The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse; Red Ronin! Netsuko Nishimura! Rinako Saeki! Fujiko Yoshihara! Masaru Kido!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
User avatar
EternalPhoenix
Posts: 1858
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:42 am
Location: The Land of Mary

Re: The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse; Newest: Lestari, Reina Wong, Holter [Aerin Grosvenor])

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Davies wrote: Sat Feb 26, 2022 3:24 am That's another combination I never would have considered.
Gilliam wrote: Sat Feb 26, 2022 9:59 am I have to agree as well and wish I had thought of it myself :)
As much as I'd like to swagger and take credit for bieng a genius, I actually have no idea what you're talking about. I mean, his gear is absolutely stolen from that show, with his names being a wink towards that origin. Him being Corsican is little bit that too (Corsica being an island, after all), but mostly it's a wink towards the most famous of all Corsicans, Napoleon. Otherwise he's as original as it's possible for a character to be in my media soaked brain. Because the dang thing doesn't tell me when it's doing things, sometimes. So rude. :mrgreen:
The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse!)
The Archetype Blendarama!
You, Dear Reader, may comment on any build at any time. I will be happy regardless.
User avatar
Davies
Posts: 5080
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:37 pm
Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse; Newest: Holter [Aerin Grosvenor], Ninguem, Cecilia Bridges)

Post by Davies »

Mostly I was talking about the idea of using that gear in a contemporary superheroic setting, and the idea of this character reflecting the gradual darkening of the series' protagonist.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
User avatar
EternalPhoenix
Posts: 1858
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:42 am
Location: The Land of Mary

Santiago Valdés

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Santiago Valdés

Power Level: 10; Power Points Spent: 195/195

STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +2 (14), INT: +3 (16), WIS: +5 (20), CHA: +3 (16)

Tough: +2/+7, Fort: +8, Ref: +12, Will: +10

Skills: Acrobatics 12 (+15), Bluff 12 (+15), Concentration 5 (+10), Diplomacy 7 (+10), Gather Information 7 (+10), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 12 (+15), Knowledge (art) 2 (+5), Knowledge (streetwise) 2 (+5), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 7 (+10), Language 6 (+6), Notice 10 (+15), Perform (singing) 2 (+5), Perform (stringed instruments) 7 (+10), Sense Motive 10 (+15), Stealth 7 (+10)

Feats: Accurate Attack, Acrobatic Bluff, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Dodge Focus 5, Evasion, Improved Critical 2 (Feather Dart Throw (Blast 2)), Improved Initiative, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Ritualist, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Bluff, Notice, Sense Motive), Taunt, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory)

Powers:
Concealable Body Armor (Device 1) (Hard to lose; Subtle (subtle))
. . Protection 4 (+4 Toughness; Subtle (subtle))

Element Shaman Magic (Array 16) (default power: blast)
. . Dense Fog (Obscure 8) (Array; affects: visual senses, Radius: 1000 ft.; Duration (continuous), Selective Attack, Total Fade; Fades)
. . Drown (Blast 10) (Array; DC 25; Alternate Save (Fortitude))
. . Earthgrip (Snare 10) (Array; DC 20; Regenerating)
. . Earthquake (Trip 10) (Array; Burst Area (50 ft. radius - General), Duration (concentration))
. . Elemental Bolts (Blast 10) (Default; DC 25; Autofire (interval 2, max +5); Variable Descriptor 2 (Broad group - Any Elemental))
. . Elemental Burst (Blast 10) (Array; DC 25; Burst Area (50 ft. radius - General); Variable Descriptor 2 (Broad group - Any Elemental))
. . Fireflash (Dazzle 10) (Array; affects: visual senses, DC 20; Perception Area (General), Selective Attack; Range (touch))
. . Heatstroke (Fatigue 10) (Array; DC 20; Range (ranged))
. . Horrible Stench (Stun 10) (Array; DC 20; Range (ranged))
. . Tornado (Move Object 10) (Array; Strength: 50, Carry: 4.3 tons / 8.5 tons / 12.8 tons / 25.6 tons, DC 25; Cylinder Area (50 ft. radius + height - General), Damaging; Duration (concentration))

Elemental Movement Magic (Array 3) (default power: - linked powers -)
. . Aquatic Adaptation (Linked)
. . . . Immunity 2 (Linked; environmental condition: Cold, suffocation: Drowning)
. . . . Swimming 3 (Linked; Speed: 10 mph, 88 ft./rnd; Environmental Adaptation)
. . Fiery Speed (Linked)
. . . . Quickness 3 (Linked; Perform routine tasks at 10x speed)
. . . . Speed 3 (Linked; Speed: 50 mph, 440 ft./rnd)
. . Shovel Sorcery (Burrowing 3) (Array; Speed: 5 mph, 44 ft./rnd; Penetrating)
. . Windrider (Flight 3) (Array; Speed: 50 mph, 440 ft./rnd)

Feather Darts (Device 2) (Easy to lose)
. . Feather Dart Throw (Blast 2) (DC 19, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Feather Dart Throw (Blast 2)); Accurate 2 (+4), Mighty 2 (+2 to damage))

Attack Bonus: +10 (Ranged: +10, Melee: +10, Grapple: +12)

Attacks: Drown (Blast 10), +10 (DC Fort 25), Earthgrip (Snare 10), +10 (DC Ref/Staged 20), Earthquake (Trip 10) (DC 20), Elemental Bolts (Blast 10), +10 (DC 25), Elemental Burst (Blast 10) (DC 25), Feather Dart Throw (Blast 2), +14 (DC 19), Fireflash (Dazzle 10) (DC Fort/Ref 20), Heatstroke (Fatigue 10), +10 (DC Fort 20), Horrible Stench (Stun 10), +10 (DC Fort/Staged 20), Tornado (Move Object 10) (DC 25), Unarmed Attack, +10 (DC 17)

Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +4), Knockback: -3

Initiative: +7

Languages: Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish Native

Totals: Abilities 36 + Skills 27 (108 ranks) + Feats 17 + Powers 61 + Combat 34 + Saves 20 + Drawbacks 0 = 195

Age (as of Jan 2019): 24
Height: 5’ 7”
Weight: 130 lbs.
Ethnicity: Venezuelan
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Dark Brown

Theme Song: See It Through My Eyes, by McGwire

Background: You ever get born with the wrong set of genitals? Yeah, it sucks. But whatever. Life is there be seized for those who are willing to do so. Such trivial details are unimportant. Or so says Santiago Valdés. Other options on the subject can and do vary widely, and are no less valid. He was born in Venezuela, a country that has had a…difficult…decade economically and is a part of deeply Catholic Latin America. Two strikes against the young man’s potential happiness from the word go. And inborn magic adds the third strike. He was out. Out, specifically, of the whole damn country. Because honestly fuck all of that bullshit. Think about it. Transmasculine sorcerer, surrounded by mundane conservative Catholics. A fun time was not had by Santiago. A fun time was not had by traveling cross country, either. Calling the Amazon rainforest magically active is like calling it rather moist. It’s a rather dramatic understatement that misses the reality of the situation. Unfortunately, arriving in Rio de Janeiro didn’t change a lot other than who knew him, which was now nobody. Ah, well. A fresh start is a fresh start. Or so he said to himself.

. . And then there was Shazza, starting her whole gang thing. He was able to get in on the ground floor and has been there ever since. His magic grew rapidly with such extensive use, and he effectively operated as her second in command and trusted friend. Which, for those who know Shazza, is a remarkable thing. Needless to say, when she disappeared he was concerned. But then she returned with superpowers that surpassed his own. Nice. A return trip to that place brought back Cecilia and the lovely Raquel. Talk about some force multipliers. Santiago doesn’t like to complain, but he was getting a little tired of being the only heavy hitter in the arsenal. It was very bad for his health in the short and long term, you know. And the tactical problems abounded. He is still basically second in command, even if there isn’t a precise hierarchy anymore. Like there ever was.

Powers & Tactics: Santiago is a elementalist magician. His magic comes from his soul and will, not study and practice. So when he calls himself an Element Shaman, he’s just putting on airs. And annoying actual shamans is a small bonus. Basically he’s a fire, water, air, and earth controller in one. The fire is truly fire, not thermomancy as is sometimes true. Similarly, he can only control water, no other liquids or forms. He could only create ice effects by getting very creative with fire magic, for example. Similar restrictions apply to his air and earth magic. So lava? Not happening. Lightning or electricity? Haha, nope. Controlling gravity or metal? Zero chance. This does not mean he is not dangerous. He is a very powerful and rather accurate spellcaster. All four elements can do rapidfire bolts of energy and a nice big explosion of power. Beyond that, each has two other spells unique to them. Fire has Fireflash and Heatstroke, Water has Dense Fog and Drown, Air has Horrible Stench and Tornado, and Earth has Earthgrip and Earthquake. Fireflash blinds anyone that he can see and wants to blind. Heatstroke can bring on rapid exhaustion on a single target. Dense Fog is a delicate piece of spellcraft, controlling tiny water droplets so that they’re suspended in the air, obscuring the vision of whoever he wants and not whoever he doesn’t. It is technically on a time limit of about 3 minutes and not his conscious control, however. Drown is straight up filling a targets lungs with water, causing severe internal damage. Horrible Stench exposes a target to a smell so bad it can literally knock them unconscious. Tornado is summoning a literal tornado to grab and/or throw people and/or objects, and also slash them to ribbons with razor wind. Earthgrip restrains a target with earthen bonds. Earthquake vibrates the ground in an area hard enough to knock people over.

. . He has a variety of magicially enhanced ways to move. Fiery Speed is comparable to most metahuman speedsters, allowing to run and act at barely superhuman speeds. Aquatic Adaptation lets him breath underwater and swim faster while not suffering from the usual penalties. Windrider is just flight using the wind. And Shovel Sorcery is burrowing through solid earth.

. . He has two devices. Some Concealable Body Armor for protection, and a bunch of Feather Darts that he can throw for mundane, non-magical damage. It’s come up more than one might thing.

. . Tactically, Santiago is…annoying. With such a huge variety of regular attacks and movement options, he’s extremely difficult to predict. And he’s the kind of asshole who will use Tornado or Earthquake, and then maintain them with his Standard action while dancing in mockery with his Move action. His Taunting is relentless. Accurate Attack can tilt his attacks to “shoot the wings off flies” range while Power Attack lets him smash fortified walls with impunity. Defensive Attack even alters his Defense, for maximum “how do we hit this guy?” Honestly, any heroes that face him should be somewhat in the dark as to his full capabilities. He works very hard to keep people guessing. Still, there are some patterns. Dense Fog is extremely useful against opponents that need to see to target enemies, as is Fireflash. Tornado is only seen outside of the favelas, as it’s extremely destructive. But it and Earthquake are nasty against groups, along with his various Elemental Bursts. Elemental Bolts is the primary single target attack, with all the others being situational. Don’t forget Acrobatic Bluff. He can power stunt, but honestly his array is big enough, doncha think? No? Okay. Fire Shapes (Strike 10, Shapeable Area, Concentration Duration), Hydro Cannon (Trip 10, Knockback & Autofire), Aerokinesis (Move Object 10, Continuous Duration), and Earth Shapes (Create Object 10, Moveable), are also on the table. But really, pick anything a fire, water, air, or earth controller can do that isn’t already banned by the limits above.

Personality: Santiago is a jovial fellow, always ready with a quick joke and an easy grin. Charismatic and easily likeable. Yet this outward personality hides a deep knot of rage and pain very much like that of Shazza. It’s why they get along so well. Despite the way he acts, he’s as angry as she is. Because the jokes are always just a little mean. The grin a little mocking. Anyone who thinks he’s the nice one of the two is in for a very rude shock. Just because his mouth isn’t stuffed full of expletives doesn’t mean he’s nice. He gets along fine with Cecilia, somewhat naïve as she is. But it’s his lovely Raquel who has his heart. Truthfully, he was probably headed for one of those “blaze of glory” ends before he met her. Now…now Santiago finds imself with something to live for. Something to fight for beyond “fuck ‘em”. A future, with the woman he loves.

. . With that said, no force on earth could ever get him to betray Shazza, with one caveat. He was assigned female at birth. All the organs are there and probably in perfect working order. With Raquel’s health as somewhat precarious as it is, if a method can be found to protect him from her radioactive bodily fluids they could have a child together. And a child to raise would take Santiago off the battlefield in a hurry, to say nothing of pregnancy. They both want children, but as it stands they have no way of making it happen. So they continue onward in hopes that Raquel will live long enough for Shazza’s burgeoning empire to achieve enough stability to make consulting actual scientists and doctors about the problem to be feasible. Possibly even finding a cure for her condition.
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Thu Jun 15, 2023 12:57 am, edited 2 times in total.
The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse!)
The Archetype Blendarama!
You, Dear Reader, may comment on any build at any time. I will be happy regardless.
User avatar
EternalPhoenix
Posts: 1858
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:42 am
Location: The Land of Mary

Raquel Fernandes

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Raquel Fernandes

Power Level: 12; Power Points Spent: 195/195

STR: +10 (16/30), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +10 (16/30), INT: +3 (16), WIS: +3 (16), CHA: +3 (16)

Tough: +10/+15, Fort: +15, Ref: +9, Will: +9

Skills: Acrobatics 12 (+15), Bluff 12 (+15), Diplomacy 7 (+10), Gather Information 2 (+5), Intimidate 12 (+15), Language 3 (+3), Notice 12 (+15), Sense Motive 12 (+15), Stealth 12 (+15)

Feats: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 4, Challenge - Improved Feint, Challenge - Improved Startle, Dodge Focus 4, Improved Critical 2 (Massive Sword Attack (Strike 5)), Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Startle, Takedown Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory)

Powers:
Irradiated Powerhouse (Container, Passive 15)
. . Enhanced Constitution 14 (+14 CON)
. . Enhanced Strength 14 (+14 STR)
. . Immunity 10 (common descriptor: Radiation)
. . Leaping 3 (Jumping distance: x10)
. . Protection 5 (+5 Toughness; Impervious [5 extra ranks])
. . Speed 3 (Speed: 50 mph, 440 ft./rnd)
. . Super-Strength 8 (+40 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 204.8 tons; +8 STR to some checks)

Massive Sword (Device 2) (Easy to lose, Restricted use (Min Lifting STR 45))
. . Huge Metal Slab (Features 2) (Notes: Medium or smaller creatures (such as Raquel) that take the Total Defense action with this weapon have Total Cover. If the user does this, any Medium or smaller creatures directly behind them have Partial Cover regardless of what they do. It's an extremely massive sword.)
. . Massive Sword Attack (Strike 5) (DC 30, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Massive Sword Attack (Strike 5)); Mighty)

Attack Bonus: +5 (Ranged: +5, Melee: +9, Grapple: +19/+27)

Attacks: Massive Sword Attack (Strike 5), +9 (DC 30), Unarmed Attack, +9 (DC 25)

Defense: +9 (Flat-footed: +3), Knockback: -12

Initiative: +7

Languages: English, German, Portuguese Native, Spanish

Totals: Abilities 36 + Skills 21 (84 ranks) + Feats 19 + Powers 82 + Combat 20 + Saves 17 + Drawbacks 0 = 195

Age (as of Jan 2019): 25
Height: 5’ 10”
Weight: 170 lbs
Ethnicity: Brazilian (Portuguese)
Hair: Light Gray
Eyes: Green

Background: Raquel Fernandes is dying. Well. Sort of. Sometimes. Rewind. Back to before. She’s another example of someone who was born with the wrong set of genitals. At least, according to her. Her family…disagreed. So she left home, and found herself in the favelas of Rio. Poor and without anyone in Rio to miss her, she was the perfect candidate to be abducted by the infamous Agency and be experimented on. A familiar story, no doubt. She was injected with a serum that made her body capable of rapid adaptive mutation and then exposed to lethal amounts of radiation. Honestly, the scientist involved expected her to die in agony. But she didn’t. In some ways, it may have been better if she had. Instead she gained superpowers, but was severely weakened by the ordeal and reimprisoned. The scientist was called into to work on the ARMS System, as they had acquired a bunch of good test subjects for calibrating it. This, of course, was Shazza and some of her gang. Some days later, Shazza broke loose and blew the hell out of the place with her new superpowers. One of the consequences of this was the freeing of Raquel. When Shazza returned with backup, Raquel was waiting with Cecilia. Shazza saved her, even if inadvertently. She owed the gang leader for that. She’s repaid the debt a dozen times over by now, but she’s still around. She has nowhere else to go, for one. And Santiago is...very important to her.

. . So, Raquel is dying. Sort of. Sometimes. Severe radiation sickness. She’s literally empowered by the radiation, and it’s kind of killing her at the same time. The kind of part comes in where she’s physically resilient enough due to her powers to resist and sometimes recover from the damage done. But it doesn’t always work, and so sometimes she’s sick and weak as radiation ravages her body.

Powers & Tactics: Raquel was mutated by a special serum and being lethally irradiated. Every part of her underneath her skin is dangerously, lethally hot. Including all bodily fluids from saliva to blood to urine to sperm. She is immune to further irradiating due to her mutations, however. She has incredible superhuman strength and durability. Her speed and jumping ability are just over the superhuman line, as well. She carries an absolutely massive sword (stolen from the Agency facility) to chop down opponents with. It weights like 250 pounds. Other people can technically use it if they can lift it, but they take a -4 penalty to attack rolls if they don’t have 30 Lifting STR. It’s so huge it can even provide total cover to her and partial cover to someone directly behind her, if she doesn’t move or swing it.

. . Tactically, Raquel hits individual enemies with her sword. Very hard. Seriously, this isn’t complex. She’s got Toughness 15, Impervious 10, which is far and away beyond anything most of her usual opponents have. So, All Out+Power Attack, crush foes, Takedown Attack 2 her way though if at all possible. She has Accurate Attack, Improved Feint and Improved Startle just in case she has trouble hitting. And against ranged opponents she can’t reach she’ll turtle up with Total Defense and use her Massive Sword as Full Cover. Because an assault helicopter is not something she’s equipped to deal with. Fortunately, the other three and even a few of the gang are. She can’t power stunt at all. There is a chance she could start a fight nauseated due to her illness. It’s also possible to knock down her natural STR and CON to get her to a lower PL and say her radiation sickness has weakened her to make life easier on your heroes if they’ve been struggling with her. You could also flip that and give her a boost, saying she’s mutated further thanks to still being irradiated. Up to you, Mr. GM. Also, whether damaging her in melee is dangerous to the attacker and what long term consequences for an area may be should significant amounts of her bodily fluids be spilled there is likewise up to you.

Personality: Raquel is a somber young woman. Very sober and responsible. The very picture of steady dependability. She hasn’t had the luxury of being anything else since she left home. Hope was a foreign concept. She’s dying. She knows it. She accepts it. There is peace. But. She expected to die when the Agency abducted her. She expected to die in their facility. She expected to die from their experiment. She keeps expect to start dying and it keeps not happening. She truly loves Santiago. The silly man believes she can be saved. All she had to do is hold on, and everyone will find a way together. Damn. The most painful feeling in the world is hope.

. . Honestly…Raquel doesn’t give two shits about Shazza. Loyalty wise, anyway. As a person she’s not the worst. Completely tolerable. Some of the gang are nice, and Santiago has captured her heart. So she stays and fights hard. She was assigned male at birth, so a child with Santiago is possible. The organs all ought to work, technically. The problem is that her irradiated bodily fluids would kill her love. The hope of a child is the primary hope she’s holding onto. With some stability after taking Rio’s favelas, maybe they can bring in a specialist or two. Make something happen. Santiago says things about a cure for her, too, but…well, Raquel has been without hope too long to hold out any for herself just yet. Still. With a child and her cured, they’d have no reason to fight for Shazza. Or fight at all ever again, at least in her case.
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Wed Apr 13, 2022 2:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse!)
The Archetype Blendarama!
You, Dear Reader, may comment on any build at any time. I will be happy regardless.
greycrusader
Posts: 1179
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:25 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse; Newest: Ninguem, Cecilia Bridges, Santiago Valdés, Raquel Fernandes)

Post by greycrusader »

I'm not familiar with the inspiration for the Holter/Aerin character, but it's an interesting skill set/weaponry mix for a superhero setting, or even a contemporary urban fantasy one. The character almost seems plucked from a mission-oriented PC game or a steampunk/clockwork-punk setting. I do like the idea of Holter being almost more clever than he is skilled or resourceful; rather obviously he would need to rely on hit and run tactics and targeting an opponent's weak points, as he's otherwise out of his weight class against super-powered foes or truly elite melee fighters. But his arsenal is still formidable when combined with his mobility in a city, and he's got enough going to hold his own defensively as well. The backstory is solid, as a relatively normal human crimefighter has more incentive to recognize how futile it is to keep putting metahuman villains behind bars only for them to routinely escape and wreak havoc all over again. And I like that he's a fanatic but not an utter psychopath.

All my best.
User avatar
EternalPhoenix
Posts: 1858
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:42 am
Location: The Land of Mary

Knights of Karelia

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Knights of Karelia

Overview

The Knights of Karelia date back to the 70s, back when Baroness Valia was still trying to murder the currently missing superheroine Megagirl. In those days they were basically her goon squad. They had some successes against lesser heroes, but those in Megagirl’s tier always scattered them without much effort. When the heroine disappeared, Valia’s support for the group slowly evaporated, with the membership eventually succumbing to long prison sentences, death, or quiet retirement. By 1993, no one who ever bore the title of Knight of Karelia was active. And this was the way it stayed. Until five years ago.

. . Valia has more complex motivations than one would think for resurrecting the group. Five years ago, the Exiles were celebrating the first anniversary of Exile House. NPC Investigations gained official notoriety and showed signs it would be a force to be reckoned with in the future. The Seawings had reunited, expanded their ranks, and joined forced with the Truman Home. America’s Icons were growing larger. BLACK was making headlines every few months for some new assault. And she’d heard the rumors that Carlos Javier was looking to put together yet another Academy team. Over 40 years had gone by, but she could see the heroic cycle beginning again. She decided to get in on the game. But this time it would be different. The first version of the Knights failed for a number of reasons, but the main ones were that they were a bunch of asshole supervillains tied together only by Valia’s money. The new generation was clearly tied together by bonds of camaraderie and friendship. She could work with that. Karelia needed heroes, but with perhaps somewhat flexible morality.

. . She worked slowly and carefully. The first piece was easy. Ma’re Iryen was a gynoid out of time, and quiet lost. It was very easy to get her both on and commanding the team. All Valia had to do was promise to do things she already intended to do, only now disguised as helping the synthetic soldier. Initially the team was composed of mercenaries like before. Francesca Zanetti was one. Quiet, but a true professional. So rare, in any era. Naturally, Europe’s heroes didn’t take the threat of the legendary Baroness assembling a superteam lying down. Valia found it quite insulting how quickly they leaped to derail her scheme before they even knew what it was. There were a few battles, and significant turnover on the team. Her carefully laid rules were broken by thuggish cretins who got the long prison sentences they deserved. Or they proved themselves laughably incompetent, and she fired them. In one case, out of a cannon into the Baltic from her palace in Vyborg. Fortunately, Ma’re and Francesca were both competent and knew how to follow instructions. As did Linnéa Sjöberg a year after the refounding, with the proper enticement. Jedrick Jagoda, a year after that, has proven to be quite useful in that regard as well. Even if his morals aren’t nearly as flexible as Valia would like. Though she had to admit he has made an excellent counterpoint to the argument that this was a super villain team. And now, the latest addition means she can finally stop hiring useless mercenaries. Audrielle Eliska, the “Princess”. How amusing that people actually bought that lie. That they were family instead of the girl being a clone. Then again, the Baroness’s heart was not made of stone, so perhaps it was a truer lie than most. She has two or three other irons in the fire that could become members of the team, but for now these would do. The Knights of Karelia were a now a proper superteam.

Tactics

Unlike the subordinate organizations of the rest of the League of Seven, the Knights of Karelia do not use any minion archetypes. They function broadly as a superhero team, albeit one devoted to protecting and advancing the interests of Karelia. Or Valia, as the two are indistinguishable. Only Ma’re and Francesca are killers, with Francesca doing so less often. However, Linnéa is a habitual thief on missions, Jedrick tends to leave significant property damage in his wake, and Audrielle is still learning that she kind of lives in a world of cardboard (meaning she’s left a few bodies in her wake and does her share of property damage). They do work pretty well together. Ma’re and Jedrick are switch hitters, to a degree. They can fight at range or in melee. Linnéa stays at range and plays support. Francesca and Audrielle rarely get in each other’s way in melee, either. Ma’re, however, is the rock around which they revolve. The Knight-Captain is significantly more powerful than any of them, a master tactician, and incredibly versatile in combat. Francesca and Linnéa can easily throw opposing unit cohesion and teamwork into disarray, leaving Jedrick and Audrielle to easily mop up stragglers.

Additionally, in the Phoenixverse those who have reached PL 12 have earned a special free Benefit feat that slightly alters the rules on Extra and/or Extraordinary Effort for them. Both Baroness Valia and Ma’re Iryen have earned one. They are detailed below.

Imperious Brilliance (Baroness Valia)-Two things. First, Valia may use Extra Effort to automatically succeed on any INT-based skill check, no matter the DC. She may do this once per scene without granting a Hero Point. Second, she may engage a Master Plan (as per the feat) via Extra Effort, rolling the INT check immediately. She may only do this once per scene, and it does not qualify as an INT-based skill check.

Additional Capacity (Ma're Iryen)-May use Extra Effort to use a second setting from her Device Transfer System in addition to the current one. May use Extraordinary Effort to use a third.
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Wed Apr 13, 2022 2:30 am, edited 3 times in total.
The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse!)
The Archetype Blendarama!
You, Dear Reader, may comment on any build at any time. I will be happy regardless.
User avatar
EternalPhoenix
Posts: 1858
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:42 am
Location: The Land of Mary

Jade Knight (Ma're Iryen)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Jade Knight (Ma're Iryen)

Power Level: 12; Power Points Spent: 285/285

STR: +12 (35), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +15 (40), INT: +10 (30), WIS: +3 (16), CHA: +3 (16)

Tough: +15, Fort: +15, Ref: +9, Will: +9

Skills: Acrobatics 7 (+10), Concentration 12 (+15), Knowledge (tactics) 5 (+15), Notice 7 (+10), Sense Motive 7 (+10), Stealth 7 (+10), Swim 3 (+15)

Feats: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 3, Beginner's Luck, Benefit (Status (Knight-Captain of Karelia)), Defensive Attack, Eidetic Memory, Jack-of-All-Trades, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Second Chance (Concentration checks to maintain powers), Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Computers, Sense Motive, Stealth), Speed of Thought (use INT for Init, not DEX), Takedown Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory)

Powers:
Device Transfer System (Variable 9) (acquire: any one of (type) - technological powers, limited to: summoned devices; Action 2 (free))
. . Anti-Grav Harness (Power Setting) (Powers: Anti-Grav Harness (Linked))
. . . . Anti-Grav Harness (Linked)
. . . . . . Flight 9 (Linked; Speed: 5000 mph, 44000 ft./rnd; Stacks with (Flight 6+9))
. . . . . . Super-Strength 9 (Linked; +45 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 26.8m tons; +9 STR to some checks; Stacks with (Super-Strength 6+9))

Highly Advanced Android Body (Container, Passive 12)
. . Anti-Grav Unit (Linked)
. . . . Flight 6+9 (Linked; [Stacking ranks: +9], Speed: 500000 mph, 4400000 ft./rnd)
. . . . Super-Strength 6+9 (Linked; [Stacking ranks: +9], +75 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 26.8m tons; +15 STR to some checks)
. . Babel Effect (Comprehend 3) (languages - read all, languages - speak all, languages - understand all)
. . Computer Mind (Quickness 6) (Perform routine tasks at 100x speed; One Type (Mental))
. . Internal Fuel Cell (Immunity 11) (life support, sleep, starvation & thirst)
. . Sturdy Internal Structure (Impervious Toughness 10)
. . Synthetic Senses (Super-Senses 6) (accurate (type): Auditory, ultra-hearing, ultravision)

Device Transfer System Settings:
Anti-Grav Harness (Power Setting) (Powers: Anti-Grav Harness (Linked); Flight 9 (Linked; Speed: 5000 mph, 44000 ft./rnd; Stacks with (Flight 6+9))+Super-Strength 9 (Linked; +45 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 26.8m tons; +9 STR to some checks; Stacks with (Super-Strength 6+9)))

Autoblaster Rifle (Power Setting) (Powers: Autoblaster Rifle (Blast 9); (DC 24, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Autoblaster Rifle (Blast 9)); Autofire (interval 2, max +5), Secondary Effect; Accurate 3 (+6), Incurable, Precise, Variable Descriptor 2 (Broad group - Any Technological)))

Diplomatic Assistance Module (Power Setting) (Powers: Diplomatic Assistance Module (Linked); Enhanced Charisma 8 (Linked; +8 CHA)+Enhanced Skills 8 (Linked; Traits: Bluff +8 (+15), Diplomacy +8 (+15), Intimidate +8 (+15), Sense Motive +8 (+20))+Enhanced Wisdom 4 (Linked; +4 WIS)+Mind Reading 9 (Linked; DC 19; Duration (sustained); Custom (Insidious), Subtle 2 (unnoticable)))

Heal Ray (Power Setting) (Powers: Heal Ray (Healing 9) (DC 19; Action (standard), Range (ranged), Total; Limited to Others; Improved Range (225 ft. incr), Persistent, Progression, Increase Range (max range x2, 2250 feet), Regrowth))

Illusion Caster (Power Setting) (Powers: Illusion Caster (Illusion 9) (affects: all sense types, DC 19; Progression, Area 9 (5000 ft. radius))

Magneto-Gravitic Projector (Power Setting) (Powers: Magneto-Gravitic Projector (Move Object 9) (Strength: 45, Carry: 4.3k / 4.3 tons / 6.4 tons / 12.8 tons; Burst Area (45-225 ft. radius - General), Duration (continuous); Precise, Progression, Increase Area 2 (area x5), Selective))

Phase Variance Shifter (Power Setting) (Powers: Phase Variance Shifter (Linked); (Strength Bonus) Strike 12 (Linked; Affects Corporeal)+Concealment 4 (Linked; all visual senses; Close Range)+Insubstantial 4 (Linked; Incorporeal; Subtle 2 (unnoticable)))

Plasma Saber (Power Setting) (Powers: Plasma Saber (Linked); Plasma Saber Burn (Drain 8) (Linked; drains: single trait - toughness, DC 18, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Plasma Saber Burn (Drain 8)); Affects Objects; Accurate 2 (+4))+Plasma Saber Strike (Strike 8) (Linked; DC 23, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Plasma Saber Strike (Strike 8)); Accurate 2 (+4))

Self Regenerator (Power Setting) (Powers: Regenerator (Healing 9) (Action 4 (reaction); Distracting, Personal; Persistent, Precise, Regrowth, Subtle (subtle))

Sense Negative Field Projector (Power Setting) (Powers: Sense Negative Field Projector (Concealment 9) (all aural senses, all visual senses, other sense: Normal Radio, other sense: Normal Mental, sense - smell; Affects Others, Burst Area (45-90 ft. radius - General); Close Range, Precise, Progression, Increase Area (area x2), Selective)

Attack Bonus: +9 (Ranged: +9, Melee: +12, Grapple: +24/+48)

Attacks: Autoblaster Rifle (Blast 9), +15 (DC 24), Mind Reading 9 (DC Will 19), Plasma Saber Burn (Drain 8), +16 (DC Fort/Staged 18), Plasma Saber Strike (Strike 8), +16 (DC 23), Unarmed Attack, +12 (DC 27)

Defense: +9 (Flat-footed: +5), Knockback: -12

Initiative: +3

Languages: Karelian Native

Totals: Abilities 93 + Skills 13 (52 ranks) + Feats 17 + Powers 114 + Combat 36 + Saves 12 + Drawbacks 0 = 285

Age (as of Jan 2019): At least 10,000 (chronological pre activation), 10 years (post activation), early-mid 20s (appearance)
Height: 6’
Weight: 155 lbs
Ethnicity: Pacific Islander (appearance), highly advanced android (real)
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Dark Brown

Theme Song: Godsibb, from Xenosaga Episode III

Background: Ma’re Iryen remembers. 10,000 years ago. What the vanishingly small few who remember it these days call the Magi-Tech War. A kingdom of great magic and a kingdom of highly advanced technology in what is now Oceania went to war, and beat the hell out of each other. Ma’re was a soldier in that war and knows a piece of the truth. Unfortunately, the cost of learning it was dear. She is a highly advanced gynoid, one of tens of thousands manufactured for the war. She was one of the first. The front lines stretched across half the globe and all the way to the moon as both kingdoms fought a two front war. The first front is the one people remember. The second front was against an invading army of demons literally Hellbent on opening a Hellgate, a portal capable of allowing Demon Lords to pass through and basically end the world by irrevocably turning it into just another part of Hell. Ma’re only learned about this second front after leading a rebellion against her kingdom. In their desperation for soldiers, the kingdom of tech had inadvertently created a sentient slave race.

. . Uh. Oops. The awakening was relatively slow. The androids and gynoids (‘noids for short) weren’t told anything about anything except how to fight. But to compete with demons and the kingdom of magic’s various summoned spirits on the battlefield, they needed to have intelligent and flexible minds. If times had been less desperate, there would have been copious testing. Safeguards put in place. But it was do or die time, and die was not an acceptable option. Well. Unacceptable for the humans involved, anyway. It was apparently perfectly fine for all the ‘noids to bite the dust. And bite it they did. Ma’re may have been one of the first, but she was very far from the last. Virtually her entire production line and the one behind her were nothing more than scrap metal and burnt plastic slowly sinking into the seabed or ground into the earth by the time she began to speak of rebellion. What was it all for? So much death and destruction. The lives of her brothers and sisters had been and continued to be so casually thrown away, and for what? She was no officer, but even she could tell nobody was winning the war. But she had seen others refuse to fight any more or question their orders. They were labeled defective and disassembled. There was always a need for replacement parts, even if they could heal themselves. Enough was enough.

. . Ma’re was a respected veteran among the ‘noids. Her words carried great weight. When she spoke, entire production lines listened. She didn’t seek leadership among the dissenters, but it was given to her anyway. She went with a small diplomatic embassy to their superior officers. Humans. Where she learned that being defective meant having achieved and demonstrated sentience. Again, the situation was desperate. Every ‘roid that wasn’t functioning at peak obedient killing machine capacity put them one noticeable step closer to being utterly annihilated. There was no goddamn time to deal with the issue in a rational and empathetic manner. Needless to say, the embassy was a miserable failure. The uprising began later that day. Short sighted policies designed to solve an immediate problem shockingly don’t work long term.

. . Thus began a brief third front for the kingdom of tech. 5,000 ‘noids openly rebelled, abandoning their posts and joining with Ma’re and her insurgents. And they were her insurgents. Her election was virtually unanimous, especially after her daring escape from their now former officers. There were three options for the newly assembled force. 1) Defect to the kingdom of magic. 2) Engage in a guerrilla war with the kingdom of tech, aiming to take it over. Or 3) Just friggin’ leave. Their loyalties had not changed, only their perspectives. So it was option 3. They raided a storehouse, stole a shitton of supplies, and shot their way out of the kingdom. The kingdom could not afford the resources to pursue, and so merely fought the war more desperately before. How the Magi-Tech War ended has been covered elsewhere, and has nothing further to do with Ma’re and her insurgents.

. . This is the point were Ma’re’s memories get…fuzzy. Without any human biological needs or a regimented military life, her sense of time quickly went sideways. What she does remember is that they did not get their wish to finally stop fighting. For outside of a few dank river valleys where the rest of humanity was just picking up this neat trick now known as agriculture, the world was infested with all sorts of demons, monsters, and stranger things from beyond the stars. There were less of them than there used to be. Humanity had just about finished the job of kicking supernatural beings hostile to our being alive and/or free out of our reality. However, less is not zero and just about finished is not nearly the same as actually finished. They had only traded one war for another, battling across China, Mongolia, Siberia, and over the Ural Mountains before their strength finally began to give out. The final battle Ma’re is aware of took place over what is now the Baltic Sea. At the time it was what modern geologists call the Yoldia Sea. Their numbers had declined to a mere thousand after the likely years long travel and sustained warfare. She was critically injured, evacuated to a sea cave, and stuffed into the last functioning regeneration pod. The two who did the stuffing collapsed from their own critical injuries immediately afterward, and those remaining outside collapsed the cave entrance. The pod had just enough charge left to save her life, but not enough to heal her. And her own bodily resources were utterly spent. So she entered stasis mode, and millennia rolled by before a Karelian archaeological team dug out the cave and found her and her fallen sisters.

. . Ma’re owes Baroness Valia a lot. Karelia’s ruler saw to the gynoid’s repairs personally, even mining her fallen sisters for parts at Ma’re’s request. It wasn’t quite like a caveman pounding on a microchip for Valia, though even she found many of Ma’re functionality a black box. Beyond even her formidable abilities. Still. She got the gynoid up and running, and restocked on internal resources to finish the job herself. And in the nation of Karelia, Ma’re at last found rest from incessant warfare. That is, until a few years ago, when Valia asked her to head up the new supergroup, the Knights of Karelia. And Valia really was just asking. She made very sure that Ma’re knew that declining was both an option and carried no consequences. Why did Ma’re agree to do it, then? Why did she become Karelia’s Jade Knight? Because before she was injured and lost consciousness there were several hundred of her brothers and sisters still alive. They had heard of the magical kingdom of Avalon, and sought entry. Valia’s records have no proof Avalon ever existed in that era, however this does not mean it did not. And it does not mean that they all died trying. Some could still be alive somewhere, in stasis like she was. To say nothing of the tens of thousands of ‘noids from the war. They can’t all be gone. They were built too well. And indeed, the Seawings Adventurer Guild features Ting Heskett, though her memories are scrambled and lost. It gives Ma’re hope. If she wants to find her brothers and sisters, she cannot spend the rest of her lengthy existence sitting alone in a room, or rambling mindlessly about the palace. The Device Transfer System still functions, miraculously. She owes Valia her life, and the Baroness has promised to aid her in her search with all of the Baroness’s formidable resources. Though it must be said that Valia is not being entirely altruistic. She has what is left of Ma’re’s fallen sisters and is studying them. If any of Ma’re’s insurgents still live, they are highly likely to join the gynoid in her search to discover the whereabouts of the remainder, strengthening Karelia’s defenses. And if all they find are broken bodies, that is still more research material for Valia to eventually duplicate the technology behind them.

Powers & Tactics: Ma’re is a highly advanced android. So advanced, in fact, that you have to be a tech expert and have access to the appropriate scanning tech to notice that she isn’t a human being. She has an Internal Fuel Cell that removes the needs to eat, breath, and sleep along with being able to completely ignore disease, poison, and environmental concerns. Please do note that is the *need* to eat, breathe, and sleep. She still does all three when necessary. Her natural strength and stamina are utterly superhuman and easy to maintain. Her Sturdy Internal Structure helps ignore up to artillery fire. Her mind processes stimuli 100 times faster than an unpowered human. The Babel Effect permits her to read, speak, and understand all languages, though it may take a few sentences to begin catching on to one it hasn’t been exposed to before. And her Anti-Grav Unit increases her carrying capacity even higher while allowing her to fly.

. . But the most important part is her Device Transfer System. Somewhere, buried deep in the earth, is a vault full of all manner of wondrous technological devices. And she can summon them to her hand in an instant. There is no apparent limit to the types of devices she can summon, but their overall power is somewhat limited. She says she was a standardized infantry model, and one of the oldest at that. There were other models specialized in different areas, and designs improved every few production lines. Such as Ting Heskett have a base child form and being able to reset to it instead of merely entering stasis mode. That is something Ma’re cannot do.

. . Tactically, Ma’re is tough to predict because of her Device Transfer System. She can effectively pull out 9 ranks of any power with any extras or power feats up to 45PP. Her versatility is insane. And she has the raw intellect to know what to pull out and when. So she can play support, drop damage, chase exotic saves, anything. And she can withstand a lot of damage. The usual thing is represented on the sheet in the Anti-Grav Harness. Much faster Flight and Lifting STR. Paragon punch away. This does not mean she will not change on demand, at the drop of a hat. She does not power stunt, as she literally has a Variable power.

. . As for missions, keep in mind that she’s a soldier. She operates by a code of soldierly honor that forbids lying, cheating, stealing, and outright murder. However, it only forbids these things being done to directly benefit herself or one’s unit. The strictures are looser when it comes to actions in defense of the defenseless and retributive actions. Still, innocent civilians remain off limits. And Valia is not fool enough to lie to her closest ally to get her to do something.

Personality: The best way to understand Ma’re is to understand that she’s a soldier. A good and heroic soldier, but a soldier nonetheless. She may protect and serve just like a hero does, but unlike a hero she’s an unhesitating killer. Professionalism and basic courtesy are literally programmed into her. She’s also a gynoid haunted by a legion of regrets. She led over four thousand of her brothers and sisters to their deaths. She may well have doomed her kingdom in the process. Was their freedom really worth all of that? Or conversely, was it worth being a slave doomed to die fighting a pointless war to avoid? It’s a heavy weight to bear. Her faith in her creators and commanders was broken. Her faith in a world that made sense was broken. Her faith in herself was broken. Even her body itself was broken. However, two things were not broken. Her spirit and will to fight. She is uncertain of many things. Her place in this new world. Her ability to command the Knights. Whether or not she will ever find any more of her brothers and sisters other than Ting. However. Take away her brothers. Take away her sisters. She will not stop fighting. Break her faith. Break her body. She will not stop fighting. Her past is a heavy weight, but she will endure it.

. . Like all the Knights of Karelia, Ma’re is someone who is half superhero and half supervillain. As such she’s extremely difficult to deal with. One day she’ll be the valiant protector of the Karelian people, fighting off an escaped monster from some Eastern European mad scientist’s lab. And then another day she’ll be raiding a Russian Mafia safehouse and killing everyone inside. Heroes may find themselves fighting alongside her as often as against her. There is little chance of her turning on Valia (a good soldier doesn’t turn on their commander without good reason, and Valia will never give her one), but those who help her in finding her lost brothers and sisters will gain more and more favor with her. The defeat and imprison option isn’t an option, as there isn’t a single national government willing to risk Valia tearing one of their prisons apart to get her team’s leader and anyone with her back. Assuming, of course, that there is a prison capable of holding someone with a natural +12 Strength bonus in the first place while negating her advanced technological powers and that Valia wouldn’t invite some of her highly advanced military along when she did come to the rescue.
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Thu Jun 15, 2023 12:58 am, edited 5 times in total.
The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse!)
The Archetype Blendarama!
You, Dear Reader, may comment on any build at any time. I will be happy regardless.
User avatar
EternalPhoenix
Posts: 1858
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:42 am
Location: The Land of Mary

Re: The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse; Newest: Ninguem, Cecilia Bridges, Santiago Valdés, Raquel Fernandes)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

greycrusader wrote: Tue Mar 01, 2022 3:54 am I'm not familiar with the inspiration for the Holter/Aerin character, but it's an interesting skill set/weaponry mix for a superhero setting, or even a contemporary urban fantasy one. The character almost seems plucked from a mission-oriented PC game or a steampunk/clockwork-punk setting. I do like the idea of Holter being almost more clever than he is skilled or resourceful; rather obviously he would need to rely on hit and run tactics and targeting an opponent's weak points, as he's otherwise out of his weight class against super-powered foes or truly elite melee fighters. But his arsenal is still formidable when combined with his mobility in a city, and he's got enough going to hold his own defensively as well. The backstory is solid, as a relatively normal human crimefighter has more incentive to recognize how futile it is to keep putting metahuman villains behind bars only for them to routinely escape and wreak havoc all over again. And I like that he's a fanatic but not an utter psychopath.

All my best.
Steampunk/clockwork...well, you're not exactly wrong, per se :mrgreen:

Always nice to see you here again. Drop in any time, we're always open.
The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse!)
The Archetype Blendarama!
You, Dear Reader, may comment on any build at any time. I will be happy regardless.
User avatar
EternalPhoenix
Posts: 1858
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:42 am
Location: The Land of Mary

Miss Mimic (Francesca Zanetti)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Miss Mimic (Francesca Zanetti)

Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 195/195

STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +3 (16), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +3 (16), CHA: +3 (16)

Tough: +6, Fort: +6, Ref: +12, Will: +6

Skills: Acrobatics 12 (+15), Bluff 12 (+15), Concentration 7 (+10), Diplomacy 12 (+15), Disguise 2 (+5/+20), Gather Information 12 (+15), Knowledge (streetwise) 3 (+5), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 8 (+10), Language 6 (+6), Notice 7 (+10), Search 3 (+5), Sense Motive 12 (+15), Stealth 12 (+15)

Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, Attack Focus (melee) 6, Benefit (Status (Knight of Karelia)), Challenge - Improved Acrobatic Bluff, Challenge - Improved Feint, Dodge Focus 5, Evasion, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Skill Mastery (Acrobatic, Bluff, Sense Motive, Stealth), Uncanny Dodge (Auditory)

Powers:
Hellfire Touch (Array 6) (default power: strike; Linked (Infernal Mimcry (Mimic 6)))
. . Burning Hands (Strike 6) (Default; DC 21; Secondary Effect)
. . Hellish Agony (Stun 6) (Array; DC 16; Alternate Save (Will))
. . Mindsear (Strike 6) (Array; DC 21; Alternate Save (Will))
. . Wither (Drain 6) (Array; drains: any trait, DC 16)

Infernal Durability (Protection 3) (+3 Toughness)

Infernal Mimcry (Mimic 6) (mimic: all traits; Tainted)

Mimicked Speedster Powers (Container, Passive 6)
. . Quickness 6 (Perform routine tasks at 100x speed)
. . Speed 6 (Speed: 500 mph, 4400 ft./rnd)
. . Strike 6 (DC 21; Shapeable Area (6 cubes of 125 cu. ft. (5x5x5) - Targeted), Selective Attack)

Shapechange (Morph 3) (morph: broad group - humanoids, +15 Disguise; Limited (Mimicked Targets))

Attack Bonus: +6 (Ranged: +6, Melee: +12, Grapple: +14)

Attacks: Burning Hands (Strike 6), +12 (DC 21), Hellish Agony (Stun 6), +12 (DC Staged/Will 16), Mindsear (Strike 6), +12 (DC Will 21), Strike 6, +12 (DC 21), Unarmed Attack, +12 (DC 17), Wither (Drain 6), +12 (DC Fort/Staged 16)

Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +4), Knockback: -3

Initiative: +3

Languages: English, French, Infernal, Italian Native, Karelian, Latin, Russian

Totals: Abilities 32 + Skills 27 (108 ranks) + Feats 20 + Powers 75 + Combat 26 + Saves 15 + Drawbacks 0 = 195

Age (as of Jan 2019): 25
Height: 5’ 4”
Weight: 115 lbs.
Ethnicity: Italian
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Hazel (Red when using Hellfire Touch Array)

Background: Hell is real. Sort of. The one known to Christianity is certainly part of it. However, it is an entire alternate dimension. Virtually every religion, whether you’re on Earth or out among the stars, has an afterlife. And virtually every mythological or religious afterlife has a place where the wicked and evil are sent after death. What they’re sent there for can and does vary widely, but generally speaking it’s for punishment. And therein lies the great secret. There’s no such thing as demons or devils. Fallen angels, yes. Evil gods and their equally wicked servants, absolutely. There are even stranger beings with only naked hostility towards mortals and their protectors. But the guys with the torches and the pitchforks don’t exist. Or rather they do, except they all started human and inside of Hell retain that appearance. They got that way thanks to all the rest torturing and punishing them relentlessly until all memory of who they were is erased. Time is…weird there, so it can happen remarkably quickly by Earth chronology. But to the point. Demons and devils love coming to Earth. They’d like to hang out full time, and be their brutish, wicked, and nasty selves to all those vulnerable human souls. One of the primary infiltration methods is being summoned directly and thus given bodies that match their internal view of themselves by unwise Earth magicians. The other primary method is subbing out a fresh soul bound for a baby with a demon.

. . As you may have guessed, one of these was Francesca Zanetti. However…if you were thinking Hell and its demons were allowed to do whatever they wanted unimpeded, you would be quite mistaken. The demon chosen was partially purified between departing Hell and being born as Francesca via divine interference. There wasn’t quite enough time to finish the job, so she remembers her mission and retains access to her infernal powers. However, the evil inherent in her being was washed away, leaving her with free will and what amounts to a second chance. Not that she remembers there was a first go around to begin with. Her mission is like that of many others. Corrupt humans, kill the ones you can’t, all towards getting a proper Hellgate open. An open Hellgate would be a free pass for Demon Lords to walk freely on Earth and basically absorb the entire planet into Hell. This is a Bad Thing.

. . The Zanettis were a loving, close knit family. Francesca was supposed to destroy them in a blaze of death and corruption. If she hadn’t been partially purified, she would have with a grin of glee. Instead, she has a conscience, and a heart. Arguably it would have been better if she did destroy them. Because she broke them instead. Nobody died. Nobody was irrevocably corrupted. But that warm and loving house is now cold and lonely. And a young woman was riven by guilt, and not for the last time. Such was the story of her life. Half assing her infernal work out because not innately evil. Half assing being a hero because she had a mission to complete. Somehow being just competent enough to avoid infernal execution, prison, or worse. Lately she’s tumbled into the Knights of Karelia. She really is a highly effective spy and potential assassin. Valia has use for one of those. Even if the guilt from the allies she’s betrayed, relationships she’s broken, and few people she’s murdered threatens to eat her alive. She is a known member of the Knights of Karelia, but few realize she’s been associated with the group for 5 years now. She keeps to herself.

Powers & Tactics: Francesca is a demon possessing the body of a human. Partially purified, granted, but that had no effect on her infernal powers. Many of the infernally powered groove on the deceiver routine, but she’s a bit different. She’s a full mimic who can change her appearance to match that of those she’s mimicked. A full mimic can adopt any of their target’s abilities, skills, feats, or powers. And while she’s doing this she can burn them with a Hellfire Touch. Whether it’s burning body, mind, causing extreme pain, or simply withering part of them away, it must be done with a use of Infernal Mimicry, despite that not being true the other way around. The mimicked powers fade after a while, normally, though an exception is noted below. Her infernal origins also grant her a measure of increased durability.

. . She is capable of making one set of mimicked abilities permanent while retaining her ability to mimic others. All she has to do is kill the person they belong to in the process of taking them. Meaning with Hellfire Touch. The last one she did this to was a budding speedster supervillain. He was a nasty piece of work, and is likely bolstering Hell’s forces nicely while she hangs onto his powers and the use of his appearance. With them, she’s faster than any land vehicle and can hit anyone she can see in an area with terrific force.

. . Tactically, she relies on her mimicked speedster powers as much as possible. If a foe’s powers seem interesting or useful, she’ll go for the mimic. She has Improved Acrobatic Bluff and Improved Feint to get foes flat footed, and Power Attack to hammer them. Move by Action can keep her out of the line of fire. Shapechange after a successful mimic can wreak havoc on opposing unit cohesion. Her favored Hellfire Touch is Hellish Agony, as there’s no chance of actually killing the target. Partly because she doesn’t want to randomly kill people, and partly because she’d have to focus on not permanently taking on their powers and losing the speedster set. Wither also has its uses. But the other two only come out when she’s intentionally trying to kill. Such as someone’s discovered her little secret infernal source of her powers.

Personality: Francesca remembers her mission. She remembers what she’s supposed to be. But she’s not that creature, and she doesn’t know why. The things she does should bring her pleasure and joy, but instead she’s wretched and miserable. She can’t even bring herself to do them right. She remembers the Zanettis. Being warm and loved. A part of her desperately wishes to take what she did to them back. There is something very wrong with her. But she has no one to tell, and no one to help her sort it out. Her former colleagues would simply kill this body and drag her back to Hell as a failure. Another part of her recoils from the very concept of friendship and love. Anathema! Heresy! …but she’s so very lonely and miserable…no! She was chosen for this mission over a thousand thousand others. The punishment for betrayal is too horrific to contemplate.

. . Like all the Knights of Karelia, Francesca is someone who is half superhero and half supervillain. Honestly, she’s a woman stuck wildly oscillating between the two sides. In many ways, she’s a ticking time bomb that only the heroes can defuse. What she knows and what she feels are in diametric opposition to each other, and it’s extremely confusing. Working for Valia is only a job, so she can be convinced to turn if heroes help solve her issues. So, all the heroes have to do is convince a demon that everything she knows is wrong before her psyche snaps like a twig and she either goes violently insane or commits suicide. Good luck with that.
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Wed Apr 13, 2022 2:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse!)
The Archetype Blendarama!
You, Dear Reader, may comment on any build at any time. I will be happy regardless.
User avatar
EternalPhoenix
Posts: 1858
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:42 am
Location: The Land of Mary

Oväder (Linnéa Sjöberg)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Oväder (Linnéa Sjöberg)

Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 180/180

STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +2 (14), INT: +7 (24), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +3 (16)

Tough: +2/+4, Fort: +5, Ref: +12, Will: +7

Skills: Acrobatics 12 (+15), Bluff 12 (+15), Concentration 8 (+10), Diplomacy 12 (+15), Disable Device 8 (+15), Disguise 7 (+10), Gather Information 12 (+15), Knowledge (business) 8 (+15), Knowledge (earth sciences) 8 (+15), Language 8 (+8), Notice 8 (+10), Sense Motive 8 (+10), Sleight of Hand 12 (+15), Stealth 12 (+15), Survival 13 (+15)

Feats: Accurate Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 4, Attack Specialization (Staff Smack (Strike 2)), Benefit (Status (Knight of Karelia)), Defensive Roll 2, Distract (Bluff), Dodge Focus 3, Eidetic Memory, Environmental Adaptation (Severe Weather), Evasion, Fascinate (Bluff), Fascinate (Diplomacy), Improved Initiative, Improved Trick, Move-by Action, Precise Shot, Second Chance (Concentration checks to maintain powers), Skill Mastery 2 (Acro, Bluff, Diplo, Dis Dev, Gather Info, SoH, Stealth, Surv), Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory), Well-Informed

Powers:
Tempest Staff (Device 9) (Easy to lose, Restricted use (KN Earth Sci +15 and up))
. . Staff Smack (Strike 2) (DC 19; Extended Reach (5 ft.), Mighty)
. . Weather Control (Array 14) (default power: blast; Custom (Array 13.5))
. . . . Exposure (Fatigue 8) (Array; DC 18; Range (ranged); Accurate 2 (+4), Variable Descriptor (Narrow group - Heat/Cold))
. . . . Heavy Fog (Obscure 9) (Array; affects: visual senses, Radius: 2500 ft.; Selective Attack)
. . . . Lightning Bolt (Blast 12) (Default; DC 27; Indirect 3 (any point, any direction))
. . . . Lightning Cannon (Blast 9) (Array; DC 24; Line Area (5x225 ft. line - General))
. . . . Mirage (Illusion 9) (Array; affects: visual senses, DC 19; Duration (sustained))
. . . . Tornado (Move Object 9) (Array; Strength: 45, Carry: 4.3k / 4.3 tons / 6.4 tons / 12.8 tons, DC 24; Cylinder Area (45 ft. radius + height - General), Damaging; Duration (concentration))
. . . . Wind Control (Move Object 9) (Array; Strength: 45, Carry: 4.3k / 4.3 tons / 6.4 tons / 12.8 tons; Range (perception))
. . Wind-Riding (Flight 4) (Speed: 100 mph, 880 ft./rnd)
Weather Forcasting (Super-Senses 4) (precognition; Limited (to Weather Events))

Attack Bonus: +6 (Ranged: +6, Melee: +10, Grapple: +12)

Attacks: Exposure (Fatigue 8), +10 (DC Fort 18), Lightning Bolt (Blast 12), +6 (DC 27), Lightning Cannon (Blast 9) (DC 24), Staff Smack (Strike 2), +12 (DC 19), Tornado (Move Object 9) (DC 24), Unarmed Attack, +10 (DC 17)

Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +5), Knockback: -2

Initiative: +7

Languages: Arabic, English, French, German, Japanese, Karelian, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish Native

Totals: Abilities 38 + Skills 37 (148 ranks) + Feats 28 + Powers 30 + Combat 30 + Saves 17 + Drawbacks 0 = 180

Age (as of Jan 2019): 20
Height: 5’ 7”
Weight: 125 lbs.
Ethnicity: Swedish
Hair: Strawberry Blonde
Eyes: Light Brown

Theme Song: Lightning, by Rustage featuring SquigglyDigg

Background: Linnéa Sjöberg is an orphan and a thief. In the wake of a devastating superbattle attack she was left a crying with another girl not much older trying to look after her. Until they were both picked up and adopted by a member of the Swedish Amphibious Corps’ 1st Marine Regiment. The Marine had been injured in the attack and took retirement. She raised both girls for a time on the island of Gräsö on a small farm. Until a Russian supergang raided the place and liked so much they decided to stay. The Marine sacrificed her life to protect her children, and Linnéa sacrificed her freedom to protect everyone else on the island. She joined the supergang, using her knack for predicting the weather and rapidly improving skills as a thief and con artist to aid them in their periodic raids on other small coastal towns and villages. This lasted until about five years ago, when they raided a Karelian village and Baroness Valia showed up in Battlesuit Valiant to personally educate them on the error of their ways. This included local law enforcement, who had been well paid to look the other way and cover for them when necessary. Valia dutifully notified the Government of Sweden and the National Police Commissioner. The former about her incursion with a small note of not entirely sincere apology and the latter about mobilizing some of his non-corrupt officers in Central to come pick these criminals up. And then she waited. She learned the island’s story from the natives, just in time for two superheroes and a small army of Swedish National Police to show up. The supergang was taken away, with Valia promising to send Sweden a bill for her Nullifying Manacles. However, Linnéa was nowhere to be found. Valia, ever practical, had sent her out to sea in one of the gang’s boats. The Swedish courts would likely be quite lenient on a coerced minor, but it was equally likely some shady government agent (or worse, an upstanding scientist) would take an interest in her uncanny weather predicting powers. And honestly, that would be such a waste of potential. There was much more to the girl than her powers. Valia could tell.

. . And so Linnéa became a resident of Karelia, while Valia claimed no knowledge of her existence or whereabouts. Sweden knew she was lying, and Valia knew that they knew she was lying. But realistically there was little they could do about it without possibly making an enemy of one of the most dangerous people on the planet. So Linnéa received an excellent education, and even got to visit home occasionally. But Valia wasn’t and isn’t in the business of charity. Linnéa needed a job where she could put her wide and varied skillset to use. The Knights of Karelia were hiring, said Valia. Oh yay, said Linnéa , who was not an idiot. She is a little stuck with them, as the Tempest Staff is explicitly a long term loan from Valia. And she really, really likes having it. Also the pay, which is excellent. Also also, the explicit permission to rob the guys they go on missions against blind. 4 years later, the Swedish Tempest is a popular figure throughout Europe. Probably more for her swimsuit photos, beauty, and charisma than actual deeds, but one can’t have everything.

Powers & Tactics: Linnéa is ever so technically a metahuman, with precognitive abilities that allow her to predict the weather with virtually perfect accuracy. Please note that while she primarily does this for her local area, geographical distance has no detrimental effect on this power. So it doesn’t matter if it’s New York, Paris, Nairobi, Kolkata, or Tokyo, she can predict just as easily. It’s temporal distance that’s the trouble. A few days isn’t a huge problem, but more than a week is virtually impossible.

. . The Tempest Staff, however, is the centerpiece of her abilities in combat. It is an aqua blue metal quarterstaff. Good for hitting people, but that isn’t its primary purpose. It was designed by the Baroness Valia to have a limited control over the weather. One of the many devices she used to bedevil Megagirl over the years, she stuffed it into the vault after a few failures, only to bring it out again in the modern day for Linnéa to use. It needed some refurbishment, and modern tech upgrades, but it now fully functional again. It allows the user to use the wind to fly, and do a variety of weather control tricks. Exposure can exhaust a target with a blast of extreme heat or cold. Heavy Fog can block vision of targets over a nearly half mile area. Lightning Bolt literally summons lightning from the skies to blast an opponent. Lightning Cannon is a massive bolt that covers over 200 feet. Mirage uses heat and humidity to create false images and distort real ones. Tornado is summoning a literal tornado to grab and/or throw people and/or objects, and also slash them to ribbons with razor wind. And Wind Control moves things with wind.

. . Tactically, Linnéa favors Heavy Fog and Mirage to slip past opponents rather than fighting them directly. She’s a thief at heart, not any kind of warrior. So between those two powers and Stealth she can be difficult to catch. And those who catch her tend to bitterly regret it, as property damage isn’t her problem. Lightning Cannon and Tornado can smash opposing groups, though she’ll drop ranks to avoid potentially doing lethal damage. Exposure and Wind Control have their uses in this area, as they can remove enemies without actually hurting them too badly. Lightning Bolt, at full power, is for tougher enemies and those who’ve pissed her off enough that she doesn’t care if they die anymore. Otherwise it’s her single target attack, with full Accurate Attack to aid in hitting and preventing lethal damage when undesired. She is not above using a swift Staff Smack on foes, but she knows she’s a fragile human fighting in the realm of bone crushing gods. It is considerably more stealthy of an attack than any of the Weather Control, however, and may see use in more subtle situations. She plays a support role in team combat with the Knights, using Heavy Fog, Obscure, and her Distract and Improved Trick feats to play havoc with opposing unit cohesion and teamwork. With all that said, she’s not exactly a bastion of courage. Things get a little bad, she may well run. And she’s more vulnerable to Intimidate than one might expect. She’s not a coward, really, just very keenly aware that she’s, again, a fragile human in a realm of gods. Her list of power stunts is short and rarely used, as they damage the Tempest Staff and she doesn’t know how to repair it. Chain Lightning (Blast 8; Autofire, Accurate 2), Gust Cannon (Trip 9; Line Area, Knockback, Secondary Effect, Touch Range), and Blinding Arc (Dazzle 9; Visual Senses, Perception Area, Selective Attack, Touch Range) are examples.

Personality: Linnéa is a thief and a con artist at heart. Always looking for the next score. Her childhood under a greedy supergang left her with a desperate fear of not having enough money. So she’s very greedy and one hell of a miser when it comes to expenses. She does enjoy the finer things in life. She just doesn’t enjoy paying for them. She’d vastly prefer to stay at home instead of going out and fighting superhumans or getting shot at. She still sees herself as a normal civilian human. Even if that ship sailed a while ago. And she’s not a big fan of being bossed around. Being paid to do a job is different, which is why she listens to Ma’re. So, greedy, little bit cowardly, little bit of an ego about her appearance, definitely a rebellious streak a mile wide, and one hell of a temper. But not vicious, cruel, or a killer.

. . Like all the Knights of Karelia, Linnéa is someone who is half superhero and half supervillain. She does genuinely help people with the Knights, but it’s for the money and adulation. It’s not that people being in trouble doesn’t bother her. It’s that she doesn’t see herself as someone capable of doing anything about it on her own. On the flip side, she’s openly a thief who robs criminals blind after the Knights beat them up, no matter what country she’s actually in. So, not a lot of respect for the law, either. She likes Valia fine, and owes the Baroness a debt for saving her. But…actually being loyal to the old lady? Nah. If the heroes can both replace her weapon, convince her she’s not as powerless as she thinks, and provide her with a strong and steady cash flow; there’s a chance of her bailing on the Knights entirely. Replacing her weapon is relatively easy. Any Gadgeteer worth the title could replicate it. The second is a harder road, as altering someone’s internal self perception should be. And the latter? If the heroes think they can outspend one of the five richest people on the planet, they’re welcome to try. Though Linnéa may turn out to be only but so greedy, at GM discretion.
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Thu Jun 15, 2023 1:01 am, edited 3 times in total.
The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse!)
The Archetype Blendarama!
You, Dear Reader, may comment on any build at any time. I will be happy regardless.
User avatar
EternalPhoenix
Posts: 1858
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:42 am
Location: The Land of Mary

Strażak (Jedrick Jagoda)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Strażak (Jedrick Jagoda)

Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 150/150

STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +2 (14), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +3 (16)

Tough: +2/+6, Fort: +5, Ref: +12, Will: +7

Skills: Acrobatics 12 (+15), Bluff 7 (+10), Concentration 3 (+5), Diplomacy 2 (+5), Gather Information 2 (+5), Language 2 (+2), Notice 8 (+10), Search 3 (+5), Sense Motive 8 (+10), Stealth 7 (+10)

Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 4, Dodge Focus 3, Evasion, Improved Critical 2 (Fiery Kick Barrage (Strike 6)), Improved Initiative, Interpose, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory)

Powers:
Fireproof (Immunity 10) (common descriptor: Fire/Heat)

Fireproof Coat (Device 1) (Hard to lose)
. . Thermal Lining (Immunity 1) (environmental condition: Cold)
. . Thickly Weaved Fabric (Protection 4) (+4 Toughness)

Pyrokinetic Foot Jets (Flight 3) (Speed: 50 mph, 440 ft./rnd)

Pyrokinetic Kicks (Array 7) (default power: strike)
. . Fiery Kick Barrage (Strike 6) (Default; DC 21, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Fiery Kick Barrage (Strike 6)); Autofire (interval 2, max +5))
. . Fire Blast Kick (Blast 6) (Array; DC 21; Accurate 2 (+4))
. . Flame Arc Kick (Strike 6) (Array; DC 21; Cone Area (60-300 ft. cone - General); Progression, Increase Area 2 (area x5))
. . Flame Snuffing Kick (Nullify 6) (Array; counters: all powers of (type) - fire, DC 16; Burst Area (30-150 ft. radius - General); Range (touch); Progression, Increase Area 2 (area x5))

Strażak's Axe (Device 1) (Easy to lose)
. . Axe Strike (Strike 4) (DC 21; Mighty)

Attack Bonus: +8 (Ranged: +8, Melee: +12, Grapple: +14)

Attacks: Axe Strike (Strike 4), +12 (DC 21), Fiery Kick Barrage (Strike 6), +12 (DC 21), Fire Blast Kick (Blast 6), +12 (DC 21), Flame Arc Kick (Strike 6) (DC 21), Flame Snuffing Kick (Nullify 6) (DC Will 16), Unarmed Attack, +12 (DC 17)

Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +5), Knockback: -3

Initiative: +7

Languages: English, Karelian, Polish Native

Totals: Abilities 28 + Skills 14 (54 ranks) + Feats 17 + Powers 40 + Combat 34 + Saves 17 + Drawbacks 0 = 150

Age (as of Jan 2019): 18
Height: 5’ 8”
Weight: 150 lbs
Ethnicity: Polish
Hair: Black
Eyes: Red

Theme Song: Where I Belong, by Divide Music

Background: Jedrick Jagoda is an orphan. The authorities in Poland believe it was his fault. That he burned down his own home with himself and his mother in it. He knows better. He knew better than to play with matches. His mother taught him to control his pyrokinesis much earlier, and never to use it around anyone or anything that could burn. Such as in the house. He woke up that night to a blazing inferno, and a mother begging for mercy for her son from a hideous flaming monster. Though he was six years old at the time, so even he takes that one with a grain of salt. Between smoke, heat distortion, and his own childish terror it could just have easily been a man. He knows that, and yet… At any rate, he grew up in the system. The plan wasn’t complicated, really. Get good at fighting, hone his powers, become a superhero, and work towards finding out what happened that night. Someone had to know, and a superhero was better equipped to find out than a random civilian. Until one day when he was 15 he left school to find a older woman in the most expensive looking outfit he’d ever seen sitting on the hood of the most expensive looking car he’d ever seen. Clearly she was waiting for someone. On the other side of the car, two women (one tall and brown skinned, the other of average-ish height and a Mediterranean coloration) were staring down a man in a generic suit and his entourage of dangerous looking men.

. . This, naturally, was the Baroness Valia, Ma’re Iryen, and Francesca Zanetti. The man in the generic suit, Jedrick would come to learn was, an Agency Agent, and a man to be feared. Valia (after introducing herself in grandiose fashion) told the young man he had two options, and neither was going home ever again. Valia, or him. Jedrick knew who Valia was by name. Everyone in Eastern Europe did. And the Agent somehow looked less appealing. He decided to take a third option and get the hell outta there. Except his powers currently didn’t exist, so he didn’t budge. He looked at Valia in sudden alarm. She gestured at the Agent, who smiled in grim amusement as his entourage laughed. Oh, yeah. Going with Valia. The Agent was about to object, but then Valia produced the largest handgun Jedrick to this day has ever seen and shot him in the forehead. Ma’re threw the (dead?) Agent over the building across the street, and Francesca decimated his entourage in a blur of movement and fists. It was time to go. In the car (Valia drove it, Ma’re flew above it, and Francesca ran beside it), Jedrick wanted to know if the Agent was dead. Valia laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of the idea and at the boy’s ignorance.

. . Inside of a week, Jedrick was the newest member of the Knights of Karelia. Valia had made a deal with the young man. She would help him find out the truth of what happened to his mother that night, and he would work for her as a superhero. The irony is that Valia already knew when she came to pick him up. It’s proving it that’s been remarkably…difficult. Karelian Intelligence is quite good. Among the finest of Europe’s intelligence services. However, the Agency has turned information security into an art form, along with psychological manipulation. If she tells Jedrick the truth the young man will literally fly off half cocked and do something righteously angry and righteously stupid. Said truth being that is his mother was an Agency asset who escaped them after getting pregnant with him. Escaped is the correct term, as the Agency takes an extremely dim view of anyone attempting to leave their employment, much like how they take an extremely dim view of unauthorized vaginal pregnancies. It’s a practical business matter. Such pregnancies increasingly inhibit an asset’s abilities in the field, thus damaging the Agency’s profit margins. To say nothing of the loss of field time required for parenthood. Needless to say, actually leaving the Agency’s employment is even more damaging and thus not permitted. Valia rolls her eyes at the idiotic denial of basic human nature, but heroic types (like Jedrick) are typically quite offended and run off to start breaking things. His mother is quite dead. The Agency’s dictionaries don’t include the word mercy. However, they also don’t include the concept of wasting potentially useful material, so what’s left of his mother’s remains is likely still in use. And the only reason Jedrick hasn’t joined her is that he’d never publically demonstrated powers and Valia (after a subtle warning that took over a year to trace back to the Exiles’ Radical Dreamer, of all people) had his last name changed and moved him to a different city. Still, the Agency is not full of stupid people, so when a pyrokinetic superhero of the perfect age appeared, it was not too difficult to investigate and put two and two together. Valia is just self aware enough to know that she is neither an angel nor a saint. However, the Agency is cold blooded to an extreme that occasionally still shocks her after all these years. And so the Polish Fireman is a three year veteran of the Knights of Karelia.

Powers & Tactics: Jedrick is a metahuman pyrokinetic. This is very unusual, as metahumans tend not to display any energy based powers beyond telekinesis and telepathy. He creates fire and force with nothing else than the power of his mind. The best guess is that this is a very focused version of telekinesis, but public information is sketchy on the subject due to the sheer rarity of the power. What makes Jedrick’s version even more rare is that he does it with his feet. Somehow. Every other pyrokinetic in the literature, few that there are, have used their hands or perception, but not Jedrick. He uses this to blast off like his feet are rockets and fly, and to kick people in the face with fire. His Pyrokinetic Kicks include the rapid fire strikes of Fiery Kick Barrage, the area coverage of Flame Arc Kick, a ranged attack with Fire Blast Kick, and the ability to put out mundane flames with Flame Snuffing Kick. He is also literally fireproof. Can’t burn or overheat.

. . He has a couple of devices gifted from Valia to improve his effectiveness. And they truly were gifts. The Fireproof Coat adds significant durability to him and keeps him from getting too cold. One wouldn’t think that’s a problem for a pyrokinetic, but you’d be surprised. Karelia sits between Russia and Finland. The winters are bitter. Strażak's Axe is an axe. A very well crafted axe that strikes noticeably harder than mundane axes, but just an axe. It has its uses when he’s living up to his name and saving people from burning building. Or for enemies immune to fire damage.

. . Tactically, Jedrick is an impulsive and reckless fighter. Each of his four Array settings has a clear and obvious purpose. Melee with Fiery Kick Barrage, area with Flame Arc Kick, ranged with Fire Blast Kick, and countering the inevitable collateral damage of throwing around a ton of fire with Flame Snuffing Kick. He uses All Out Attack and Interpose more than someone as Defense shifted as he is should. Pyrokinetic Foot Jets, Acrobatic Bluff and Move by Action keep him very mobile in combat. Prone Fighting and Defensive Attack can surprise people who think he’s just a one dimensional hothead. He does cut power ranks to avoid lethal damage, as well. When he does crit, he only goes for the +5 of Increased Effect if it wouldn’t be lethal damage. Otherwise he’ll go for a linked Fatigue or Visual Dazzle. He can power stunt, but very rarely does. It would be something similar to the aforementioned Fatigue or Visual Dazzle effects. Maybe a Stun.

Personality: Jedrick is a superhero. Straight up. Protect and serve, save the day. You know how this works. He is also an impulsive, reckless, and impatient hothead. He wants to help and Do Good right damn now, without waiting for proper timing, strategy, or tactics. He hasn’t hit the “did everything you possibly could and still failed miserably” wall yet. Ma’re and Valia are capable of reining him in, but it’s just so much easier to just work around it. At least until reality slaps him down hard, anyway. Because he’s a likeable young man, full of passion, energy, and enthusiasm. He’s kind, generous, and has a compassionate heart. But if he doesn’t learn to bend a little instead of charging in to solve the world’s problems by himself, he’s gonna have a real short supers career. And possibly a real short lifespan.

. . Like all the Knights of Karelia, Jedrick is half superhero and half supervillain. The hero part should be really obvious at this stage. It’s the villain part that’s subtle, and it’s the part that Valia sort of encourages. He’s really, intensely awful at admitting he’s wrong about anything. Pales next to killer (Ma’re), spy and killer (Francesca), and thief (Linnéa), but there it is. The problem is that he’s left a significant amount of property damage and nasty injuries in his wake but in his view that’s just kind of what happens when you fight bad guys. He’s Doing Good and thus Is A Hero, so it balances out. Except that’s not how it works, kid. Having the moral high ground doesn’t mean you can’t make mistakes, bad choices, or just be wrong. But he’s so wrapped up in what’s essentially his Righteous Crusade Against Evildoers that he can’t see that. So basically the heroes need to give him that big wakeup call, and then be there to help put him back on his flaming feet afterward. Challenging, but what isn’t in the heroic life.

. . Getting him to abandon Valia, on the other hand, is a whole other thing. Heroes are likely willing to do what Valia is not. Directly oppose the Agency to get the proof of who his mother was and why she was murdered. Naturally, this will be crazy difficult and come with nasty consequences as the Agency isn’t a group one casually gets away with crossing. But if they wanted a safe, easy life they wouldn’t have put on the mask in the first place, yeah?
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Thu Jun 15, 2023 1:03 am, edited 2 times in total.
The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse!)
The Archetype Blendarama!
You, Dear Reader, may comment on any build at any time. I will be happy regardless.
User avatar
EternalPhoenix
Posts: 1858
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:42 am
Location: The Land of Mary

Princess Audrielle Eliska

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Princess Audrielle Eliska

Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 135/135

STR: +12 (12/35), DEX: +2 (14), CON: +9 (12/28), INT: +1 (12), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +4 (18)

Tough: +12, Fort: +9, Ref: +6, Will: +6

Skills: Diplomacy 4 (+8), Knowledge (popular culture) 4 (+5), Language 6 (+6), Notice 3 (+5), Sense Motive 3 (+5)

Feats: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (melee), Attractive (+4), Benefit (Status (Knight of Karelia)), Dodge Focus, Power Attack, Takedown Attack

Powers:
Enhanced Constitution 16 (+16 CON)

Enhanced Strength 23 (+23 STR)

Flight 9 ([6 active, 18/18 PP, 2/r], Speed: 500 mph, 4400 ft./rnd)
. . Super-Strength 9 (Alternate; [3 active, 18/18 PP, 2/r], +15 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 12.8 tons; +3 STR to some checks)

Protection 3 (+3 Toughness; Impervious [6 extra ranks])

Attack Bonus: +5 (Ranged: +5, Melee: +6, Grapple: +18/+21)

Attacks: Unarmed Attack, +6 (DC 27)

Defense: +6 (Flat-footed: +3), Knockback: -10

Initiative: +2

Languages: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), English, Finnish, French, Karelian Native, Russian

Totals: Abilities 22 + Skills 5 (20 ranks) + Feats 8 + Powers 72 + Combat 20 + Saves 8 + Drawbacks 0 = 135

Age (as of Jan 2019): 6 months (chronological); 16 (biological)
Height: 5’ 5”
Weight: 120 lbs.
Ethnicity: Karelian (similar to Finnish)
Hair: Blonde (dyed, naturally Brown)
Eyes: Blue (contacts, naturally Brown)

Theme Song: Not Changing, by HalaCG & Tyler Clark

Background: Princess Audrielle Eliska is a genetically engineered clone. Specifically, of the long missing hero Megagirl and Baroness Valia herself. She is far from the first one. The lifespans and effectiveness of the others were far from ideal. Cloning is hard enough with humans, and Megagirl wasn’t entirely one. The genetic code that enabled her amazing powers proved to be frustratingly complex and difficult to duplicate. So the previous ones had very short lifespans and ultimately ended up a little…bizarre. It took Valia adding her own DNA to stabilize them, and even that process has taken some…refinement. However, Audrielle has gone six months without a single sign of instability, and in fact seems to be thriving. She’s not quite as powerful as Megagirl, and may in fact never be. But Valia is pleased regardless.

. . The Princess herself is positioned as Valia’s heretofore unmentioned cousin with conveniently deceased parents. Placing her in the Knights of Karelia is an attempt to mature the somewhat vapid and materially obsessed party girl. It does show signs of working, but she is as stubborn as her DNA sources. She’s quickly become a popular member of the group. Young, attractive, charismatic, and fashion forward, she’s a young woman on the rise in the world. Valia is well pleased. Now if she could stop sneaking into clubs while underage and getting photographed, that would be lovely.

Powers & Tactics: Audrielle has some of the same powers as the missing superhero Megagirl, only at a lesser level. Alien genetics convert water and sunlight photosynthetically into incredible strength and durability. Valia wasn’t quite able to fully duplicate how the heroine flew and lifted so much weight (complicated alien DNA is complicated), so Audrielle flies and augments her strength telekinetically. She can fly at hypersonic speed or juggle 747s, but doing both at once is impossible with her current powers. A balance must be struck. Her durability is so strong it takes heavy artillery to even potentially harm her.

. . Tactically, she’s an inexperienced unarmed fighter. A strong one, with access to Accurate, All Out, and Power Attack, but inexperienced nonetheless. She uses full +5 Accurate Attack until she hits Impervious high enough to ignore +7 Damage or her target saves against the damage 2-3 times. Against foes known to be weaker than her, she’ll All Out Attack with impunity. Dropping Accurate Attack serves as her normal method of Power Attacking. Using the actual feat is done against objects or the rare opponent she can’t possibly kill with that much force. The usual exceptions for Undead and Robots apply, of course. Outside of these she tries very hard not to do lethal damage, even dropping Enhanced STR ranks as needed. She has been known to forget about these usual tactics, however, and attack without thinking. She doesn’t know what a power stunt even is.

Personality: Audrielle is, well, both of her “mothers’” child. The selfishness and overwhelming pride of Valia and the kindness and unyielding heart of Megagirl. She won’t bend for anyone, but can easily be reasoned with. She’s extroverted, gregarious, and easy to get along with as long as you don’t insult her capabilities. She is rude and insulting to enemies but kind and generous to friends and allies. She loves fashion, dressing up, and partying. Strangely, however, she has yet to display any romantic or sexual attraction to anyone. She’s a pretty normal ultra-rich teenage girl, otherwise.

. . Like all the Knights of Karelia, Audrielle is half superhero and half supervillain. Literally and figuratively, in her case. She does put her all into heroics when called on, but it’s because of her kindness and pride both. Noblesse oblige in action. But again, like both of her “mothers” when someone crosses the moral event horizon she loses all sense of mercy or pity. Megagirl never killed anyone herself, but she did look the other way on a few notable occassions. Like in Vietnam, when she captured some human traffickers, put their weapons in a pile, freed their vengeful victims, and then went to have a cup of tea in the traffickers’ mess hall. While pretending she heard nothing at all. Valia has no problem with killing, but many fates are worse than a quick death. Audrielle, as always, sits somewhere in the middle. She dislikes killing people, but some have forfeited their right to be people and thus don’t count. And honestly, the laws of places that aren’t Karelia don’t mean a damn thing to her.

. . The heroes aren’t goint to save her. Or redeem her. Or anything else. Audrielle is on Audrielle’s side and not anyone else’s. Still, it’s not particularly difficult to make friends with and influence her. And as stated, she can be reasoned with. But that only goes so far. There is precisely zero chance that she’ll betray the people important to her. She loves Valia as a child does her mother. Her teammates are practically her siblings, especially Linnéa and Jedrick. And, unexpectedly enough, that level of care is returned in kind. Valia’s heart is not made of stone. Much like with Ma’re Iryen, Valia will move heaven and earth to come to her rescue. Unlike with Ma’re, Audrielle will do the same.
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Thu Jun 15, 2023 1:09 am, edited 4 times in total.
The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse!)
The Archetype Blendarama!
You, Dear Reader, may comment on any build at any time. I will be happy regardless.
User avatar
EternalPhoenix
Posts: 1858
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:42 am
Location: The Land of Mary

Exiles Creator Commentary: Core Team

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Creator Commentary: The Exiles

Personal Comments

You want to know where the Exiles start for me? Easily fifteen years ago. I didn’t have a computer. I’d barely been on the internet. So young in every way but the physical. Because I was 20 years old fifteen years ago. The start of the Exiles was me, in the public library. In the young adult corner. They had some comic trades and manga. Specifically a little thing called Runaways. Now I know Jab kind of hates them, and maybe some of you agree, but me? I adore them. Just a grab bag of random dumbasses who have absolutely no idea what they’re doing, and survive impossible odds anyway. Except when they don’t. RIP Gert. I was also a diehard Whedonite before it turned out he was an asshole abuser. So. Ya know. I wanted my own Runaways.

. . I’d been imagining superheroes for sometime already, but this was…different. The Phoenixverse wasn’t a cohesive thing back then. There was Nick Phoenix (who you’ve heard of already), the Starfamily (a tale long enough for one of these on its own), the Academy (very much X-Men knockoffs, but more back in those days), and no real villains to speak of. Even The Icons (the US’s finest heroes, more or less) were very much in their infancy as an idea. I’d hit a wall, creatively, before reading Runaways. The established Superhero Justice Association had grown dull and predictable. The stuff mentioned above was not supplanting them particularly well. But I had a new thing to mercilessly rip off for my own amusement. And so I did.

. . I wasn’t into M&M in those days, that came much later. So this was purely pen on paper or in my head. Barry, Blackrose (originally her name was Raven, because I’m super original), Wendy, Myrcelle, and Radical Dreamer. Barry was this kid who could do indestructible force fields, but only for a split second. Raven was, well…I was a big fan of the Teen Titans animated show, so she was literally Raven blended with Nico Minoru. Wendy is a bit of a retcon. All I knew about her originally is that she died and broke up the original gang in the process. You know, like Gert only more tragic. Her powers and death story came later. Myrcelle owes a lot more to Starfire than Karolina Dean, but you can see both. Radical Dreamer is almost exactly the same guy. Simple concept. World’s most powerful precognitive, with a side of weak telepathy.

. . Truthfully, my original conception of the team was right when Blackrose returned and Cory was both with her and joined. So Dreamer didn’t have to be leader anymore. And I worked backward to determine how they’d gotten there. The primary musical inspiration was Yellowcard’s Paper Walls album. And the introduction to the team was from an everyman teen hero’s eyes as he worked with them for a time. Reggie Morton. The Human Rocket IV. Explaining him and why he’s the fourth would also take another one of these, heh. Or his own entry, when I do the updated Icons. Long story short he has no connections to the first (Wild West era) or second (World War II/Golden Age era), but got his tech from the third (unfairly disgraced Silver Age era). The Takedown and Fighting were mostly his songs. Shrink The World is the original Hummingbird’s, who was kind of but not quite his girlfriend. It never quite worked out, as she was an Exile and he…wasn’t. Keeper was for Radical Dreamer and Astra. He should have told her everything, indeed. Light Up The Sky was Flare and Stormy’s song. Lastly, Shadows And Regrets belonged to Blackrose and Cory. And slowly the first four years as recounted in their Overview happened. NPC Investigations sprung up. The Seawings became a thing. And then I lost all my notes. All of them, from day one.

. . My heart was broken, and I didn’t advance anything for a few years. But time heals all wounds, and I started writing down what I remembered, which was basically everything, if not all of the specific details. Then later I got into M&M, and built them as starter PL 10s. And then still later I realized it had been nearly a decade since I created them, and they hadn’t moved forward, plotwise, very much at all in that time. I was ten years older, but my heroes hadn’t changed at all. I wasn’t connecting with them the same way I had in the past. So I conceptualized a big Phoenixverse update, to bring everything into proper continuity. I established a starting point in 2009, and set about updating my old friends. And I knew they wouldn’t have sat idle, even if I did. So the Second Gen, Third Gen, and eventually “.5” Gen became a thing.

Individual Build Commentary: Core Team

Blackrose: It takes a lot of bullshit to build a universe. Personally, I kinda don’t care how magic works. It’s just another way of having superpowers to me. But you know how it is. You can’t just say “It works, shut up”. People need their explanations for stuff. And yes, to a degree, I am people too. So I’m not just dissing everyone but me. Heh. So Blackrose could rip the life out of people, cripple them, negate their powers, make portals to teleport the team places, etcetera. You’ve seen her build by now, link’s literally right there. But all of that uses up her already weak life force and slowly corrupts her. The Fellstaff (which I finally named for her initial PL 10 starter build) helps with the former but not the latter. To break it down further, I wanted someone who didn’t do damage but was effective anyway, and M&M has several powers that do that in 2e. 3E consolidated like 90% of them into Affliction, but whatever it’s cool. A weak body, but immense power. A tiny girl leaning on a gnarled black staff for support, but capable of annihilating foes with ease should she act. The archetypal Glass Cannon, but with special effects. I think it works, aside from Life Drain because I forgot that Healing is a Full Action by default, dammit. And linked powers need to use the same Action. And haha, forgot I didn’t use Damage for that either. Though if I’m being honest, in a comic book and not tabletop RPG setting she wouldn’t have her Rose Gear at all. I just thought somebody physically frail was already pushing it with +15 Defense bonus. That’s full on Matrix bullet dodging. And Stormy was right there, so meh. With a system that didn’t ruthlessly punish being below Defensive PL I’d chop it in half, probably. But here we are. Le shrug.

Radical Dreamer: His build was inspired by one I found for the X-Man Blindfold. At least, a more combat ready version of her. He’s basically designed to be a skill monkey and never get hit. I could probably do a better job of this now if I revamped his build a little, but oh god I don’t want to finagle with all the Herolab buttons again. I actually stole Precognitive Dodge from somebody on the ATT, who used it as a feat. I’m not cool with turning powers into feats, but otherwise it was a lovely idea and worth thieving. Burn a hero point, and oops they rerolled too low and missed, actually. But otherwise he’s an excellent face man and sneak because, you know, precognition allows cheating. That’s all I’ve got he’s not complicated.

Myrcelle: Haha if Dreamer’s not complicated than Myrcelle is extremely not complicated. Balanced PL 14 on Defense, with a buttload of Regeneration. Tilted a little towards Damage with Life Force Blast, and a balanced PL 12 with her fists. She’s a crazy good face, but a sweetheart so only skill points in Diplomacy. Enough to actually unhostile someone who’s actively attacking her, if the GM allows it. Also she flies. Like I said she owes a lot to animated Starfire, but she’s her own thing.

Astra: Realistically she should be a few add ons for Dreamer, but screw that. So instead I made someone virtually unhittable, tough enough to endure just about any hit that got through that, and impossible to permanently get rid of. And also swing one at crafting a reality warper than made some kind of sense. She’s genuinely scary, and probably the biggest gun on the team…except she very rarely does anything. So she’s made more with an eye to not using her powers in the vast majority of situations. If Dreamer is a deux ex machine all by himself thanks to limitless precognition, Astra takes it to another level by being a virtually invincible casual reality warper who’s (metaphorically) attached to his hip.

Flare: The beating heart of the Exiles. The Brightest Light. Flare. He was always a Phoenix Mutate, I just hadn’t refined the concept yet. Originally, before he was ever built, he could only Dazzle people. So the only direct damage on that team of Exiles before he learned to do lasers (which was the purpose of a whole plot arc) was Dreamer’s fists and Hummingbird’s blasters, as Stormy hadn’t started to use lightning yet. Whew. Talk about thin. But over time Flare figured out how to do laser beams, and move at light speed, and all the other stuff in the build. The previous four, I like them a lot. They’re very important to the lore. But Flare is when I knew I had something special. Something other than a Runaways or Teen Titans knockoff. Don’t get me wrong, that’s fun, but it wasn’t special. How do I explain this? He was the type of character that would normally have been an Academy student, and at the time of his creation my different teams/franchises/whatever were quite silo’d off from each other. And then, with Flare, they weren’t anymore. I had a real, breathing universe. If rather…fledgling. So Flare is uh, pretty important to me because of that.

Stormy: And Flare’s best girl expanded on this idea. That the Exiles transcended the limitations of origin story. They could, in fact, be anyone at all. Which is, I think, one hell of an idea as far as superhero teams go. The X-Men are all mutants. The Avengers are Earth’s Mightest Heroes, and choose their membership accordingly. Various other Marvel teams aren’t so different. Even the JLA, JSA, Titans, etc, have some kind of theme of competence, or being specially chosen, or their powers come from the same source. I mean, you know. It’s comics. But the Exiles aren’t like that. Aside from being young, and having powers, there’s no real qualifications. Anybody can be an Exile. Even you. Flare made it possible. Stormy solidified it. To the degree that I’ve so far only made two other weather controllers as of this writing, and they’re both three whole power levels weaker. Also creatively the relationship between Flare and Stormy is the rock the Exiles have arguably been sustained on. Like Dreamer, she trades raw power for skill monkey stuff, only she’s the techie. A nice, balanced, PL 12 offensively and a little Toughness shifted defensively. Stormy is amphibious because of Mass Effect. She was always aquatic, I just hadn’t defined it until the Salarians intro’d me to the idea. Her species isn’t anything like theirs, mind, I was just inspired by their existence.

Cory: The kid who made it all work. The catalyst for losing the beloved Hummingbird and a somewhat iconic initial image of a regular sized Black boy who can smash steel and throw cars. Every team needs a powerhouse, and the Exiles’ first came pint sized and with severe daddy issues. Of the “Oh god, how do we beat this guy” variety. Killing off the original ‘Bird was…well…there comes a time where a given team’s adventures start feeling too safe. No matter what happens, everybody is going to be fine. They might get into terrible danger, and they might get badly hurt, but ultimately the bad guy is defeated and everybody survives to adventure and fight another day. I picked ‘Bird for it because she was the intro to the Exiles as they were. She was the departed Human Rocket IV’s connection to them. It wasn’t exactly a long list to choose from either. The team at the time was Blackrose, Dreamer, Astra, ‘Bird, Flare, Stormy, and Cory. Blackrose and Dreamer meant too much to the Exiles as a concept, as did Flare and Stormy. Cory’s dad obviously wasn’t killing his own son, and Astra wasn’t even there in the first place, technically. So ‘Bird got the job. And now, suddenly, anyone could die. That safe feeling was gone. And, of course, I got to break the team down and rebuild them to a triumphant return, while reintro’ing Myrcelle. The Phoenixverse in a nutshell. Struggle, tragedy, and ultimately triumph. Until the next big plot arc, where we do it all again. Cory himself is just your basic PL 12 Powerhouse, with a transformation gimmick that shoves him up to a fully Damage and Toughness shifted PL 15. Simple and clean.

Windstorm: At this point, I had figured out Wendy’s powers, fleshed out her death more, and really just figured out the whole “early Exiles” thing. And then once I’d done that I wanted to bring Wendy back. But not like, literally resurrect her. I wanted to…echo her, if that makes any sense. Someone with her powers, who remembered being her, but also was someone else entirely. I'd done it before, with a different group and power set. Basically a legacy character in as literal as fashion as possible for someone who died without children or being cloned. And so Windstorm, the Exile fangirl, was born. She hasn’t actually changed very much from her initial conception. I thought about making her half black or fully Latino during the big update, but ultimately didn’t do it. That’s it, really. The living legacy of an Exile founder, and also her own person. The Phoenix Mutate concept was fully established at this point, if not one hundred percent refined, and so she was one too. And so, retroactively, was Wendy. A rebuild would probably change a few things, but really I like her the way she is. She is ridiculously powerful, as a fully fledged Phoenix Mutate should be, but also limited to the one thing. In this case, the generation and control of air pressure or wind.
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Wed Apr 13, 2022 1:49 am, edited 2 times in total.
The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse!)
The Archetype Blendarama!
You, Dear Reader, may comment on any build at any time. I will be happy regardless.
User avatar
EternalPhoenix
Posts: 1858
Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:42 am
Location: The Land of Mary

Re: The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse; Newest: Francesca Zanetti, Linnéa Sjöberg, Jedrick Jagoda, Princess Audrielle Elis

Post by EternalPhoenix »

I build intuitively, as I do many things, so I can't explain properly why I make the choices I do on the macro scale. But ask about an individual build or character choice and I should be able to. I just decided on a five day period between postings of these. So if anyone has anything to say, you've got time.
The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse!)
The Archetype Blendarama!
You, Dear Reader, may comment on any build at any time. I will be happy regardless.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24690
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse; Newest: Jedrick Jagoda, Princess Audrielle Eliska, Exiles Core Team Commentary)

Post by Jabroniville »

I’m digging Aubrielle- the notion of a teen party girl who’s also a powerful soldier in slave is interesting, as is her more militaristic/practical bent. I’ll have to check your backlog for stuff on Megagirl or the Knights.
Post Reply