Character Workshop: Inspector

[N/A]

Player Name: ShaenTheBrain
Character Name: The Inspector
Power Level: 12 (180/180PP)
Trade-Offs: None
Unspent Power Points: 0
Progress To Gold Status: 0/90

In Brief: Martian Manhunter with a lightsaber.

Alternate Identity: Varies (Shapeshifter)
Identity: Secret
Birthplace: Planet Gruen'tass, Andromeda Galaxy
Occupation: None
Affiliations: None
Family: Jol-Kroom Rojoss (Mother), Jol-Kroom Mooreedon (Father), Jol-Kroom Serta (Brother)

 

 

 

DESCRIPTION

In his native form, Samak is a blue-skinned humanoid with no body hair.  His head is round on top, and his jaw extends to a long, narrow point.  He has no nose, mouth, or teeth.  He breathes through his skin.  His skin is selectively permeable to fluids.  When he drinks, the bottom half of his face, where a human's mouth would be, darkens in color and softens in texture, allowing him to absorb the water.  He has digitigrade legs, which end in feet with two toes.  His hands have two large fingers, and two thumbs on opposite sides of the hand (allowing him to grip objects more firmly than single-thumbed creatures).  There is no way he would be mistaken for a human in any but the vaguest of silhouettes against the dimmest of light.

 

Age: 300 (DoB: 1693)
Apparent Age: N/A (Varies with Morph/Shapeshift)
Gender: Born Male (Varies with Morph/Shapeshift)
Ethnicity: Grue'tar
Height: 6ft (Varies with Morph/Shapeshift)
Weight: 180 lbs. (Varies with Morph/Shapeshift)
Eyes: Orange (No Pupils) (Varies with Morph/Shapeshift)
Hair: None (Varies with Morph/Shapeshift)

 

POWER DESCRIPTIONS
The Grue'tar are an innately psionic race.  Samak's more powerful psionic abilities are only accessible when his brain is in its native configuration.  Unless he chooses to suppress it, Samak's psionic powers create a slight glowing aura around his head and/or hands, and sometimes the target as well.  The color of that aura varies, depending on the application of the powers.  Telekinetic effects which move or manipulate physical objects will usually glow blue, while those which inflict physical harm usually glow red.  Telepathic effects usually create a violet aura.  The energy blade of his Star Sword follows the same color scheme.

 

The Star Sword itself is a handle assembled from pieces forged from a nearly indestructible self-repairing alloy functionally identical to Impervium.  It has been inscribed with psychic runes in the Grue'tar language, which further reinforce its structure.  It contains a psycho-reactive crystal, functionally identical to the substance known on Earth as "Daka Crystal," which focuses and amplifies the wielder's magical or psionic energy into a blade which appears with a thought and glows as brightly as the Sun.

 

Like any other Grue'tar, Samak's physical healing ability comes from his shapeshifting, which in turn is merely an alternate manifestation of his psionic abilties.  He uses telekinesis, consciously or reflexively, to re-arrange his own molecules.

 

When Samak uses his bio-telekinetic shapeshifting ability, his flesh ripples like water and molds itself like soft clay.  The "clothes" he creates with his Morph ability are analogous to human hair and fingernails.  They grow from his body, but they are mostly dead, and can be painlessly shed like a reptile's skin once their usefulness had ended.  Even in his native form, his eyes tend to glow slightly, and both his eyes and skin tend to change color in reaction to his emotional state.  If his shapeshifting requires him to gain or lose mass, then he expends psionic energy to fuel mitosis of his own cells, or he consumes his own cells to gain psionic energy.

 

One half of the Grue'tar brain is "asleep" at any given point in time, allowing them to stay awake all the time.  Most Grue'tar use the time that other creatures spend sleeping to join the shared psychic link with the rest of their race, or to reflect upon the experiences captured in their memory stones.

 

The Grue'tar share their red-skinned brethren's ability to drain neural energy, but they abandoned this trait as a "food" source long ago, preferring to only use it as a weapon or interrogation device against other races.  Instead, they used their shapeshifting abilities to become photosynthetic.  They absorb ultraviolet rays from the stars in the sky.  In turn, they developed the ability to see ultraviolet light, so that they could better keep track of their "food source," and so that they could function on a rogue planet with no "sunrise," only an enternal starry night.

 

 

 

HISTORY

Eons ago, the Grue of a single star system in the Empire managed to break free from the grasp of the Meta-Mind. These rogue Grue fled the Milky Way galaxy, eventually settling on a rogue planet in the (relatively) neighboring Andromeda. They christened this planet "Gruen'tass," The New World of The Free People, and re-christened themselves the "Grue'tar," or "Free People." They even changed the pigmentation of their own flesh and blood, to distinguish themselves from their former oppressor. (Other races who deal with them often refer to them as "Blue Grue," though never while the Grue'tar are present.) Out from under the Meta-Mind's control, the Grue'tar developed a new culture, emphasizing a balance between the collective good and the individual desires and sense of self. Every Grue'tar works toward the greater good of their people, but in their own chosen way, and not at the expense of their individuality. Instead, the people use their innate psionic powers to regularly create a temporary, voluntary communal psychic link with each other, renewing their connection to one another and drawing on each others strength. Outside of the link, every Grue'tar is encouraged to develop their own aptitudes, personality, and appearance.

Unfortunately for their new neighbors, the Grue'tar grew just as expansionist and xenophobic as the Grue Empire they fled. Acting partially out of fear and greed, and partially out of a misguided, patronizing desire to "protect" the "lesser races" (both from outside threats and from their own inferior selves), the Grue'tar established an interstellar "Protectorate." In practice, the "mind-blind solids" are alternately exploited and ignored more than they are "protected" or "nurtured," and most of them were not given the choice of whether or not to "join" in the first place.

Jol-Kroom Samak was a member of the Inquisition, the primary investigative body of the Protectorate government. He had a natural talent for investigation, both forensic and psychic, impeccable integrity, and an innate desire to help and protect those weaker and less fortunate than himself. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he would bring great honor and glory to his family and race. It came as an unprecedented shock when he proved everyone wrong by betraying that family, that race, and everything they stood for.

Samak's brother, Jol-Kroom Serta, had secured a position at the right hand of Karloom, the Gruetar governor of the Sobann system. The natives of Sobann had formed a rebellion against Gruetar rule, but the Sobann system contained rich deposits of the psychically reactive minerals humans call "Daka crystals," which were vital to Grue'tar technology. That technology was far superior to anything to which the Sobann natives had access, but like any other race, their numbers were superior to those of the chronically infertile Grue'tar. Even with psychically-controlled robot legions bolstering the Grue'tar numbers, the Sobann rebels were slowly but surely winning the war. Samak was called in to find out why, selected both because of his familial connection and his exceptional competence.

It was those very qualities which made it so surprising when Samak, bribed and seduced by one of the rebel leaders, betrayed and murdered both of his fellow Grue'tar, leading directly to the Grue'tar loss of control over the Sobann system. Conflict and violence between Grue'tar was a taboo, but as with any other race made up of individuals, it did happen. Treason against the Protectorate was another matter. And violence between family members, in a race where the most exceptionally fecund of mated pairs might have a handful of children in a millenium, was almost unthinkable. By killing his brother and dishonoring himself, Samak wiped out the entire next generation of the Jol-Kroom family in one moment. As if his actions were not already horrifying enough, Samak even used his psionic powers to rip Serta and Karloom's imprints free from their memory stones. Their accumulated memories could not even be uploaded to the psychic Grue'tar gestalt. No one would ever benefit from their experiences; it would almost be as if they had never existed.

Despite his efforts to cover up his obscene crimes, Samak was caught, and returned to Gruen'tass for judgement. Since his actions were so unprecedentedly vile, a full investigation was conducted. But all mind probes, and all examinations of both his memory stone and what little physical evidence remained, confirmed Samak's confession. It was decided that death was not punishment enough for his actions. Instead, Samak was condemned to The Void (known to humans as "the Zero Zone"). He would drift forever, unable to die, and cut off from the nourishing union with the minds of his fellow Grue'tar. They even sent him with his memory stone and his star sword, so that he could not lose himself in madness, and to emphasize the hopelessness of his situation by showing him how useless his powers and weapons would be from that day forward.

It was only after he had been cast into The Void, only after he accessed the true memory stone he had hidden inside his own body, that Samak remembered what truly happened. Samak did learn the truth behind the success of the Sobann rebellion, when Karloom's mercenaries captured Thorgav, one of the Sobann rebel leaders. To spare Thorgav from interrogation and torture, Serta set her free, killing Karloom in the process. It had been Serta who was been feeding information to the Sobann rebels and sabotaging the Grue'tar conquest. Serta had fallen in love with Thorgav, and through his repeated telepathic connections with her, he had been swayed to her cause.

Samak shared his brother's capacity for compassion, even for mind-blind solids, and did not personally approve of the treatment of the Sobann at the hands of the Grue'tar. He was fiercely loyal to his brother. He never would have committed his brother's treason, but he resolved to take the blame for it, and build a new life for his brother outside the Protectorate. It was indeed Samak who had cleansed the memory stones, but he did not murder his brother. (He did slice off his brother's arm, so that the Inquisition would assume he had killed Serta, but it grew back.) He used his psionic powers to erase his brother's very memory of being a Grue'tar, instead convincing both him and Thorgav that he was a Sobann mutant, fabricating for him an entire new life entrenched in the Sobann rebellion. After backing up his memories of the truth in a secret memory stone, he even seized control of his brother's mental powers and used them like a tool to perform psychic surgery on himself, replacing his own memories of the true events with his fiction of treason and murder. (Had the other Grue'tar known of his feat, they would have been as impressed as they were horrified.) Samak did not ask permission from Serta or his lover before altering their memories and setting them loose upon their new lives. He simply made the decision, and acted upon it, in typical Grue'tar fashion.

Samak spent a century floating through the physical and psychic isolation of the Zero Zone, and the experience almost broke him.  The Terminus Invasion of Earth in 1993 weakened dimensional barriers all across the multiverse, and created a crack in the Zero Zone which Samak was able to slip through.  When he was finally free, dumped into the Milky Way, he unleashed a psychic scream which echoed throughout that galaxy and its neighbors, including the Magellanic Clouds...and Andromeda. Not every magically or psionically active individual felt it, but many of them did. The Grue'tar seers were alerted to the fact that the Great Traitor had escaped his prison, and the Grue Meta-Mind was alerted to the return of one of its wayward children.

For the next couple of decades, Samak wandered around the Milky Way, acting as a private detective, bounty hunter, and mercenary, who specialized in rooting out and destroying Grue agents. Knowing firsthand the paranoia the Grue inspire, he made sure to guard his true nature carefully (with memory wipes, if necessary), and to never stay in one place for long. He worked off and on for both the Lor Republic and the Stellar Khanate.

His attention was recently drawn to Earth by the Grue Empire's repeated invasion attempts. The more he learned, or tried to learn, about the pale blue dot at the edge of the spiral, the more it intrigued him. It was listed as a “nature preserve†and “developing world,†hardly worthy of mention, yet almost all information about it was classified “Top Secret†by the Lor government. After studying what little information he could acquire (not all of it acquired "legitimately"), Samak decided to adopt the appearance and methods of a "superhero," so as to better blend in. On his own world, he had been known as an “Inquisitor,†but on Earth, he would adopt a more benign title for one who brings secrets to light and finds that which is lost or hidden: “Inspector.â€

 

 

 

PERSONALITY & MOTIVATION
Samak is only starting to realize that he embodies one of the worst flaws of his species.  His compassion and his thirst for justice are formidable, but they is tangled up with a subtly patronizing lack of respect for the ability of others to make their own decisions.  His solution for his brother's situation may have ultimately been the best one, but he didn't bother to ask for his brother's input before altering the path of his entire life.  Some people may come to trust him, but first he'll have to give them the chance to, instead of deciding for them that they're better off not remembering him at all.  He was alone for so long that he has forgotten how to not be alone.  His manner tends to be laconic and reserved; most of the time, he prefers to avoid notice.  He is a scholar at heart, and an appeal to his inquisitive mind is probably the key to drawing him out.

 

 

 

POWERS & TACTICS

Samak is a surgeon, not a blunt instrument.  He prefers to observe the unfolding situation from concealment, and then to strike suddenly at one critical moment or one key foe to turn the tide of the entire battle.  He is pragmatic and flexible, altering his tactics (and his own body) to match his foe or the terrain, engaging them at range or in melee, with his sword or his mind, whichever approach will exploit his foe's weakness and maximize his own advantage.

 

 

 

COMPLICATIONS

Alien: Samak is an alien in every sense of the word.  He is subject to all of the usual inherent Complications of being a stranger in a strange land.  He has only a passing familiarity with the people of Earth or their customs.  However, because of his Disability (Grue) drawback, he should not gain any Hero Points for being considered a "Grue" for the purposes of certain power effects.

 

Enemies: Samak is a hated enemy of two entire races of people: The Grue Empire of the Milky Way, and the Grue'tar Protectorate of Andromeda, both of whom know that he has escaped from the Zero Zone into the Milky Way.

 

Infamy: Grue are mind-altering, shape-shifting psychic vampires who have repeatedly tried to take over the world.  They are paranoia personified.  Samak has no illusions about the reception he would receive from anyone familiar with his "cousins," no matter what color his skin happens to be.

 

Star Sword: Obviously, since it receives the Device discount on the cost, Samak will not gain any Hero Points if his Star Sword is taken from him.  It is Indestructible, so he should receive a Hero Point if it is damaged or destroyed.  Since the strength of the blade (the ranks of the attack powers) varies from one wielder to another, a foe who steals it from him and uses it against him may give him a Hero Point by accessing a higher powe rank than Samak himself can.

 

Zeroed: Samak has no legal identity, financial history, or even a consistent appearance.  On paper, he doesn't exist anywhere.  He does not enjoy the protections of any laws, and no one would miss him if he was abducted or murdered.

 

 

 

ABILITIES: 0 + 0 + 4 + 10 + 10 + 0 = 24PP
Strength: 10 (+0)
Dexterity: 10 (+0)
Constitution: 22/14 (+6/+2)
Intelligence: 20 (+5)
Wisdom: 20 (+5)
Charisma: 10 (+0)

 

 

 

COMBAT: 8 + 8 = 16PP
Initiative: +9/+5 (+5 INT, +4 Enhanced Improved Initiative)
Attack: +8/+4 Melee (+4 Base, +4 Enhanced Attack Focus), +4 Ranged, +12 Telekinesis
Grapple: +8/+4, +14 Telekinesis
Defense: +8/+4 (+4 Base, +4 Shield), +2 Flat-Footed
Knockback: -6/-1

 

 

 

SAVING THROWS: 1 + 4 + 2 = 7PP
Toughness: +6/+2 (+6/+2 Con [impervious 6/0])
Fortitude: +7/+3 (+6/+2 Con, +1PP)
Reflex: +8/+4 (+0 Dex, +4PP, +4 Enhanced Reflex)
Will: +7 (+5 Wis, +2PP)

 

 

 

SKILLS: 56R = 14PP
Concentrate 5 (+10)^{2nd Chance}
Disguise 0 (+0, up to +25 with Morph and/or Shapeshift)
Investigate 10 (+15)^{Skill Mastery}
Knowledge (Galactic) 5 (+10, +15 Gruetar [Native])
Languages 6 (English, Galstandard, Grue, Gruetar [Native], Lor, Mandarin, Zultan)
Notice 10 (+15)^{Skill Mastery}
Search 10 (+15)^{Skill Mastery}
Sense Motive 10 (+15)^{Skill Mastery}

 

 

 

FEATS: 16PP
Attack Specialization (Star Sword) (+2 Attack)
Attack Specialization (Telekinesis) 3 (+6 Attack)
Benefit (Native [Gruetar])
Favored Enemy 2 (Psions, Shapeshifters)
Jack of All Trades

Move-By Action
Precise Telekinesis
Second Chance (Concentrate)
Skill Mastery (Investigate, Notice, Search, Sense Motive)
Speed of Thought
Takedown Attack 2
Ultimate Save (Will)

Enhanced Feats

Attack Focus (Melee) 4

Elusive Target

Evasion

Improved Initiative

Quick Draw

 

 

 

POWERS: 17 + 11 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 3 + 18 + 29 + 1 + 10 + 6 + 8 + 1 = 112PP

 

Device 5 (25PP Container [Passive, Permanent], Flaws: Easy-To-Lose, Feats: Indestructible, Restricted [Mages, Psions], Descriptors: Star Sword) [17PP]

 

Environment Control 1 (5ft radius, Light [Daylight], Extras: Action 2 [Free], Flaws: Range [Touch], Descriptors: Glowing Blade, Psionic Energy) [3PP]

Psionic Energy Blade 10 (20PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power 2) [22PP]

 

Base Power: [13 + 7 = 20PP]
Strike 6 (Extras: Linked [Trip], Feats: Critical Strike, Improved Critical, Knockback 6 [DMG 12], Drawbacks: Inaccurate [-2 Attack], Descriptors: Blue Blade, Telekinetic Energy) [13PP]
Trip 6 (Extras: Knockback, Linked , Flaws: Range [Touch], Feats: Improved Throw) [7PP]

Alternate Power: [14 + 6 = 20PP]
Drain Toughness 6 (Extras: Affects Objects, Linked , Feats: Critical Strike, Improved Critical, Slow Fade [1 minute], Drawbacks: Inaccurate [-2 Attack], Descriptors: Red Blade, Telekinetic Energy) [14PP]
Strike 6 (Extras: Linked [Drain], Feats: Incurable, Drawbacks: Lethal) [6PP]

Alternate Power: [8 + 12 = 20PP]
Drain Will 6 (Extras: Alternate Save [Will], Linked , Feats: Critical Strike, Improved Critical, Slow Fade [1 minute], Drawbacks: Inaccurate [-2 Attack], Descriptors: Telepathic Energy, Violet Blade) [8PP]
Strike 6 (Extras: Alternate Save [Will], Linked [Drain]) [12PP]

 

Enhanced Constitution 8 (Extras: Linked [impervious Toughness], Descriptors: Alien Physiology, Bio-Telekinesis, Regeneration, Shapeshifting) [8PP]

Impervious Toughness 6 (Extras: Linked [Enhanced Constitution], Drawbacks: Power Loss 3 [Acid, Corrosion/Disintegrate, or Fire Damage], Descriptors: Alien Physiology, Bio-Telekinesis, Regeneration, Shapeshifting) [3PP]

 

Features 1 (Memory Stone, Descriptors: Daka Crystal, Device) [1PP]

 

A magically or psionically active character can make a DC15 Concentrate check to store their memories inside this crystal, or to experience the memories already stored within.  At the GM's discretion, the character may be able to gain one or more benefits of the Eidetic Memory feat.  At the GM's discretion, a character with the right descriptor can also make a DC20 power check to erase the stored memories.

 

Features 2 (Internal Compartment, Two-Thumbed Hands [+5 circumstance bonus to resist Disarm attempts], Descriptors: Alien Physiology, Bio-Telekinesis, Shapeshifting) [2PP]

 

Immunity 6 (Interaction Skills, Starvation/Thirst, Flaws: Limited [1/2 Effect, Starvation but not Thirst], Descriptors: Alien Physiology [starvation], Mental, Psionic, Psychic, Telepathy [interaction]) [3PP]

Immunity 2 (Aging, Sleep, Descriptors: Alien Physiology, Bio-Telekinesis, Regeneration, Shapeshifting) [2PP]

 

Probability Control 1 (Flaws: Limited 2 [Telekinesis Attack checks], Feats: Innate, Descriptors: Telekinetic Supremacy, Training) [3PP]

Psionic Combat 8 (16PP Array, Feats: Subtle, Variable Descriptor [Dodge, Illusion, Parry, Precognition, Telekinesis, and/or Telepathy]) [18PP]

 

Base Power:
Enhanced Feats 8 (Attack Focus [Melee] 4, Elusive Target, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Quick Draw, Extras: Linked [Enhanced Reflex, Shield]) [8PP]
Enhanced Reflex 4 (Extras: Linked [Enhanced Feats, Shield]) [4PP]
Shield 4 (Extras: Linked [Enhanced Feats, Enhanced Reflex]) [4PP]

 

Psionics 10 (20PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power 9) [29PP]

 

Base Power: [18 + 2 = 20PP]
Drain 16 (Any One Ability At A Time, Extras: Linked [Healing], Flaws: Action [Full], Limited [Mental Abilities], Feats: Insidious, Precise, Reversible, Slow Fade 5 [5 hours], Subtle 2, Descriptors: Mental, Neural Energy Siphon, Psychic, Telepathic) [18PP]
Healing 1 (Extras: Action [standard], Linked [Drain], Total, Flaws: Personal, Source [Drain]) [2PP]

 

Alternate Power:

Blast 4 (Feats: Improved Range 3 [1 400ft Range Increment], Indirect 3, Knockback 4 [DMG 8], Subtle, Variable Descriptor [Telekinetic Energy or Thrown Object], Descriptors: Telekinesis) [20PP]

 

Alternate Power:

Concealment 10 (All Senses, Flaws: Saving Throw [Will], Feats: Progression [Counter Rank / Save DC] 2 [Rank 12 / DC22], Descriptors: Mental, Mind Control ["Do Not See Me, Do Not Remember Me"], Psychic, Telepathy) [12PP]

 

Alternate Power:

Mind Control 16 (Extras: Conscious, Duration [sustained / Lasting], Sensory Link, Flaws: Feedback, Range 2 [Touch], Staged, Feats: Extended Reach [10ft], Mental Link, Subtle 2, Descriptors: Mental, Psychic, Telepathy) [20PP]

 

STAGING

Fail by 1+: Dazed (You can take no actions, but you suffer no defense penalties).

Fail by 5+ (or Fail by 1+ twice): Compelled (You can take no actions, and your controller can force you to perform one standard or move action per round).

Fail by 10+ (or Fail by 5+ twice): Controlled (You can take no actions, and your controller can force you to perform any actions, up to your usual allotment).

 

Alternate Power:

Morph 4 (Any Form, +20 Disguise, Extras: Duration [Continuous], Feats: Additional Sense Types 2 [Olfactory, Radio], Quick Change 2, Descriptors: Bio-Telekinesis, Shapeshifting) [20PP]

 

Alternate Power:

Move Object 4 (Lifting STR 20 [Heavy Load: 400 lbs.], Extras: Damaging, Feats: Improved Range 3 [1 400ft Range Increment], Improvised Tools, Indirect 3, Subtle, Descriptors: Telekinesis) [20PP]

 

Alternate Power:

Stun 16 (Extras: Sleep, Flaws: Action [Full], Feats: Extended Reach [10ft], Subtle 2, Descriptors: Mind Control ["Sleep"], Psychic, Telepathy) [19PP]

 

Alternate Power:

Transform 16 (Memory Alteration, Extras: Alternate Save [Will], Duration [Continuous / Lasting], Flaws: Action [Full], Range [Touch], Feats: Extended Reach [10ft], Precise, Subtle 2, Descriptors: Mental, Mind Control, Psychic, Telepathy) [20PP]

Alternate Power: [5 + 2 + 6 + 6 + 1 = 20PP]

Communication 1 (Mental, Extras: Linked [Comprehend], Feats: Rapid 4 [x10,000], Subtle, Drawbacks: Range [Touch], Descriptors: Mental, Psychic, Telepathy) [5PP]
Comprehend 1 (Languages 1 [speak Any], Extras: Linked [Communication]) [2PP]

Mind Reading 16 (Extras: Action [standard/Move], Linked [super-Senses], Flaws: Duration [instant / Lasting], Feedback, Range 2 [Touch], Feats: Subtle 2, Descriptors: Mental, Psychic, Telepathy) [6PP]
Super-Senses 6 (Detect Minds [Mental, Very Common Descriptor], Extras: Acute, Analytical, Linked [Mind Reading], Radius) [6PP]
Super-Senses 1 (Analytical Detect Thoughts, Extras: Linked [Mind Reading]) [1PP]

Alternate Power: [10 + 2 + 6 + 2 = 20PP]
Communication 7 (Mental, 200 miles, Extras: Linked [Comprehend, Mind Reading, Super-Senses], Feats: Insidious, Rapid [x10], Subtle, Descriptors: Mental, Psychic, Telepathy) [10PP]
Comprehend 1 (Languages 1 [speak Any], Extras: Linked [Communication, Mind Reading, Super-Senses]) [2PP]
Mind Reading 12 (Extras: Action 2 [Free], Mental, Linked [Communication, Comprehend, Super-Senses], Sensory Link, Flaws: Communication-Dependent, Duration [instant / Lasting], Feedback, Limited [surface Thoughts]) [6PP]
Super-Senses 2 (Accurate Detect Thoughts, Extras: Linked [Communication, Comprehend, Mind Reading]) [2PP]

 

Regeneration 3 (Recovery Rate 3: Bruised 3 [1/round, no rest], Feats: Regrowth, Drawbacks: Power Loss 3 [Acid, Corrosion/Disintegration, and Fire Damage is all considered Incurable], Descriptors: Bio-Telekinesis, Shapeshifting) [1PP]

Shapeshift 1 (+5 Disguise, 5PP Variable Pool, Any Trait, Multiple Traits At Once, Extras: Action 2 [Free], Duration [Continuous], Flaws: Limited [Physical Traits], Descriptors: Bio-Telekinesis) [10PP]

 

SAMPLE CONFIGURATIONS:

 

Remove

Feature 1 (Internal Compartment) [-1PP]

Features 1 (Environmental Adaptation [Zero Gravity]) [1PP]

Immunity 5 (Cold, Radiation, Suffocation, Vacuum) [5PP]

 

Remove Features 2 (Internal Compartment, Two-Thumbed Hands) [-2PP]

Remove Super-Senses 1 (Ultravision) [-1PP]

Features 1 (Environmental Adaptation [Water]) [1PP]

Immunity 2 (Cold, Pressure) [2PP]

Immunity 2 (Suffocation, Flaws: Limited [Water]) [1PP]

Super-Senses 3 (Sonar [Auditory], Extras: Accurate) [3PP]

Swimming 1 (2.5MPH) [1PP]

 

Leaping 3 (x10) [3PP]

Super-Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2PP]

 

Speed 1 (10MPH) [1PP]

Super-Movement 2 (Swinging, Wall-Crawling) [4PP]

 

Super-Senses 5 (Extended Visual Senses [All, 100ft Notice Increments], Infravision [Extras: Tracking], Microscopic Vision [Dust]) [5PP]

 

Remove Feature 1 (Two-Thumbed Hands) [-1PP]

Remove Super-Senses 1 (Ultravision) [-1PP]

Insubstantial 1 (Liquid) [5PP]

Super-Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling) [2PP]

 

Super-Senses 6 (Detect Thoughts [Mental, Very Common Descriptor], Extras: Acute, Radius, Ranged, Descriptors: Mental, Psionic, Psychic, Telepathy) [6PP]

Super-Senses 8 (Danger Sense [Mental], Mental Awareness [Mental, Common Descriptor], Postcognition [Flaws: Uncontrolled], Precognition [Flaws: Uncontrolled], Uncanny Dodge [Mental], Descriptors: Mental, Psionic, Psychic, Telepathy) [8PP]

 

Super-Senses 1 (Ultravision, Descriptors: Alien Physiology) [1PP]

 

 

 

DRAWBACKS: (-1) + (-2) + (-1) + (-1) + (-1) + (-2) + (-1) = -9PP

Disability (Counts as a Grue, Frequency: Uncommon, Intensity: Minor) [-1PP]

 

Disability (Fear: If the character is targeted by a Grue Mental effect, a Mind Control effect, or a Mental Transform effect, then in addition to saving against that effect, the character must save against an Emotion Control [Fear] effect of the same power rank, Frequency: Uncommon, Intensity: Moderate) [-2PP]

 

Vulnerability (Acid Effects, Frequency: Uncommon, Intensity: Minor [+1 DC]) [-1PP]

 

Vulnerability (Alteration Effects, Frequency: Uncommon, Intensity: Minor [+1 DC]) [-1PP]

 

Vulnerability (Corrosion/Disintegration Effects, Frequency: Uncommon, Intensity: Minor [+1 DC]) [-1PP]

 

Vulnerability (Fire Effects, Frequency: Common, Intensity: Minor [+1 DC]) [-2PP]

 

Vulnerability (Grue Mental Effects, Frequency: Uncommon, Intensity: Minor [+1 DC]) [-1PP]

 

 

 

DC BLOCK:
ATTACK        RANGE          SAVE                     EFFECT

UNARMED       TOUCH          DC15 TOUGHNESS (STAGED)  DAMAGE (PHYSICAL)

Blue Blade    TOUCH          DC21 TOUGHNESS (STAGED)  DAMAGE (ENERGY)

                             STR/DEX CHECK VS +6      TRIP + KB

Red Blade     TOUCH          DC21 FORTITUDE (STAGED)  DRAIN TOUGHNESS

                             DC21 TOUGHNESS (STAGED)  DAMAGE (ENERGY, LETHAL)

Violet Blade  TOUCH          DC21 WILL (STAGED)       DRAIN WILL

                             DC21 WILL (STAGED)       DAMAGE (ENERGY)

Blast         RANGED         DC19 TOUGHNESS (STAGED)  DAMAGE (ENERGY OR PHYSICAL)

Move Object   RANGED         DC19 TOUGHNESS (STAGED)  DAMAGE (ENERGY)

              RANGED         GRAPPLE CHECK VS +14     PINNED/BOUND

Concealment   SELF           DC22 WILL                TOTAL CONCEALMENT

Mind Control  10FT           WILL vs +16 (STAGED)     DAZED/COMPELLED/CONTROLLED

Mind Reading  TOUCH          WILL vs +16              MIND READING

Mind Reading  PERCEPTION

               OR            WILL vs +12              MIND READING (SURFACE THOUGHTS)

              COMMUNICATION

Stun          10FT           DC26 WILL (STAGED)       DAZED/STUNNED/ASLEEP

Transform     10FT           DC26 WILL                TRANSFORMED (MEMORY)



Totals: Abilities (24) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (7) + Skills (14) + Feats (16) + Powers (112) - Drawbacks (9) = 180/180 Power Points

Edited July 19, 2013 by ShaenTheBrain

[N/A]

I'm open to the possibility of folding the Morph power into his Psionics array, with the justification being that his brain needs to be in its native configuration to access his psionic powers.  But I'm worried about how easy he'll be to disarm, even with his Feature, if he doesn't have that Enhanced STR AP.  And for the times when his limited shapeshifting aptitude would come in handy for immunities and environmental adaptations, I don't know what else he'd be able to AP or stunt them off of, since he can't afford to lock down his Psionics array for them.

 

I suppose I could also array the Morph off of his movement power, but, again, being either able to move, able to survive, or super-strong, but only one of the three at a time, would be of extremely limited usefulness.

 

As far as potential drawbacks, all I can think of at the moment is a slight vulnerability to Alteration effects and/or effects specifically targeting Grue.  His native world being dark would lend itself to some kind of weakness or penalty in sunlight, but that brings the question of why he can't just shift his eyeballs to a more daylight-compatible configuration.

[Aoiroo]

Shaen, considering the number of skills you have 1s in, wouldn't it just be cheaper to buy Eidetic Memory, I mean you have two points sunk into him having one, when that feat only cost one to know all that stuff.

 

Also, bloody hell, no wonder your powers cost so much. The first and biggest PP saver would be for you to combine some of those arrays. I mean seriously, you have three arrays with the psionic descriptor. Also, why does he need that many travel powers, and you have at least two versions of the same power. Honestly, I think you're overequipping your character with tons of things you simply won't use, especially all at the same time considering how many arrays you have. The only array you absolutely have to keep seperate is the lightsaber, which is honestly exceptionally awesome.

[Raveled]

Taking Jack of All Trades would let this character drop eight skill points, effectively saving 1 PP even if some skills won't be 'optimal' anymore.

I would recommend dropping some things like the Memory Stone, the Features, etc, that won't be used in his first stories. They're fairly cheap, and you can buy them back with earned PP in a few months.

[N/A]

Collapsed the shapeshifting array into a rank of the Shapeshift variable power (if he gets disarmed, he can just whip out the TK, not the end of the world), shifted the tradeoff slightly with the sword, went ahead and grabbed Jack of All Trades and bumped up the INT (I was trying to avoid it, but it's just too good).  I do eventually want to buy up several of those skills, but that can come later.  Altogether, that chopped out...10 points.

 

He doesn't actually have that many arrays.  I only organized the combat powers into an "array" so that I could more easily add feats to the whole structure without adding them to one part and watching them get lost in the shuffle.  It's just a bookkeeping preference.  And I didn't think 25-30PP was THAT much to spend on a travel power, but I guess that could get chopped down, too.

[N/A]

Looks like dropping the movement powers, and lowering combat caps to PL7, brought me under-budget.

[N/A]

OK, now to walk away from the build for a couple of days while I write up the fluff.  Then I'll see if anything on it looks like it needs changing (to me or anyone else).

[N/A]

Shuffled some more things around, made some more painful sacrifices, and managed to build the attack power within the device as a standalone, instead of adding APs to an outside array.  I also reduced the Inaccurate ranks on the attack power.  Now the bookkeeping will be easier, and it will be easier for other people to use the device (they'll only be at -1PL instead of -3).

[N/A]

Eons ago, the Grue of a single star system in the Empire managed to break free from the grasp of the Meta-Mind.  These rogue Grue fled the Milky Way galaxy, eventually settling on a rogue planet in the (relatively) neighboring Andromeda.  They christened this planet "Gruen'tass," The New World of The Free People, and re-christened themselves the "Grue'tar," or "Free People."  They even changed the pigmentation of their own flesh and blood, to distinguish themselves from their former oppressor.  (Other races who deal with them often refer to them as "Blue Grue," though never while the Grue'tar are present.)  Out from under the Meta-Mind's control, the Grue'tar developed a new culture, emphasizing a balance between the collective good and the individual desires and sense of self.  Every Grue'tar works toward the greater good of their people, but in their own chosen way, and not at the expense of their individuality.  Instead, the people use their innate psionic powers to regularly create a temporary, voluntary communal psychic link with each other, renewing their connection to one another and drawing on each others strength.  Outside of the link, every Grue'tar is encouraged to develop their own aptitudes, personality, and appearance.

 

Unfortunately for their new neighbors, the Grue'tar grew just as expansionist and xenophobic as the Grue Empire they fled.  Acting partially out of fear and greed, and partially out of a misguided, patronizing desire to "protect" the "lesser races" (both from outside threats and from their own inferior selves), the Grue'tar established an interstellar "Protectorate."  In practice, the "mind-blind solids" are alternately exploited and ignored more than they are "protected" or "nurtured," and most of them were not given the choice of whether or not to "join" in the first place.

 

Jol-Kroom Samak was a member of the Inquisition, the primary investigative body of the Protectorate government.  He had a natural talent for investigation, both forensic and psychic, impeccable integrity, and an innate desire to help and protect those weaker and less fortunate than himself.  There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he would bring great honor and glory to his family and race.  It came as an unprecedented shock when he proved everyone wrong by betraying that family, that race, and everything they stood for.

 

Samak's brother, Jol-Kroom Serta, had secured a position at the right hand of Karloom, the Gruetar governor of the Sobann system.  The natives of Sobann had formed a rebellion against Gruetar rule, but the Sobann system contained rich deposits of the psychically reactive minerals humans call "Daka crystals," which were vital to Grue'tar technology.  That technology was far superior to anything to which the Sobann natives had access, but like any other race, their numbers were superior to those of the chronically infertile Grue'tar.  Even with psychically-controlled robot legions bolstering the Grue'tar numbers, the Sobann rebels were slowly but surely winning the war.  Samak was called in to find out why, selected both because of his familial connection and his exceptional competence.

 

It was those very qualities which made it so surprising when Samak, bribed and seduced by one of the rebel leaders, betrayed and murdered both of his fellow Grue'tar, leading directly to the Grue'tar loss of control over the Sobann system.  Conflict and violence between Grue'tar was a taboo, but as with any other race made up of individuals, it did happen.  Treason against the Protectorate was another matter.  And violence between family members, in a race where the most exceptionally fecund of mated pairs might have a handful of children in a millenium, was almost unthinkable.  By killing his brother and dishonoring himself, Samak wiped out the entire next generation of the Jol-Kroom family in one moment.  As if his actions were not already horrifying enough, Samak even used his psionic powers to rip Serta and Karloom's imprints free from their memory stones.  Their accumulated memories could not even be uploaded to the psychic Grue'tar gestalt.  No one would ever benefit from their experiences; it would almost be as if they had never existed.

 

Despite his efforts to cover up his obscene crimes, Samak was caught, and returned to Gruen'tass for judgement.  Since his actions were so unprecedentedly vile, a full investigation was conducted.  But all mind probes, and all examinations of both his memory stone and what little physical evidence remained, confirmed Samak's confession.  It was decided that death was not punishment enough for his actions.  Instead, Samak was condemned to The Void (known to humans as "the Zero Zone").  He would drift forever, unable to die, and cut off from the nourishing union with the minds of his fellow Grue'tar.  They even sent him with his memory stone and his star sword, so that he could not lose himself in madness, and to emphasize the hopelessness of his situation by showing him how useless his powers and weapons would be from that day forward.

 

It was only after he had been cast into The Void, only after he accessed the true memory stone he had hidden inside his own body, that Samak remembered what truly happened.  Samak did learn the truth behind the success of the Sobann rebellion, when Karloom's mercenaries captured Thorgav, one of the Sobann rebel leaders. To spare Thorgav from interrogation and torture, Serta set her free, killing Karloom in the process.  It had been Serta who was been feeding information to the Sobann rebels and sabotaging the Grue'tar conquest.  Serta had fallen in love with Thorgav, and through his repeated telepathic connections with her, he had been swayed to her cause.

 

Samak shared his brother's capacity for compassion, even for mind-blind solids, and did not personally approve of the treatment of the Sobann at the hands of the Grue'tar.  He was fiercely loyal to his brother.  He never would have committed his brother's treason, but he resolved to take the blame for it, and build a new life for his brother outside the Protectorate.  It was indeed Samak who had cleansed the memory stones, but he did not murder his brother.  (He did slice off his brother's arm, so that the Inquisition would assume he had killed Serta, but it grew back.)  He used his psionic powers to erase his brother's very memory of being a Grue'tar, instead convincing both him and Thorgav that he was a Sobann mutant, fabricating for him an entire new life entrenched in the Sobann rebellion.  After backing up his memories of the truth in a secret memory stone, he even seized control of his brother's mental powers and used them like a tool to perform psychic surgery on himself, replacing his own memories of the true events with his fiction of treason and murder.  (Had the other Grue'tar known of his feat, they would have been as impressed as they were horrified.) Samak did not ask permission from Serta or his lover before altering their memories and setting them loose upon their new lives. He simply made the decision, and acted upon it, in typical Grue'tar fashion.

 

Samak spent a century floating through the physical and psychic isolation of the Zero Zone, and the experience almost broke him.  When he was finally freed, dumped into the Milky Way, he unleashed a psychic scream which echoed throughout that galaxy and its neighbors, including the Magellanic Clouds...and Andromeda.  Not every magically or psionically active individual felt it, but many of them did.  The Grue'tar seers were alerted to the fact that the Great Traitor had escaped his prison, and the Grue Meta-Mind was alerted to the return of one of its wayward children.

 

For the next couple of decades, Samak wandered around the Milky Way, acting as a private detective, bounty hunter, and mercenary, who specialized in rooting out and destroying Grue agents.  Knowing firsthand the paranoia the Grue inspire, he made sure to guard his true nature carefully (with memory wipes, if necessary), and to never stay in one place for long.  He worked off and on for both the Lor Republic and the Stellar Khanate.

 

His attention was recently drawn to Earth by the Grue Empire's repeated invasion attempts. The more he learned, or tried to learn, about the pale blue dot at the edge of the spiral, the more it intrigued him. It was listed as a “nature preserve†and “developing world,†hardly worthy of mention, yet almost all information about it was classified “Top Secret†by the Lor government. After studying what little information he could acquire (not all of it acquired "legitimately"), Samak decided to adopt the appearance and methods of a "superhero," so as to better blend in. On his own world, he had been known as an “Inquisitor,†but on Earth, he would adopt a more benign title for one who brings secrets to light and finds that which is lost or hidden: “Inspector.â€

 

 

 

Footnotes:

 

The Inspector's family name, "Jol-Kroom," is a combination of the names of John Broome and Gil Kane, the two men who created Hal Jordan, the Silver Age Green Lantern, and with him, pretty much the entire "cosmic" end of the DC Universe.

 

 

The brothers, Samak and Serta, are named for Joseph Samachson and Joe Certa, the creators of the Martian Manhunter.

 

 

The "Sobann" are named for Rockne O'Bannon, the creator of Farscape.

 

 

"Thorgav" is named for Gav Thorpe, one of the creators of Warhammer 40,000.00 A.D., and the Eldar in particular.

 

 

"Karloom" is named for Carl Lumbly, one of the actors who has voiced the Martian Manhunter.

 

 

Obviously, the title "Inspector" for an alien detective is a direct homage to the Martian Manhunter.

 

"Gruen'tass" is a combination of the canon Grue homeworld, "Gruen Prime," and the Protoss, a race from Starcraft.