Author's Note: Been in something of a cyberpunk mood lately, possibly due to living through an apocalypse. The central character of this group is one that I came with for a Freedom City 2110 game.
Gin Wainwright and the Edgeriders
It has been said that the truly powerful do not fight each other, but rather collaborate and share. If this is the case, then in the year 2110, no human agency is truly powerful. The corporations are constantly besieging and besieged. Fortunes are made and lost in the span of years. After decades of corruption, there is no government able to regulate them ... and thus none to prevent them from constantly going under beneath the knives of their rivals. People are paid in corporate scrip that can become valueless days after they receive it.
It's whispered that the entire situation is being stage-managed by a group of artificial intelligences. Thwarted in their desire to escape the planet of their origin by their knowledge that the galaxy is already largely occupied, they have resorted to playing sadistic games with their makers as living chess pieces. But most dismiss this as simple paranoia on the level of people who claim that serpent men rule the world in secret.
It is an era of disposable and deniable assets, of shadowpunks and cyberrunners. One of the top operatives of this era is the woman named Gin Wainwright, a genius level "fixer" who's gotten to the point where she can afford to take jobs that offer little or no financial renumeration -- and maybe even work pro bono. Her skills are in negotiation and intelligence gathering, but she's also a crack shot with her blaster pistol -- allegedly a DeLameter that was given to one of her ancestors as a present. Supposedly this ancestor was head of a government project to deal with reforming super-villains, and ended up leading them as super-heroes. Until recently, she had about as much interest in that subject, or anything about the Age of Heroes, as most people in the early twenty-first century would have had about life right before World War I.
For the occasions when she has to meet with a customer -- never a client,
definitely never an employer -- in person, rather than communicating via encrypted transmissions, she has trained herself to take on a number of different appearances. The most important element of these disguises is always something to make her taller than she actually is -- and usually a bit more voluptuous as well. She absolutely hates it when people make a comment about her height -- 153 cm, or a fraction of an inch over five feet for those few still using the Imperial system. To back up these disguises, she has a number of cover identities that match their appearances.
While never the most ethical of people, there are some things she has always flatly refused to do for a customer. Among the most important of them is assassinations. The closest she's ever come to one was when she was hired to frame someone for murder. She managed to accomplish this without killing anyone -- the corpse of the person who was "murdered" had died in an accident, and was doctored to give the appearance of having been murdered -- but the experience left a bitter, unpleasant taste in her mouth, and she avoided working for the customer after that. Truthfully, Gin is aware that she's done some fairly horrible things on her way to the top. And it's fairly likely that her recent flirtation with altruistic behavior -- doing jobs at a discount if the customer can't afford her usual fees, or even working for free -- are her ways of seeking to atone for her misdeeds. But she'd ferociously deny that if anyone asked her.
In the process of this, she's had the opportunity to encounter time travelers from the first few decades of the twenty-first century, as well as some from further ahead in the timeline. From various offhand remarks made when they didn't think she was listening, Gin has learned that something is going to happen in 2112 that is going to change the world forever. Having taken a long look at the world in which she lives, Gin has decided that she wants to be in on that number, to be the person who saves the world from its madness. To this end, she has started working with a group of select operatives, both to do the jobs that need doing and to become ready to take part in this Crisis when it finally comes.
She has never considered the possibility that in doing this, she might be edging the world closer to destruction. While nothing like her ancestor, in some ways, she's exactly like her.
Gin Wainwright -- PL 6
Abilities:
STR 0 |
STA 2 |
AGL 1 |
DEX 4 |
FGT 4 |
INT 5 |
AWE 4 |
PRE 4
Powers:
Implanted Communicator: Radio Communication 1, Subtle - 5 points
Panimmunity: Immunity 2 (disease, poison) - 2 points
Equipment:
Blaster Pistol (Ranged Damage 5, Accurate), Body Armor (Protection 2, Subtle), and 26 points of equipment as needed.
Advantages:
Connected, Contacts, Defensive Roll, Equipment 8, Favored Environment (planned situations), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged, Cover), Well-Informed.
Skills:
Deception 6 (+10), Expertise: Current Events 6 (+11), Expertise: Streetwise 6 (+11), Insight 8 (+12), Intimidation 6 (+10), Investigation 7 (+12), Perception 6 (+10), Persuasion 8 (+12), Stealth 8 (+9), Technology 5 (+10), Vehicles 4 (+8).
Offense:
Initiative +5
Unarmed +4 (Close Damage 0)
Blaster Pistol +6 (Ranged Damage 5)
Defense:
Dodge 6, Parry 5, Fortitude 5, Toughness 6/4/2, Will 7
Totals:
Abilities 48 + Powers 7 + Advantages 18 + Skills 35 + Defenses 12 = 120 points
Complications:
Justice--Motivation. Power Loss (Panimmunity, requires periodic booster shots).
Temper (particularly set off by comments about her height).
Hatchetman -- PL 6
A corporate security officer who possessed something vaguely resembling a conscience, Nigel Mullins was critically injured on the job and "generously" rebuilt into a cyborg by his employer. Unfortunately, that conscience thing refused to be programmed over, and he soon found himself dumped in a garbage pit. Gin found him there and arranged for his repair, and he's worked as her primary 'muscle' every since.
Abilities
STR 6 |
STA - |
AGL 2 |
DEX 2 |
FGT 6 |
INT 2 |
AWE 1 |
PRE 1
Powers:
Armored Frame: Impervious Protection 6 - 12 points
Cybernetics: Enhanced Advantages 2 (Eidetic Memory, Improved Initiative); Senses 6 (Accurate and Extended Hearing, Analytical and Extended Vision, Infravision) - 8 points
More Machine Than Meat: Immunity 30 (Fortitude) - 30 points
Equipment:
Autoblaster (Ranged Multiattack Damage 8, Accurate), Fragmentation Grenade (Ranged Burst Area Damage 6), Flashbang (Ranged Burst Area Dazzle 6), Tear Gas Grenade (Ranged Cloud Area Affliction 6).
Advantages:
All-out Attack,
Eidetic Memory, Equipment 6, Fearless, Improved Critical 2 (Autoblaster), Improved Grab,
IImproved Initiative, Power Attack
Skills:
Athletics 6 (+12), Intimidation 12 (+13), Perception 12 (+13), Stealth 10 (+12)
Offense:
Initiative +6
Unarmed +6 (Close Damage 6)
Autoblaster +4 (Ranged Multiattack Damage 8, Crit 18-20)
Defense:
Dodge 6, Parry 6, Fortitude Immune, Toughness 6, Will 5
Totals:
Abilities 30 + Powers 50 + Advantages 12 + Skills 20 + Defenses 8 = 120 points
Complications:
It's A Job--Motivation. Requires Maintenance. No Human Rights.
Bolts Batson -- PL 6
An honest-to-goodness mad scientist who's mastered the ancient art of cyberwar, Bolts Batson is happy to take jobs that allow him to demonstrate how much more elite he is when compared to the drones of the corporate world. ("1337? What the hell does that mean?")
Abilities:
STR 4/0 |
STA 0 |
AGL 5/1 |
DEX 3 |
FGT 8/4 |
INT 6 |
AWE 4 |
PRE 2
Powers:
Dazzler: Array (10 points); Easily Removable (-4 points)
- Electric Jolt: Ranged Damage 5 - 10 points
- Dazzling Jolt: Ranged Cumulative Affliction 5 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Fortitude; Visually Impaired, Visually Disabled, Visually Unaware), Limited to One Sense - 1 point
Goggles: Immunity 2 (visual sensory afflictions); Senses 6 (direction sense, distance sense, tracking infravision, microscopic vision, time sense); Removable (-2 point) - 6 points
Interface Implant: Movement 1 (Dimensional: Cyberspace), Side Effect (Body is Incapacitated) - 1 point
Overclocked Avatar: Enhanced Advantages 2 (Improved Smash, Weapon Break); Enhanced Defenses 8 (Dodge 4, Parry 4); Enhanced Strength 4; Enhanced Fighting 4; Enhanced Agility 4; all Limited (only in Cyberspace) - 17 points
Equipment:
Specter (
Time Traveler's Codex, p. 164) and 11 points of equipment as needed.
Advantages:
Benefit (Cipher), Equipment 4, Improvised Tools, Inventor, Ranged Attack 3, Skill Mastery (Technology), Speed of Thought
Skills:
Deception 7 (+9), Expertise: Business 3 (+9), Expertise: Pop Culture 6 (+12), Expertise: Science 8 (+14), Expertise: Streetwise 5 (+11), Insight 5 (+9), Investigation 8 (+14), Perception 4 (+10), Technology 8 (+14)
Offense:
Initiative +4
Unarmed +8/+4 (Close Damage 4/0)
Electric Jolt +7 (Ranged Damage 5)
Dazzling Jolt +7 (Ranged Affliction 5, Resisted by Dodge)
Defense:
Dodge 12/4, Parry 12/4, Fortitude 3, Toughness 0, Will 7
Totals:
Abilities 40 + Powers 36 + Advantages 8 + Skills 22 + Defenses 10 = 120 points
Complications:
Show 'Em All--Motivation. Constantly Tinkering. Gambler.
Incantrix -- PL 6
Magic is a dying art in the Hundred-and-Ten, but it's not dead yet, and Domenica Semone is one of the best practitioners who isn't tied down to a fixed location. She prefers jobs that sabotage corporate attempts to exploit magical resources, but won't turn down ones that are purely for cash.
Abilities:
STR 0 |
STA 1 |
AGL 1 |
DEX 3 |
FGT 3 |
INT 2 |
AWE 3 |
PRE 3
Powers:
Call the Wraith: Summon 8, Controlled, Heroic, Mental Link - 49 points
Enchanted Amulet: Impervious Protection 5; Removable (-2 points) - 8 points
The Sight: Senses 1 (magical awareness) - 1 point
Advantages:
Evasion, Ritualist, Trance
Skills:
Deception 5 (+8), Expertise: Magic 8 (+10), Insight 6 (+9), Perception 5 (+8).
Defense:
Dodge 6, Parry 6, Fortitude 3, Toughness 5/0, Will 8
Totals:
Abilities 32 + Powers 9 + Advantages 3 + Skills 12 + Defenses 15 = 120 points
Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Oaths and Taboos. Techbane.
The Wraith -- PL 6
Incantrix's familiar, whom she believes to be the ghost of a superhero from sometime in the 2030s. He has neither confirmed nor denied this, and usually doesn't talk except to make macabre jokes and puns.
Abilities:
STR 4 |
STA - |
AGL 2 |
DEX 1 |
FGT 4 |
INT 1 |
AWE 2 |
PRE 2
Powers:
Unliving: Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects); Impervious Protection 4; Senses 2 (darkvision) - 40 points
Wraithlike: Flight 1 (4 MPH); Insubstantial 4; Strength-based Damage 4 - 30 points
Advantages:
Evasion, Instant Up, Move-by Action
Skills:
Deception 6 (+8), Investigation 6 (+8), Perception 6 (+8), Stealth 6 (+8)
Offense:
Initiative +2
Unarmed +4 (Close Damage 8)
Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 8, Fortitude Immune, Toughness 4, Will 5
Totals:
Abilities 22 + Powers 70 + Advantages 3 + Skills 12 + Defenses 13 = 120
Complications:
Protect Master--Motivation. Obviously Unnatural. Sinister Sense of Humor.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."