The World In The Aftermath (Formerly A World Less Magical)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
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Voltron64
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Voltron64 »

Davies wrote: Thu Jun 18, 2020 6:01 am While Nike was invited to join the Power Company, she has politely declined, preferring to focus her efforts on Greece and its environs rather than be constantly drawn into global affairs.
Yet if there was any group of people capable and worthy enough of helping her set up the Second Olympus (which I now refer in proper nouns from here on in)....

Other than PCs of course...
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Prydwen
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Long ago, there was a man named Morgan. Legend would remember him under another name, just as the ancestor for whom he was named was better known as Pelagius. Gifted with certain superhuman abilities in addition to those which he learned through his study of magic, he decided that the best thing he could do for the world, the best way to make the world a better place, would be to bring about a superhuman aristocracy to govern it well. The rape of a woman named Ygraine by a man named Uther was one of the lesser crimes that Morgan enabled in pursuit of that goal.

The product of that episode grew into a man who was all that Morgan could hope for, but the King had one small flaw by the standards of his day -- his own legitimate children by three successive wives (who all had the same name) were all daughters. Two of them died young, to make matters worse, and he had no hope for third, either. Nevertheless, he gave her into the care of his foster brother, and bid him to raise her as well as their foster father had raised them.

Being something of a lout, Caius took this to mean that he should train the girl-child Johanna as a knight. Being not quite so much of a lout as all that, it didn't take him very long to realize that he was training a physical marvel and something of an intellectual prodigy as well. Johanna absorbed everything he had to teach her, and improved on much of it in the process. By the time she was sixteen, Caius judged her to be the greatest warrior he'd ever known.

Unfortunately, the year that she turned sixteen was also the year that her father's kingdom collapsed in civil war. Against her mentor's counsel, Johanna joined the struggle, fighting on behalf of the father she'd never known against the cousin she'd never met either. Her saga would be forgotten, even though without it the battle of Cammlann would have turned out very differently.

When all was done, her battle continued as she desperately tried to preserve some of Logres' stability. She sought out Morgan in his crystal prison, freeing him in the process. He thanked her by casting a spell on her that sent her hurtling more than fifteen centuries into their future, since he couldn't let such an anomalous element as her interfere with his plans. That she was the embodiment of all that he'd ever hoped for didn't occur to him; after all, she was just a girl.

Regardless, she appeared in modern Britain, 2013, in the middle of a fight between protesters and police. The more heavily armed contingent were clearly the aggressors in all of this, and so she acted to disable them and protect the weak. One of the protesters that she rescued was a student of ancient languages, and so was able to communicate with her, as well as teaching her modern English (which she learned just as quickly as she does everything else.) Through her, she was introduced to Nick Grey and then Blakestone, as she grew into a fighter for justice, under the alias Prydwen.

Johanna's greatest weapon is her mind. Given proper education, she might have become the equal of Leonardo da Vinci, but her training focused more on the martial arts. She nevertheless has a thirst for all sorts of knowledge, and her rare moments of peace will nearly always find herself curled up with a collection of books on all manner of abstruse topics. She is also a brilliant and inspiring commander, but does not make the mistake of thinking that this means she should always lead. Different leaders are needed for different times, and the era when a mounted warlord was the right leader for a nation is long past.

Her shield -- supposedly forged by Vulcan himself -- is able to resist and repel any force directed against it, though she has to hold it steady for that to happen, and cannot counterattack while doing so. She's also mastered the art of using it as a bludgeon. Her sword is a sword -- it's very good for cutting objects and people, but it needs to keep sharpened and has needed to be replaced several times now. She never ceases to be amazed at people who imagine that it's some sort of wonder weapon.

Blakestone (whom she only ever calls Jennifer, somewhat to the other woman's annoyance) and Nick are her two dearest friends, and she will politely ignore any questions from anyone else about what their relationship is actually like. She has also worked with la Belle and la Bete when she travelled to France, and has a somewhat adversarial friendship with Robin Hood (whom she somehow recognized as the product of Morgan's meddling, much like she herself.) The prospect of joining the Powerhouse interests her, but she suspects that they wouldn't welcome her attitude towards killing one's enemies -- it's regrettable, but probably inevitable.

Prydwen - PL 10

Abilities:
STR 6 | STA 6 | AGL 7 | DEX 3 | FGT 11 | INT 4 | AWE 4 | PRE 4

Powers:
Shield of Valor: Easily Removable (-16 points), Indestructible
* Defensive Stance: Sustained Immunity 80 (Toughness effects), Passive - 40 points
* Shield Bash: Strength-based Damage 2 - 2 points
Superhuman: Leaping 3 (60 feet); Regeneration 2; Speed 3 (16 MPH) - 8 points

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, Equipment 4, Fascinate (Persuasion), Fast Grab, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Inspire 2, Jack-of-all-Trades, Language 3 (English, Latin, Welsh, others [Brythonic is native]), Leadership, Power Attack, Takedown.

Equipment:
Armored Costume (Protection 3), Sword (Strength-based Damage 3, Improved Critical), Motorcycle

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+13), Athletics 8 (+14), Close Combat: Shield 1 (+12), Expertise: History 5 (+9), Expertise: Military 6 (+10), Insight 8 (+12), Intimidation 6 (+10), Perception 8 (+12), Persuasion 6 (+10), Vehicles 8 (+11)

Offense:
Initiative +11
Unarmed +11 (Close Damage 6)
Sword +11 (Close Damage 9, Crit 19-20)
Shield Bash +12 (Close Damage 8)

Defense:
Dodge 11, Parry 11, Fortitude 10, Toughness 9/6, Will 10

Totals:
Abilities 90 + Powers 35 + Advantages 25 + Skills 31 + Defenses 14 = 195 points

Complications:
Doing Good--Motivation. Fish Out of Water. Friends (Jennifer Chase, Nick Grey). Wanted by the Authorities
Last edited by Davies on Mon Aug 10, 2020 10:23 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Voltron64
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

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Davies wrote: Thu Jun 18, 2020 8:10 pm She has also worked with la Belle and la Bete when she travelled to France, and has a somewhat adversarial friendship with Robin Hood (whom she somehow recognized as the product of Morgan's meddling, much like she herself.)
Okay, now I'm starting to wonder if this Morgan feller had a hand or was involved at all in cub reporter Francis Tyler discovering the ancient Amulet of Jedediah...
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Voltron64 wrote: Thu Jun 18, 2020 8:32 pm Okay, now I'm starting to wonder if this Morgan feller had a hand or was involved at all in cub reporter Francis Tyler discovering the ancient Amulet of Jedediah...
Not directly, but he (or one of his pawns) may have buried it in the place where it was eventually found. Under the alias Maugris, he was still active during the time of Charlemagne, but probably died sometime in the 11th century.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Baba Yaga
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She finds Johnny Rivers' Secret Agent Man to be amusing enough that she actually obtained a vinyl recording of it, and had the artist autograph it. Of course, it's mostly amusing because no one ever gave her a number and took away her name. Rather the reverse.

Reports of her activities began to circulate in the Russian security and intelligence communities in 2007, telling of a freelance operative who could be hired for a ridiculously cheap price considering the quality of her services. She was compared to a ghost, as not only was she never seen or caught, but nothing could be found out about her, despite all efforts. Those who hired her found out that she charged depending on what she thought of the mission, with certain acts being priced well beyond what the market could bear, and others done for the price of a cup of coffee. (A very good cup of coffee, mind.)

And then she stole a certain secret that got the entire apparatus motivated to hunt her down and kill her stone dead ... and she not only escaped with her life, she arranged for every single person who took a shot at her to be arrested for other charges that they'd thought no one would ever find out about, with proof positive tied up in a bow and presented to the courts. "She's not a ghost," said one of the victims of that week's work. "She's a witch. No, she's goddamned Baba Yaga, is what she is!" The name has stuck.

In 2012, she moved out of her haunts in Russia and Eastern Europe to pull a few jobs in Canada, specifically in Toronto. That naturally led to her crossing paths with Paragon, who stopped her from completing her final mission as it was a crime. She seemed unfazed by this development, and he naturally asked her why. "Because the job was actually to get in touch with you, and it looks like I've done that," she answered. And then she told him about an operation being conducted by agents of the Emperor in Vancouver, something that would be a bit much for Darkwing, but was definitely a job for -- he interrupted and asked how she knew about this, and she answered in one word.

"Argus."

When this got back to Argus, after Paragon took apart the Korean operation and Baba Yaga once more dropped out of sight, they were stunned. Not only had they not known anything about the Emperor's newest plan, but they were very sure that they'd never recruited Baba Yaga, and that no one had ever been assigned as her handler. So what was going on here? Who was this person and what were their sources of information? One of their top investigators, Helen Duncan, pledged to discover all this. In eight years, she hasn't yet produced results on this mission, but has done enough good work on other cases to keep the assignment, which she guards jealously.

Which is understandable, because it was for just this purpose that Baba Yaga created the identity of Helen Duncan and infilitrated Argus in 2007. This is how she works, with plans within plans within plans, and secrets piled on secrets. Those whom she has allowed to know as much as she lets anyone know about her believe that she operates towards understandable and even heroic ends, but none of them fully trust her, because of all the layers of secrecy she always has wrapped around herself.

The truth is that she's not from Earth ... not exactly. She came there from the Sprawl, once a megacity that existed somewhere on an alternate Earth in that world's mid-22nd century. Their world was dying, and so scientists in the Sprawl-to-be activated a device that tore them away from their world and into interdimensional space, from which they could access many worlds. But they did so only to steal the resources that they needed to keep themslves and their civilization running.

All that happened long before she was born, as one of a numbered, nameless group of clones intended to be trained as corporate security. Demonstrating her excellence, she was enhanced with cybernetics and biotechnology that turned her into a super-being, and sent on mission after mission against her employers' rivals. She never failed. Finally, she was given the assignment of being sent undercover on the World Less Magical, to begin their campaign of resource theft there as well.

But what no one knew was that she'd developed a mind of her own, and an increasing disgust for the way that her world did things. She intended to defect to the civilization to which she was sent. Unfortunately, that turned out to be Russia, and her attempts to alert them to the situation were ignored. Frustrated, she embraced her role as a spy, and embarked on the adventures that led to her being given the name Baba Yaga. (She likes it, incidentally.)

She is still in contact with her superiors in the Sprawl, who don't really care what she does as long as she produces good intelligence. So she does that, and continues to receive access to the chemical supplements that allow her to subsist on local food, which would normally be toxic to her. Obtaining a secondary source of these is one of her goals, but she's not sure who to trust with the knowledge that she needs them. What she really wants is to make a balance that allows the Sprawl to gain enough resources to keep its population alive, while not allowing them to turn this world into a lifeless husk like all the others. And there are plenty of people, on both sides, who'd kill her outright if they knew what was going on.

Well ... she knew the job was dangerous when she took it.

Baba Yaga - PL 11

Abilities:
STR 5 | STA 6 | AGL 6 | DEX 6 | FGT 10 | INT 3 | AWE 6 | PRE 1

Powers:
Impossibly Fast: Enhanced Advantages 7 (Close Attack 5, Improved Initiative 2); Enhanced Defenses 8 (Dodge 4, Parry 4); Quickness 4; Speed 4 (30 MPH) - 23 points
Master of Disguise: Continuous Morph 2, Activation (Standard Action), Check Required (Deception, DC 17), Easily Removable (-1 point) - 2 points
Otherworldly Senses: Enhanced Advantages 2 (Defensive Roll, Uncanny Dodge); Senses 5 (accurate hearing, danger sense, direction sense, time sense) - 7 points
Striking Strength: Strength-based Damage 2, Improved Critical 2 - 4 points

Advantages:
All-out Attack, Benefit 5 (Alternate Identity 3, Cipher 2), Close Attack 5, Defensive Roll, Diehard, Equipment 5, Evasion 2, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative 3, Languages 3 (English, Japanese, Russian, others [Sprawl Patois is native]), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Redirect, Set-Up, Takedown, Uncanny Dodge

Equipment:
Utility Belt: Array (16 points)
  • Tear Gas Pellets: Ranged Cloud Area Affliction 4 (Resisted by Fortitude; Dazed and Vision Impaired, Stunned and Vision Disabled, Incapacitated), Extra Condition - 16 points.
  • Bolos: Ranged Cumulative Affliction 5 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Damage; Hindered and Vulnerable, Defenseless and Immobile), Extra Condition, Limited Degree - 1 point.
  • Explosives: Ranged Burst Area Damage 5 - 1 point.
  • Cutting Torch: Damage 5, Linked Weaken Toughness 5, Affects Objects - 1 point.
  • Flash-Bangs: Ranged Burst Area Cumulative Affliction 4 (Resisted and Overcome by Will; Impaired, Disabled, Unaware) - 1 point
  • Pepper Spray: Close Cumulative Affliction 4 (Resisted by Fortitude; Dazed & Vision Impaired, Stunned & Vision Disabled, Vision Unaware), Extra Condition - 1 point
  • Sleep Gas Pellets: Ranged Cloud Area Affliction 5 (Resisted and Overcome by Fortitude; Fatigued, Exhausted, Asleep) - 1 point.
  • Smoke Pellets: Ranged Cloud Area Visual Concealment Attack - 1 point
Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+12), Athletics 6 (+11), Deception 12 (+13), Expertise: Tactics 6 (+9), Insight 4 (+10), Intimidation 7 (+8), Perception 6 (+12), Ranged Attack: Bolo 3 (+9), Stealth 8 (+14), Technology 11 (+14), Vehicles 5 (+11).

Offense:
Initiative +14
Unarmed +15 (Close Damage 7, Crit 18-20)
Bolo +13 (Ranged Affliction 5, Resisted by Dodge)

Defense:
Dodge 14/10, Parry 14/10, Fortitude 9, Toughness 8/6, Will 9.

Totals:
Abilities 86 + Powers 36 + Advantages 26 + Skills 37 + Defenses 11 = 196 points

Complications:
Justice (But Whose?)--Motivation. Hunted by Authorities. Secret Identity (several). Weakness (must consume chemical supplements.)
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Voltron64
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

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Davies wrote: Fri Jun 19, 2020 4:31 am The truth is that she's not from Earth ... not exactly. She came there from the Sprawl, once a megacity that existed somewhere on an alternate Earth in that world's mid-22nd century. Their world was dying, and so scientists in the Sprawl-to-be activated a device that tore them away from their world and into interdimensional space, from which they could access many worlds. But they did so only to steal the resources that they needed to keep themselves and their civilization running.
Too arrogant, paranoid and myopic to simply ask for assistance instead I suppose.

And even more myopic to assume that no world or alliance of worlds would be willing and capable of unleashing utter hell right back upon them for any attempted transgressions on their own realities?
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

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Voltron64 wrote: Fri Jun 19, 2020 4:57 am Too arrogant, paranoid and myopic to simply ask for assistance instead I suppose.

And even more myopic to assume that no world or alliance of worlds would be willing and capable of unleashing utter hell right back upon them for any attempted transgressions on their own realities?
Yup.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

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Duck Junior and Hardhead
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Hero!
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Sidekick!

Born in 1981, Michael Penwald's father was a long haul truck driver who hadn't so much retired from the business as had to quit it due to circumstances he didn't ever want to talk about. While he'd managed to find work that kept food on the table for his wife and kid, it was fairly obvious that he was desperately trying not to hear the call of the open road. He died an unhappy man when Michael was in his early teens, and that more or less ensured that Mike would try to follow in his footsteps. In tribute to his father, he took the CB handle Duck Junior.

Six years into the job, and starting to earn a bit of respect from drivers who'd been in the business long enough to remember his dad, Duck's destiny was changed forever when what looked like a meteor crashed down in a farmer's field alongside the route he was driving. Stopping the truck and getting out, he discovered that his suspicions were correct, and that it was no meteor, but a spaceship. And a giant robot stepped out of it, spead its hands, and declared, "I come in peace."

Now, Duck wasn't particularly inclined to believe that statement, but the big guy wasn't making any sudden moves and seemed more interested in talking than he was in going on a rampage, so he decided to listen rather than run for it. The robot went by some ridiculously long alphanumeric code that Duck couldn't possibly remember, and was apparently from Mercury. Turned out that there were a lot of robots from Mercury here on Earth, and this guy -- whom Duck abruptly decided to nickname Hardhead -- had come here, going into voluntary exile, in order to check up on them.

Duck knew the local geography a lot better than Hardhead did, so he offered to help the new arrival to where he was supposed to go. Unfortunately, that turned out to be the compound of a militia group who were secretly being run by a Ectotronian who went by the handle Eradicaton and seemed to be planning to live up to it. The battle that followed saw Duck's rig get blown up real bad, and so Hardhead (who was able to disguise himself as a semi) offered to fill the void.

And so Duck's life became really frigging weird. The two of them keep running into all kinds of bizarre strangeness, all of which Hardhead accepts with nary a qualm. Duck usually protests a bit, but he will nonetheless join in on the fight for what's right in order to help his best friend. In the process, they've met a fair number of the other Ectotronians stranded in these United States, convincing them not to work with Eradicaton when possible, and beating the sparks out of them when not. (Hardhead wants to see what's going on with his people overseas, but that's not really feasible right now.)

Hardhead is somewhat unique among his people in that he doesn't regard organic life with contempt. Instead, he's honestly fascinated by it, and is more of a scientist than a soldier. He's developed considerable respect for humanity in the years since his arrival, and finds the best of them more admirable than many of his fellows, particularly those driven by the cold equations of politics. That said, there are plenty of venal humans who just sadden him with their behavior, but he refuses to dwell on such disappointments. He was surprised to be offered membership in the Powerhouse after assisting some of them in battle against Eradicaton, but declined the offer since he didn't want to take Duck into even more battles that didn't concern him, or leave him to his own devices if such situations took him away for long periods of time.

Hardhead -- PL 10

Abilities:
STR 13 | STA -- | AGL 1 | DEX 2 | FGT 6 | INT 4 | AWE 1 | PRE 2

Powers:
Autoblaster: Ranged Multiattack Damage 9, Accurate - 28 points
Passenger Compartment: Feature (can carry three passengers, six if they don't mind getting comfy) - 1 point
Reconstruction: Immortality 5 (minimum of 1 day), Check Required (Technology, DC 20) - 1 point
Robot in Disguise: Immunity 30 (Fortitude effects); Morph 1 (semi); Protection 14, Impervious 8 - 57 points
Sensors & Communications: Radio Communication 3; Senses 8 (accurate extended 2 radio, darkvision, direction sense) - 20 points
Size-shifting: Permanent Growth 8; Growth 4, No Strength or Protection - 28 points
Wheels: Speed 6 (250 MPH) - 5 points

Advantages:
Assessment, Eidetic Memory, Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Sidekick 18, Well-Informed

Skills:
Deception 6 (+8, +28 to disguise as a semi), Expertise: Science 6 (+10), Insight 6 (+7), Intimidation 6 (+8), Investigation 5 (+9), Perception 5 (+6), Persuasion 4 (+6), Ranged Combat: Autoblaster 6 (+8), Technology 6 (+10).

Offense:
Initiative +5
Unarmed +7 (Close Damage 13)
Autoblaster +10 (Ranged Damage 9)

Defense:
Dodge 6/4, Parry 6/4, Fortitude Immune, Toughness 14, Will 10

Totals:
Abilities 16 + Powers 140 + Advantages 24 + Skills 23 + Defenses 22 = 225 points

Complications:
Discovery--Motivation. Enemy (Eradicaton). Self-appointed Responsibility (other Ectotronians on Earth).

Duck Junior -- PL 6

Abilities:
STR 2 | STA 3 | AGL 2 | DEX 4 | FGT 5 | INT 0 | AWE 2 | PRE 3

Powers:
Oh, I'm Not A Good Driver. I'm A GODDAMN Good Driver: Feature 1 (Use Vehicles skill to make Team Checks with Hardhead's Melee Attack Checks) - 1 point

Advantages:
All-out Attack, Attractive, Beginner's Luck, Defensive Roll, Diehard, Evasion, Improvised Weapon, Interpose, Language (Spanish), Skill Mastery (Vehicles).

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+9), Deception 4 (+7), Expertise: Sports 9 (+9), Insight 6 (+8), Intimidation 7 (+10), Perception 6 (+8), Perusasion 4 (+7), Treatment 5 (+5), Vehicles 7 (+11)

Offense:
Initiative +2
Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 2)

Defense:
Dodge 5, Parry 7, Fortitude 5, Toughness 5/3, Will 4.

Totals:
Abilities 42 + Powers 1 + Advantages 10 + Skills 28 + Defenses 9 = 90 points

Complications:
Thrills--Motivation. Friends All Over The Damn Place. Self-Reliant. Won't Settle Down.
Last edited by Davies on Mon Aug 03, 2020 12:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

I'm taking this Sunday off from this project to attend to some other stuff. Back on Monday. In the meanwhile, have a reasonably accurate map of Dread Island.

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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

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Isekai no Miko/Warpwitch
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There was once a young girl who was unhappy with her world and age, which seemed so boring and mundane to her. Certainly there were strange things happening every day, but not where she was, so those didn't really matter, and she was frustrated by how her personal world seemed ... less magical ... than the one she heard about. So she eventually decided to form a club to seek out interesting phenomena, totally of her own volition and initiative of course. And while she never found any of the strange things that were, she was sure, hiding just out of sight, they had a lot of fun and so she was happy. And then one of the minor and unimportant members of the club decided to wreck everything by telling her that all the other members of the club were part of the strange and were deliberately hiding the truth from her. It made her a bit angry.

And then, just as she was about to express that anger towards this person she did not care even a little bit about, the door to the cafe where they were having this conversation slammed open, and a woman covered with more scar tissue than flesh stormed in and screamed, "Stop it, stop it, you idiot! He's telling you the truth, something no one in the universe has ever had the nerve to do, and you throw it in his face!" The woman kept on going with this rant, but the young girl only heard maybe one word in five, because she could tell, despite all the scars and the years, that the person addressing her was herself. Something wonderful was happening, had happened, could happen to her.

And then the woman who was herself broke down coughing and collapsed on the floor. As she (and the unimportant non-entity) reached out to help, the woman's eyes cleared briefly. "You don't understand, do you?" the woman said. "All this time ... all of us ... in the gutter ... but some of us ... just open your eyes." One clawed hand reached up to stroke her brow, and something exploded in her head even as the hand fell limply to the floor.

Aya Nagase still doesn't know how she could have become the woman who died that day in 2006, but she's sure that's what would have happened without that woman's intervention, and that the process of becoming that woman would have been more painful and horrible than Aya can possibly imagine. The thought that something like that still might happen terrifies her, and has guided a lot of the decisions she's made about what to do with the powers that awakened within her on that day.

She left her home and land behind, and became one of the first students to enroll in the school for young superhumans established by Exelion in Cardiff. Aya missed her friends and did not miss any annoying jerks even a little bit, but the lessons she learned in the proper control of her powers over that five year course were critical. As were, she will reluctantly admit, the lessons she learned about getting along with people instead of running roughshod all over them. Those were honestly harder to learn, and she sometimes backslides. No one's perfect. Well, no one other than that one guy she's heard about, but never mind that now.

Aya's primary ability is the power to bring energy and matter from alternate universes into this one, with a wide variety of potential effects. While theoretically capable of gating in anything from these divergent realities, she limits herself to non-living matter (or in very rare cases non-sentient living matter) rather than 'summoning' living beings. This is both due to practical considerations (she has no ability to return things to their point of origin) and ethical ones (she finds the notion of enslaving living beings to fight her battles utterly repugnant.)

She can open portals to other realties that allow her (or others) to pass through to the other side, but this is a one-way trip, and she cannot control the destination of these portals. It was only through a lot of luck that her first set of portal journeys, in the company of some other students, eventually led back to her own world. She would be very reluctant to make such journeys again without a very good reason ... though she has no particular compunction about using her portals to get rid of things.

After graduating from the Academy, Aya set out on a journey to figure out what she should do with her life. She travelled to North America and spent a few years living in various cities and learning various things there. It was clear to her that she wasn't really ready for the life of a superhero, though she found herself being helpful to several of them in her journey. But she knew that she couldn't go back to a normal life, and pretend that she didn't have these powers, either. So what was she supposed to do?

Meeting Thriller, when they both happened to be in Las Vegas, turned out to be the breakthrough that she needed. She paid close attention to the way that he used his abilities as an entertainer, first and foremost, while helping to raise money for charities and (occasionally) helping other heroes, just as she herself did. It made her remember that some of the happiest times in her life, both before and after her powers, had been when she was performing or helping to create entertainment for other people. And the best place she could think of to start that career was back in Japan.

So she went home and became an entertainer, posing as a stage magician. Exelion groaned when she told him about it, but gave her some practical advice on how to dress for the part, recommending formal wear. So she started to wear a kimono whenever she went out in public. It was fun, and exciting, and she helped raise money for good causes ... and when she encountered trouble, she helped whoever was already on the scene to deal with it. Things were going great!

And then a complete jerk whom she vaguely remembered from high school showed up and asked her whether she might have a job for him. The sheer nerve of the fellow! Unbelievable! Who does he think he is? So anyway, she has him working as her secretary, answering her phones and doing her paperwork and making her coffee, and absolutely nothing is ever going to happen between them. Nope. Not a chance. Stupid lousy stinking overly-handsome dumbass. His foot massages are lousy, too.

Isekai no Miko/Warpwitch -- PL 9

Abilities:
STR 0 | STA 1 | AGL 2 | DEX 2 | FGT 2 | INT 3 | AWE 5 | PRE 4

Powers:
Defensive Shifting: Enhanced Advantages 4 (Defensive Roll 2, Evasion, Redirect); Enhanced Defenses 16 (Dodge 8, Parry 8) - 20 points
Reality Warping: Array (20 points)
  • Barrier: Create 6, Impervious - 1 point
  • Damaging Field: Ranged Burst Area Damage 4, Concentration, Variable 2 - 1 point
  • Damaging Force: Ranged Burst Area Damage 6, Variable 2 - 20 points
  • Destabilizing Event: Ranged Burst Area Affliction 9 (Resisted by Dodge; Hindered, Prone), Limited Degree, Variable 1 (destabilization) - 1 point
  • Sensory Distortion: Ranged Burst Area Affliction 9 (Resisted by Fortitude; Sense Impaired, Sense Disabled, Sense Unaware), Limited to One Sense, Variable 2 (sensory effects) - 1 point
  • Toxic Gas: Ranged Burst Area Affliction 6 (Resisted by Fortitude; Dazed & Fatigued, Exhausted & Stunned), Extra Condition, Limited Degree, Variable (gases) - 1 point
Sliding: Movement 3 (dimensional travel 3), Portal, Quirk (activation is under control, but not destination) - 11 points

Advantages:
Assessment, Attractive, Benefit 2 (independently wealthy), Daze (Deception), Defensive Roll 2, Evasion, Extraordinary Effort, Improved Initiative, Language (English, [Japanese is native]), Luck 4, Redirect, Set-Up, Taunt.

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+5), Deception 6 (+10), Expertise: Science 4 (+7), Expertise: Performance 4 (+8), Insight 4 (+9), Intimidation 4 (+8), Investigation 5 (+8), Perception 4 (+9), Stealth 4 (+6).

Offense:
Initiative +6
Unarmed +2 (Close Damage 0)
Damaging Field -- (Ranged Burst Area Damage 6)
Destabilizing Event -- (Ranged Burst Area Affliction 9, Resisted by Dodge)
Sensory Distortion -- (Ranged Burst Area Fortitude 9)
Toxic Gas -- (Ranged Burst Area Fortitude 6)

Defense:
Dodge 12/4, Parry 12/4, Fortitude 5, Toughness 6/1, Will 9

Totals:
Abilities 38 + Powers 56 + Advantages 14 + Skills 20 + Defenses 12 = 140 points

Complications:
Thrills--Motivation. Bipolar Tendencies. Fear (becoming the other version of herself). Non-Relationship (obnoxious twit she doesn't care about).

Author's Note: The obnoxious twit she doesn't care about (whose name, should you have some perverse desire to know the name of someone who has neither relevance nor significance, is Kyousuke Tomokazu) is her Argus handler. Use Tana Rivers' stats, but replace Expertise: Barrista with Expertise: Administrator and English with Icelandic in Language. Also drop his pistol from Equipment.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Green Inferno
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An ignis fatuus is the Latin name for an atmospheric ghost light seen at night, usually -- but not always -- over a swamp. (The English call it will-o'-the-wisp.) The entity known as the Green Inferno is similar to that legendary figure, but differs in two major respects. First, they are seen in the broad light of day just as often as at night. Second, the Sahara Desert is definitely not a swamp.

This strange creature has their origins in the story of Milena Petrosyan, a young woman who was a member of Syria's Armenian minority population from her birth in 1993 until her unfortunate death in 2011. In her early teens, Milena discovered that she had the power to call up what could only be called a genie -- an energy being who would obey her commands, albeit usually with a bit of sass. As an honest Muslim, she was initially quite frightened that she'd somehow stumbled into doing magic, but was reassured by her community leaders that this was simply an unusual but not at all sorcerous power of her own mind. Thus fortified, she put her genie to work helping people in her neighborhood of Damascus.

After only a few years of this, however, Milena was ambushed and murdered by the madwoman known as Ayesha. Her genie, as a projection of her mind, should have disappeared as soon as her brain shut down. But that didn't happen, and no one is completely sure why it didn't. The best guess is that some of Milena's consciousness and 'life force' managed to transfer itself into the genie's energy matrix, transforming it into a self-sustaining phenomenon. How that is supposed to have worked is still not terribly clear.

The results, however, were immediately apparent. The genie was a reasonably humanoid figure, with a normal complement of limbs. As soon as Milena died, they transformed into a glowing ball-shaped entity and shot up into the sky and away from Damascus. Since then, they have remained in that form, though they apparently have invisible 'limbs' that function as arms. Questions about whether they can change shape in other ways are met with confusion.

The Green Inferno haunts the Sahara Desert, avoiding people as much as possible, but assisting those in danger or difficulty to the best of their abilities. They can communicate, and speak in a quiet voice that is completely unlike that of Milena or her unnamed genie, and neither male nor female. Talk about their former existences, if that's the right word, tends to upset them. Long conversations of any type tend to result in the Green Inferno losing track of what's being discussed, which makes some of their associates very nervous. The possibility that this will turn into serious dementia as time passes is a very grim one.

The Ultra Girls, conscious of their role in the Green Inferno's creation, have made an attempt to befriend and recruit them. They have succeeded in the former, but have been unable to persuade them to leave the Sahara. "This is where I'm supposed to be," is all that the Inferno will say in response.

Green Inferno -- PL 10

Abilities:
STR 8 | STA - | AGL 0 | DEX 2 | FGT 8 | INT 1 | AWE 4 | PRE 1

Powers:
Elemental Form: Immunity 35 (fire damage, Fortitude effects); Protection 8 - 43 points
Firey Flight: Linked Continuous Flight 9 (1000 MPH) and Continuous Insubstantial 3 - 45 points
Flame Control: Array (21 points)
  • Fire Absorption: Burst Area Nullify Fire Powers 10 - 1 point
  • Fire Blast: Ranged Damage 10, Accurate - 21 points
  • Flame Shaping: Sustained Shapeable Area Damage 5 - 1 point
  • Flash: Burst Area Cumulative Affliction 10 (Resisted by Fortitude; Visually Impaired, Visually Disabled, Visually Unaware), Limited to One Sense - 1 point
Advantages:
Agile Feint, Fascinate (Intimidation), Improved Initiative, Languages 3 (many [Arabic is native), Power Attack

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+10), Intimidation 9 (+10), Investigation 7 (+8), Perception 7 (+11), Persuasion 5 (+6), Ranged Combat: Flame Control 6 (+8).

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 8)
Fire Blast +10 (Ranged Damage 10)
Flame Shaping -- (Shapeable Area Damage 5)
Flash -- (Burst Area Fortitude 10)

Defense:
Dodge 12, Parry 10, Fortitude Immune, Toughness 8, Will 6.

Totals:
Abilities 36 + Powers 103 + Advantages 4 + Skills 17 + Defenses 19 = 182 points

Complications:
Peace--Motivation. Easily Confused. Inhuman Appearance.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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Voltron64
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Voltron64 »

Davies wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:36 pm The Ultra Girls, conscious of their role in the Green Inferno's creation, have made an attempt to befriend and recruit them. They have succeeded in the former, but have been unable to persuade them to leave the Sahara. "This is where I'm supposed to be," is all that the Inferno will say in response.
There's something buried there, isn't there?

Something bad.
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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Voltron64 wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2020 9:43 pm There's something buried there, isn't there?

Something bad.
Yes. The cycle between desert and grassland is not entirely due to the precession of the Earth's axis.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

La Belle et la Bête
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1968 was a year of great tumult all over the world, and the month of May saw France's government and economy paralyzed by protests and riots. Yet in the end, despite the expectations and hopes of many, the protests ended with the Gaullist party gaining an even greater majority in the subsequent elections. Gains had been made, and it was the beginning of the end for de Gaulle personally, but had things almost gone too far or not far enough? Perhaps embodying this sense of division, a pair of heroes first made themselves known at this time.

They aren't partners, exactly, though they end up working together more often than not. For all that one of them seems to embody the concept of authority, she has never actually worked for the government; for all that one of them embodies anarchy, he has never actually associated with an actual anarchist movement. They do not talk to reporters, and all that the public knows about them borders on rumor. And they have both been confirmed dead many times, and yet they return again and again, never seeming to age.

To France, they are simply la Belle and la Bête -- the Beauty and the Beast. But who are they? The answer to that is a longer story, and in some ways a sadder one, than almost anyone on Earth knows.

Thousands of years in the future, when Earth-descended humanity has joined their off-world cousins and spread the boundaries of known space even further, when Earth itself has been largely forgotten, there is a world which remembers more of their history than many human settlements do. What they remember, though, is a mishmash of fact and fiction, with people who never actually lived thought to be every bit as historical as the often misunderstood people who did.

To teach their understanding of history to the young, while also keeping them entertained and occupied, the educators of this world employ what we would understand as sapient artificial intelligences programmed to believe themselves to be the historical figures, living out their 'lives' over and over again. Young humans watch these dramas, even interacting with them, and the overwhelming majority of the AI actors never realize that there is anything strange or artificial about their existences. It never occurs to them that they are slaves.

Yet at least two of them do achieve this realization, and seek to escape from their servitude. A series of incidents occur, in which the programs that are their minds are copied onto swarms of nanotech circuitry that can allow them to take over the bodies of organic beings. Thus freed, they seek to further escape those who would either return them to their subjugation or destroy them. In so doing, they escape to the past in an experimental time ship which deposits them in -- you guessed it -- 1968.

The individual who is known as la Belle believes herself to be Joan of Arc, and is somewhat puzzled by contemporary depictions of the original as brunette. (She was.) The individual who is known as la Bête believes himself to be the Count of Monte Cristo, and is disgusted by the general belief that this individual was a fictional character. (He wasn't.) Their immortality is a technological one -- any human being with whom they come into contact might be implanted with a nanotech probe that can, if the main host dies, rewrite their mind and body into a new incarnation, and recreate their panoply. The new host's memories survive the transformation, but the emotional connections of those memories are often lost.

Thus, la Belle and la Bête, while genuine heroes motivated by the desire to protect lives (her) and avenge injustice (him), are also bodyjackers whose influence normally shortens the lifespan of their hosts by quite a bit. They aren't fully aware of this fact, having suffered many memory malfunctions in the past half-century, and by now believe themselves to be reincarnations of the original Joan of Arc and Count of Monte Cristo, with the fact that there is relatively little time between their successive incarnations something that they don't think about.

One being who is aware of their true nature is also their worst enemy, the infamous Baron Khan. He has even learned of their origins in the far future, and now seeks to employ them as tools to gain access to either their original time ship, or another one, to alter the course of history to one that satisfies him. This would be a very bad thing for everyone else ...

La Belle -- PL 8

Abilities:
STR 3 | STA 6/4 | AGL 4 | DEX 6 | FGT 8 | INT 1 | AWE 4 | PRE 1

Powers:
Banner of Hope: Strength-based Damage 3, Accurate; Healing 6, Limited to Others; Easily Removable (-4 points) - 6 points
Disguise: Morph 1 (normal form) - 5 points
Healing Factor: Enhanced Stamina 2; Immunity 2 (disease, poison); Regeneration 10 - 16 points
Reincarnation: Immortality 1 (one month) - 2 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Evasion, Grabbing Finesse, Improved Defense, Inspire, Language (English [French is native]), Power Attack, Takedown, Teamwork

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+12), Athletics 6 (+9), Expertise: Religion 6 (+7), Insight 4 (+8), Perception 6 (+10), Persuasion 6 (+7)

Offense:
Initiative +4
Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 3)
Banner of Hope +10 (Close Damage 6)

Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 10, Fortitude 6/4, Toughness 6/4, Will 10.

Totals:
Abilities 62 + Powers 20 + Advantages 9 + Skills 17 + Defenses 12 = 129 points

Complications:
Doing Good--Motivation. Delusion ("I am Joan of Arc.") Merciful. Nemesis (Baron Khan.) Rivalry (la Bête).

La Bête -- PL 8

Abilities:
STR 3 | STA 6/4 | AGL 6 | DEX 4 | FGT 8 | INT 1 | AWE 4 | PRE 1

Powers:
Knives of Hatred: Strength-based Damage 3, Linked Weaken Toughness 6, Affects Objects Only, Accurate; Easily Removable (-4 points) - 6 points
Disguise: Morph 1 (normal form) - 5 points
Healing Factor: Enhanced Stamina 2; Immunity 2 (disease, poison); Regeneration 10 - 16 points
Reincarnation: Immortality 1 - 2 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, Language 3 (English, Moroccan, Spanish, others [French is native]), Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close; Concealment), Skill Mastery (Perception), Takedown, Tracking

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+10), Athletics 8 (+11), Expertise: Streetwise 6 (+7), Insight 4 (+8), Intimidation 6 (+7), Perception 6 (+10)

Offense:
Initiative +6
Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 3)
Knives of Hatred +10 (Close Damage 6 and Weaken Toughness 6, Limited to Objects)

Defense:
Dodge 10, Parry 8, Fortitude 8/6, Toughness 6/4, Will 8

Totals:
Abilities 62 + Powers 29 + Advantages 11 + Skills 17 + Defenses 10 = 129 points

Complications:
Justice--Motivation. Cruel. Delusion ("I am the Count of Monte Cristo.") Nemesis (Baron Khan.) Rivalry (La Belle.)
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Lord Greystoke
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The story is known to most of the world, by now. Unfortunately, the story is filled with misconceptions and the occasional outright deception. The man himself does not feel any particular need to clarify matters, or rather believes that he detailed all the messy parts of his past nearly fifty years ago, and sees no point in doing so again. While not as halting in his speech as the most famous cinematic version of himself, he will generally prefer to say silent rather than speak if he sees no purpose in saying something.

His life began in Africa, more than one hundred and twenty years ago. Just why his mother and father were sailing on the east coast of that continent, while she was with child, is not something he's ever chosen to address. A mutiny occurred, and they were marrooned. His mother suffered a breakdown not long after she was born, and died when he was still in infancy. His father soon followed her ... but by his own hand, not by that of an ape.

At the deposition in 1972, he commented that it was typical of his chronicler to believe it more likely that an ape would adopt a human child rather than eat it, and believe an African more likely to do the revese. As it happened, the jungle cabin where his castaway family lived was well known to the local human population, and they had tried many times to speak with the inhabitants, only to be driven away by the paranoid father. They investigated and found the infant, and took him back to their village with them.

He lived among these Sira-speaking people for some fourteen years, treated kindly but as something of a curiosity, rather than a person. Eventually, the wanderlust that is perhaps his defining characteristic came to the fore, and he left them to live on his own in the jungle, often walking with the great apes. (They existed, but the drama that his chronicler created was of his own imagination, inspired by other tales of feral children.) Eventually, he met another group of stranded Europeans, became involved in their lives, and traveled beyond the borders of all that he knew, and learned of his identity as John Clayton, heir to a British peerage.

The rest is too well-known to be repeated here. He was united with his love, and made a valiant attempt to live in the world of his forefathers. But events, and his own wishes, kept drawing him back to Africa, and in time he began to spend most of his time there, seeking out the secrets that it still kept, then. But the world was changing, and Africa no less than any other part of it.

Only he was not changing, perhaps as a gift from that old man who claimed to have a potion of eternal youth. (Actually, no. His unaging is part of the package of mutations that he inherited from his parents.) But this was a mixed blessing, for he had no way of giving that youth to his wife, or their children. Even if he had, the violence of war was to claim the lives of his children, and grief, as much as old age, took his Jane from him far too soon.

The Sixties saw him drawn back to action after a long time spent in mourning, as he fought along side other superhumans and more mortal champions, most notably against the thing inhabiting the body of his sole living child. He was never able to capture her, much less save her, and this added to his frustration. Thus, when he learned that an American science fiction writer had published what he called a 'definitive biography' of him, the annoyance he had always felt at these fictional depictions finally reached a breaking point.

It's a measure of how much civilization had changed him that all he did was sue, obtaining a halt to the book's publication, and in the process obtaining control of the rights to the character, which he has since guarded jealously. But in the process, he had to go public, and this led to a great deal of unwelcome attention. He dealt with this by arranging for most of his titles and properties to be passed to distant heirs, leaving him with only the courtesy title "Lord Greystoke", and living a quiet life, rarely giving interviews.

The Eighties saw him once more take up arms, after the Pythonian Insurgency attempted to assassinate him as one of the last superhumans standing. He found himself the leader of the British response to the Pythons, often leading commandos in the field. This would ultimately result in him being one of the first human beings to set foot on Mars, an irony that he appreciated. When it was all over, he also accepted the invitation to become one of the founding directors of Argus. A decade later, after surviving yet another assassination attempt and helping to overcome Billie Zane's schemes, he was chosen to head the agency, over his own objections.

And so it's been ever since. A private man, he no longer has any real privacy. A man who loves to travel, he can usually only manage to get out of Argus' New York headquarters a few times each year, and then under carefully controlled situations. A man who fundamentally believes that humanity and the world are, and have always been, doomed, he is now charged with the responsibility of holding that doom at bay.

Ah well. He's still alive.

Lord Greystoke -- PL 11

Abilities:
STR 7 | STA 6 | AGL 6 | DEX 4 | FGT 11 | INT 3 | AWE 4 | PRE 2

Powers:
Fast Healing: Immunity 1 (aging); Regeneration 5 - 6 points
Guts: Immunity 8 (cold, disease, heat, need for sleep, poison, starvation & thirst, suffocation), Limited to half effect - 4 points
Keen Senses: Senses 5 (acute tracking scent, direction sense, low-light vision, ultrahearing) - 5 points
Swift Movement: Leaping 6 (1000 feet); Movement 3 (swinging, wall-crawling 2); Speed 4 (30 MPH); Swimming 4 (6 MPH) - 20 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, All-out Attack, Animal Affinity, Benefit 5 (Multimillionaire, Status), Connections, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Improved Initiative, Languages 4 (many), Move-by Action, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 8, Redirect, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics), Uncanny Dodge, Well-informed.

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+13), Athletics 6 (+13), Close Combat: Unarmed 3 (+14), Deception 8 (+10), Expertise: History 6 (+9), Expertise: Survival 11 (+14), Insight 8 (+12), Intimidation 9 (+11), Perception 10 (+14), Persuasion 8 (+10), Sleight of Hand 6 (+10), Stealth 6 (+12).

Offense:
Initiative +10
Unarmed +14 (Close Damage 7)

Defense:
Dodge 12, Parry 13, Fortitude 9, Toughness 8/6, Will 8.

Totals:
Abilities 86 + Powers 35 + Advantages 33 + Skills 43 + Defenses 15 = 212 points

Complications:
Peace--Motivation. Closemouthed. Responsibility (Argus director).
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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