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Newt, The (PL7) - ShaenTheBrain (Silver)

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Player Name: ShaenTheBrain

Character Name: The Newt

Power Level: 7 (105/105PP)

Tradeoffs: None

Power Points Unspent: 0

Progress To Gold Status: 0/90 (Silver Status earned with >The Scarab)

Bronze Reward: 7PP of Equipment for >The Scarab, 2PP of Equipment for >Kingsnake, 6PP of Equipment/Minions/Sidekick unclaimed

Silver Reward: Bump PL10/150PP PC to PL12/180PP (>Kingsnake)

In Brief: Johnny Storm got stretching instead of fire powers.

Alternate Identity: Keahi Kekoa

Identity: Public

Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Residence: Riverside

Base of Operations: Freedom City, New Jersey, USA

Occupation: Superhero

Affiliations: The Newt, LLC; University of Hawaii at Monoa (former student athlete)

Family: Haunani Kekoa (Mother), Akamu Kekoa (Father), Leilani Kekoa (Younger Sister)

Catchphrase: “FIIISSST!!!â€

Description:

Age: 21 (DoB: 1993)

Apparent Age: N/A

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: Polynesian

Height: 5ft 10in

Weight: 185 lbs.

Eyes: Green

Hair: None

Out of costume, Keahi usually wears a bandana or durag over his bare scalp, which he is still somewhat self-conscious about. He favors a casual but mainstream style, involving a lot of polo shirts and cargo pants. While "on the job," he wears a dark skintight jumpsuit with yellow splotches, vaguely reminiscent of a fire salamander, made from morphic molecules which stretch and bend with his body. He hasn't let his physical fitness dip since his athletic career ended, so his muscles are still lean, rock-hard and well-defined.

Power Descriptions:

The Newt can stretch, compress, or bend any part of his body, as if it were made of rubber. When his body strikes a solid surface, it bounces. The tensile strength and malleable nature of his flesh makes him virtually immune to physical harm. He is, however, vulnerable to sudden temperature changes, exposure to corrosive acidic and alkaline substances, and electrical discharge, as though his body were made of unvulcanized rubber.

History:

Keahi Kekoa grew up in Kalihi, a working-class industrial neighborhood in Honolulu. His family scraped by on his father’s salary as a schoolteacher while his mother stayed at home until he and his sister were old enough to become latch-key kids, after which she got a job at one of the resort hotels. Keahi was never better than an average student, but he was a “class clown†with plenty of natural athletic talent, so he was popular despite being a bit of a “weirdo.†Having a younger sibling forced him to learn a little empathy, so he managed to be popular without being a bully.

Keahi’s family wouldn’t have been able to afford to send him to college on their own, but luckily, the University of Hawaii at Manoa offered him a “full-ride†basketball scholarship. As one of their Rainbow Warriors, he proved to be one of the most promising young point guards in the NCAA.

Unfortunately, he drew the attention of a Yakuza fixer, who tried to convince him and several of his teammates to participate in a point-shaving scheme, and to use a new version of the designer-drug "Max" as a performance-enhancer. Keahi adamantly refused, and thought he’d convinced his teammates to do likewise. But behind his back, some of them accepted the fixer’s bribes, and his "help." The fixer decided to make an example of Keahi, hoping the rest of the chosen players would then fall in line.

Unbeknownst to Keahi, some of the Manaka residue from the Yakuza's new Max strain that he'd handled the previous day had been absorbed through his skin, and reacted unpredictably with his physiology. The next morning, Keahi awoke to find his bed full of hair. He ran his hand over his scalp, and it felt smooth. What didn’t fall out overnight sloughed off in the shower. His friends and fellow students complimented “his new look,†but he was terrified. He showed up to his favorite coffee shop that evening as usual, just as one of his teammates had told the fixer he would. Subdued and distracted by his sudden hair loss, Keahi didn’t notice the Yakuza hitman’s car until his partner started firing. The hitman emptied the clip of his submachinegun into Keahi. The bullets pressed a few inches into Keahi’s flesh without breaking his skin. A second later, the slugs bounced back and clattered onto the sidewalk.

The hitmen idled in front of the coffee shop for a few moments while Keahi stood there, all of them staring dumbfounded at the bullets. Then the Yakuza wheelman slammed on the gas pedal and laid a strip of burned rubber down onto the pavement. Without thinking, Keahi angrily ran after the hitmen, and, to his surprise, kept pace with their car. It took him a few more moments to notice that his arms and legs grew longer with every step, and that his feet weren’t so much striking the asphalt as they were bouncing off of it. He reached out toward the car, and his arms stretched forward until his fingers grasped it. Then the rest of his body snapped forward like a rubber band, launching him up onto the moving car. A frantic brawl erupted between Keahi and the two hitmen. Their struggle caused the car to crash into a nearby lamp post. The police arrived to find Keahi sitting on the curb, without a scratch on him, with his elongated arms wrapped around the hitmen like coils of rope.

The failed assassination attempt kicked off an investigation that went higher and farther than anyone involved would have suspected. The low-level gangster bribing athletes and coaches and betting on fixed games was the tip of the iceberg. His operating funds came from money that the Yakuza had embezzled from the dues of one of the largest labor unions in the country, a union which included workers from all over the Pacific Rim and the American West Coast. Dozens of people were arrested and indicted. Layer after layer of gangsters and corrupt officials testified against those above them. The failed hit against Keahi turned out to be the one loose thread that unraveled an entire international crime syndicate.

Unfortunately for Keahi, no good deed goes unpunished. He swore that his powers had first manifested on that day, but with no way to conclusively prove it, UH Manoa was forced to forfeit the entire season. And since he was barred from any future athletic competitions, Keahi lost his scholarship and had to leave the university. He went from big man on campus to pariah and pauper.

He felt like he needed a fresh start, so he decided to move as far away as possible, all the way to Freedom City. He hoped that, if any of the people he helped put in prison ever came back for revenge, this would also move their target away from his family. He spent three months working a minimum-wage part-time job while attending classes at a community college before quitting both in frustration. He doubted he would have been able to keep up the balancing act even if he wasn’t also superheroing on the side. And with his newfound powers, his studies seemed pointless. What career was he going to achieve that would compare to being a superhero? (The idea that he might lose his powers, or that they might fade, did not occur to him.)

One of the few college friends who would still acknowledge his existence was an economics major who had interned for a venture capital firm the previous summer. He managed to get Keahi in to see them, and helped him put together his proposal: The V.C. puts up some seed money in exchange for a partial stake in Keahi's new "brand," his superhero identity, and when profits from merchandise sales, endorsements, and public appearances start rolling in, they take a cut. Everyone involved gets to make money by making the world a better place. The pitch swayed the investors. They hired an advertising/marketing professional to come up with a family-friendly, non-threatening name and look. The initial seed money was enough to set Keahi up with an apartment, basic living expenses, and even a couple of employees for The Newt, LLC, who manage his website, social media accounts (which those in need can use to ask for his help), and print-on-demand online merchandise store. The Newt took to the streets looking for some wrongs to right, and some cameras to watch him do it.

Personality & Motivation:

Keahi is a basically good person who wants to use his newfound gifts to help people. But since his efforts at work/life balance have failed so far, he wants to make "being a superhero" his career instead of his hobby. That depends upon public adoration, so he is acutely aware that fame and image are of paramount importance. But he would be lying if he tried to claim that his striving for the limelight was entirely pragmatic. On the contrary, he is quite comfortable being the center of attention. He is young, immature, brash, cocky, impulsive, and sarcastic, which is potentially a recipe for thorough unpleasantness. But he tempers it with a calm confidence and natural panache which usually manages to make him charming instead of obnoxious. He isn't anything close to a deep thinker, and he has no head for strategy. But he won't hesitate to throw himself into harm's way to help a total stranger, and he won't leave until he's managed to put a smile back on their face.

Complications:

All About The Benjamins: The Newt is an investment, and Keahi's backers expect to make a profit on it. If his actions in public damage his brand, and thus, his profitability, then his investors could make his life more complicated.

Cursed With Bald of Awesome: When his powers started manifesting, all of Keahi's body hair fell out, including his eyebrows, eyelashes, nosehairs, fingernails and toenails. A GM can give him a penalty to checks which require tactile sensitivity or dexterity, or to saving throws against effects which target his eyes or nose (especially if they involve the invasion of foreign matter). Additionally, while he is handsome overall, his condition may appear unsettling enough to some to warrant a penalty on certain social interaction checks.

Family: Because of his public identity (see below), a villain may decide to hurt Keahi through his parents or his sister. Because they live on the other side of the planet, he would be unable to respond quickly.

Glory Hound: The GM can demand that Keahi take a foolhardy course of action for the sake of his public image, or impose a penalty on a check or saving throw to resist or recognize a foolhardy course of action which could yield public adoration.

Public Identity: Keahi's identity is not secret. He wears a mask as a nod to superhero tradition, and to reduce the chance that he’ll be recognized out of costume. But his real name is easy to find (it’s on his website), which makes other information about him (like his home address) accessible to those with the right skills and/or resources. This also makes him an easy target for lawsuits.

Sucker For A Pretty Face: Keahi's libido has a tendency to override his rational brain. The GM can give him a penalty to checks and saving throws which involve resisting the allure of the opposite sex. The GM can also demand that he take a foolhardy course of action which may result in female attention.

Vulnerabilities: Keahi's flesh is similar to un-vulcanized rubber. He is vulnerable to extremes of temperature and extreme changes in temperature (hot or cold). His body is not as good a conductor of electricity as that of a normal human, so electricity causes more damage when it comes into contact with him. His flesh is also less resistant to corrosive substances, such as highly acidic or alkaline chemicals. A GM can give him a penalty on saving throws against attacks with those descriptors, or force a degree of automatic failure.

Abilities: [6 + 8 + 8 + 0 + 0 + 4 = 26PP]

Strength: 16 (+3) (Heavy Load: 230 lbs.)

Dexterity: 22/18 (+6/+4)

Constitution: 26/18 (+8/+4)

Intelligence: 10 (+0)

Wisdom: 10 (+0)

Charisma: 14 (+2)

Combat: [4 + 4 = 8PP]

Initiative: +6/+4

Attack: +2 Base, +6 Melee

Grapple: +12/+10, +18 with Elongation, Automatic Escape with Insubstantial

Defense: +6 (+2 Base, +4 Dodge Focus), +1 Flat-Footed

Knockback: 4/2, 8/2 vs Physical Damage

Saving Throws: [0 + 0 + 4 = 4PP]

Toughness: +8/+4 (+8/+4 Con), Impervious 8/0 vs Physical Damage

Fortitude: +8/+6 (+8/+4 Con, +0PP)

Reflex: +6/+4 (+6/+4 Dex, +0PP)Evasion

Will: +4 (+0 Wis, +4PP)

Skills: [8R = 2PP]

Acrobat 1 (+7/+5)

Bluff 2 (+4)

Escape 0 (+6/+4, +12 with Elongation, Automatic with Insubstantial)

Knowledge (Pop Culture) 4 (+4)

Languages 1 (English [Native], Hawaiian)

Feats: [12PP]

Attack Focus (Melee) 4

Dodge Focus 4

Evasion

Grapple Finesse

Improved Grapple

Interpose

Quick Change

Powers: [7 + 21 + 8 + 4 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 5 + 4 + 1 = 53PP]

Bouncing 6 (x100, Max Distance 1,300ft, Flaws: Limited [No Protection Effect], Feats: Ricochet) [7PP]

Elasticity 10 (20PP Array, Feats: Alternate Power) [21PP]

Base Power: [6 + 7 + 5 + 2 = 20PP]

Damage 5 (Feats: Mighty) [6PP] (Spring-Loaded Strikes)

Elongation 6 (250ft Max, 250ft per Move Action, Feats: Improved Range [150ft Range Increments for Melee Attacks) [7PP] (Stretching)

Insubstantial 1 [5PP] (Human Clay)

Super-Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling 1 [1/2 Speed, Flat-Footed]) [2PP] (Human Cling-Wrap/Silly-Putty)

Alternate Power: [20PP] (Pinball Attack)

Damage 2 (Extras: Area [Targeted, Burst] [5], Selective [5], Feats: Indirect 3, Mighty, Progression [Area] 4 [100ft/rank = 200ft radius]) [20PP]

Enhanced Constitution 8 [8PP] (Elasticity)

Enhanced Dexterity 4 [4PP] (Elasticity)

Features 1 (Quick Change) [1PP] (Morphic-Molecule Costume)

Immunity 2 (Critical Hits, Flaws: Limited [Physical Damage]) [1PP] (Homogenous Elasticity)

Immunity 2 (Despair, Fear, Flaws: Limited [1/2 Effect]) [1PP] (Heroic Spirit)

Immunity 10 (Impact Damage [Falls, Knockback, Slams], Flaws: Limited [1/2 Damage]) [5PP] (Bouncing, Elasticity)

Impervious Toughness 8 (Flaws: Limited [Physical Damage]) [4PP] (Elasticity)

Super-Senses 1 (Extended Vision [100ft Notice Increments]) [1PP] (Stretched Eyeballs)

Totals: Abilities (26) + Combat (8) + Saving Throws (4) + Skills (2) + Feats (12) + Powers (53) - Drawbacks (0) = 105/105 Power Points

Combat Block:

ATTACK                RANGE       SAVE                     EFFECT
Unarmed               Touch       DC18 Toughness (Staged)  Damage (Physical)
Spring-Loaded Strike  Touch       DC23 Toughness (Staged)  Damage (Physical)
Pinball Attack        Touch/Area  DC20 Toughness (Staged)  Damage (Physical)
Gizmo Advanced Member

Gizmo

Posted
Posted

Really dig the backstory and how much this guy packs into a PL7 build! One minor thing, the Pinball Attack adds up to 22PP but there's only 20PP in the Elasticity Array. Looks like a holdover from a bigger version of the Array before the inevitable pruning, given the way it's notated. However, since this is an Area effect centered on Newt himself as opposed to a Ranged Damage effect and he's already paying for the full five ranks of the Area Extra, he should only need the one rank of Mighty anyway rather than three! Which is to say:

 

Damage 2 (Extras: Area [Targeted, Burst] [5], Selective [5], Feats: Indirect 3, Mighty, Progression [Area] 4 [100ft/rank = 200ft radius]) [20PP]

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