Set's Sideways Supers (was Freedomverse South and West)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Ian Turner
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:54 pm

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Ian Turner »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 28, 2020 6:36 am Hey, cool idea! Good to see you posting here after having seen you on the Discord :).
Might have been another Ian on the Discord. (Apparently I'm not the only one. How annoying is that?) :)

I was Set, way back on the Green Ronin forums.
I forget how a bit of 2nd Edition worked, so I forget if you could use "Tranform" to turn living beings into stuff, lol.
Yeah, just animals into stuffed animal toys, temporarily, in this case, 'cause she's whacky like that, and I didn't want to deal with anything more over-the-top. (I mean, this is useful, but niche, and depends on their being mundane animals around that need to be dealt with. Turning people into toy dolls also seems on-theme for her, but that's both more 'save or die' than I wanted her faerie magic to be, and also mathier, particularly if the toy dolls were still animated, which sounds like totally something that a faerie curse would do, turn everyone into animated articulated (not anatomically correct...) action figures of themselves.)
Ian Turner
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:54 pm

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Ian Turner »

Name Cutter PL 10
Tagline “I have no buckler, so I brought extra swash…”
Real Name Martin Durand Age 27 Hair Black
Occupation ??? Place of Origin Ironton, Ohio
Str 14, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 14/18 [24]
Saves: Toughness: +2, Fortitude: +7, Reflex: +9, Will: +6 [15]
Skills: Acrobatics 2 (+6), Bluff 4/12 (+6/+16), Diplomacy 6 (+10), Drive 2 (+6), Handle Animal 2 (+4/+6), Intimidation 6 (+8/+10), Knowledge (history) 2 (+3), Language 1 (French), Notice 2 (+4), Pilot 2 (+5), Ride 4 (+8), Search 2 (+3), Sense Motive 6 (+7/+11), Sleight of Hand 4 (+8), Stealth 2 (+6), Swim 1 (+3) [12]
Feats: Accurate Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 2, Attack Specialization (saber) 3, Attractive, Benefit (law enforcement), Blind-Fight, Defensive Roll 3, Dodge Focus 5, Elusive Target, Equipment 3, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Improved Trip, Instant Up, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Redirect, Set-up, Takedown Attack, Weapon Bind [33]
Equipment (undercover vest (+3 Tgh, subtle), Arsenal (cavalry rifle (as assault rifle, but no Autofire, cost 10 EP), AP: brass knuckles (+1 strike, Mighty) [15 EP/3 pp]
Powers: Device 3 (Daka crystal-infused cavalry saber, Strike 3 (Extra: Affects Insubstantial, Autofire 2, Power Feats: Mighty, Improved Critical, Unbreakable) [9],
Gifts of Anansi and Eshu (Concealment 4 (visual, Power Feats: Selective, Subtle 2) [11], Enhanced Ability 4 (+4 Charisma) [4], Enhanced Feats 9 (Assessment, Distract (bluff), Fascinate (bluff), Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Initiative, Skill Mastery (Bluff, Escape Artist, Sense Motive, Stealth), Taunt, Uncanny Dodge (visual)) [8], Enhanced Skills (+8 Bluff, +8 Sense Motive) [4], Immunity 5 (interaction effects), Super-Speed 1 (Rapid Attack)) [5]) [38]
Combat: Attack: +7, Damage: +2 (+5 w/ rifle), Defense: +7 (+3 flat-footed), Initiative: +16 [28]
Normal Atk +9 melee/+7 ranged/+15 saber, Dam +2 (+5 w/ sword, +5 w/ rifle, +3 w/ brass knuckles), Def +13 (+3 flat-footed), Tough +5 (+2 flat-footed, +8 w/ kevlar (+5 flat-footed))
[24 +15 +12 +33 +38 +28 = 150 pp]

It’s perhaps overstating things to say that great-something-grandpappy Henri Durand was a 'pirate.' He was a privateer, and his raids on English and Portuguese ships were authorized under letter of marque. It is *not* overstating things to say that he fled to America to avoid the guillotine, after his aristocratic patrons fell out of favor in The Terror. Along with other French ex-pats, he settled in Gallipolis, in Ohio, only for the family to soon relocate to nearby Ironton, as he proved unpopular with his former countrymen, and, well, everyone else. Officially, he was moving for new opportunities, and he found them aplenty, taking over the smuggling operation on the river that he had already been somehow connected to, as was his wont. It was not until after his death that his widow got to pick up a new angle on the operation, smuggling slaves for the Underground Railroad (something he wasn’t particularly keen on getting involved in, despite having pirated several slave ships, back in the day, he was an indifferent abolitionist, no matter what history says to the contrary, with the family home on the river now being a museum tour on the history of the Abolitionist movement he cared not a bit for).

It was a descendent of his, perhaps a son, or daughter? (that would certainly explain why her name was unremembered, if it was a daughter!), who earned the favor of Anansi and Eshu, orisha of storytellers and trickery, for their work, as well as a ‘blessing’ of daka crystal powder applied by a griot to their fire-blackened blade, creating an unknown alloy with unusual properties to help in their mission, as the tunnels to the riverside passed beneath the family plot, and the spirit of father rested uneasily, and could render the tunnel unusable, if not for the daka-infused blade that could cut into his cold spirit and drive him back.

The blade had sat idle for many years before Martin picked it up, being the first Durand in several generations to receive the family Gifts of Anansi and Eshu, awoken seemingly by his assisting a descendant of one of their faithful, at some risk to himself. (He has no idea how that all works.) He has recognized the nature of the ‘gifts’ from family legends, and that he is now capable of lying with his body and soul, so that unless he chooses it, people’s eyes deceive them and allow him to effortlessly avoid their defenses, while also somehow evading their own attacks, as they invariably attack where he is not. His very stance is a lie, and the more skilled the fighter, the more it seems they are disadvantaged by false readings and false expectations.

Martin spreads all sorts of nonsense about how his powers work, but leaves out anything about ‘Gifts of Anansi and Eshu’ or the Underground Railroad, as he feels uncomfortable with the idea of himself, a clearly white man, claiming powers of an African origin. Since he currently operates well south of the family home, he's not terribly worried about being connected to the Durand family, up in Ironton, but wears a swashbuckler's mask and outrageous outfit, to keep his family out of it, and avoid any controversy that could result.

[Boxes ticked. Weapon Master (not a bow!). Black Knight or Swordsman homage. Ties to southern history. Cutter’s big thing is that he’s got the mechanical advantages of being invisible in combat. Enemies are flat-footed against his attacks, and he’s got total concealment versus their attacks, and yet it’s Subtle 2, and he’s completely visible (unless he doesn’t want to be), and nobody knows why they can’t hit him or avoid his attacks! I thought about Drain (attack/defense bonii) or a Mental Transform or a Sight-Dependent Area (burst) Range (touch) One Command (be flat-footed against me!) Mind Control effect, but Subtle Concealment really felt like the elegant (and, uh, affordable…) solution here. Accurate Attack and his daka-infused saber with Autofire 2 have a fun synergy, too.]

One Southern Cross member left, who will take longer than the others, because she's six characters in one, an animal/hybrid shifter who has different super-abilities depending on which forms she's in, such as a sonic cry when in bird-lady form, or super-speed in cheetah-lady form. But I'm on the fence about a lot of things regarding her, so, yeah, I'll work on her tonight at work, so, at earliest, she won't be done 'till tomorrow morning.
Ian Turner
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:54 pm

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Ian Turner »

Just as Freedom City also is home to the Atom family, and some other heroes, the Southern Cross is not the only hero team in this massive region of the country, with easily a dozen cities worthy of fielding their own 'Freedom League South.'

Another team, the Belles, is based in New Orleans, at least some of the year, although they are a bit more mobile than most, as their leader is Mississippi Queen, a powerful water-controller who can teleport the entire team anywhere along the Mississippi watershed (which is really quite large and touches like 23 states, according to teh Google). Other regular members (their membership comes and goes more frequently than most, and might qualify as something of a 'non-team') include Delta Dawn (with light and illusion powers, but no flight or lasers), Magnolia Rose (a former Green Man Bride, able to transform into a flying swarm of flower petals, and create, animate and control entangling kudzu vines or sedative pollen clouds), Young Glory (a 'patriotic hero' who uses a collapsible battlestaff, shuriken and some sort of minor psychic gifts), Screaming Eagle / Whistling Dixie (she's currently changing her name, but is a supersonic flier who specializes in bowling people over with sonic booms) and Alchemissy (a sassy transmuter who can change the state of matter from solid to liquid to gas, or vice-versa).

"The Southern Belles?"
"So that people don't confuse us with the Northern Belles or the Eastern Belles? I don't think so. Just 'the Belles.' Like when I say 'hospitality,' the 'southern' is implied."
"Like when she says 'Comfort,' the 'Southern' is implied..."
"Bless your heart!"
Ian Turner
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:54 pm

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Ian Turner »

And the last member of the Southern Cross team, who is referred to as Fauna by her teammates, even 'though that's not a name she's ever used for herself...

Name Fauna PL 10
Tagline "Take a walk on the wild side!"
Real Name Rihanna Rose ‘Pamela’ Thibodeaux Age 23 Hair Black
Occupation She’s done it all! Place of Origin Miami
Str 18, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 14 [30]
Saves: Toughness: +2, Fortitude: +12, Reflex: +13, Will: +7 [25]
Skills: Acrobatics 2/10 (+5/+13), Climb 2/10 (+6/+16), Computers 2 (+4), Concentration 4 (+6), Craft (artistic) 2 (+4), Diplomacy 4 (+6), Disguise 2 (+4), Drive 2 (+5), Handle Animal 2 (+4), Intimidation 2 (+4), Knowledge (life sciences) 8 (+7), Language 2 (French, Spanish), Medicine 4 (+6), Notice 2/10 (+4/+12), Perform (singing) 4 (+6), Profession (EMT) 2 (+5), Profession (hairdresser) 4 (+6), Profession (lifeguard) 2 (+5), Profession (teacher) 4 (+6), Sense Motive 4 (+6), Stealth 2/10 (+5/+13), Swim 2/10 (+6/+16) [16]
Feats: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 2, Attractive, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 3, Diehard, Dodge Focus 3, Elusive Target, Endurance, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Instant Up, Move-by Action, Power Attack [20]
Powers:
Shapeshift 7 (Action 2 (full round action), Limited (only animal/human chimeric hybrids), Unreliable (only 5 / day)) [28]
Protection 2 [2]
Speed 1 [1]
Super-Senses 2 (low-light vision, scent) [2]
Combat: Attack: +7, Damage: +4 (+X), Defense: +7 (+3 flat-footed), Initiative: +6 [28]
Normal Atk +9 melee, Dam +4, Def +10 (+4 flat-footed), Tough +7 (+2 flat-footed)
PL 6.5/8.5 in human form
[30 +25 +16 +20 +33 +28 = 150 pp]

Sample forms;
Landshark! – Enhanced Abilities 4 (+4 Strength) [4], Enhanced Feats 6 (Attack Focus (melee) 1, Environmental Adaptation (underwater), Improved Critical (bite), Improved Grab, Improved Grapple, Improved Pin) [6], Enhanced Skills 4 (+8 Notice, Swim) [4], Immunity 3 (breathe underwater, environmental cold, pressure) ]3], Protection 3 [3], Swimming 3 [3], Strike 4 (lethal bite, Extra: Duration (concentration, inflicts damage each round a grapple is maintained), Power Feat: Mighty, AP: Strike 4 (lethal bite, Extra: Poison (actually bleeding), Power Feat: Mighty)) [10] , Super-Senses 2 (extended scent 1, tremorsense, Flaw: Limit (both only underwater)) [2] [35] Atk +10, Dam +10, Def +10, Tgh +10

Ladyhawk (looking for a new name for this one after a cease-and-desist from Paramount, might go with a more owlish look and use 'O Rly') – Enhanced Abilities 2 (+2 Strength) [2], Enhanced Feats 4 (Attack Focus (melee) 1, Dodge Focus 2, Improved Critical) [4], Enhanced Skills 4 (+8 Notice, Stealth) [4], Flight 2 [4], Protection 1 [1], Strike 3 (Power Feats: Accuracy, Mighty)) [5], Stun 6 (screech, Power Feat: Accurate) [13], Super-Senses 2 (Extended Vision, Accurate Hearing) [2], [35] Atk +12, Dam +8, Def 12, Tgh 8

Buffylo – Growth 4 (+8 Str, +4 Con, size Large, -1 atk/def, +5 ft. reach, +5 ft. speed, +4 grapple, -4 Stealth, +2 Intimidate, Extra: Duration (Continuous), Flaw: Permanent) [16], Protection 2 [2] Strike 2 (lethal, Mighty, AP: Strike 1 (Extra: Area (trail), Power Feat: Mighty)) [4], Super-Movement 1 (sure-footed) [2], Super-Strength 1 [2], Enhanced Ability 4 (+4 Strength) [4], Enhanced Feats 3 (Fast Overrun, Improved Overrun, Improved Throw) [3], Enhanced Skill 2 (+8 Notice) [2] [35] Def +9, Tgh +11, Atk +8, Dam +12

Ladybug – Additional Limbs 3 (4 extra limbs) [3], Enhanced Ability 2 (+2 Strength), Enhanced Feats 2 (Improved Grab, Improved Pin), Enhanced Skills 4 (+8 Climb, +8 Notice) [3] Flight 1 (AP: Super-Movement 1 (wall-crawling)) [3], Protection 3 (+5 Impervious) [8], Snare 10 (Flaw: Range 1 (touch), AP: Nauseate 10 (Flaw: Sicken only)) [11], Super-Strength 1 [2], [35]

Queen Cobra – Strike 1 (Extras: Penetrating 5, Linked to Drain, Power Feat: Mighty) [7], Drain (Dexterity) 11 (Power Feat: Slow Fade 2 (1 minute), Flaw: Limit (Strike must do damage to inflict Drain), AP: Drain (Dex) 8 (Power Feats: Accuracy 2, Extended Range 4 (20 ft)) [14], Enhanced Feats 4 (Attack Focus (ranged) 1, Improved Grab, Improved Grapple, Improved Pin), Protection 3, Super-Movement 1 (slithering), Super-Senses 1 (Infravision), Enhanced Skills 4 (+4 Climb, Notice, Stealth, Swim) [35]

Lolcat – Enhanced Feats 16 (Attack Specialization 2 (claws), Chokehold, Dodge Focus 4, Elusive Target, Evasion, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Critical (claws), Improved Grab, Improved Grapple, Improved Pin, Uncanny Dodge (visual), Track), Enhanced Skills 8 (+8 Acrobatics, Climb, Notice, Stealth), Leaping 2, Strike 2 (lethal claws and fangs, Power Feats: Incurable, Mighty, AP: Strike 1 (lethal claws, Extra: Area (burst), Power Feats: Incurable, Mighty)) [5], Speed 1, Super-Movement 2 (safe fall, surefooted), Super-Senses 1 (track) [35]

'Pamela' is a bit flighty by nature, having been a stylist (specializing in long braids), a choir singer, a kindergarten teacher, a lifeguard, an EMT/volunteer firefighter, and a physiotherapist/physical rehab nursing assistant. She has a problem committing to any one of these things... Her birth name, Rihanna Rose, is just one of those things she never uses, thinking of it as kind of a 'porn star name' and having picked Pam out of a hat. Similarly, she has no set superhero name, making up new and usually regrettable names for her animal hybrid forms as she assumes them, with a few standbys like Ladybug and Landshark, and various one-offs like She-Bat, Crocigator and Rhinocerlass. When asked about the origin of her powers, to assume chimerical animal/human hybrid forms, she usually avoids giving any specific information, but once claimed that she got them when she accidentally foiled a museum heist, and after snatching a bag of purloined Egyptian faences to the gods Sobek, Sekhmet, Apshai, Thoth, Maat and Hathor, was knocked off the balcony and fell upon the ancient clay trinkets, which broke and imbued her with the power to transform into the animalistic forms of those gods. The fact that she related this tale mere minutes after Hearthfire related a similar tale of being empowered in a museum by a relic of a mythic deity simply assured everyone that this story, like the rest, was completely made up. [Note also her 0 ranks in Bluff. She's fooling no one.]

Despite her French name, she's quite dark, with a Congolese (Swahili) mother, and a biracial (American of French and Congolese extraction) father. She wears a garish mish-mash of animal patterns, with zebra-striped pants, faux feathers on her neckline and sleeves, faux snakeskin boots, a leopard-spotted top and a necklace with a single enormous (resin) shark fang. She does not wear actual feathers, fur or leather, although she's not nearly as 'in tune with nature' as her powers would suggest. (And is mildly allergic to cats, and deathly afraid of spiders, and will never assume a hybrid spider form, although beetles and wasps and dragonflies and butterflies are all fine.) Her hair is distinctive, with dozens of tight braids that reach down to her waist, and are individually dyed red, blue, green, yellow and purple. When she transforms, these braids sometime remain (in feline or ursine or bovine forms), and at other times turn into feathers or a keratin or chitin crest, but retaining their distinctive rainbow hues.

Unlike the other members of the Southern Cross team, 'Fauna' has no 'legal enforcement powers,' as she refuses to provide certain information to the team's sponsoring authorities with the city and regional government. She's allowed to serve on the team, but handling arrests, authorizing missions, etc. is left to her teammates, who have better standing.

Her power to transform is taxing, taking time, and being limited to a few times per day, and she usually endeavors to pick one form and stay in it all day, unless another form would be far better suited to the situation. Being stunned repeatedly can quickly leave her stuck in human form, in which she's surprisingly capable in a fight, even lacking powers, as she has much of the strength and fighting ability of those forms, even 'at rest.'

[Boxes ticked, the animal-themed hero or hero with animal traits, whether it's Tigra or Hawkman or Wasp or, most specifically, Silverclaw. This character has been banging around in my head since 1st edition, when I read the Silver Shrike entry at the beginning M&M 1e, and saw the various customization options (bird, spider, cat, fish, insect, reptile) and thought 'Why not spend 5 pp and make these alternate forms off of the first form, so she can be Silver Shrike, or Silver Serpent, or Silver Shark, or Silver Spider, or Silver Panther!' And so, here she finally is. I rewrote her a bunch of times, wanting to use five or six set forms, veering into a everything-all-at-once option that didn't shapeshift at all (more like Vixen) but was too expensive, but those were hard (and didn't fit what I was looking for, aesthetically, in the latter case), and I gave up and went the lazy Shapeshift route.] :)
Spectrum
Posts: 3128
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:08 pm

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Spectrum »

Ian Turner wrote: Tue Jul 28, 2020 11:51 am "Bless your heart!"
What a deliciously deceptive phrase. I love it. Especially, when folks not from the South misunderstand it to be a compliment. :)
We rise from the ashes so that new legends can be born.
Ian Turner
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:54 pm

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Ian Turner »

Spectrum wrote: Wed Jul 29, 2020 1:25 pm
Ian Turner wrote: Tue Jul 28, 2020 11:51 am "Bless your heart!"
What a deliciously deceptive phrase. I love it. Especially, when folks not from the South misunderstand it to be a compliment. :)
Yeah, I recently heard it again, and it reminds me of growing up in Oklahoma and the various folksy sayings of my childhood (as well as the other things I miss, like country fried steak and biscuits and gravy, which are hard to find in New England, and impossible to find made well).
Ian Turner
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:54 pm

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Ian Turner »

And now to start on the Lone Stars (or 'Lone Star Sentinels,' which nobody, not even them, calls them...).

First, some backstory;
Some time in the ancient past, an alien scoutship got stranded when it's lone occupant, a bit space-happy after a long trek, decided to step off the craft and get a selfie with an allosaurus, and instead got himself eated. (True story! And there's a much more complicated reason why it thought this was a good idea. But that's *someone else's origin story.*)

Geologists searching for reasons for unusual tectonic *stability* in the area located a large metal craft deep underground, in recent years, and, for whatever reason, a private contractor got wind of it before the government, and tried to dig it up and claim and exploit this resource for their own benefit. In the process, the government, of course, arrived, and all sorts of silly posturing, legal maneuvering and a media circus ensued, with teams scurrying to 'hurry it along' and 'extract what we can' before the government shut them down and 'took all the good stuff for themselves.' When dealing with ancient alien technology, haste is not advised. Attempting to strip the warp-reactor from the ship, it was instead triggered, and blinked out of existence in a paroxym of space-warping energies that affected dozens of surrounding workers, seemingly randomly. (It was dumb luck that it empowered practically none of the too-clever government agents or corporate security or 'legal advisors' or low-level government officials and corporate executives cluttered about on the surface, but mostly just laborers, truckers and day-workers, brought in to 'move boxes, and not ask questions.')

Freeway, of the Southern Cross, got his powers here, as did the most iconic member of the Lone Stars, the sixty-foot giant hero, Big Sky, whose 'iconic' status became somewhat *ironic* at this point, as he got fired a year and a half later.

These two got the most dynamic and useful abilities, others were merely distorted and malformed by the effect, and they have enemies from among those changed, including Daddy Long-Legs (with freakishly elongating legs that grow strong and tough as they lengthen) and Mister Big (with a distorted enormous right arm and side of his head/face, granting him superhuman strength, in that limb, and a malevolent super-intelligent split personality with heightened senses) and Vise (trapped in a spatial warp, can teleport a short distance and pull others into the warp to be crushed, is nigh invulnerable) and Rubberband Man (a thief with limited elongation and a tough regenerative rubbery body that can squeeze into various places he should not be as easily as it squeezed him out of jail the one time he was caught). [Space is left deliberately for this to be an origin source for other new heroes or villains, particularly those involve space (or time!) warping abilities, or a warped physiology. Not *nearly* as flexible as the Silver Storm, over in Emerald City, but it's only the power source for an average of one person per team, so it's not as important, either, as the heroes come from all over the regions, not just a single city which requires an unusual concentration of supers.]
Last edited by Ian Turner on Fri Jul 31, 2020 2:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ian Turner
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:54 pm

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Ian Turner »

First, the dude who got fired.

Name Big Sky PL 10
Tagline “Everything’s bigger in Texas!”
Real Name John Delgado Age 29 Hair Black
Occupation Full-time superhero Place of Origin XXX Reservation
Str 14/38, Dex 14, Con 16/28, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 12 [22]
Saves: Toughness: +3 (+15 (6 Impervious) when Grown), Fortitude: +8 (+14 Grown), Reflex: +7, Will: +7 [15]
Skills: Climb 2 (+4/+16/+4), Craft (structural) 8 (+9), Drive 2 (+4), Escape Artist 2 (+4), Handle Animal 4 (+5), Intimidation 4 (+5/+11/-3), Medicine 2 (+4), Notice 4 (+6), Ride 4 (+6), Search 4 (+5), Stealth 2 (+4/-10/+18), Survival 8 (+10), Swim 2 (+4/+16/+4) [12]
Feats: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Animal Empathy, Attack Focus (melee) 3, Attractive, Chokehold, Defensive Roll 2, Dodge Focus 1, Endurance, Improved Grab, Improved Grapple, Improved Initiative, Improved Pin, Interpose, Track [18]
Powers: Growth 12 (+24 Str, +12 Con, +3 size (Gargantuan), +15 ft. Speed, -4 Atk/Def penalty, +12 Grapple, -12 Stealth, +6 Intimidate, +15 ft. Reach, 20 ft. space, +15 Str for carrying capacity, 48 ft. tall, 102,400 lbs (51 tons), AP: Elongation 6, AP: Shrinking 16 (Extras: Growth Strike, Normal Strength), AP: Teleport 6 (200 miles, Extra: Accurate, Power Feat: Progression 4 (2500 lbs of cargo), Flaw: Tiring)) [51], Protection 6 (Extra: Impervious, Flaw: Limit (2 ranks / size change larger)) [6] [57]
Combat: Attack: +7 (-4 fully Grown, +8 fully Shrunk), Damage: +2 (+14 Grown), Defense: +6 (-4 fully Grown, +8 fully Shrunk), Initiative: +6 [26]
Medium Atk +11, Dam +2, Def +7, Tough +5 (+3 flat-footed)
Gargantuan Atk +6, Dam +14, Def +3, Tough +16 (6 Imp, +14 flat-footed)
Diminutive Atk +18, Dam +2, Def +15, Tough +5 (+3 flat-footed)
[22 +15 +12 +18 +57 +26 = 150 pp]

John Delgado was a day-laborer, paid to ask no questions and trucked in to help manhandle the boxes of priceless goods that were hoped to be liberated from the buried alien ship (they were disappointed, as the alien traveled light...). The explosion gifted him with the power to grow to vast size, and he was trapped that way for over a month, something of a media sensation, before he gained control of his power (with the help of the Atom family, particularly Maximus Atom, and Chase Atom, who linked them telepathically). Any thoughts of a secret identity, or a normal life, gone, he leapt at the chance to join the new state-sponsored team the Man in Black was assembling, and was it's most visible and popular member for a shining moment.

And then he kept opening his mouth, and saying the exact wrong thing. An outspoken Native American (he calls himself an Apache, even if the accepted term was 'Dine'), he said to a reporter asking about his representing an 'American team' if he felt like an outsider, and quipped that his people were the real Americans, and 'you people just got kicked out of every decent country in Europe and washed up here.' That combined with his going a bit wild with his newfound local celebrity and leaving an ever increasing number of angry young women who didn't realize that they were one-night stands in his wake, he was quickly turning into a walking HR violation and legal liability. Attempts to partner him up with more diplomatic partners like Golden Gunslinger or Man in Black proved insufficient, as he got into enough trouble outside of public engagements that it was deemed necessary to part ways, and he's now a solo act.

The sad thing is, he was getting good at this hero thing. A focus on both training and search-and-rescue skills had turned him from a giant klutz who was as likely to be a liability as an asset on the battlefield to a powerhouse, and the linchpin the team centered around on the battlefield, with a solid and memorable televised fight against a giant monster outside of Galveston cementing the team's reputation in the early days, before the ill-advised 'Eurotrash' comment went viral and the first paternity suit followed soon thereafter. (He's beaten each suit as they came, after genetic testing, having 'been careful' and not made any super-babies that he knows of, and indeed, it seemed that some of the suits were linked, and suggest some sort of targeted campaign...)

Despite being on the outs with the team, John remains friendly with former teammates Ghost Crow and Golden Gunslinger, and they've had a few 'team ups.'

Big Sky is no slouch even at 'normal size,' but prefers to fight at his 'fighting weight' of sixty feet tall (all 100 tons of it!), with bones as tough as battleship steel and legs like redwoods. His teleportation is tiring, and one issue he had as a team-teleporter is that he would ferry the team into battle, but then be fatigued for the main event. He's much happier that he's not got that expectation now (and the team has a new way of getting around, thanks to Sundog). He almost never uses his Elongation, save perhaps to get a beer from the fridge without getting off the couch, but he is fond of Shrinking to use Growth Strike [which is one way for him to break PL and surprise a hard-to-hit foe].

[Boxes ticked. He's Giant Man. And yes, also Apache Chief (I tried to lean away from Apache, specifically, for that reason, but it turns out the various tribes I kept picking as replacements don't have much presence in Texas, and I surrendered to the inevitable, since the Dine actually *do* have a presence in west Texas!), with a dash of Atom and Elongated Man. But so much Hank Pym, in that he's also his own worst enemy, and it has nothing to do with his powers, but just a bad decision that just haunts him forever and stains his heroic reputation (although nothing like 'wife-beater' and just 'horribly unpopular with white people, who are everyone in charge of everything'). An added irony is that he doesn't speak any native language, doesn't live on a reservation, doesn't know much at all about Dine culture, and still uses the outdated word 'Apache', the Zuni word for 'enemy' to describe his tribal affiliation. So, yeah. On the upside, he's young, fit, popular with the ladies, and has super-powers, so there's a lot of upside.

He's A) the reason I ultimately decided not to write these for 3rd edition, because 3rd edition Growth (and Shrinking) and trying to adjust the Atk/Def/Dam/Tgh caps for PL with a Fgt attribute and Melee/ranged weapon skills, or whatever, just broke my brain (and yes, I know it's not technically any more fiddly or complicated than standalone Attack / Defense scores and Attack Focus / Dodge Focus / Defensive Roll Feats, but, whatever!), and B) his *character* write up not his mechanics, got away from me and wrote him straight off the team. I didn't *mean* to mire him in controversy and make him 'the team Hank Pym' in that respect, but hey, it just worked out that way, and I exhibited exactly zero writerly discipline and just slotted in one of the half-dozen other hero ideas I had for the Texas team to replace him, letting all the potentially problematic bits cancel each other out and write him off the team!] :)
Ian Turner
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:54 pm

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Ian Turner »

I'll be doing these Texas peeps as I do them, in no particular order other than 'as the mood takes me.'

Firedrake PL 10
Tagline “Thank you for making the wrong choice, hoss…”
Real Name Siggismund Auerbach / Sy Orbach / Simon Orwell Age ??? Hair Balding (white)
Occupation Oil magnate / banker Place of Origin currently, Houston. Originally? Freedom's Reach.
Str 18/26, Dex 12, Con 20/24, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 16 [34]
Saves: Toughness: +8/+14, Fortitude: +10/+12, Reflex: +6, Will: +7 [15]
Skills: Bluff 4 (+6), Gather Information 2 (+5), Intimidation 8 (+11), Knowledge (arcane lore) 1 (+3), (business) 4 (+6), (history) 2 (+4), Language 3 (Swiss, German, English), Notice 8 (+10), Profession (investment banker) 8 (+10), Sense Motive 4 (+6), Swim 1 (+4/+8) [11]
Feats: Attack Focus (melee) 2, Attack Specialization 2 (dragon strikes), Attack Specialization 1 (fiery breath), Benefit (wealth), Connected, Defensive Roll 3, Distract (bluff), Dodge Focus 2, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Well-Informed [16]
Powers: Alternate Form 5 (dragon-man, Growth 4 (size Large, +8 Str, +4 Con) [16], Flight 2 (Flaw: winged) [2], Strike 1 (Mighty, lethal claws and fangs, bashing tail and wing-strikes) [3], 4 ranks Impervious to Toughness [4]) [25]
Regeneration 6 (Flaw: Limit (only when sleeping / unconscious) [3], Blast 12 (Extra: Area (line), Flaws: Distracting, Unreliable (5 uses / day), AP: Obscure 2 (visual, scent and thermal)) [13], Super-Senses 5 (Acute Scent 1, Accurate Hearing 2, Low Light Vision 1, Infravision 1) [5], Immunity 4 (aging, environmental cold, environmental heat, own Obscure) [4], Protection 4 [4]
Combat: Attack: +6 (), Damage: +4, Defense: +5 (), Initiative: +6 [22]
Normal Atk +6 (+8 melee), Dam +4, Def +7, Tough +8 (5 flat-footed)
Dragon form Atk +5 (+11 claw/bite/wing/tail, +8 breath), Dam +9 (+12 breath), Def +6, Tough +14 (4 Imp)
[34 +15 +11 +16 +53 +22 = 150 pp]

Appearing as a tall, massively built balding oil tycoon in a comfortable suit with an incongruous silk cravat, and clunky oversized jewelry, ‘Siggy’ is loud and boisterous and apparently, rich, but it’s hard to tell, because he’s the miseriest miser that ever misered, and spends not a single penny on his ‘adventuring,’ somehow managing to wheedle the commonwealth to pay for his every ‘work-related expense.’ He’s utterly shameless on this point, and just looks at people like they are confused children. “How do you think I *got* to be rich? Not by spending money I don’t have to!”

His obsession with money comes into sharper focus when he transforms into a twelve foot tall serpentine dragon-man, and he only grins at speculations that he sleeps on a bed of gold coins, and drops obscure Ring of the Nibilung references and implies that he used to be shorter before his greed got the better of him.

It's all hoo-ey, of course. He's from Freedom's Reach, another dimension where magic and dragons are more common sights, and the height of technology is the crossbow. He has told exactly no one his true origins, and when he is seriously questioned about the nature of his abilities leads questioners down a path suggesting whatever they want to believe, whether it be mutation, a magical curse or, in one memorable case, a space alien that happens to look like a mythical dragon (and whose race visiting Earth long ago were the source of dragon legends). He's the soul of a dragon, trapped in the body of the knight that came *this* close to killing him, and as the knight lay dying beside him, his dragon body slowly knitting it's wounds, but utterly incapacitated and helpless, the sorceress who loved that knight attempted to save his life by stealing the dragon's (she thought) ebbing life-force and bestowing it to her mortally wounded beloved. Things did not go as planned, and now he's a dragon stuck in the body of a man, only able to, with concentration, force his 'dragon-self' to manifest, for a time. Unhappy that her lover's soul had departed, and now his killer wore his face, the sorceress could still not bring herself to slay him (nor, frankly, was she a match for him, once he woke up...), and so she called upon a greater power to banish him from Freedom's Reach, and so he eventually found his way to Texas, after some time spent in Switzerland, and in Atlanta.

He changes identities every forty mortal years or so, and has been around since at least the Civil War (he left America and spent a lifetime in Europe, to avoid picking sides), and also remembers World War II vividly (he also attempted to remain neutral in that conflict, but Nazis kept invading what he considered 'his' territory). Something has changed in him, this generation, and while he talks big talk about being greedy and selfish, he's actively heroic, and his company has begun diversifying into uncharacteristic venues for him, with words like 'green energy' and 'ethical best practices' and 'diverse workforce' showing up more and more in his briefings.

After almost two centuries of being a dragon's soul in a knight's body, he's beginning to act more like the knight than the dragon! He's not sure what to think about this...

Siggy retains much of his draconic strength and toughness in human form (as well as his superior senses and draconic breath, which he can only use a few times a day), and is a PL6/7 ish, even before he swells up to twice his height, grows his armored scales and claws and tail, and unfurls his wings. In combat, he's very much 'the heavy,' and loves being the biggest and strongest thing on the battlefield (and so is greatly relieved that Big Sky has left the team, as he went from feeling like a ferocious predator twice the size of a man to a yapping chihuahua next to the sixty foot titan...).

[Boxes ticked. I wanted a 'paragon' but not the usual Superman-alogue. He can fly (with wings). He's got heat vision (fire breath). He's invulnerable (impervious scales). He's super-strong (dragon-strong! and claws!). He's even got super-senses. All the 'Superman' basics, but a totally different theme. He also fits the 'man who becomes a monster' niche of a Hulk. (Or, 'monster that's become a man?' Whatev.) He spent 3 pp on Mighty Strike 1 because its 'dual damage' and can do Bashing damage (with the tail or wing-buffets) or Lethal damage (with the claws or bite).

Regeneration is not broken out, because if I had to pick *one thing* from 3rd edition I'd choose every time over 2nd edition, it's how Regeneration was handled. So, so much more streamlined!]
User avatar
Davies
Posts: 5081
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:37 pm
Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Davies »

Now that is a fascinating take on a number of different archetypes.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
Ian Turner
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:54 pm

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Ian Turner »

Stormchaser PL 6
Tagline “Auntie’ Em, Auntie Em, it’s a twister!”
Real Name Brianna ‘Bree’ Kindler Age 23 Hair Pink
Occupation Meteorologist / Competitive Equestrian Place of Origin Austin (university town)
Str 12, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 10 [18]
Saves: Toughness: +1, Fortitude: +4, Reflex: +8, Will: +5 [12]
Skills: Acrobatics 2 (+5), Bluff, Climb 4 (+5), Computers 2 (+5) , Concentration, Craft (electronic) 4 (+7), Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Drive 2 (+5), Escape Artist, Gather Information, Handle Animal 4 (+4), Intimidation, Investigate, Knowledge (earth science) 8 (+11), (physical science) 4 (+7), (technology) 4 (+7), Language, Medicine 2 (+5), Notice 4 (+6), Perform, Pilot 2 (+4), Profession (), Ride 8 (+10), Search, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Survival 2 (+4), Swim [13]
Feats: Attack Focus (ranged) 3, Endurance, Equipment 2, Evasion, Improved Initiative, Improvised Tools, Second Chance (falling) [10]
Equipment: light pistol (6), undercover shirt (3), cellphone (1)
Powers:
Whirlwind - Flight 3 (Extras: Duration (continuous), Linked to Force Field and Shield), Force Field 3 (Extras: Duration (continuous), Linked to Flight & Shield), Shield 3 (Extras: Duration (continuous), Linked to Flight & Force Field), [21],
AP: Flight 2 (Extra: Area (burst), Linked to Area Force Field & Shield), Protection 2 (Extras: Area (burst)), Link to Area Flight & Shield), Shield 2 (Extras: Area (burst)), Link to Area Flight & Force Field)), [14/1]
AP: Dust Devils (Summon 6 (90 pp, Extras: Fanatical, Power Feats: Mental Link, Progression 1)) [20/1]
Combat: Attack: +3 (), Damage: +1, Defense: +3 (), Initiative: +6 [12]
Normal Atk +3 (+6 ranged), Dam +1 (+3 pistol), Def +3 (+6 w/whirlwind), Tough +5 (+6 w/whirlwind))
Dust Devils Atk +6, Dam +6, Def +6, Tgh +6
[18 +12 +13 +10 +25 +12 = 90 pp]

Bree has three main 'things' she can do. She can create a whirlwind around just her that seems to have a life of it's own, and remains active even if she is stunned or unconscious, providing her with both flight and protection from harm. She can create a somewhat larger whirlwind around adjacent folk as well, carrying them away, more slowly, or protecting them from harm, but this requires a bit more focus on her part and will dissipate if she loses concentration. Finally she can summon her 'dust devils,' a pair of twisters slightly larger than a person, which have their own intelligence and will, but no real independence, and can be used to move objects, draw the oxygen from around a person, spin them around until they become dizzy and disoriented, or flare out and attempt to just knock everyone in a small area to their feet (something they are quite good at).

She, like many of her teammates, seems to be in no hurry to tell authorities where she got her powers, only saying that, "I chase tornadoes. I never thought I'd catch one!" What is known is that she is indeed a professional stormchaser, having specialized in meteorological studies in college, and been assigned to a convoy of other stormchasers, only for her van to have been lost in a T5 twister. Two days later, she was found in another state, unharmed, but with these new abilities, and no explanation for where they came from, or where she'd been for the missing 48 hours.

Apart from her stormchasing, Bree breaks horses to ride, and has ridden in a few rodeos and shows, although she's hardly at a professional level there. It's not a far stretch to say that she likes horses more than people, but she also gets along well with her fellow geeky stormchasers, so it's not a 'misanthrope' thing so much as 'does not relate to her fellow super-heroes, or to law enforcement in general.'

Bree has short hair dyed pink, and slightly more earrings than is considered 'ladylike.' Jeans, workboots and a t-shirt make up her typical outfit, with no real interest in anything fancy, although she will put on an undercover vest if time permits (usually putting it on *over* a t-shirt, pretty much defeating the purpose of 'undercover' or 'Subtle'). Between her dress and no-nonsense attitude, there have been a few assumptions made about her romantic proclivities, but she likes the boys, she just has no clue how makeup works, and zero inclination to learn. There are barometers to rip apart and repurpose!

[Boxes ticked. Red Tornado! Also Texas Twister, from Marvel, who isn't an Avenger big name or anything, but I couldn't have a Texas team without a Texas Twister homage! Also a PL 6, representing a relative newbie on the team, and not someone who needs to be PL 10 to do what she does, which is sweep mooks off their feet with great vigor. She also, if she wears her undercover shirt *and* puts up her defensive whirlwind, goes two points over PL defensively, but she's often got the two dust devils up (which she has to summon one at a time, lacking the Horde extra), and can't put up her defensive whirlwind, so the vest is to help in those situations.]
Last edited by Ian Turner on Sat Aug 01, 2020 10:11 am, edited 3 times in total.
Ian Turner
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:54 pm

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Ian Turner »

Davies wrote: Sat Aug 01, 2020 9:52 am Now that is a fascinating take on a number of different archetypes.
Glad ya like him. He's one of the few I've actually played before (in Villains and Vigilantes as well as M&M) and I enjoyed having a character with attack, defense, transportation and some limited other goodies (great senses, slow self-healing, obscuring smoke cloud), and yet a tight theme and not 'I can fly, am super-strong and can shoot lasers, because, reasons!'
User avatar
Davies
Posts: 5081
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:37 pm
Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Davies »

Ian Turner wrote: Sat Aug 01, 2020 10:06 am
Davies wrote: Sat Aug 01, 2020 9:52 am Now that is a fascinating take on a number of different archetypes.
Glad ya like him. He's one of the few I've actually played before (in Villains and Vigilantes as well as M&M) and I enjoyed having a character with attack, defense, transportation and some limited other goodies (great senses, slow self-healing, obscuring smoke cloud), and yet a tight theme and not 'I can fly, am super-strong and can shoot lasers, because, reasons!'
Plus he's Scrooge McDuck!
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
Ian Turner
Posts: 220
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:54 pm

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Ian Turner »

Davies wrote: Sat Aug 01, 2020 10:21 am
Ian Turner wrote: Sat Aug 01, 2020 10:06 am
Davies wrote: Sat Aug 01, 2020 9:52 am Now that is a fascinating take on a number of different archetypes.
Glad ya like him. He's one of the few I've actually played before (in Villains and Vigilantes as well as M&M) and I enjoyed having a character with attack, defense, transportation and some limited other goodies (great senses, slow self-healing, obscuring smoke cloud), and yet a tight theme and not 'I can fly, am super-strong and can shoot lasers, because, reasons!'
Plus he's Scrooge McDuck!
Yes! And Fafnir, from Ring of the Nibilung. And 'Mark Dragon', from Southern Knights (although he 'felt' better on the Texas Lone Stars team than the Southern Cross team, for me). And Mr. Long, from Tea with the Black Dragon. And, kinda/sorta, with a sideways squint, a dash of Martian Manhunter (monster/alien disguised as a PI for years). And definitely Dunkelzahn, from Shadowrun.

He's just a terribly versatile shout out. :)
Jabroniville
Posts: 24693
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Freedomverse South and West

Post by Jabroniville »

Yeah, Firedrake is rad! He's a "Budget Supes" but alternates the gimmick into all sorts of interesting stuff, making a "kitchen sink" setting work with Wizards & Dragons elements, a more amoral past, and an increasing amount of morality coming into his life. I can see this guy actually being a real-live superhero people would read about. Impressive work on him!
Post Reply