Zodiacus (PL 12* NPC, Villain, Tier 1)

[Airon]

Character Name: Zodiacus

Power Level: 12* (197 pp) - the power of the current constellation gets slightly higher

Trade-Offs: +2 DC / -2 Attack

In Brief: Two-bit astrologer who stumbled upon constellation-themed powers, now delusional and driven by fake prophecies.

Alternate Identities: Frederick Bach, Zebediah Zodiacus

Identity: Secret

Birthplace: Trenton, New Jersey

Occupation: Fortune teller, astrologer, super-villain

Affiliations: None

Family: Howard Bach (father), retiree; Mary Bach (mother), retiree

Age: 43 (DoB: unknown)

Apparent Age: mid-forties

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Height: 5'9"

Weight: 130 lbs.

Eyes: Indigo

Hair: black/grey

Description:

Frederick is far from being a large man. He’s not very tall, a bit hunched, and thin, the skin almost cadent on his meatless limbs. He has the face of an imp, with a long nose and a small pointed chin. His hair, sprayed with grey, has been receding from his forehead for quite a while, giving him a prominent widow’s peak. His good features are his eyes, two hypnotic pools of indigo, and his voice, which he can modulate from a hoarse growl to a powerful and loud baritone .

In his Zodiacus persona his appearance is a bit different: he wears a full-body suit and hood that seem made out of night, of a dark blue decorated with shining constellations. The suit models his body into a fitter and slightly larger figure.

Power Descriptions:

His powers manifest with an aura all around him. This aura is dark with luminous spots, and it is effectively a veil of star-clad night. When the powers require for him to get a different appearance, the aura models itself after the sign (example: he gets an ethereal Aquarius that pours out water, the silhouette around him of an Aries as he charges, a huge Scorpio tail appearing from behind him, etc…).

All powers have the Magic descriptor (very common) and the Astrological descriptor (uncommon)

History:

Frederick was born from office-drone parents in a small city in New Jersey, and as a kid he tried to find a sparkle of magic in his boring routine. He sought after the few days of wind which would clear the sky from clouds and pollution and show him the wonder of a star-clad night.

He picked up astrology as a hobby, fascinated by the idea of predicting the future by looking at those magic spot of lights. He started dabbling a bit in fortune-telling by trying to write an horoscope for the high-school paper. Then he moved to Freedom City University to study astronomy, sure he could merge the scientific side of the stars with the mystic one. Not only he failed miserably, but it brought him the derision and scorn of true astronomers. After college he struggled with temporary jobs, until he managed to open a fortune-telling business in the Boardwalk. He took up the name “Zebediah Zodiacus†and started welcoming gullible people looking for of a shortcut in facing the future. He also wrote horoscopes for a couple of two-bit gossip and paranormal magazines. In the beginning, he honestly thought he was blessed with some kind of sooth-saying gift; but as the years went by and his fortune wasn’t getting more readable in the stars, he lost faith in his methods and just kept going through the motions of his job, half-assing most of his predictions or outright making stuff up.

He found himself in 2009 alone, without faith in himself, and getting old. He was fairly depressed. He decided to spend the weekend combing garage sales and flea-markets, hoping to find some odd ornament to boost his fortune-telling booth’s mystical appearance. He was lucky, because he found a candelabrum with 12 candle-prongs arranged in a circle, each prong sporting one of the symbols for astrological signs. With a bit of work, it could become a very good centerpiece for his table.

Once at home, he started polishing it, he put new candles in it and lit them. The light was beautiful and hypnotizing, and he found himself taking another shot at cracking the true secrets of astrology. He sat down with his diagrams and his telescope, dusted off his books and hopes and spent the whole night tracing, writing, interpreting.

He woke up when the heat of the fire got too strong. The candles had lit on fire his books and diagrams when he fell asleep, and now everything was burning. He found himself wishing for water and before he could act, a elaborated pitcher that seemed made out of nightsky poured water on his table, ending the fire.

In the following days Frederick begun to learn more about the powers granted to him by the candelabrum. He found the he could evoke an aspect for every astrological sign. He had finally found the magic, after a life of looking for it. More important, he re-found faith in the stars, and begun to study anew, trying to predict his destiny.

Personality & Motivation:

These new abilities made Frederick highly delusional and quite possibly mad with power. Although the magic that empowers him is real, a true ability to read the future is definitely NOT among his gifts. Believing he has been blessed for a reason, Frederick will use his powers to pursue whatever action he saw written for him in the stars. Since his predictions are fruit of delusion and misread astrology tomes, his behaves rather erratically. The destiny he reads for himself can be harmless, but usually ranges from annoying to criminally dangerous: for example if he read a space mission will fail, he will try to sabotage it; if he predicted that the Mayor would die on January 15th, he'll try to assassinate him; and so forth.

He always believes to be destined to do what he does, has blind faith in his predictions, and although he doesn’t want to, he’ll fight the heroes if they get in the way of his goal. He’ll reprimand them while fighting, accusing them of battling an instrument of Fate. He never gets discouraged when his predictions turn out to be inaccurate – he always finds a missing detail in his data, and starts anew with another prediction – this time it will be perfect!

Powers & Tactics:

Zodiacus acts alone. He read his own future, he is the one fit to accomplish it.

He tends to distract heavily the opponents trying to guess their sign based on their actions. He is also very good at cold-reading people, from his fortune-telling days. He favors the use of the power of the current constellation, not only because it is stronger but because it “feels†better.

Luckily he is not very subtle and likes to make an entrance – after all, he was a fortune teller that based his job on suggestion and appearance.

Complications and plot hooks:

Power Loss: His powers come from the candelabrum: as long as 12 candles burn in the candelabrum, he has his powers, one for each candle. This means he has to come back at least once a day to put new ones in.

Power Loss: The candelabrum cancelled his date of birth from memory and registers alike, though there may be someone who remembers. Zodiacus powers only work as long as nobody else knows what sign he is, and thus nobody but him can predict his future.

Enemy: Zodiacus has a bit of a beef with his former colleagues astrologers. He usually reads as many horoscopes as he can, from magazines and newspapers, and if he finds an inaccurate prophecy will try to punish the writer.

Enemy: Zodiacus hates luck controllers and psychics: he believes destiny should be accomplished, not modified or fought. He is also very vulnerable to luck powers since he doesn’t comprehend their existence.

Incomplete studies: His knowledge, both of the arcane and mundane world, stops at his chosen field: the stars. If he tries to perform magical rituals or create magic objects with the appropriate feats, he is more likely to get a result very different from what he hoped – and usually very dangerous for everybody.

---

ABILITIES 2+4+4+4+8+6 = 28 pp

Strength 24/12 (+7/+1)

Dexterity 14 (+2)

Constitution 26/14 (+8/+2)

Intelligence 14 (+2)

Wisdom 18 (+4)

Charisma 28/16 (+9/+3)

COMBAT 12+18 = 30 pp

Initiative: +2

Attack: +6 Ranged, +10 Melee, +12 Blast (+6 base)

Grapple: +17/+19

Defense: +12 (+9 Base, +3 dodge focus), +5 Flat-Footed

Knockback: -6/-11

SAVING THROWS 8+6+3 = 17 pp

Toughness +12 (+8 con, +4 defensive roll) +8 flat-footed

Will +12 (+4 wis, +8)

Reflex +8 (+2 dex, +6)

Fortitude +11 (+8 cos, +3)

SKILLS 88/88 ranks = 22 pp

Bluff 8 (+11/+17)

Concentration 8 (+12)

Craft [artistic] 6 (+8)

Diplomacy 8 (+11/+17)

Disguise 2 (+5/+40)

Intimidate 4 (+7/+15/+13)

Knowledge [arcane lore] 8 (+10)

Knowledge [physical sciences] 6 (+8)

Knowledge [theology & philosophy] 8 (+10)

Language 4 (Latin, Ancient Greek, Hindi, Mandarin, English [native])

Notice 8 (+12)

Sense motive 12 (+16)

Sleight of hand 6 (+8)

FEATS 14 PP

Attack focus [melee] 4

Artificer

Defensive roll 2

Dodge focus 3

Fascinate [bluff]

Quick change

Ritualist

Trance

SUPERPOWERS 12+12+9+18+33+5 = 89 pp

Enhanced strength 12 [12 pp] (“Taurus: the bull’s mightâ€)

Enhanced constitution 12 [12 pp] (“Capricorn: the goat’s sturdinessâ€)

Create object 8 [water] (Extra: Continuos; Flaw: Range [touch], Permanent; PF: AP) [9 pp]

AP: Flight 4 (Extra: Affects others; Flaw: Platform [riding tall waves]) (100 mph, 1000 ft per Move action) (“Aquarius: the water-bearer’s floodâ€)

Zodiac appearance array 7 (14 pp of powers; PF: AP x 4) [18 pp]

BP: Enhanced charisma 12 + Enhanced feat 2 [Distract (bluff), Taunt] {14/14 pp} (“Virgo: the maiden’s charmâ€)

AP: Morph 7 [any humanoid, +35 Disguise bonus] {14/14 pp} (“Gemini: the twin’s similarityâ€)

AP: Enhanced feat 12 [Fearsome presence 12] + Enhanced skill 2 [intimidate +8] {14/14 pp} (“Leo: the lion’s roarâ€)

AP: Immunity 4 [all suffocation, cold, pressure] + Swimming 6 (100 mph, 1000 ft per Move action) +

+ Environmental adaptation 1 [underwater] {11/14 pp} (“Pisces: the fish’s finsâ€)

AP: Impervious toughness 10 + Super-strength 2 (effective Strength 34; Heavy Load: 2800 lbs) {14/14 pp} (“Cancer: the crab’s carapaceâ€)

Zodiac attacks array 15 (30 pp of powers; PF: AP x 3) [33 pp]

BP: Paralyze 14 (Extra: Alt. Save [Fort], Secondary effect; Flaw: Action [full-round]; PF: Extended reach 2 (10 ft)) {30/30 pp} (“Scorpio: the scorpion’s stingerâ€)

AP: Blast 8 (Extra: Penetrating 2; PF: Accurate 3, Homing, Improved critical, Improved range 1 (200 ft increments), Mighty 4, Precise, Split Attack) {30/30 pp} (“Sagittarius: the archer’s arrowsâ€)

AP: Speed 2 (25 mph, 250 ft per Move action) + Strike 7 (PF: Mighty, Improved critical) {11/30 pp} (“Aries: the ram’s chargeâ€)

AP: Fatigue 7 (Extra: Alt. Save [Will]; Flaw: Action [full-round]; PF: Reversible) LINKED Healing 7 (Extra: Energizing, Total; Flaw: Limited (only when successfully fatiguing his target);PF: Persistent){29/30 pp} (“Libra: the scales’ balanceâ€)

Power reserve 2 [any power, one at a time] (4 pp of powers; Flaw: Uncontrolled [it affects the power associated with the current birth-sign]; PF: AP x 3) [5 pp]

Raises Powers to:

Taurus: Enhanced Strength 16

Aries: Enhanced Constitution 16

Aquarius: Create water 12 / Flight 6

Virgo: Enhanced Charisma 16

Gemini: Morph 9

Leo: Fearsome presence 14, Intimidate +16

Pisces: Swimming 8 + Favored Environment 2 [underwater]

Cancer: Super-Strength 4

Scorpio: Paralyze 15

Sagittarius: Blast 10

Aries: Speed 4, Strike 9

Libra: Fatigue 8, Healing 8

DRAWBACKS -3 pp

Vulnerability [luck effects] (uncommon, moderate [+50%]) [-3 pp]

Abilities (28) + Combat (30) + Saving Throws (17) + Skills (22) + Feats (14) + Powers (89) - Drawbacks (3) = 197 Power Points

DC Block:

ATTACK                    RANGE         SAVE                       EFFECT

Unarmed              Touch            DC 22 Toughness (staged)     Damage (Physical, bludgeoning)

Aries' charge        Touch            DC 29 Toughness (staged)     Damage (Magic, bludgeoning)    

Sagittarius' arrows  Ranged           DC 27 Toughness (staged)     Damage (Magic, piercing)

Scorpio's sting      Touch (extended) DC 24 Fortitude (staged)     Slowed, Paralyzed

Libra's balance      Touch            DC 17 Will (staged)          Fatigued, Exhausted, Unconscious

Leo's roar           60-ft area       DC 22 Will (staged)          Shaken, Fleeing, Panicked

[trollthumper]

Looks pretty good thus far. Mind specifying how many ranks of Improved Range and Progression were bought on Sagittarius's Arrows, however? I'm having trouble figuring out how they interact, especially as the Time and Value Progression Table jumps from (ranks x 100) range at Improved Range 3 to (ranks x 250) range at Improved Range 4.

[Airon]

He has 1 rank of Improved range and 1 ranf progression

base: the range increments for Blast is rank x 10 feet (8x10= 80 ft)

Improved range 1 bumps it up one step on the progression table, so rank x 25 ft (8x25= 200 ft).

base: you have a maximum range of 10 increments (10 base increments, unmodified by feats), so 80x10=800 ft.

Progression bumps the maximum range from rank x 100 (8x100= 800 ft) to rank x 250 (8x250= 2000 ft)

So he can shoot up to 200 ft with no penalty, then from 201 ft to 400 with -2, up to a -18 penalty when shooting a target between 1801 and 2000 ft away

but really, who EVER shot with a penalty worse than -6? I can probably lose the Progression PF if it's too complicated...

[trollthumper]

Ah, I see where the issue is. You don't need to buy both Improved Range and Progression to get it up there; one will do, whereas the other will increase increments.

Buying Improved Range 1 does take Blast 8 from 80 feet for the first increment to 200 ft for the first increment. However, that then applies to all other increments, meaning that with just Improved Range 1, it will have a maximum range of 2000 ft. Progression 1 is not necessary for it to hit a maximum of 2000 feet, meaning you could apply that extra PP to a Power Feat like Homing or Ricochet.

[Airon]

Ah, I see where the issue is. You don't need to buy both Improved Range and Progression to get it up there; one will do, whereas the other will increase increments.

Buying Improved Range 1 does take Blast 8 from 80 feet for the first increment to 200 ft for the first increment. However, that then applies to all other increments, meaning that with just Improved Range 1, it will have a maximum range of 2000 ft. Progression 1 is not necessary for it to hit a maximum of 2000 feet, meaning you could apply that extra PP to a Power Feat like Homing or Ricochet.

so, you mean that Progression's only use is to give you the possiblity to shoot up to 25 incremets, with a penalty ranging from -20 to -48? That seems too useless a feat to be true.

Anyway, edited according to your interpretation, scrapped Progression in favor of Homing.

[trollthumper]

:approved:

[Supercape]

Looks good. One concern: Using transfer in an array. Transfer is basically a linked boost effect, and putting boosts in arrays is considered a bit off form. There is some leeway in this as he is an NPC but it has generally be accepted a thing not to do.

YOu might consider something like a vampiric strike, or Fatigue linked with healing, or even Drain Strength linked with Enhanced Strength, as an alternative?

[Airon]

YOu might consider something like a vampiric strike, or Fatigue linked with healing, or even Drain Strength linked with Enhanced Strength, as an alternative?

of course... I could actually drop the power altogether if it wasn't needed for the theme.

The easiest one, and the one I'd prefer is the drain strength/enhanced strenght, but isn't it just another version of Transfer, limited to strength? How would it work?

otherwise we could go with

AP: Fatigue 7 (Flaw: Action [full-round]; PF: Reversible) LINKED Healing 7 (Extra: Energizing; PF: Persistent){30/30 pp} (“Libra: the scales’ balanceâ€)

[Supercape]

The problem with boost is that one could consider it to remain active when one switches array powers, making a bit of a mockery of the cost. If its enhanced strength, when you switch the array the strength will go.

I'll leave the choice of alternative to you. THe Fatigue/Healing one works, otherwise you could go Drain Strength/Enhanced Strength, Drain Strength/Healing, or Fatigue/Healing depending on your preference.

Otherwise it all looks ready for approval.

[Airon]

The problem with boost is that one could consider it to remain active when one switches array powers, making a bit of a mockery of the cost. If its enhanced strength, when you switch the array the strength will go.

I'll leave the choice of alternative to you. THe Fatigue/Healing one works, otherwise you could go Drain Strength/Enhanced Strength, Drain Strength/Healing, or Fatigue/Healing depending on your preference.

Otherwise it all looks ready for approval.

ok, I get it. Well, the point of the power was that it could affect not only him, but also others (the boost wasn't limited to himself). Enhanced strength would make it deviate from my idea a bit.

So I say we go with the fatigue/healing as previously written. I'll edit right now.

[Supercape]

Final question (looks good)./

The Fatigue/Healing combo, as written means you could heal yourself without necessarily fatiguing somebody. If you wish healing to be dependent on a successful fatigue, that would count as a limitation on the heal, meaning you could push up the ranks a bit. I leave that as an option before approving.

[Supercape]

:approved: