck to his face. To complete his image, he keeps a machete by his side coated with stage-blood.

However, he is an expert on disguise, so if undercover can often look like pretty much anyone! His mixed ethnicity and mastery of make up means he can change his apparent skin tone from almost jet black to pallid white.

 

History:
Luther grew up on the streets of New Orleans in a fairly warm, loving family who were neither rich nor poor, but had a certain artistic flair to them. He remembers well the laughter, music, and smell of his mothers cooking.

A small kid, Luther was inclined to be bullied, but soon found he had a knack for entertainment and grew in confidence and charm. As a teenager he did street magic, and became progressively more skilled and famous, until, as a young man, he took up a career as a stage magician, progressing further and further under the stage name "Zombo! Voodoo Master of the undead!", until he was a national figure, doing shows in Las Vegas and even around the world.

And doing a trimuphant return to New Orleans show, he attracted a horrifically powerful, near mindless, psychic creature who bonded with him, attracted by the delight he caused in his shows. The void.

The void feeds on hope and laughter. Not in a malign way, no more than bacteria on a wound. It is virtually mindless, just a hunger. It loves being happy, and the way it gets happy is to feed off happiness.

For Luther, this was awful. His shows became a feeding ground for the Void, and his reviews were awful. However, he did find that the Void gave him super powers. And he devised a way to feed the void in a more useful way, as the superhero, Lament, aiming the hunger of the creature to the cruel and sadistic.

 

Personality & Motivation:
Luther loves enteraining people, and all forms of entertainment. Which is why the Void chose him.

He is a fairly kind and generous man in any case, but the motivation for becoming a superhero is, to a large part, necessity: if he doesn't keep the void fed, his career will be in ruins, and ultimately the void will feed on his own happiness. So he has struck a balance; direct the Void to feeding off the cruel and villainous, and do something good in the bargain.
 
Powers & Tactics:
The void normally resides purely psychologically, gnawing at Luther for "food". Luther can bring forth the Void progressively; firstly into his body (the Void can feed Lament's organs), then extending it to the boundary of his body and the world (making him hard to see due to distrortions), and finally extending the Void from hisbody out into the real world, where its black oily tendrils will thrash about.

The Void has some psychic powers that it gives to Lament; the ability to sense emotions, project unpleasant images, or feed on happiness and hope (causing despair). Lament will tend to start with these, as he needs to feed the Void.

The symbiosis also allows Lament to focus the void onto parts of his body as a black oily parastic force, for instance: it can manifest as oily smoke or blades from his hand, sapping strength, or make his eyes go black (blinding those that meet his gaze), or breathing out oily smoke, suffocating those around him. In any case, his body is now very resistant to all damage.

Aside from the powers of the Void, Luther is a skilled showman, highly charismatic, and well versed in many social and performance skills. He is has a world class ability with magic and cards, and is even able to throw playing cards (or other objects) with great effectiveness as weapons.

Lament has a certain dramatic tactical style. He prefers a touch of stealth, then an explosion of presence. Ideally, to keep the Void best fed, he would catch villains laughing and revelling, enjoying themselves, and strike them with a despair emotion (i.e sucking all their happiness out).
 
Power Descriptions:

If the void manifests, it has an oily velvet-dark quality, but does not obscure light. In its most dramatic form, when Lament pushes the force out of his skin (albeit still symbiotically connected and living within him), the Void has thick tentacles and tendrils that whilst not particularly strong are very dramatic!
 
Complications:

Empty Void: Put simply, the Void must feed. Its preferred meal is positive emotions such as happiness. If it cannot feed on others, it will feed on Luther himself, causing a deep depression. If even that food source dies, it will feed on physical vitality, causing fatigue and somnolence (ideally in others, but then Luther).

Full Void: Feeding on happiness will make the Void happy in its own mindless way. That said, it can only stomach so much before being bloated. Too much happiness, and it will refuse to feed further.

Possessed: Manifesting the Void in the real world is progressively dangerous as it may take over Lament. From midly gnawing ("Void Inside"), to a bleak and broody streak ("Void 'Betwixt") to the possibility of complete possession and temporarily losing his will ("Void Unleashed). The Void is not malign itself, but it is hungry and virtually mindless.

Showman: Luther is a natural showman, and cannot help wanting to be adored and admired. He will prefer tactics and activities that are dramatic and impressive, and feed his own sense of self importance (whist internally of course he frets about his skills and worth).

Doop de doo doo: Luther loves music, particularly jazz. He is often tapping his foot or humming a tune, actvities that could give him away or make noise. This is virtually irrsistable when there is music playing. He would sing a long to a tune even if it would reveal himself; it is practically an unconscious tic.

 

Abilities: 0 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 8 + 15 = 33
Strength: 10 (+0)
Dexterity: 14 (+2)
Constitution: 14 (+2)
Intelligence: 12 (+1)
Wisdom: 18 (+4)
Charisma: 25 (+7)

 

Combat: 20 + 18 = 36
Initiative: +6
Attack: +10
Defense: +8, +4 Flat Footed
Grapple: +10
Knockback: -6

 

Saving Throws: 6 + 8 + 11 = 25
Toughness: +12 (+2 Con, +10 Protection)
Fortitude: +8 (+2 Con, +6)
Reflex: +10 (+2 Con, +8)
Will: +15 (+4 Wis, +11)

 

Skills: 160 R = 40 PP

Bluff 12 (+19)
Concentration 15 (+19)
Diplomacy 4 (+11)
Disguise 13 (+20) ^{Skill Mastery}
Escape Artist 10 (+12) ^{Skill Mastery} [Additional +3 if using elongated limbs]
Handle Animal 4 (+11) ^{Skill Mastery}
Intimidate 12 (+19)
Knowledge [Arcane] 4 (+5)
Knowledge [Art] 4 (+5)
Knowledge [Pop Culture] 4 (+5)
Knowledge [Theology & Philosophy] 4 (+5)
Language 2 (English [Native], French, Spanish)
Notice 8 (+12)
Perform (Acting) 13 (+20) ^{Skill Mastery}
Perform (Dance) 4 (+11) ^{Skill Mastery}
Perform (Percussion) 8 (+15) ^{Skill Mastery}
Perform (Wind Instruments) 4 (+15)
Sense Motive 8 (+12)
Sleight of Hand 15 (+17) ^{Skill Mastery}
Stealth 12 (+14) ^{Skill Mastery}

 

Feats: 21 PP
Benefit 2 (Wealth)
Blind-Fight

Distract (Intimidate)
Fascinate (Perform)

Favored Environment [The Stage]
Improved Initiative 1
Jack of All Trades
Precise Shot 2
Quick Change 2
Set-Up
Skill Mastery 2 (Disguise, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Perform [Acting], Perform [Dance], Perform [Percussion], )
Throwing Mastery 5
 
Equipment: 1PP = 5EP
Stage Machete (Strike 2, Feats: Blunted, Improved Critical 1, Mighty) [5 EP]
[NB: Blunted indicates the stage weapon can cause non-lethal damage]
Standard Disguise Kit [0 EP]
Pack of Playing Cards [0 EP]

 

Powers: 12 + 10 + 14 + 22 = 58 PP

Powers all have the psychic descriptor

Alternate Form 2 (10 PP Container, Feats: 2 Additional Alt Forms) [12 EP] "Void symbiote" [Psychic]
Alt Form: "Void Inside"
Immunity 10 (Cold and Hot Environment, Fatigue Effects, Sleep, Suffocation[All]) [10 PP]
Alt Form: "Void Betwixt"
Concealment 10 (All but Tactile, Flaws: Partial, Permanent [+0]) [10 PP]
Alt Form: "Void Unleashed"
Additional Limbs 3 (Extras: Impervious, 5 Tendrils, Feats: Ambidexterity, Instant Up) [8 PP]
Elongation 3 (25', Range Incr 30', Flaws: Permament [+0], Drawbacks: Additional Limbs only) [2 PP]

 

Protection 10 [10 PP]

 

Psychic Array (11 PP Array, Feats: Alt Power 3) [14 PP]
BP: Emotion Control 10 (Feats: Subtle, Flaws: Limited to Despair) [11 PP]
AP: Emotion Control 5 (Extras: Burst Area, Feats: Subtle, Flaws: Limited to Despair) [11 PP]
AP: Illusion 5 (Auditory and Visual, Extras: Duration [Sustained], Feats: Progression 1 [10' radius], Flaws: Limited to disturbing or unpleasant images, Phantams) [11 PP]
AP: Mind Reading 10 (Extras: Duration [Sustained], Feats: Subtle, Flaws: Limited to reading emotions) [11/11 PP]

 

Void Array (20 PP Array, Feats: Alt Power 2) [40 PP]
BP: Fatigue 10 (Extras: Sustained Aura, 6 ranks only [+3]) [38 PP] "Void Skin"
AP: Dazzle 6 (Extras: Action [+3, Reaction: Looking at Lament], Range [Perception]) [36 PP] "Void Eyes"
AP: Suffocate 5 (10-40' radius cloud, Extras: Area [Cloud], Duration [Sustained - Status], Feats: Decrease Area 6) [20 PP] "Void Breath"

Drawbacks: 
Vulnerability (Psychic; Frequency: Common; Intensity: Moderate) [-2PP]

DC Block
ATTACK              RANGE      SAVE                           EFFECT
Unarmed             Touch      DC 15 Toughness                Damage
Stage Machete       Touch      DC 17 Toughness                Damage
Emotion Control or  Perception DC 20 Will                     Despair
Emotion Control     Perc/Area  DC 15 Will                     Despair
Mind Reading        Perception DC 20                          Read
Void Touch          Touch      DC 20 Fort                     Fatigue
Void Eyes           Perception DC 13 Reflex / Fort            Vis Daz
Void Breath         Touch/Area DC 15 Fort                     Suff.
Throwing Stuff      Ranged     DC 20 Toughness                Damage
 
Totals: Abilities 33 + Combat 36 + Saving Throws 25 + Skills 40 + Feats 21 + Powers 76 - Drawbacks -2 = 229/239 Power Points

[olopi]

Equipment

All Damage is nonlethal by default, so the Feat isn’t necessary, but it adds some flavour so feel free to keep it unless you’ve got something to spend that one EP on

 

Misc.

Fixed a typo and added a Clarification to the Concealment, but I don’t see any reason you shouldn’t get an

 

APPROVED

[Avenger Assembled]

Voodoo is a 'real' religion in-setting (or at least as real as it gets) - so it's worth thinking about what the voodoo deities think of this fellow. 

 

APPROVED

[Fox]

Note: This sheet has been replaced by a new version.