pc Cassandra Alkaev (PL10)

[SoullessGinger]

Cassandra Alkaev / Subject 31A

Power Level: 10 (150/153PP)

Unspent Power Points:  3

Trade-Offs: None

 

In Brief: Super tough amnesiac eager to learn about her past.

Catchphrase: “…”

Theme: Muse: Knights of Cydonia

 

Residence: Homeless

Base of Operations: n/a

Alternate Identity: n/a

Identity: Public

Birthplace: Unknown, possibly eastern Russia

Occupation: Freelance muscle

Affiliations: None

Family: Unknown

 

Description:

Age: 3

Apparent Age: Mid-twenties

Gender: Female

Ethnicity: Russian

Height: 5’9”

Weight: 150lbs

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Black, chin length

 

At first glance, Cassandra appears to be a fit but plain woman in her mid-twenties. Her clothing is typically mussed and obviously from the cheaper section of a thrift store. She wears no cosmetics and sports a plain chin-length hairdo. She has a tattoo just below her right clavicle that says “31A” in plain block script.

 

Power Descriptions:

Cassandra’s physiology was designed to allow her to endure the stress of manipulating the fundamental forces of the universe. But before she could receive any training, she escaped the facility where she was created. She manifests these abilities only in brute force applications that stem from her desire to avoid situations that trigger her claustrophobia. Her Quantum Manipulation array represents this and manifests in ways that reflect the crude way she applies her abilities.

Strike: Cassandra’s fists become surrounded by a rippling red-orange energy field. Her unarmed strikes then hit with a flare of concussive force.

Flight: Her entire body emits the same red-orange flare which blooms behind her when she moves.

 

History:

Unbeknownst to Cassandra, she was created in a lab in eastern Russia. A rogue group of Russian military scientists sought to make living weapons and genetically engineered human experiments to test their theories. In at least one case they were successful. Cassandra’s enhanced physiology allows her to achieve the goal of the project. She can withstand the stresses generated by manipulating matter on a quantum level. Fortunately for Cassandra, something went wrong and she escaped before she received any sort of behavioral controls or training. As a result, she has no memory of her early life and no idea how her powers function.

 

Cassandra remembers nothing before waking up in an alley three years ago in Vladivostok. Finding herself dressed in the scraps of medical garments in a port city alley was a quick way for her to learn just how strong and tough she was. Demonstrating this was enough to get some quick attention from locals in need of protection. They took her in and taught her basic social skills while she kept them safe from the local gangs.

 

Cassandra took work where she could find it. With no expertise in anything but giving and receiving punches, her career options were limited. She worked primarily as freelance muscle, but also took jobs collecting debts and prize fighting. Eventually, she learned of a place where things were different: Freedom City. She dedicated all her efforts toward reaching the place she came to associate with her hope for a new life.

 

Cassandra eventually saved enough money for English lessons, legitimate documents showing her to be a Russian citizen, and passage to Freedom City. She arrives there with nothing but hope.

 

Personality & Motivation:

Cassandra has known mostly poverty and exploitation since she woke up. She is determined to pursue something better and help others do the same. Her greatest desire is to find answers about her past.

 

Powers & Tactics:

Her general strategy is simple: hit things until they quit hitting back. Cassandra is an intelligent combatant, shifting her Quantum Manipulation Array to best fit the situation at hand. She uses her flight powers and move-by attacks against opponents slower than her, her Super-Strength and grappling skills to subdue those faster than her, and her Strike power to hit harder against tougher opponents.

 

Complications:

Born Yesterday: Cassandra does not remember anything before waking up in an alley three years ago. She has trouble relating to others and frequently appears naïve. She has no knowledge of history and a very limited skill base.

 

A Looming Shadow: She lives with a dread certainty that the people that made her special are going to come for her one day.

 

“I will not be caged!”: Cassandra suffers from claustrophobia, a remnant of her time growing up in a nutrient tank. The smaller or more restrictive her surroundings, the less rational she becomes.

 

Illiterate: While Cassandra can speak well enough in Russian and English, she never learned to read either language.

 

Manipulating the Universe Isn't Subtle: Cassandra's Quantum Freedom and Kinetic Expression powers both produce a distinctive rippling red-orange flare. It is immediately obvious to anyone who can see her when she activates those abilities.

 

Abilities: 16 + 6 + 20 + 0 + 0 + 0 =  42PP
Strength: 26 (+8)
Dexterity: 16 (+3)
Constitution: 30 (+10)
Intelligence: 10 (+0)
Wisdom: 10 (+0)
Charisma: 10 (+0)
 

Combat: 10 + 20 = 30PP
Initiative: +7 (+3 Dexterity, +4 Improved Initiative)
Attack: +5 Base, +10 Melee
Grapple: +18/+28 (+8 Strength, +10 Melee Attack, +10 Super Strength)
Defense: +10 (+10 Base), +5 Flat-Footed
Knockback: -10
 

Saving Throws: 2 + 1 + 8 = 11PP
Toughness: +10 (10 Impervious)
Fortitude: +12 (+10 Con, +2)
Reflex: +4 (+3 Dex, +1)
Will: +8 (+0 Wisdom, +8)
 

Skills: 32R = 8PP

Acrobatics 3 (+6)

Intimidate 7 (+7) 

Knowledge (Streetwise) 6 (+6)

Language 1 (English, Russian [Native])

Notice 8 (+8)

Sense Motive 7 (+7)

 

 

Feats: 15PP

All-Out Attack

Attack Focus (Melee) 5

Fearless

Improved Grab

Improved Grapple

Improved Initiative 1

Improved Pin

Interpose

Move-By Action

Power Attack

Ultimate Effort (Toughness)

 

 

Powers: 9 + 10 + 1 + 25 = 45PP

All with Quantum Forces descriptor

 

Immunity 9 (Bioengineered Celluar Structure; Life Support) [9PP]

 

Impervious Toughness 10 (Bioengineered Resiliency) [10PP]

 

Regeneration 1 (Bruised 1 [1 Round]; Feat: Regrowth; Drawback: [Requires UV Radiation]) [1PP]

 

Quantum Manipulation Array 10 (20PP; Feats: Alternate Power 2, Dynamic Power 3) [25PP]

• DBP: Flight 10 (Quantum Freedom) {20/20}
• DAP: Super-Strength 10 (Quantum Powerhouse; Effective STR 76, Heavy Load 471 tons) {20/20}
• DAP: Damage 2 (Kinetic Expression; Extras: Penetrating 10; Feats: Mighty, Affects Insubstantial 2, Improved Critical 2, Takedown Attack 1) {18/20} 

 

 

Drawbacks:

Impoverished (Cassandra spent all her money on proper documentation and passage to Freedom City. She literally only possesses the clothes on her back.) [-1PP]

 

 

DC Block

ATTACK              RANGE      SAVE                           EFFECT
Unarmed             Touch      DC 23 Toughness                Damage
Kinetic Expression  Touch      DC 25 Toughness                Damage
 

 

Totals: Abilities (42) + Combat (30) + Saving Throws (11) + Skills (8) + Feats (15) + Powers (45) - Drawbacks (-1) = 150/153 Power Points

Edited September 11, 2016 by HG Morrison
August PP Reward

[trollthumper]

Looks good to me.

 

APPROVED

[Gizmo]

Fixed up some formatting to make your Powers easier to read. Arrays can be a little tricky to notate as you're starting out so don't be afraid to reference the Character Sheet Template or Sample Characters for examples.

 

Overall looking quite good! A few small things:

• Right now she's paying 15PP for just 14 Feats, so you've got a spare PP floating around. 
• Flight is noticeable by default so it can't have the Noticeable Drawback (You'd want the Subtle Power Feat to make her Flight silent, for the sake of argument.) That may be where you spend that extra PP!
• Similarly, explain for me what you're going for with Noticeable on her 'Kinetic Expression'. Punching somebody in the face is usually already pretty noticeable! A glow or similar 'special effect' isn't worth a Drawback on an active attack where it's already clear that you're the one attacking.

[SoullessGinger]

14 hours ago, Gizmo said:

Fixed up some formatting to make your Powers easier to read. Arrays can be a little tricky to notate as you're starting out so don't be afraid to reference the Character Sheet Template or Sample Characters for examples.

 

Overall looking quite good! A few small things:

• Right now she's paying 15PP for just 14 Feats, so you've got a spare PP floating around. 
• Flight is noticeable by default so it can't have the Noticeable Drawback (You'd want the Subtle Power Feat to make her Flight silent, for the sake of argument.) That may be where you spend that extra PP!
• Similarly, explain for me what you're going for with Noticeable on her 'Kinetic Expression'. Punching somebody in the face is usually already pretty noticeable! A glow or similar 'special effect' isn't worth a Drawback on an active attack where it's already clear that you're the one attacking.

 

I swear I had 15 feats. I'll double check that when I get home to figure out if my math is wrong or if I left something off by accident. I'll account for that point on Flight when I resolve the feats issue.

 

The Noticeable for her "Kinetic Expression" ability was going to be a constant energy flare around her fists whenever she activated that part of the array. So if her Strike ability is active, everyone who can sees her knows it. If that doesn't fit the spirit of the drawback, I can account for the point elsewhere.

Edited May 26, 2016 by SoullessGinger

[SoullessGinger]

Ok, so I found the problem with her feats. Power Attack didn't make it onto the sheet, but I was counting its point cost. So that's been corrected. I removed the "Noticeable" drawback from Flight since it's innate to the power and corrected the math on the array. I left the "Noticeable" in Strike power of the array until I get a ruling on whether that use fits or not. If not, I'll do some retooling of that ability and get things to balance out. I also dropped her Reflex by one point, which accounts for the PP I lost from Flight.

[Gizmo]

That's situational enough the it would be better suited as a Complication. A GM might toss you an HP for vetoing her ability to catch an opponent flat-footed, for instance, but in most combat situations her opponent will already know she's attacking them, particularly after the first round. It's also her only real attack option so it's not like it's giving away any secret tactics!

 

Noticeable is generally going to apply to passive powers like Protection - where anybody looking at you can tell if you're 'armoured up' or not - or powers that are innately subtle like Mind Control - where an obvious 'tell' that the victim is being controlled significantly impacts the utility of the power. If you're looking through Ultimate Power most effects call out whether Noticeable or Subtle could be applied to them, based on their default state.

 

As an in-genre nod most powers are reasonably showy by default! Danny Rand doesn't save a PP because wrapping his fist in dragon chi looks awesome but Ben Grimm does get a point back compared to Luke Cage because nobody's ever going to be surprised that bullets don't work on Aunt Petunia's favourite nephew.

[SoullessGinger]

That makes sense. I'll take that Noticeable out and rework the array a bit.

Edited May 26, 2016 by SoullessGinger

[SoullessGinger]

And done. I took Noticeable out of the Damage power and took out one rank of Takedown Attack to balance it out. Also added the Illiterate complication.

Edited May 26, 2016 by SoullessGinger

[Gizmo]

You actually don't have to take out the rank of Takedown Attack if you don't want to. Each Alternate Power slot in your Array has 20PP to play with, not 18! 

 

You're paying for 20PP in each slot, plus 2PP for an additional two Alternate Powers after the first then 3PP to make each of those three powers Dynamic, allowing you to 'mix and match' between the three instead of making them discrete options, for a total cost of 25PP for the Array. I expect most of the time in a fight she'd forego the ten ranks of Penetrating - since that's only situationally useful when fighting someone with Impervious - and use those 10PP for some combination of Flight and Super-Strength. For example: 

 

Damage 2 (Kinetic Expression; Feats: Mighty, Affects Insubstantial 2, Improved Critical 2, Takedown Attack 2) [9PP]

+ Flight 4 (Quantum Freedom; 100 MPH) [8PP]

+ Super-Strength 1 (Quantum Powerhouse; Effective Strength 31, Heavy Load ~1600 lbs) [2PP]

 

...which is still only 19PP total, but you get the idea. You don't have to spend all 20PP in each Alternate Power slot but at the very least they should each be notated as {X/20} not {X/18}.

[SoullessGinger]

I'm still getting my head around dynamic arrays, but I understand what you're saying. The reason I took it out is because by my math, I can run Flight 5, Damage 2 once Takedown is reduced to 1. I've changed the max rank on her Super-Strength to take advantage of those points. I'll change the notations on the sheet too.

[Gizmo]

Flight 5 [10PP] + Damage 2 (Feats: Mighty, Affects Insubstantial 2, Improved Critical 2, Takedown Attack 1) [8PP] is still only 18PP. The Array gives you up to 20PP to use. You're correct that she could also go all-in to do up to Super-Strength 10 [20PP], though, yes!

[SoullessGinger]

Ok, I think I sorted out the part I was missing before. You're saying that I could choose not to use the ranks of Penetrating within the Damage power and use those points to activate other powers in the array. 

[Gizmo]

That's the idea! Penetrating is a little different from most Extras because like Impervious its rank isn't directly tied to the rank of the Power (I probably would have designed it as a ranked Power Feat but that's neither here nor there).

 

She has Damage 2 with Mighty and a +8 Strength bonus for a Rank 10 effect in total. That's why I tweaked your notation to say 'Penetrating 10'; you want to specify now many ranks you're applying the Extra onto, up to 10 in this case. Penetrating 10 costs 10PP and is overkill in most situations but she can easily afford it in that Alternate Power slot.

 

Like I said this is different from most Extras where it was to apply to every rank of the Power but as another example a character could have Protection 12 (Extra: Impervious 6) [18PP].

 

Anyway! Since Penetrating is so situational its pretty easy to drop it when allocating PP in the Dynamic Array, which keeps your math super easy.

 

Make sense?

[SoullessGinger]

Yup, I think I got it now. So she could run the Damage 2 effect with Penetrating 10 active to punch through a huge amount of Impervious Toughness if necessary and that puts her using 18PP of the array. Leaving 2PP for a rank of Flight or Super-Strength

[Gizmo]

That would be one configuration, sure! It's often a good idea to keep at least one rank of Flight up in a Dynamic Array so that you don't, y'know, fall out of the air. Just remember that if her max configuration for that Alternate Power slot is Damage 2 (Kinetic Expression; Extras: Penetrating 10; Feats: Mighty, Affects Insubstantial 2, Improved Critical 2, Takedown Attack 1) that would be {18/20} not {20/20}.

[SoullessGinger]

Ok, I think I've got a good grasp on it. The sheet should be accurate now.

[Gizmo]

APPROVED