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

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EternalPhoenix
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Re: NPC Investigations Commentary: Partners and Senior Associates

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 6:49 am Having read thru NPC Investigations now --
EternalPhoenix wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:37 pm NPC Investigations
Not a sleight against the Exiles, but NPC Investigations are certainly more my speed! I always love a good detective / mystery, including/especially in a superheroic setting. And they, like the Exiles, clearly have an opening PCs to join, and a very natural campaign structure.
At the very least, I'm glad you're having a good time reading through. I didn't say it before, but welcome to the active side of Echoes.
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 6:49 am
EternalPhoenix wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:40 pm Penny Nihara
I appreciate her arc there - "You broke it, you buy it (or lead it, as the case may be)" is a good plot development. Its fascinating to see what heroes do once handed control of groups that oppose them - like when Green Arrow or Batman become head of the League of Assassins, or someone other than Nick Fury takes the wheel of SHIELD. Can you change the institution? Or is the momentum too strong?

Dark, but also a refreshing take that these aren't necessarily Highly Visible Ninja, and remember that stealth is important.
I think the question with Penny is "what is she going to do with this power?" Because she's not a saint. NPC as a whole may sit on the heroic side of the fence, but Penny is easily the darkest of them. She has explicitly killed people during her tenure. In my view, she's the one people should be scared of, and now she's got her own personal army. Plus a mission of vengenance (for Immortia) to pursue.
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 6:49 am
EternalPhoenix wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:41 pm Carla Perkins
She's my favorite of the whole crew, senior and junior. It seems like she's had such a great arc, plus a real detective background, and the contrast between her powers and her archetype, it's all good stuff.

I can really see the comic panels, or Netflix episode, as the plot lands here. There's also something to seeing what happens to the would-be "one-off victim of a mad scientist" who actually has the means and willpower to keep coming after them.

I also approve of the counter-intuitive style. Sometimes people who get powers in media are shown to adapt or lose old, reflexive, behaviors really quickly, so its interesting imagining someone (with actual firefight training) having to unlearn some behaviors.

The Question, maybe? But agreed. I enjoyed the recent Batman film for remembering to make him a detective, but I doubt we'll see The Elongated Man or The Detective Chimp anytime soon to follow up on that!
It's always surprising to me which characters of mine people latch onto. I like Carla, mind, but she's not my favorite of the core trio, let alone the whole of NPC. Penny, Harmony, and Sofia, for the record. As for the Question...yes, I'm always forgetting someone, dang it. :sweat_smile:
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 6:49 am
EternalPhoenix wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:43 pm Edwin Christian
EternalPhoenix wrote: Fri Apr 01, 2022 12:09 am But if it was just that he’d be kind of an insufferable Marty Stu, so I gave him a giant flaw in classic Marvel style. He can’t touch people anymore, not without triggering it. And so the one who’s supposed to be the face man is actually the most socially isolated. At the time of his original creation, I had not read the Dresden Files. But during the update, I noticed he was basically a riff on Thomas Raith. So I decided to lean in when writing his entry.
It's a grim background he's had to deal with, but I think you executed it well, and the idea of a psychic addiction is solid. I appreciate that he doesn't get off lightly, but your narrative still treats him with compassion as well.
It was very important to me to handle that as delicately as possible. Because he couldn't just get away with it, even if he didn't know what he was doing. But it also couldn't be too horrible, or no one would buy him as a hero. They'd want him buried under the jail, so to speak. It couldn't be too light of a thing, either, or his angst would come off as silly and something he should just get over eventually. I'm glad I managed to walk the line successfully, at least in your view.
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 6:49 am
EternalPhoenix wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:44 pm Sonya Harmon
Like you say, important to have a functional and warm receptionist!

A question - the Elemental Lords - these are Fae, in the Phoenixverse? And they are all subject to the Summer Queen? Or is it Earth and Fire under Summer, Water and Air under Winter?
Yanno, I haven't quite decided whether they're Fae or not. They are not, however, meant to be under the rule of either Queen. The Elemental Lords are supposed to be independent allies of the Faerie Courts who show the Queens their due respect. However, the Summer Queen has been going on a power trip and decided to take that "due respect" portion as they should bend the knee and obey. She is wrong, but the list of beings with the magical power to oppose her is uh, short. So she's getting away with it. Until 2019 rolls through, anyway. :mrgreen:
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 6:49 am
EternalPhoenix wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:58 pm Sofia Harmon
Like I said, I haven't watched Buffy, but I have friends who filled me in on this plot and I've always wanted to incorporate it into a game, somehow, but its hard to do to players without feeling like you're being nasty to them. Doing it to NPCs, however? Perfectly acceptable! And its a fun notion because any friction between the two is written off as simple "sibling rivalry" by observers. I also like that (if I understand correctly), where Sonya lived as a human and had to adapt to learning her origin, Sofia got "dropped in" to a human life but with a Fae's memories.
You are reading that right, yes. Though putting it that way makes me realize exactly what I did to poor Sofia. Sorry, love. :sweat_smile:
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 6:49 am
EternalPhoenix wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:46 pm Harmony Perez
So - maybe it's later in the thread, in which case I apologize for asking now, but what exactly was the relation between Hayden Street (I appreciate the naming!) and Roger Simon - it seems like Hayden was a false personality that wizard Roger took on, for a time, and then... escaped? It sounds like a great plot arc, provided I have a handle on it.

Great wisdom, there! And presumably foreshadowing another "Year of the _____" on some updated timeline?
You do have a handle on it, yes. He changed his face, name, and personality. He started his agency, stuff happened. The cast as we know them started showing up. He found a permanent source of magical power, blew up everything and left to do his own thing with Eve. It's tough for me to describe, because Hayden Street wasn't a lie or a deception. He was that guy. His feelings and actions were real and true. But at the same time, the moment he got the opportunity to be the badass wizard Roger Simon again, he took it. Because he was always Roger underneath.

Anyway, yes. Another Year of the ____ down the road somewhere. I'm working mostly on the present year of 2019, though I do have a few ideas about an Exiles update. Everything else for that is a giant shrug until I'm done with 2019...which will probably run into 2024 at this rate. :sweat_smile:
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 6:49 am
EternalPhoenix wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:48 pm James Scott
EternalPhoenix wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:48 pm His list of accomplishments literally fills books. There’s a movie series that doesn’t get many of the details wrong (all the names are changed, of course) but has been seriously ratcheting up the destruction lately.
So, who's leaking classified reports to Hollywood?
Yanno, I should look into that...
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 6:49 am
EternalPhoenix wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 11:24 pm Individual Build Commentary: Junior Associates
The original idea for the big update was the core trio (Nihara, Perkins, and Christian) getting a pair of understudies each.


A cool way to reexamine the core trio, and then examine what defines them, both by imitation and contrast. I'll have to keep the idea of "understudies" in mind - I've created enemies and sidekicks to contrast my heroes in the past, but "understudies" is a new angle (I think of those 90s replacements like Jean-Paul Valley for Batman or Artemis for Wonder Woman - not full-time successors, like Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern or Wally West as the Flash, but temporary contrasts).
Understudies was the best word I could think of for it. Though I don't think of it as reexamining them, but instead as approaching who they are from another angle.
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 6:49 am
EternalPhoenix wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:53 pm Ricardo Alvarez
Poor guy must have the highest blood pressure pressure at NYPD or NPC. But a good evolution of the "Friend on the Force"
Haha, maybe a little. In my head he's a naturally chill dude, though.
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 6:49 am
EternalPhoenix wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:55 pm Teresa Maria Amarista-Macleod
EternalPhoenix wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 11:24 pm You have a favorite book? I do. Well, I have a few that vie for the title. But the one I’m referring to is The Proud Breed, by Celeste DeBlasis. It is a pretty meticulously researched piece of historical fiction. It’s also a somewhat trashy romance novel of doorstopper length running across 50+ years of California’s history. I’m not normally a fan of romance novels, but this one, man. S’good.
Well, I'll have to read that someday. And stealing characters from favorite media, especially non-obvious, non-comics sources, makes for some of the most interesting characters.
EternalPhoenix wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:55 pm Also she’s apparently a member of a secret society of telepaths devoted to stopping telepathic crimes?
Hey, if NPC Investigations was a show, that's a whole spinoff pitch on its own right there! "NY-PSI" perhaps?
I will absolutely recommend The Proud Breed to anyone who likes historical fiction and can at least tolerate romance. Though when I say doorstopper I mean it. The tall hardcover I have is 571 pages long. A normal size paperback would likely jump that up a bunch. As for NY-PSI...I'll think about it. :mrgreen:
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 6:49 am
EternalPhoenix wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 11:59 pm Immortia (Tia Hammond) & Agent Zero
Speaking of TV pitches! I appreciate that what starts as a Logan or The Mandalorian style setup has been allowed to evolve here - the Old Warrior can't protect the Wonder Child forever - eventually the latter has to grow up, as you say. And what a way to make a seemingly harmless, helpful power, utterly terrifying - both for the possessor and anyone "benefitting" from it nearby. These Agency tests remind me of some of the most excessive SCP Foundation logs.

Truly they are a fantastic source of guilt-free foes to tear through. I recall certain memories of blowing away all those Cerberus troopers in Mass Effect...
Oh yes, the Agency is Evil with a capital E. The worst excesses of capitalism and socio/psychopathy
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 20, 2022 6:49 am
EternalPhoenix wrote: Sat Jan 29, 2022 12:01 am Eiko Takanouchi
EternalPhoenix wrote: Sat Jan 29, 2022 12:01 am She was born (under a different name and without a surname as was common in the period) near the start of the “Warring States” (or Sengoku) Period in medieval Japan.
It shows how poor my grasp of Japanese history that my first thought was "Oh, did she overlap with Tenshi of the Exiles at all then?" before I did some quick research and realized the Meiji Restoration is closer in time to the present day than to the Warring States Period.
EternalPhoenix wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 11:24 pm I ponder. Oh hey, why the heck was the very white Eve looking like a Japanese girl anyway? Because she stole her appearance.
My mind also goes to the whole Betsy Braddock/Kwannon / Psylocke mess that recently got resolved. In the Phoenixverse it seems to have avoided a lot of the problematic aspects of the Psylocke scenario, though.
The gap is like 250 years long, man. C'mon. :P

But yes, I wanted a resolution that made sense, wasn't weird and possibly racist nonsense, and also didn't make Roger or Eve look better than they were. Because they're villains, and thus should be dickheads. There's a point to be argued that how Eve became Eiko is awfully similar to how Roger became Hayden, and it's something for me to think about now.
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EternalPhoenix
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Aeon (Courtney Halloran)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Aeon (Courtney Halloran)

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

STR: +0 (10), DEX: +2 (14), CON: +2 (14), INT: +5 (20), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +0 (10)

Tough: +2/+8, Fort: +7, Ref: +9/+12, Will: +8

Skills: Acrobatics 8 (+10), Bluff 5 (+5), Computers 15 (+20), Craft (electronic) 10 (+15), Craft (mechanical) 10 (+15), Diplomacy 10 (+10), Knowledge (physical sciences) 10 (+15), Knowledge (technology) 10 (+15), Language 4 (+4), Notice 8 (+10), Sense Motive 8 (+10), Stealth 8 (+10)

Feats: Accurate Attack, Eidetic Memory, Evasion, Improved Initiative 3, Improvised Tools, Inventor, Move-by Action, Online Research, Power Attack, Skill Mastery 2 (Acrobatics, Computers, Craft (elec & mech), KN (phys sci & tech), Notice, Sense Mot, Ultimate Effort (Computers checks), Uncanny Dodge (Auditory), Well-Informed

Powers:
Chronal Gauntlets (Device 9) (Hard to lose)
. . Time Control (Array 20) (default power: - linked powers -)
. . . . Chronal Beams (Blast 10) (Array; DC 25; Autofire (interval 2, max +5), Secondary Effect)
. . . . Chronal Charged Fists (Strike 10) (Array; DC 25; Autofire (interval 2, max +5), Penetrating, Secondary Effect)
. . . . Personal Chronal Acceleration (Linked)
. . . . . . Concealment 10 (Linked; all senses; Close Range, Precise)
. . . . . . Quickness 9 (Linked; Perform routine tasks at 1000x speed; Stacks with (Accelerated Action (Quickness 6+9)))
. . . . . . Speed 9 (Linked; Speed: 5000 mph, 44000 ft./rnd; Stacks with (Accelerated Movement (Speed 6+9)))
. . . . Time Stop (Paralyze 10) (Array; DC 20; Alternate Save (Reflex), Burst Area (50 ft. radius - General), Duration (concentration))
. . Variable Output (Enhanced Trait 2) (Feats: Accurate Attack, Power Attack)

Hacking Helmet (Device 3) (Hard to lose)
. . Hack Everything (Datalink 5) (sense type: mental; Omni-Directional Area; Machine Control, Rapid 3)
. . Time Sense (Super-Senses 1) (time sense)

Time Suit (Device 8) (Hard to lose)
. . Accelerated Action (Quickness 6+9) ([Stacking ranks: +9], Perform routine tasks at 100000x speed)
. . Accelerated Movement (Speed 6+9) ([Stacking ranks: +9], Speed: 500000 mph, 4400000 ft./rnd)
. . Accelerated Reflexes (Enhanced Trait 13) (Traits: Defense Bonus +3 (+12), Reflex +3 (+12), Feats: Evasion, Improved Initiative 3)
. . Acceleration (Super-Movement 3) (wall-crawling 2 (full speed), water walking; Limited (to while moving))
. . Suit Armoring (Protection 6) (+6 Toughness; Impervious)

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

Attacks: Chronal Beams (Blast 10), +10 (DC 25), Chronal Charged Fists (Strike 10), +10 (DC 25), Time Stop (Paralyze 10) (DC Ref/Staged 20), Unarmed Attack, +10 (DC 15)

Defense: +9/+12 (Flat-footed: +6), Knockback: -7

Initiative: +14

Languages: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Latin, Native Language, Spanish

Totals: Abilities 22 + Skills 27 (106 ranks) + Feats 10 + Powers 80 + Combat 38 + Saves 18 + Drawbacks 0 = 195

http://schneekatze09.deviantart.com/art ... -271403864

Age (as of Jan 2019): 50 (chronological) mid 20s (biological)
Height: 5’ 9”
Weight: 135 lbs
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Hair: Dirty Blonde (Snow White as Aeon)
Eyes: Brown

Background: Courtney Halloran is a legacy supervillain in the most direct way possible. Her parents committed flashy themed robberies throughout the 60s and 70s. Professor Plunder (Jim Halloran) and girlfriend/fiancée/wife Miss Chievous (Lisa Simmons; she kept her last name) were your usual Gimmick Gadget Villains. They didn’t kill anyone, they made significant and noticeable effort to ensure nobody was seriously injured (though it did happen occasionally by accident), and they never stole more than 10 thousand dollars or so. Against the rather bombastic and dramatic villains in the 60s and 70s, they faded into the background. This was intentional, as it ensured they were never properly caught and that they were pursued much less fiercely than the legends of the era. And while they never stole very much at one time, after several hundred robberies it was quite a princely sum indeed. Because Jim Halloran and Lisa Simmons had day jobs the entire time, they were able to save it all and pass it down to their beloved daughter Courtney. They both quietly retired to finish raising her after one last Christmas themed robbery in 1979.

. . Courtney, for her part, was more than happy to uphold the family tradition. The problem was that the authorities (namely, the FBI) noticed the brief return of Professor Plunder and Miss Chievous on what was obviously their child’s (going by the temporary codename of Wonder Scout) first robbery. The late 80s were, unfortunately, not the 60s or 70s. Technology had advanced, as had the FBI’s tracking methodologies. And by this time, a quarter century past the initial superhero and villain explosion of the early 60s, most of said explosion had either retired, died, or was serving a lengthy prison sentence. There was not nearly the same amount of cover as there had been. Law enforcement was much quicker to respond, and with significantly more force. The robbery itself went off without a hitch. Just like old times. The getaway, however, was much hairier. The police shot at them! That had never happened before. But the escape plan worked like a charm, and the trio returned home safely. That was the summer Courtney decided on her theme and built the first versions of her Time Suit and Chronal Gauntlets. Aeon was a good codename, she decided. That was also the summer the FBI spent spying on the Halloran family and digging up all the old evidence on Professor Plunder and Miss Chievous. They meticulously planned their raid, and then Courtney surprised them by deciding to leave a few days early for college. Before anyone could be scrambled, she said goodbye to Jim and Lisa, beloved dad and mom, and drove away in her dinky teenager car. She promptly disappeared, and the account full of the robbery money the FBI was planning to freeze n’ seize suddenly drained. They found her dinky teenager car five miles outside of town, empty of anything to indicate it had ever belonged to anyone. Courtney Halloran was gone.

. . Neither Professor Plunder nor Miss Chievous was stupid enough to think they’d gotten away 100% clean. They’d had friends who had been retired for years, then one day their front door was kicked in and they were dragged out in cuffs to face crimes they’d done years ago. Their retirement had been one long con game, never giving out too much detail to anyone who might be surveilling them. They shredded their mail and spoke in code at home. They kept an eye on the neighborhood too, and when the same few vehicles (including a generic white van) kept showing up despite not belonging to anyone in the neighborhood they grew actively suspicious. Courtney was, naturally, familiar with the coded way they spoke at home, and so plans were made. Jim and Lisa weren’t overly concerned about themselves, of course. It was vitally important that Courtney get away completely clean. Any photographs of her since elementary school were burned in the fireplace. She packed up everything she owned that wasn’t too big. At last the time came, and after tearful goodbyes she left a few days early for “college”. The FBI, not wanting to lose Jim and Lisa as well, moved in immediately. They needn’t have bothered. The couple had no real plans to go anywhere. Courtney was safe, and that was the part that mattered.

. . The trial was sensational. Oh, both Jim and Lisa knew the FBI had them dead to rights, but neither of them entertained the possibility of pleading guilty. The nation was gripped for a week and a half as federal prosecutors were forced to tell their story. The story of an ordinary seeming suburban couple with a deep dark secret. The story of Professor Plunder and Miss Chievous. Their romance enraptured the nation. Of course, in the end they were both sentenced to a small eternity in federal prison. They’re up there in the criminal canon with Bonnie and Clyde. But they had a better hook: The missing Courtney.

. . Courtney was not missing at all, at least not to herself. She was mad at her parents briefly, and then quite sad as it was likely she’d never seen them again. Still, it was up to her to carry their legacy forward. And the time controlling thief Aeon made her debut as a supervillain. She’d walk in, stop time, rob the place, and leave. She started off being able to run at hypersonic speeds, so the superheroes who could keep up with her were a short list of nobody but the second Starman. And he had his own Rogue’s Gallery to worry about. So like her parents, Courtney Halloran was a small time supervillain. 5 to 10 thousand dollars a month is more than enough to live on and accumulate some savings. And except for one thing, this would have been her life. Eventually she would have found a guy she could fall in love with, settled down and had a kid or two. You know, start the cycle all over again. That one thing was the internet. When she debuted in ’86, the internet’s hosts numbered less than 30k. By the time she got her Five Year Vet stripes in ’91, American Online had been up and running for two years, and the World Wide Web had just been born. The world had changed with startling speed, and it only seemed to be accelerating. So Courtney did what any forward thinking techie of the era did. She got online.

. . This was the beginning of the Numbers, a loosely affiliated computer engineer/programmer/hacker collective. (If you’ll allow me to get a little meta, they’re the Phoenixverse’s version of Anonymous). Having a bona fide supervillain helping to organize the group gave them a bit more attractive to potential members. Meanwhile, Courtney created the first version of her Hacking Helmet. But there was, however, a downside to the rise of the internet. Before the world was connected by it, it was pretty dang easy to hide out in a medium sized town if you were a wanted fugitive but they weren’t 100% sure what you looked like. You could even use your real name (if it wasn’t too unique) and probably get a bank account. You couldn’t get a job that didn’t pay under the table, because they’d need your Social Security Number for tax purposes and whoops you got found by the FBI. So Courtney Halloran had an apartment (from an owner who didn’t ask too many questions and accepted money orders) and a checking account (gas and electric preferred checks, alas). She paid cash for everything else and lived quietly, except for the one or two times a month she became Aeon and robbed somewhere hundreds of miles away. If she had lived in her parents’ time the FBI would have never found her. Unfortunately, she lived in the 90s. Banks had gotten online, and so had federal law enforcement. And a Courtney Halloran without any known employment who somehow had just enough money to write one check to the local energy company every month might as well have been wearing a flashing neon sign. One who paid her rent and phone bill by money order and disappeared for a few nonconsecutive days each month at the same time as the supervillain Aeon was committing her time stopped robberies might as well have been wearing a flashing neon sign visible from space. They thought she was a gimmick villain with a couple of ways of stopping time in a localized area and nothing more. They were incorrect.

. . What the FBI team sent to arrest her encountered was essentially a speedster in pistol proof armor who slapped them around like children. Because Courtney wasn’t stupid, either. She knew every cop in the local precinct on sight, and all of their vehicles both marked and unmarked. She also knew every vehicle that belonged in or regularly visited her neighborhood. The benefits of an eidetic memory. So when clean shaven law enforcement types started appearing in her run down neighborhood in unmarked cars of the type often favored by the FBI, she noticed immediately. She could have ran. It wouldn’t have been difficult. She’d done it before. But yanno…sometimes you had to teach the pigs a lesson. It was a point of professional pride as a supervillain, and also fuck them for locking away her parents. Dudes…uncool. So she waited for them to come get her, donned her gear, and beat the shit out of them. With their vehicles destroyed and all of them beaten unconscious, then she packed up her stuff and ran. She crashed on the couch of a fellow member of the Numbers. Marcus Pierce, the future Digital Shadow and Captain of STG Squad C. He was a first year college student at the time, but the two ended up getting along like a house on fire.

. . It was only another year or so before Valine went recruiting for the STG. He needed someone who understood the internet and technology, as that member had recently been killed. Methion helpfully provided a list of candidates when asked, and Valine chose the supervillain Aeon. Courtney had no objections to a steady paying job. Robbery wasn’t proving to be the most fruitful career path, what with all the superheroes trying to bust her and make their names. And the ceaseless hunting of the FBi and their…what was it called again? Psi-Division. Bleh. Flash forward over 20 years, and Courtney Halloran, alias the supervillain Aeon is one of the most capable and experienced supervillains on the planet. Her parents are very old now. They’re still incarcerated, but she’s been able to visit occasionally thanks to Mehion running interference. They’re quite proud of their little Courtney. And of their three grandchildren. The fraternal twins Jason and James (age 19), and their little sister Maggie (age 16). They’re not supervillains, at least not yet. Conceived through in vitro fertilization (because like hell the STG life leaves time to date), they’re living the wealthy American ex-pat life. Courtney has earned more than enough money working for the STG that they’ll never have to work a day in their lives. So if they do become supervillains it’ll be because they want to. And Mom will be happy to help them into the life. It’s been a hell of a ride. She’s done some things she’s not proud of and a lot more that she is. But the cool thing about being a master of chronal technology? You can reset your own clock whenever you start slowing down. Aeon isn’t going to retire any time soon. If she ever does.

Powers & Tactics: Aeon has no superhuman powers. She’s just a tech genius and legendary computer programmer with a trio of devices that make her effective in combat and out of it. Her gimmick as a gadgeteer is time control. She uses it to be faster, mostly.

. . Her Time Suit was the first thing she built, though obviously this isn’t the first one. This is actually the fourth iteration, with each of the prior ones cannibalized to provide for the next one. It basically does two things, but they’re the foundation of everything else she does. The first one is arguably the most important. The armor plating is largely bulletproof and has absolutely saved her life a few dozen times. The second one is where the crazy science comes in. Temporal acceleration. Her physical body isn’t moving any faster. It’s the tech accelerating her progress through the time stream. Done without proper safeguards, this would age her rather rapidly. Fortunately, she has them installed. Unfortunately, this is why she’d had to replace the Suit a few times, as the materials in it aren’t protected from said rapid aging like she is. By itself, the temporal acceleration makes her able to move faster than stock cars, improved her ability to dodge, and allow her to ignore gravity and run across water and up walls.

. . It is her Chronal Gauntlets that provide some offense. However, their basic function is to make her even faster. Like 650 times the speed of sound faster. That’s enough speed to circle the entire planet in about three minutes. At this level of temporal acceleration, she shifts slightly out of phase with the timestream, resulting in total concealment from all normal senses. She can still be touched, however. The second ability it has is the one she’s probably most known for. Stopping time in an area for everyone but herself. This can be dodged if someone is quick enough, but generally mundane citizens are not. This is why she was and is such an effective thief. Stop time, take whatever you want, and leave. The remaining two regular abilities are variations on a theme. Hurting people and breaking things. One’s melee and the other’s ranged, but they both hit repeatedly because she’s fast as hell and do additional damage with a temporal echo a few second later.

. . Her Hacking Helmet is much simpler. It keeps her apprised of what time is, as that she can lose track while temporally accelerated. And it can hook up to basically any electronic or mechanical device or piece of equipment within 5 miles so she can hack it. She is a very, very good hacker.

. . Tactically, well, it depends on the environment. In the middle of a city, her Hacking Helmet has a lot to work with. In the middle of the wilderness, not so much. She has absolutely no reason to ever fight a hero while solo. It’s a dumb idea that will likely get her ass kicked. So she’s gone at Speed rank 15. The world’s caught up some. There are now heroes who can match her former rank of 12. But 15 is a different beast. It wouldn’t take all of your fingers to count the characters capable of matching her speed, let alone exceeding it. So, you know. When you can be over 800 miles away in 3 seconds, or over 3000 miles away if you sprint, you tend not to worry about anyone whose base movement speed is below hypersonic. And that’s assuming that said hero isn’t like, a Brick or something that she can just put Time Stop on and casually leave. It’s team combat where she throws hands. Chronal Charged Punches and Chronal Beams means she’s hitting her targets with concentrated time energies. Ouchies. She doesn’t Feint or Demoralize in any way, she just attacks regularly, shifting accuracy and damage up and down as needed with Accurate and Power Attack. She does, however, have a small legion of power stunts, and that’s where her use of Inventor comes in. Because her most common use of Inventor is giving her array more Alternate Powers so she doesn’t have to power stunt to get them. Said power stunts are where she pulls out all sorts of speedster and time controlling tricks. Chronal Charged Punches that cover an Area instead of being Penetrating. Time Stop that’s a ranged attack instead of an area attack. Move Object is on the table. Insubstantial 4. Summon 13 (Horde, Progression # of Summons 1 [2 summons]). Her kit is wide and varied. And let us not forget where we started in this section. Hack Everything. Hack cars. Hack lights. Hack radios. For Aeon, the environment is as much a weapon as her actual devices. She does try to avoid doing lethal damage with her attacks, but collateral damage just doesn’t concern her.

Personality: Courtney Halloran is a mature, responsible adult. She pretty much acts how you’d expect a wealthy single mother of three and 50 year old white lady to act. She’s kind of nice, helps out here and there, but mostly lives quietly. She’s pretty funny, but yeah she’s basically normal. Aeon, on the other hand, is a supervillain born in the late 80s who matured in the 90s. That’s Iron Age territory. She has seen some shit. What she hasn’t seen, however, is any reason to change her schtick. So, when dealing with heroes, she’s still a smart mouthed brat with an attitude problem. But like, cheerful and perky, with an edge of arrogance. You know, like she’s a third of her age. Drives ‘em crazy even a quarter century later.

. . Of course, neither of these are who she is, not really. Aspects, certainly, but not everything. Pure surface level. The truth is that she’s a professional supervillain from a family of professional supervillains who has never in her life wanted to be anything else. Supervillainy is fun. It’s a thrilling and engaging career choice full of a lot of challenges, but if you can rise to the occasion, man…you can live free. Make your own rules and live on your own terms. Of course, she’s smart enough to know that’s just putting a pretty coat of paint on all the violence and mayhem. Being a villain means you hurt people. Financially, physically, emotionally, whatever. Villains hurt people. It’s what they do. So…she knows she’s not the hero of the story. That’s the point. She’s the villain. She gets to be selfish and do what she wants like all the time. It’s pretty damn awesome. The only times she’s not selfish are when she’s dealing with her kids. They deserve the best from her. She’s been gone so much over the years, yanno? Money’s no substitute for being around. Fortunately, it only takes a minute or three for her to come over and visit. If she could be defined by one line it would be this. “The real treasure is the friends we made along with way, and also all this shit we stole.”
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Sun Jul 31, 2022 6:22 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: Seawings Commentary: Yas & Friends

Post by Commander Titan »

EternalPhoenix wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:46 am Creator Commentary Seawings Adventurer Guild
And now I've read through them as well (the previous quotes-on-quotes-on-quotes format was too much, so I'll be dropping that).

As I started reading their bios, I went "surely, this can't be based on FFX/X-2?" and then of course lo and behold they are! It amused me because X-2 is literally the only Final Fantasy game I've ever played, and I didn't beat it. So what a shock to see that the only possible FF characters I could have recognized were here.

I share your enthusiasm for the core trio - I've toyed with adapting them into a superhero setting myself, though going some quite different directions then you did. I really appreciate that you've generated a big team in Oceania - a place I truly can't remember ever seeing superhero media touch. The Pacific is vast and interesting but comics have that same old obsession with Atlantis, always. And I appreciate the real world locations you anchored them to, in place of Spira. Is there a chance the ancient civilization ala Zanarkand will get more detailed in the setting? Or is their story in the Phoenixverse over? "Polynesian Wakanda" seems like a new take you could generate here.

Of the team themselves, I most enjoyed the whole story of the Pacific Stranger, and his Seven Soldiers background. It brings to mind the mild references in John Carter that he may have been an immortal of sorts long before he ever stepped on Mars. And the "sword on the Moon" is a strong, stark image. Beyond that, the team as a whole fit well, and make a great fit for showing up in their ship whenever there is a major Crisis or the like, or just to hang out.
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Re: Seawings Commentary: Yas & Friends

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Commander Titan wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 5:10 am
EternalPhoenix wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:46 am Creator Commentary Seawings Adventurer Guild
And now I've read through them as well (the previous quotes-on-quotes-on-quotes format was too much, so I'll be dropping that).

As I started reading their bios, I went "surely, this can't be based on FFX/X-2?" and then of course lo and behold they are! It amused me because X-2 is literally the only Final Fantasy game I've ever played, and I didn't beat it. So what a shock to see that the only possible FF characters I could have recognized were here.

I share your enthusiasm for the core trio - I've toyed with adapting them into a superhero setting myself, though going some quite different directions then you did. I really appreciate that you've generated a big team in Oceania - a place I truly can't remember ever seeing superhero media touch. The Pacific is vast and interesting but comics have that same old obsession with Atlantis, always. And I appreciate the real world locations you anchored them to, in place of Spira. Is there a chance the ancient civilization ala Zanarkand will get more detailed in the setting? Or is their story in the Phoenixverse over? "Polynesian Wakanda" seems like a new take you could generate here.

Of the team themselves, I most enjoyed the whole story of the Pacific Stranger, and his Seven Soldiers background. It brings to mind the mild references in John Carter that he may have been an immortal of sorts long before he ever stepped on Mars. And the "sword on the Moon" is a strong, stark image. Beyond that, the team as a whole fit well, and make a great fit for showing up in their ship whenever there is a major Crisis or the like, or just to hang out.
Now hold on one minute. You say the team is big, but you're quoting from the first of four subgroups. The Truman Home, Team Rumble Hearts, and Seawins NuGen are also part of the Guild. I can tell you haven't gone through all of the Truman Girls because Neith answers the question of "do either of old kingdoms still exist?" with a firm no. 10k years ago. They gone. This does not mean that more details won't be forthcoming. *glances at Ting Heskett and Ma're Iryen* It also doesn't mean that nothing is left of them. The relics and legacy of the Magi-Tech War drive roughly half of all Seawings adventures.

With all that said, I appreciate that you like Oliver the best of Yas & Friends. And I'm curious as to the direction you would have taken them.
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Photophobia (Junie Cho)

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Photophobia (Junie Cho)

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

STR: +1 (12), DEX: +2 (14), CON: +0 (-), INT: +1 (12), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +5 (20)

Tough: +0/+6, Fort: Immune, Ref: +12, Will: +9

Skills: Acrobatics 3 (+5), Bluff 10 (+15), Diplomacy 10 (+15), Gather Information 5 (+10), Intimidate 5 (+10), Knowledge (arcane Lore) 4 (+5), Knowledge (popular culture) 14 (+15), Language 5 (+5), Notice 8 (+10), Sense Motive 8 (+10)

Feats: Challenge - Improved Taunt, Dodge Focus 3, Evasion, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Bluff, Diplomacy, Knowledge (Pop Culture), Notice), Taunt, Uncanny Dodge (Visual)

Powers:
Asmodeus Vampire Physiology (Container, Passive 12)
. . Blood Drain (Drain 2) (drains: single trait - con, DC 12; Requires Grapple)
. . Impervious Toughness 6 (Limited (Not Against Divine, Magic, or Darkness/Shadow))
. . Sanguine Photonic Recovery (Regeneration 30) (recovery bonus 14 (+14 to recover), recovery rate (disabled) 8 (recover 1 / round without rest), recovery rate (injured) 6 (recover 1 / round without rest), resurrection 2 (1 day); Source (Light); Persistent, Regrowth)
. . Sanguine Resilience (Protection 6) (+6 Toughness)
. . Sanguine Senses (Super-Senses 3) (acute: Scent, darkvision)
. . Unliving Being (Immunity 30) (fortitude saves)

Photon Consumption (Obscure 4) (affects: visual senses, Radius: 50 ft.; Range (touch))

Photovorous Light Control (Array 14) (default power: blast)
. . Holograms (Illusion 9) (Array; affects: visual senses, DC 19; Duration (sustained); Progression, Area (10 ft. radius))
. . Hypnotic Strobe (Mind Control 9) (Array; DC 19; Duration (sustained); Subtle (subtle))
. . Laser Beam (Blast 9) (Default; DC 24; Range (perception); Precise)
. . Light Stealing (Dazzle 9) (Array; affects: 1 sense type - visual, DC 19; Alternate Save (Will), Range (perception); Indirect (in front of you, directed away))
. . Photonic Explosion (Blast 9) (Array; DC 24; Burst Area (45-90 ft. radius - General); Progression, Increase Area (area x2))

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

Attacks: Blood Drain (Drain 2), +5 (DC Fort/Staged 12), Hypnotic Strobe (Mind Control 9) (DC Will 19), Laser Beam (Blast 9) (DC 24), Light Stealing (Dazzle 9) (DC Will 19), Photonic Explosion (Blast 9) (DC 24), Unarmed Attack, +5 (DC 16)

Defense: +12 (Flat-footed: +5), Knockback: -6

Initiative: +2

Languages: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), English Native, French, Korean, Spanish

Totals: Abilities 12 + Skills 18 (72 ranks) + Feats 9 + Powers 96 + Combat 28 + Saves 17 + Drawbacks 0 = 180

Age (as of Jan 2019): 45 (chronological) early 20s (appearance)
Height: 5’ 5”
Weight: 150 lbs
Ethnicity: Korean-American
Hair: Black
Eyes: Dark Brown

Background: Junie Cho died in 1994. She was an ordinary girl from LA, who met the wrong guy at a bar and got murdered. This was not the end of her, as one might expect from those two sentences. The guy was a vampire of the Asmodeus bloodline (there are three in the Phoenixverse; the other two being Asteroth [virtually exterminated by their namesake in 1917 but were possessed of incredible superhuman strength and speed] and Amon [by far the most common type, mostly possessed of maximum human level strength, speed, and durability]) Asmodeus types get superpowers (typically involving consuming something other than blood to slake their thirst) in addition to being yanno, vampires. Her maker thought he’d have a good hold on her due to the ravenousness of newborn vampires. One small problem with that. Junie drew photovoric powers from the superpower lottery. The candles in that poor bastard’s lair were her first taste, and actual daylight completely obliterated her desire for blood. She incinerated her shocked maker (as vampires normally burn rapidly in directly sunlight) with a barrage of laser beams, and went back to her friggin’ life.

. . Of course, it was not that simple. For what is a vampire, really, but a human being given great power in exchange for the removal of the conscience and ability to feel guilt or remorse? It was fine at first. She tried to be a superhero, and it even kind of worked for a little while. But then she had money troubles, and well…stealing was so easy for someone would could make the lights go out and laser off any locks. Not like money or jewels, god no. The actual stuff she needed. She wasn’t stupid. But again, no guilt or remorse. No conscience. It took about a year for events to slowly spiral out of control. Her friends (who initially thought the whole unaging superpowered vampire thing was cool) began drifting away into more settled lives. Also, as the cops had begun to hunt her, jail didn’t appeal. And when they finally figured out who she was, her landlord evicted her. So. Friendless, homeless, and a wanted fugitive. When the cops moved in for the takedown, they thought they were dealing with a reasonably clever human thief. So they only brought a pair of detectives and a pair of uniformed officers. Unfortunately, they were dealing with a vampire. And one that was getting quite hungry due to not being able to show her face in daylight.

. . Valine, Primrose, Aeon (the newbie in those days), and two others (since deceased) had been hunting her maker and his spawn since ’92. They had other responsibilities, being the only members of the Special Tactics Group at the time. And clues could be sparse. But by ’95 they had ID’d his remains and eradicated his spawn from North America. Except, apparently, for one. They found her with the bloodless corpses of four police officers (two of them detectives), looking very, very frightened. If she had snarled defiance or really, done anything other than what she did, they’d have destroyed her on the spot. What she said was that something was very wrong with her. That she’d just killed four men and felt nothing at all. Could they help, maybe? Valine made an executive decision. He would see if she could be useful to the mission. It took a few years for Junie to train and gain better control over her instincts and thirst. However, she has served on the main STG team for two decades now. She took the codename Photophobia, fear of the light. It’s something that as a vampire, she should have but doesn’t. And her foes will likely quickly acquire such a fear.

Powers & Tactics: Junie is a vampire of the Asmodeus bloodline. She is not a living being. The three vampire bloodlines (Asteroth, Asmodeus, and Amon) are quite distinct from each other. Asteroths start out not much different than a normal human, but their strength, speed, and resilience increases bit by bit over time. And over time, their need for blood declines bit by bit. Asteroth himself is said to have little to no need at all, even after recovering from grievous injuries. Amons have receive their full strength, speed, and durability from the moment they rise, along with an increase in martial skill. It’s not a big buff by any means, but it does take ordinary citizens to professional soldiers. So when applies to professional soldiers it’s genuinely frightening. Amons also “breed” considerably faster and easier. A human with Amon blood inside of their body at the time of death will rise as a vampire the following sunset. Except if staked or beheaded, naturally. Asmodeuses require sexual intercourse and it was never clear what Asteroths required.

. . (A strong emotional connection. Whether it’s positive or negative is irrelevant. Additionally, I, Asmodeuses, and the few of my misbegotten spawn I haven’t managed to find yet require the specific intent to do so. Amons can and do sire new ones by accident. -A. Roth)

. . And it takes those two bloodlines three sunsets to rise. Asmodeuses receive a boost to their physical attractiveness and overall charisma, and an alternate method of satisfying the blood craving. A type of substance or energy that they then have a certain level of magical control over. Thermovores, electrivores, and psychevores are the most common. There are, however, reports of vampires who can “eat” water, air, rock/soil, and in one terrifying case, time itself. Junie is in the “quite uncommon” category as well, since she can “eat” photons. Light itself. The easiest use of this ability to create an area of complete darkness. But she can also control them to create laser beams and explosions, blind people by tearing the light out of their eyes, hypnotize and control minds with flashing lights, and even create convincing visual holograms.

. . And she’s still a vampire. Immune to all mortal concerns. Near superhuman resilience and rapid physical regeneration when exposed to light. She’ll even “resurrect” if damaged too much to continue functioning (actually destroying her permanently requires either a wooden stake through her heart while "dead" or a beheading). She’s got the nose of a bloodhound if not the tracking skill, and naturally darkness is no impediment to her vision.

. . Tactically it depends pretty hard on whether or not she’s with her team or not. Alone she’s consistently focusing on damage with Laser Beam for single targets and Photonic Explosion for groups. However, with her team she has reasons to Feint and use Improved Taunt together along with Set Up. Or abuse Holograms and Light Stealing to wreak havoc among the opposition. Hypnotic Strobe also has its uses, like convincing someone it’s perfectly fine to let her suck their blood or hey maybe have a seat over there and relax instead of fighting us with your buddies. She doesn’t power stunt a lot. There’s really only the one, and that’s when the squad needs some stronk that isn’t from Primrose’s plant creatures. Photovorous Might (Enhanced STR 13, Enhanced Attack Spec [Unarmed] 3, Super Strength 6) puts her STR score at 25 (+7) and her lifting STR at 55.

Personality: Junie is uh, peppy. A very upbeat and cheery personality. She’s not faking it, either. Vampires (without being re-ensouled) typically aren’t particularly gloomy personalities, full of angst and introspection. S’kinda the problem with them, actually. Junie, like any vampire, is psychologically incapable of feeling guilt, remorse, or regret. Joy, despair, serenity, rage, love, and hate are still on the table, however. Vampires that get out of their initial few years tend to be pretty happy beings. As well as transparently socio and psychopathic. Junie has avoided the actual psychopathy, for now, but she is functionally a sociopath who understands and wants to adhere to the rules of human society. Or at least those that apply in the STG. She’s deceitful, arrogant, impulsive, manipulative and controlling, with a blithe disregard for her personal safety and an occasionally startling lack of empathy. She’s just cute, nice, energetic, and cheerful, so it’s not usually obvious.

. . One last thing. I’ve been referring to her as Junie Cho for the sake of simplicity. She is not Junie Cho. Junie Cho has been dead for 25 years, with her soul gone to whatever afterlife she believed in and earned. She was replaced with an newborn amnesiac demonic spirit that, because it had Junie’s brain and thus all of her memories and neural patterns, believed she was Junie. A quarter century later, she knows better, but has not chosen to use a different name as some vampires do. So she isn’t the original Junie Cho. Technically, she’s a different being using Junie’s corpse and her name. This is generally a moot point in most circumstances, but occasionally has its uses. Spells or effects specifically targeting the original Junie will have no effect on Photophobia, for example. Because she’s not her.
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Nimbus (Riley Chong)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Nimbus (Riley Chong)

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

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

Tough: +2/+6, Fort: +7, Ref: +12, Will: +8

Skills: Acrobatics 2 (+5), Bluff 13 (+15), Concentration 7 (+10), Diplomacy 3 (+5), Gather Information 8 (+10), Knowledge (current events) 3 (+5), Knowledge (physical sciences) 3 (+5), Knowledge (popular culture) 3 (+5), Language 7 (+7), Notice 12 (+15), Sense Motive 7 (+10), Stealth 12 (+15)

Feats: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (ranged) 6, Attack Specialization 2 (Unarmed Attack), Dodge Focus 3, Evasion, Fearless, Improved Aim, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Precise Shot 2, Second Chance (Concentration checks to maintain powers), Skill Mastery (Bluff, Notice, Sense Motive, Stealth), Taunt, Ultimate Effort (Aim), Uncanny Dodge (Auditory)

Powers:
Flying Magic Cloud (Flight 1+9) ([Stacking ranks: +9], Speed: 10000 mph, 88000 ft./rnd; Affects Others, Shapeable Area (1 cubes of 125 cu. ft. (5x5x5) - General); Platform; Selective, Subtle (subtle))

Magic Cloud Tricks (Array 14) (default power: flight; Custom (Array 13.5))
. . Flight 9 (Default; Speed: 5000 mph, 44000 ft./rnd; Affects Others, Shapeable Area (9 cubes of 125 cu. ft. (5x5x5) - General), Stacks with (Flying Magic Cloud (Flight 1+9)); Platform)
. . Obscure 9 (Array; affects: visual senses, Radius: 2500 ft.; Selective Attack)
. . Snare 12 (Array; DC 22; Transparent; Range (touch); Indirect 3 (any point, any direction))
. . Suffocate 12 (Array; DC 22; Indirect 3 (any point, any direction))

Nimbus Costume (Device 2) (Hard to lose)
. . Body Armor (Protection 4) (+4 Toughness; Subtle (subtle))
. . Oxygen Mask (Immunity 2) (suffocation (all))
. . Parachute (Super-Movement 1) (slow fall)
. . Thermal Lining (Immunity 1) (environmental condition: Cold)

Silenced Sniper Rifle (Device 5) (Easy to lose)
. . Scope (Super-Senses 4) (extended (type): Visual 1 (-1 per 100 ft), infravision, low-light vision)
. . Silenced Shot (Blast 6) (DC 21; Penetrating [3 ranks only]; Improved Range 2 (300 ft. incr), Precise, Progression, Increase Range 2 (max range x5, 3000 feet), Subtle (subtle))

Attack Bonus: +6 (Ranged: +12, Melee: +6, Grapple: +8)

Attacks: Silenced Shot (Blast 6), +12 (DC 21), Snare 12, +6 (DC Ref/Staged 22), Suffocate 12, +6 (DC Fort 22), Unarmed Attack, +10 (DC 17)

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

Initiative: +3

Languages: American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Chinese Sign Language (Northern), English Native, Mexican Sign Language, Russian, Spanish

Totals: Abilities 28 + Skills 20 (80 ranks) + Feats 25 + Powers 58 + Combat 30 + Saves 19 + Drawbacks 0 = 180

Theme Song: Up In The Air, by McGwire

Age (as of Jan 2019): 30
Height: 5’ 10”
Weight: 130 lbs
Ethnicity: ½ Mexican American, ½ Chinese American
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Dark Brown

Background: Riley Chong always wanted to be a superhero. Unfortunately, she had no powers, no skills, and no training. And she wasn’t dumb enough to think she could just figure it out along the way. Seriously, the ones who went out with a club, bicycle armor, and blind faith ended up the in cemetery. So she was just kind of…outta luck. Some self defense classes were a start, but she didn’t have a particularly good aptitude for the martial arts. Progress was slow and painstaking. So it seemed like fighting crime directly wasn’t going to ever happen. She even applied to attend the LAPD Ahmanson Recruit Training Center. She attended, but ultimately washed out. The LAPD had no interest in someone who was recklessly overeager in dangerous situations and so socially awkward that they were useless in social interactions. She simply didn’t have what it took.

. . And then, the dejected young woman turned 18. Directly from her mother’s homeland of China came the magic cloud. Her mother warned her to send it away forever, that it was more trouble that it was worth. But Riley did not listen. In fact, she turned her hearing aids off so she wouldn’t have to. She had a power now. She could be a superhero after all. The first thing to do was a little basic practice to understand how the cloud worked. The very first thing was that it would carry her, but not anyone else if she didn’t want it to. Her cat was quite surprised. Okay, so she could fly fast. Couldn’t see with all that wind in her eyes, so goggles. Up high was cold, surprisingly. LA was in the desert. Normally hot af. Weird. So a good coat, hat, gloves, and scarf. Some long underwear. Thin air, hard to breathe, almost passed out. So, some scuba tanks, good idea. And so Riley whipped around through various airspaces. Flying clouds don’t come with instruction manuals. Or uh, navigation systems. And when you can break the speed of sound, you can get to some places you really, really shouldn’t be. Folks, let it be known. Asking for directions at Area 51 or Edwards Air Force Base is a bad, bad idea. As is taking your flying cloud through controlled airspaces like airports. The federal government and the State of California got very, very annoyed with the young woman and her flying cloud. Though in her defense, it’s not like there are signs hanging in the sky and she knew absolutely nothing about the various flight rules and regulations a pilot would need to. Hell, she wasn’t aware that being a pilot was all that much more complicated than being a driver. Commercial aircraft had radios but so did taxis, right? Seemed similar to Riley. Most random 19 year olds wouldn’t think much differently.

. . Anyway, when the feds and staties put their minds toward finding someone who really isn’t trying to hide, they can find them. Riley came home from a flight one day to find FBI and FAA agents waiting. Uh oh. It turns out there’s rules to this, Riley m’dear. And you broke most of them. So that’s a big pile of fines for a poor Sino-Mexican girl, and potential jail time on the table besides. She did what any 19 year old would do when confronted with the end of their life as they knew it. Panic and run away. Most don’t get far, even if they even get to the running part, because federal agents right freakin’ there. Most 19 year olds don’t have a flying cloud to ride on, however. They were prepared for the flying cloud. They were not prepared for the flying cloud to go hypersonic. So…now what? She couldn’t go home. Well, not to stay. She swung by again very early in the morning to pack a couple of bags and slipped away again before anyone could grab her. Lo siento tanto, Mama. Oh, Uncle Rico lived in Mexico! Perfect!

. . Ricardo “Rico” Castillo was her deadbeat father’s brother. He was very happy to meet his sobrina again, as it had been several years and both she had grown up and filled out into a beautiful young woman. Uncle Rico was a coyote, or people smuggler. Specifically, from Mexico into the United States. The increasing border security of the past decade or so had been making his job much harder than it used to be. Riley told him about her troubles, and he told her about his. She needed a place to stay, and he had one. He needed help with his work, and she could easily do so. Plus they were family. It was unimaginable that either wouldn’t agree to help the other. They may not have physically seen each other in years, but they’d exchanged phone calls and emails often enough to qualify as staying in contact. Rico may have been a professional criminal (as all human coyotes are), but he was otherwise a relatively decent and fair dealing man. Relatively. One pair of night vision goggles, and at night Riley could carry several people from far away from the border to completely over it, bypassing any Border Patrol or cantankerous ranchers. Where Rico’s partners waited to pick them up. An epic partnership ensued. Since they were doing a lot of work in the wilderness, Rico started teaching Riley how to shoot a rifle. She could run easily from predators, yes, but anyone with her couldn’t. And she was quite a pretty girl. Some of the predators she’d need to protect herself from were human. The coyote business didn’t attract saintly individuals.

. . This work was world expanding for Riley. Because obviously, she talked to some of the refugees trying to enter the US. Desperate poverty. Drug cartels. Gang violence. And the slow, grinding process to enter legally. Of course, such success in business, illegal or otherwise, doesn’t go unnoticed. People talk. Her efficiency was costing other coyotes money. This wouldn’t do. Local cartel bosses started seeing dollar signs. If she could smuggle people, she could smuggle drugs. And, of course, law enforcement on both sides of the border were quite frankly very alarmed at the sudden newcomer and inherent incoming destabilization what was already an unstable situation. It took the FBI about ten seconds to make the connection to the fugitive Riley Chong. In their eyes she’d just stepped up the criminal ladder another rung. People smuggling was a more serious crime than running from the law, which itself was a more serious crime than whatever trespassing charges they were initially going to throw at her. She clearly had criminal intent from the start, and needed to be stopped before she became a significant threat.

. . If they knew her at all, they’d know this was hilarious. Riley, in her mind, wasn’t doing anything particularly wrong. She was helping family. She was helping desperate people. The fact that was, uh, technically illegal might have given her pause before the cloud came, but now? It didn’t matter. But of course, the life she and Rico were living couldn’t last. Way too many factors against it. Rival coyotes plotted against Rico, thinking of either killing them both or just Rico and stealing Riley. Local cartel bosses were thinking of co-opting or killing Rico to get her services. And the FBI (with assists from the State Dept. and CIA) were counting on Mexico’s Federal Police to execute a takedown on the apparent budding supervillain. The Federal Police were aware of (but did not tell the Americans) the plans of the rival coyotes and local cartel bosses, and made plans of their own against them. So, of course, all of it came to a head on the same day. To this day no one is sure quite what the hell happened in the specific. In the broad, Rico took a meeting with some cartel men. He didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter, but still. The fragile alliance of the rival coyotes shattered when they saw him meeting with the cartels, and they started shooting. This, naturally, prompted Rico and the cartel men to shoot back while not endearing either to each other. The Federal Police panicked, moved in fast, and also started shooting. It was a total shitshow on all sides.

. . Riley, the catalyst for this chaotic situation, wasn’t even goddamn there. She was at Rico’s home several miles away, watching television. Which was then interrupted with the news broadcast of the spectacular shootout that had just begun at where Uncle Rico said he was meeting some people. And then further interrupted by members of the now broken rival coyote alliance (having hauled ass away from the beginning of the shootout) trying to shoot her. They didn’t know who they were messing with. Uncle Rico was the owner of a rundown boxing gym by day. He’d never won a title, but he’d been good enough to trouble champions’ agents, who wisely never booked fights against him. As good as he was, his brother (Riley’s father) could have been even better had he not been a loser and a deadbeat. So he’d taught her a thing or two. And, as it turned out, her cloud wasn’t just useful for flying. She could block vision, too, while retained some mobility. She took the goon squad out in under a minute. Then she grabbed Uncle Rico’s rifle and literally flew to his rescue.

. . She did not have to fly far. Rico was just a bit of a badass compared to the criminals and even some of the Federal Police. He was able to use the blazing shootout as cover to slip back to his truck and roar off. This did not go unnoticed, and some Federal Police pursued in their own vehicles. They managed to wound him, but he fought to stay conscious. His all consuming thought was to get back to his sobrina. Riley. They met in the middle. Riley’s cloud again blocked the vision of her enemies. But she couldn’t do that and get her wounded Uncle away. And she worried he’d get blown off if she just cranked up the speed right away, as his strength was all but gone. He was family. There really wasn’t any choice in the matter that she found acceptable. So she used her uncle’s rifle and the skills he had taught her to protect him. With them blinded and her not, it was like a shooting gallery. She managed not to vomit until the last one was down. But Rico was still dying as she held him afterward, and she didn’t know what to do about it. More Federal Police were coming, with a helicopter and an armored car. They must have won the shootout (They had, through superior weapons and training). She didn’t know what to do about that, either. But…if this was to be the end…then she’d make it an end to be remembered. She gripped her uncle’s rifle with determination. And then a flying fox man fire kicked the helicopter out of the sky.

. . The Special Tactics Group appeared on the scene like the wrath of an angry god, with Primrose, Aeon, Photophobia, and a since deceased graviomancer (with their teleport spell being the source of the STG’s sudden appearance) demolishing the Federal Police detachment with little effort. Riley looked up through teary eyes at Valine, who healed her dying uncle with a touch of his hand. Oddly enough, the STG wasn’t actually there for either of them. Unfortunately, as the healed Rico told Valine, their intel was several days out of date. The fledgling supervillain group they were after had already been dismantled by a small squad of superheroes and several cybernetically augmented (thanks to the work of Reyna Oleastro) members of the Federal Police. The combined recruitment/destruction mission was not only a bust, but they were over a hundred miles off target. They’d taken too long on the last couple of missions. It was then the family duo got a good look at them. Valine and Photophobia looked fresh as daises. But Primrose looked tired, Aeon looked exhausted, and the graviomancer looked absolutely whipped. Rico was no fool. He’d been paying attention to world events. He knew the Special Tactics Group when he saw it. Thanks, Jacob Cross. If they needed someone new, why not Riley? She had a good power and was an excellent shot. He overrode Riley’s protests by reminding her that their coyote days had just come to a very violent end. It was probably best if they both got out of Mexico for a while. Valine’s standards were a bit higher than Rico’s, but after a few demonstrations of her abilities he agreed to take her on. Her skills were adequate at the time, but truthfully Valine brought her on board because he recognized the cloud. It was probably better to keep that somewhere he could keep an eye on it. It and its past owners were often more trouble than they were worth. But properly channeled, well…maybe it and she could be useful.

. . Ten years down the road, and Riley Chong (codenamed Nimbus) is a valued member of the Special Tactics Group, functioning as Squad A’s sniper. She’s able to regularly visit with her Mama. Uncle Rico runs a more or less successful boxing gym in Alicante, Spain. She regularly visits with him, too. The Revolutionary flames that first stirred during her coyote days blaze brightly now. There is much wrong with the world, and it is up to the Strength Revolution and specifically the Special Tactics Group to help fix it. The authorities have no proof that Riley Chong is Nimbus, but it is suspected. Strongly, in some cases.

Powers & Tactics: Nimbus has one magical power and two technological devices. Her power is basically that she has a flying magic cloud at her beck and call. They have a mental link that allows her to command it with a thought. She can always, no matter what else it is doing, stay in flight. If not particularly fast. And since it’s a cloud, she can permit another person (two if they are small or squeeze) to ride along with her. She or said person can be pulled off the cloud, however. It’s not an inherent part of her. And unlike most known forms of flight mundane or supernatural, it doesn’t make any sound or light on its own. So she can be stealthy mid flight, something normally quite difficult for fliers. She has developed four special “tricks” using the cloud. The first one she discovered is enhanced flight speed and carrying capacity. Flight speed is enhanced up to approximately Mach 13, and carrying capacity is up to 10 people (20 if they’re small or all squeeze). The second one she discovered training with her Uncle Rico. The cloud can expand and cover an area approximately a mile in diameter, completely eliminating visibility to anyone Riley doesn’t designate as immune. Their eyes still work, it is that there is only cloud to see. Her remaining two tricks were discovered training with and fighting alongside the STG. The third is that the cloud can go semisolid and function much like netting, entangling and immobilizing foes in melee range. The last is actually shockingly lethal. The cloud can pour itself down a melee target’s throat and slowly suffocate them.

. . Her two devices are a Silenced Sniper Rifle and her Nimbus Costume. The Rifle has the expected range and power, along with armor piercing ammunition and a scope that grants enhanced visual senses. Her Nimbus Costume has four components. Body Armor increases her resistance to damage. An Oxygen Mask keeps her able to breathe anywhere. A Parachute helps her not fall to her death if her cloud gets nullified. And a Thermal Lining to protect her from environmental cold.

. . Tactically, Nimbus is Squad A’s sniper and occasional assassin. 90% of everything she does is centered around getting off a Silenced Shot at a target that doesn’t know she’s there. Her Obscure can do it. Mundane stealth can do it, and she has enough Bluff to create a distraction to hide at need. Even sheer distance can do it, and she has the flight speed to gain it effortlessly. A full +5 All Out Power Attack after an Improved Aim action (or even Ultimate Aim) has spelled doom for many a foe. She’s basically one note, but it’s a hell of a note. And then there’s the remaining 10%, which is her surprisingly adept melee abilities. If she can land her Snare, its rank and Transparent Extra make it difficult to get out of. Her Suffocate is extremely dangerous to those without the Fort save or Immunity to get past it. Both have Indirect 3, so they may well catch a target unawares. She’s even decent with her fists, though lacking a little in striking power. And that same Bluff bonus that’s used to create a distraction can also be used to Feint. She has two power stunts available. They’re both the same basic idea. Drop the rank of Snare or Suffocate down to 9, removed Indirect 3, and add Area (Shapable). Due to her focus on sniping, these aren’t seen very often.

Personality: Riley is Squad A’s conscience. She always wanted to be a superhero. But she’s older now. She knows superheroes are more protectors of the status quo rather than instruments of change. So while she always wanted to be a superhero, in the present she doesn’t anymore. Not really. She knows killing is wrong. But she agrees with Valine, kind of. Most people who want to be good or at least just decent are already doing that. So the bad guys get one chance. Just one. Then a bullet in the head. People can do better. She believes it. But if they refuse to do so, the world’s better off without them in it. She believes there are plenty of people in the world worthy of protecting and helping. Sometimes the best way to do that is pulling them out of burning buildings. Sometimes the best way is killing the jerks that keep lighting buildings on fire. And sometimes the best way is demolishing the store selling the matches and lighter fluid.

. . She may no longer want to be a superhero, but neither does she want to go full villain. Heroes can’t change things, but villains don’t help people. So she’s striving for something in the middle. This is why she’s the conscience of the Squad A. Valine’s not the persuading type and the other three are a little…questionable when it comes to issues of morality. Aeon is cooperative and grasps the concepts. Photophobia is cooperative but just doesn’t grasp the concepts. And Primrose, damn him, isn’t cooperative even though he grasps the concepts very well. Valine has to back her to get him to cooperate. In fact, Valine relies on her to speak up and she knows it. It helps his authority to not always be, ironically enough, the bad guy in their interpersonal relationships.
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Squad B (The Sin-sations)

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Squad B (The Sin-sations)

Theme Song: Don’t Remember Me, by HalaCG

Overview

. . The Sin-sations are a band. A pretty damn famous band. Sabrina, Bridget, Asuka, and Alyssa are some of the most recognizable young women on the planet. Oriana is their bodyguard, and does not feature in the music or the band. Their music isn’t particularly well crafted, but pop music doesn’t have to be. What pop music needs is charismatic and physically attractive people performing competently. Sabrina’s powers smash the first button nearly as hard as possible (not that the others are any slouches in this department), and the live performers (Sabrina, Bridget, and Asuka) are much more than merely competent. Their songs are full of subtle references to Revolutionary ideology. It’s great PR, and truly excellent cover for their STG work.

. . So when they put the masks on and become Dream Girl, Gobstopper, Sprite, Razzle, and Sorellanza, nobody would believe that some of the most famous pop stars in the world (and their rarely glimpsed tag along kid) are actually spies, thieves, saboteurs, and (in Sprite and Sorellanza’s cases) assassins. Dream Girl and especially Gobstopper have…distinctive…appearances, which only adds to the disbelief. If that’s not enough, Dream Girl can talk them out of virtually anything, and her powers have bred a fanatical fanbase willing to do just about anything for her. And if that doesn’t work, Sprite and Sorellanza are again, assassins.

. . The group wasn’t recruited by Valine. It was Methion and Photophobia who found and recruited most of the five (Sorellanza came to them, sort of) to the Strength Revolution and STG. It was Valine who approved of them joining his people and put the group together as Squad B. Junie helped, as pop culture savvy Valine is not. One of the Revolution’s front companies is a music publishing label, which hires songwriters and guest musicians as necessary. The ladies take care of the rest.

Tactics

. . The Sin-sations are spies, thieves, and saboteurs primarily. Dream Girl can talk her way in while distracting from Gobstopper’s entry. Sprite, Razzle, and Sorellanza can sneak in. They try to avoid actual combat as much as possible. Actual assassinations are performed solely by Sorellanza if the target routinely appears in public. A sniper shot from far away, a crying child in an alley who suddenly has a silenced SMG, or the ol’ high explosives underneath their vehicle trick. If the target remains indoors at all times, Sprite is small enough to get into practically anywhere, especially if she mails herself as a doll, and has the martial expertise to disable any mundane bodyguards if necessary.
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Dream Girl (Sabrina Nowak)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Dream Girl (Sabrina Nowak)

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

STR: +2 (14), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +2 (14), INT: +1 (12), WIS: +3 (16), CHA: +12 (16/34)

Tough: +2/+6, Fort: +6, Ref: +12, Will: +9

Skills: Acrobatics 2 (+5), Bluff 13 (+25), Computers 4 (+5), Diplomacy 13 (+25), Disguise 8 (+20), Gather Information 13 (+25), Notice 5 (+8), Perform (dance) 3 (+15), Perform (singing) 3 (+15), Sense Motive 12 (+15)

Feats: Attack Focus (ranged) 2, Distract (Bluff), Dodge Focus 3, Evasion, Fascinate (Bluff), Fascinate (Diplomacy), Improved Critical 2 (Heavy Blaster Shot (Blast 6)), Precise Shot, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Info, Sense Motive), Taunt, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory)

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

Heavy Blaster (Device 4) (Easy to lose)
. . Heavy Blaster Shot (Blast 6) (DC 21, Feats: Improved Critical 2 (Heavy Blaster Shot (Blast 6)); Penetrating [3 ranks only]; Accurate (+2), Precise)
. . . . Stun Shot (Stun 6) (Alternate; DC 16; Range (ranged); Accurate (+2))

Persuasion Resistance (Immunity 5) (interaction skills; Limited - Half Effect)

Psionic Charisma (Enhanced Charisma 18) (+18 CHA)

Psionic Persuasion (Linked)
. . Drain 9 (Linked; drains: single trait, DC 19; Alternate Save (Will), Perception Area (General), Selective Attack; Limited (Sentient Biological Beings); Custom (Insidious), Subtle 2 (unnoticable))
. . Emotion Control 9 (Linked; DC 19; Perception Area (General), Selective Attack; Limited (Sentient Biological Beings), Limited to Emotion, Range 2 (touch))

Universal Language (Comprehend 1) (languages - you're understood)

Attack Bonus: +8 (Ranged: +10, Melee: +8, Grapple: +10)

Attacks: Drain 9 (DC Staged/Will 19), Emotion Control 9 (DC Staged/Will 19), Heavy Blaster Shot (Blast 6), +12 (DC 21), Stun Shot (Stun 6), +12 (DC Fort/Staged 16), Unarmed Attack, +8 (DC 17)

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

Initiative: +3

Languages: English Native

Totals: Abilities 28 + Skills 19 (76 ranks) + Feats 14 + Powers 66 + Combat 34 + Saves 19 + Drawbacks 0 = 180

Age (as of Jan 2019): 24
Height: 5’ 6’
Weight: 110 lbs.
Ethnicity: Caucasian (Polish-American)
Hair: Blue (natural, surprisingly)
Eyes: Blue

Background: Metahuman powers are often passed down through families. This was the case for Sabrina Nowak, alias Dream Girl. Her father Antoni was a supervillain by the codename of Incubus. He was a narcissistic sociopath, con artist and serial mental influence rapist who used his powers (identical to Sabrina’s) to escape punishment for his crimes. Sabrina, her older sister Violetta, and their mother managed to escape him after his crimes briefly caught up to him enough that he was arrested, charged, and tried. Unfortunately, enough of the jury fell victim to his powers that he was acquitted on all charges. He was then able to file for custody of the only one of his many, many children who seemed to have inherited his full abilities. And because of his powers, he won. Sabrina, age 9, was taken away by her supervillain father. And very, very soon she loved him more than anyone in the world.

. . In a twisted kind of way, Incubus truly loved his little girl. His adorable little successor. Which was how his crimes escalated to murder. They’d blow into a town. Incubus would make some “friends”, and then he’d start working his way through the attractive female population. Said “friends would get the word to him when the heat starting coming down, and he and Sabrina would escape to another town far away. This was not always 100% successful. Sometimes people noticed that something was wrong with Sabrina. No daughter loves her father so absolutely and loyally. Sometimes Incubus’s “friends” got the word to him a little late and he had no time to pick up his girl. Only to run. So he had to track her down later and take her back. Regardless, anyone who got between Incubus and his beloved daughter got a bullet in the head. For her part, she functioned as his wing girl on seducing attractive women. Between both of their powers, nobody ever had a chance. He never laid a hand on her, but this only made her an extremely notable exception. Incubus didn’t care in the least about age. He cared about appearance. If the woman or girl met his standards, he was interested.

. . For nine years, this continued. But Incubus’s murders had put him firmly on the radar of Vincent Mortelini. And the more Vincent learned, the higher he shot up the vigilante’s list. To the degree that he tracked down the supervillain. Incubus had just arrived in a new town, and was surveying the locals beside his now 18 year old daughter. He was hunting, but he did not get a chance to even sight new prey before a .50 caliber bullet struck him in the head and made said head cease to exist in rather messy fashion. Vincent doesn’t fuck around. The abrupt messy death of her forcibly beloved father broke something in Sabrina’s mind. She screamed at the sky. Her eyes turned temporarily red. Her hair turned permanently blue. And every human and animal within a 50 foot radius of her dropped dead, their faces locked in a perfect copy of her own horror and shock. This did not include Vincent, who had been a quarter of a mile away to begin with and was already rapidly leaving. It was and is highly dangerous for him to operate inside the United States. If he had known that Sabrina was not only Incubus’s child but also had identical powers, he’d have splattered her brains across the street too. As a precautionary measure, if nothing else. But he was about to spend the next day and a half ducking the FBI and a pair of superheroes (so he didn’t have to hurt any of them) before escaping into Mexico and meeting up with BLACK eliminate a cartel boss and his minions. Busy, busy, busy.

. . In some ways, it may have been better if Vincent had put a bullet through Sabrina’s head. Because while her father’s powers made her love him, her own mind and will loathed him. The conflict between the two emotions, along with the fact that she couldn’t stop him from raping and killing (or stop herself from being his loyal, loving lapdog), produced a trainload of guilt. The mental stress was slowly breaking her psyche on its own, but his sudden death? Well…that added extreme grief and extreme relief to the emotional cocktail, and cracked her right down the middle. It was one hell of a psychotic break. The initial explosion of psionic energy killed a dozen people in addition to a few dogs and several birds. And then she wandered away, half catatonic with her father’s gun and knife in hand. There was no plan. There wasn’t even a vague intent. She just…wandered away. And despite having literally blue hair, law enforcement somehow lost track of her.

. . Her sister found her. Violetta, being 4 years older at 22, was a recent college graduate and FBI Agent candidate for their perpetually understaffed Psi-Division. Her powers made her both immune to and able to nullify most Psionic powers quite easily, along with some increased physical resilience. So in about a year, after she was trained and an official agent, Psi-Division planned to take her father down permanently. Unfortunately, Vincent Mortelini struck first and then her sister disappeared. Incubus was bad enough. But Sabrina had just killed several people. She had to face the law, even if it was a completely unintentional accident resulting from the actions of two bad actors. And someone who could do that, was armed, and had just demonstrably suffered a psychotic break was someone who needed to be found beyond immediately. So the FBI ramped into high gear, desperate to find Sabrina before she committed another massacre. And Violetta was shoved through a rushed and abbreviated training course a year ahead of schedule. Placed on the task force, she found her in days. People only change but so much, and Violetta knew her sister. Their old house. Violetta and her mother had moved as fast as possible after Sabrina was taken. (As a side note, Violetta and Sabrina’s mother died via suicide after the initial news of Incubus’s death was broadcast. She simply couldn’t stop loving him, no matter how badly she wanted to. Violetta was unperturbed. The two had not spoken in 4 years, and had not spoken more than bare civilities in 9. She held Violetta back on that day, and she never forgave her mother for it.)

. . It was a very delicate situation. Anyone with eyes could see Sabrina was not fit to stand trial. She couldn’t be committed, as there wasn’t a chance in hell she’d go willingly. And that risked lives. Even if she wasn’t capable and/or willing to do whatever the hell she did in that town again, the risk was simply too great. So it had to be outpatient treatment at best. And Violetta had to be there to keep her sister in check if necessary. There wasn’t really a whole lot of choice. It took some coaxing (of both Sabrina and FBI brass), but Sabrina moved with Violetta into a safehouse. Psychotic breaks don’t last forever, even ones this potent. One morning a few months later Violetta looked into her sister’s eyes and saw recognition. Actual treatment was attempted, but ended in dismal failure. Sabrina reacted very, very poorly to anyone attempting to control her or her reactions. Paradoxically enough, this included herself. In the end there was nothing to do but let Sabrina put herself back together. This actually kind of worked. After two and a half years of this and on/off professional treatment, she was judged fit to stand trial. Which is, naturally, where Methion and Photophobia come in.

. . Sabrina was known to not be a danger to others after a few months. So she got to go out occasionally, supervised by Violetta and a backup team. She became interested in music after one such outing, and started singing, gradually getting more and more famous on the internet and social media for her covers of various pop hits. Sabrina’s internet use was not supervised, in a surprising and fateful oversight. This lead to the initial formation of the Sin-sations, though they didn’t meet in real life for some time. This caught the attention of Photophobia, who brought her to Methion’s attention. A skilled singer with inhuman charisma and a backup band. How interesting. The Grand Wizard pulled a few strings. After speaking with the entire group online, he met with Sabrina in person (disguised as usual). They made an deal. The Sin-sations were signed to a recording contract, and a world class legal team showed up to defend her. The feds made the charges disappear in the face of such strong opposition and a relatively weak case. Sabrina was free to do as she pleased.

. . Phase two of the deal with Methion was for his unique brand of help. Sabrina was still several country miles from okay, and she knew exactly why. She wanted her father out of her damn head. Methion performed the mental magic personally, in one of his many offices. What he did was make her specifically immune to her father’s Psionic energies. And just like that, she was free in mind and body. Valine met with the band, and agreed to a trial period as STG members. They passed with flying colors, and have been Squad B for the last three years. Violetta was…less than pleased (Psi-Division having a long standing grudge against Methion and the Strength Revolution, especially after the defection of Jacob Cross), and the two of them had a nasty final argument. They are, for most intents and purposes, no longer sisters. The FBI and the general authorities do not know that Dream Girl is Sabrina, mind. They’re just aware of Methion’s front companies and general supervillainy.

Powers & Tactics: Dream Girl is a metahuman psionic. Her powers are somewhat strange. Her willpower supports a physiological augmentation and a telepathic power. This is extremely uncommon. Most psionics are either one or the other. Additionally, she carries two technological devices in her Concealed Body Armor and Heavy Blaster.

. . Her physiological augmentation is of an uncommon type as well. Several factors, most of them poorly understood at a scientific level, govern social interaction. Charisma and “it factor”, for lack of more precise terms. It’s not merely physical attractiveness. Confidence when speaking and body language (posture, movement, etc) are also important. Beyond that it gets more and more ephemeral. Her Psionic Charisma augments all of these factors. Her body is subtly reshaped to be more attractive to the eye. The way she speaks and carries herself is also subtly different. No matter one’s gender, sexual preference, or lack thereof she is an extremely magnetic and likeable personality. Her personal charisma and “it factor” are off the charts. Even the most outlandish lies sound plausible when she speaks them, and even bitter foes have gone from actively homicidal to being one of her newest friends in the course of a single brief conversation.

. . Her telepathic power only makes this more effective and dangerous. Or vice versa, depending on your perspective. Her Psionic Persuasion first drains her target’s mental awareness before influencing their weakened mind into regarding her more positively (such as with strong fondness or outright love). Strong willed persons can resist both effects, but their use is impossible to detect without specialized senses or equipment, and her target has no idea they’ve been targeted, let alone affected. Additionally, she is not limited to one target at a time. She may affect any number of targets in visual range of her. There is very strong evidence (via the rash of suicides/attempted suicides after the news of her father’s death was broadcast and her own dramatic reaction to it) that long term exposure to this power makes at least the altered emotional state a permanent effect.

. . Her Concealed Body Armor is just that. Her resistance to damage is significantly improved while wearing it, and it takes a sharp eye to identify it as armor and not mundane clothing. Her Heavy Blaster is her mark of rank. Anyone in the know about Strength Revolution hierarchy will recognize the symbol on it as marking her as being in the third tier. The first being Methion himself and the second being Serine, Valine, and Katrea. It has a damage setting and a stun setting. Both use pure force to do their work.

. . Tactically, Dream Girl supports her squad with Feints, Taunts, and Set Up in combat. Foes clearly tilted toward Toughness and Damage she may swap in Distract for. Outside of combat she uses Fascinate to hold opposing attention while her team does their work. Her Heavy Blaster doesn’t get a lot of work under normal circumstances, actually. Even solo, she’s capable of talking her way out of most fights via Bluff or Diplomacy. She can turn most ordinary civilians into a squad of fanatical defenders with a thought. She really doesn’t like doing that, though. It makes her feel like her father, and there aren’t words for how much she loathes and despises him. But as options go, it’s superior to violence. With that said, if she has no other choice she will pull the Heavy Blaster and start shooting. Distracting, Feinting, and Taunting work just as well for herself as they do for her squadmates. She has two possible power stunts, neither of which she’s used since her father’s head exploded next to her. The first is off her Psionic Charisma, and is Morph 8 (Female Humanoids; Covers Scent, Precise). The second is off her Psionic Persuasion, and is Strike 8 (Alt Save Will, Perception Area, Subtle 2). She used both of them that day, and accidently turned her hair permanently blue in the process. It would take something rather…dramatic to get her to use either again.

Personality: Sabrina Nowak is fine. The seductive and charismatic frontwoman of the Sin-sations appears to all who see her as having overcome her various personal issues. She’s faced great trials and come out stronger on the other side. It’s very inspirational. It’s also bullshit. Dream Girl is jaded as hell, with a strong undercurrent of rage and bitterness underlying it. She’s bitingly sarcastic, enough to (figuratively) take years off one’s lifespan. She is extremely good at playing the adorable and charming sweetheart, but she spent most of her childhood as the adoring puppet sidekick to a genuine monster. Even with his influence on her mind negated, she is still very much Not Okay. But she’s stable. That’s the part she’d stress if anyone bothered to ask. The fact that no one does…well, she tries very hard not to think about that.

. . So why? Why continue to work for Methion? Well, first, she’s working for Valine. Crucial difference. Methion, she’s come to learn, is kind of a bastard. But Valine knows the score. Pieces of shit get flushed. The end. Second, to put it rather bluntly, she’s taking back her power and control over her life. She is a high ranking member of the Revolution, so fellow members treat her with respect and lower ones add admiration. And the actual music career part is more fulfilling than she ever thought it would be. This is her life that she built with her own two hands. She’s had plenty of help, yes, but she’s the one calling the shots. And like hell she’ll ever give that up. And third, heroes can kiss the focused totality of her gorgeous ass. They’re worse than useless. They’re complicit in the same broken fucking system that allowed her father to do as he damn well pleased for two fucking decades before Mortelini blew his head off. The exact same broken fucking system that condemns said killing as murder and not justice long overdue. Fuck them.
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Seawings Commentary: Yas & Friends

Post by Commander Titan »

EternalPhoenix wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 7:50 am Now hold on one minute. You say the team is big, but you're quoting from the first of four subgroups. The Truman Home, Team Rumble Hearts, and Seawins NuGen are also part of the Guild. I can tell you haven't gone through all of the Truman Girls because Neith answers the question of "do either of old kingdoms still exist?" with a firm no.
Guilty as charged (at the time)! But one of the few "benefits" of being stuck home with Covid the last few days is I've caught up and finished reading through the Truman Home, Rumble Hearts, and the NuGen. I do appreciate the question being answered though, and I like the layers to the war you provided, including who the real enemy was.

Having now read through those extra groups, the things that stood out to me:
  • Truman and the Truman Home: I've never played Half-Life myself, but I dig this take on what Freeman/Truman does next. Its interesting to see who gets put in charge of the "superhero school"-like institutions in various worlds (I appreciate that Freedom City had "Batman" be in charge of "the Xavier Academy" for example), and Truman housing all the various people who drop into our world is a nice touch. The wonder of a home setting, where two very different video games can be brought into conversation and alignment. It's also again a great idea because the PCs can quite literally pop in to the framework to take their place in a hypothetical Truman Girls/Seawings campaign, with Rumble Hearts as a good model for what the PC sub-team could look like.
  • Samorn: Both the character herself, her connection to the divine (and I learned something new in the process with your explainer on the relevant gods), and the details about the Seven Sorceries, which gives a setting connection to Heyden Street/Roger Simon here. I always appreciate when a setting element doesn't solely live in its own little corner, and can pop up in someone else's adventures.
  • Skye Walker: I agree about the rarity of dream controllers being a shame, and like this approach. Do the combination of a claw gauntlet and dream powers also mean she takes from Freddy Kruger/A Nightmare on Elm Street in any way?
  • Fiona MacTavish: I dig alternate histories, as was done for her and a few other characters, especially with the Kingsguard as the "Major League team whose history last millennia," and all that could entail.
  • Yumiko Amano: Paint magic has always seemed like it had a lot of potential to me, ever since I played that one mission in Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, and its fun to see it utilized.
  • Palila Nui: Provides some more detail on the Winter Court, after seeing a lot of the Summer Court earlier, I see.
  • Octavia Fiammetta: The idea of the Infernal Witches, slowly growing their number, dueling back and forth with the powers and Powers of Europe, is a really fun "secret history." Any chance their parallels exist/persist on "our" Earth (i.e. the main setting)?
  • Neith: Many of my prematurely asked questions, answered, as you say! Specialized nanohives is a neat conceit. As for string controllers in comics... is Spider-Man sort of in that territory? I can't think of anyone else.
  • Eri Akatsuki: Fairy Tail is another one I haven't read, but I like the swapping armors, especially for a magic character. I'm used to thinking of that as something that cartoon tech heroes, like Iron Man or The Centurions, do.
  • Yukinari Yuhara: if Sub-Zero has taught me anything, it's that cryomancers are hardcore.
  • Lana Shimizu & Heroic Spirits: A friend has tried to get me into the Fate series, maybe I'll have to give that a try, but it looks like a maze. I do appreciate that setting's conceit being taken and applied to various multiversal superheroes. And it would be easy and fun to create other Major/Minor Keys for other characters to use, for good or for ill.
  • Kazeka Kurogane: I think you mentioned Draconic Magic before, but I can't remember where else off the top of my head. I like it as a... style? source? form? of magic able to do more than just dragonfire, and instead the draconic nature is the traits, as you say, of consuming the relevant element, and becoming more dragon-like. Are there dragons on the "main" Earth? (if I'm forgetting already mentioned ones, apologies!)
  • Seawings NuGen: I was curious how a team of children would work, but I appreciate both the builds and that they're largely running around having mostly innocent adventures, it seems. Once again, I appreciate that you've turned Koror into one of the major adventure hubs for this world.
  • Ting Heskett: Furthers the Magi-Tech background, as you say, and she's interesting as one of the "sort-of a child, sort of not" members of the team.
  • Raven: I do in fact find the Raven situation funny, and appreciate that its a chance for Raven to potentially learn from the experience, when she's probably determined not to.
EternalPhoenix wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 7:50 am With all that said, I appreciate that you like Oliver the best of Yas & Friends. And I'm curious as to the direction you would have taken them.
The quick version is I've toyed with transplanting the trio to the 1930s, as a setting's Indiana Jones equivalent. Like I said, I never finished X-2 (nor played X at all), though I know the plot from the internet, so the supporting cast probably wouldn't make the jump with me, but I had the vision of three Adventurer Archeologists trying to stop a giant mecha take on the Trojan Horse or something.
Last edited by Commander Titan on Sat May 28, 2022 1:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Seawings Commentary: Yas & Friends

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 11:35 pm
  • Truman and the Truman Home: I've never played Half-Life myself, but I dig this take on what Freeman/Truman does next. Its interesting to see who gets put in charge of the "superhero school"-like institutions in various worlds (I appreciate that Freedom City had "Batman" be in charge of "the Xavier Academy" for example), and Truman housing all the various people who drop into our world is a nice touch. The wonder of a home setting, where two very different video games can be brought into conversation and alignment. It's also again a great idea because the PCs can quite literally pop in to the framework to take their place in a hypothetical Truman Girls/Seawings campaign, with Rumble Hearts as a good model for what the PC sub-team could look like.
Had it in my head that Rumble Hearts was the rival crew, but yeah they're not a bad model for what a PC squad would look like.
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 11:35 pm
  • Samorn: Both the character herself, her connection to the divine (and I learned something new in the process with your explainer on the relevant gods), and the details about the Seven Sorceries, which gives a setting connection to Heyden Street/Roger Simon here. I always appreciate when a setting element doesn't solely live in its own little corner, and can pop up in someone else's adventures.
Sooner or later I'm gonna figure out what having all Seven Sorceries active in the modern day means. BLACK's next on your list, and they've got one too. That brings the count to four, and I know where the other three are and who has them. The Icon Sage (on the reserve list, but still), her sometimes ally Rue, and...well, there's a lot of Demon Hunters these days, actually. The leader of 'em, however, is Harry Brandle. When will I get to them all? Freakin' eventually. :|
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 11:35 pm
  • Skye Walker: I agree about the rarity of dream controllers being a shame, and like this approach. Do the combination of a claw gauntlet and dream powers also mean she takes from Freddy Kruger/A Nightmare on Elm Street in any way?
No, it was a bird thing because she's got wings, see.
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 11:35 pm
  • Octavia Fiammetta: The idea of the Infernal Witches, slowly growing their number, dueling back and forth with the powers and Powers of Europe, is a really fun "secret history." Any chance their parallels exist/persist on "our" Earth (i.e. the main setting)?
Maybe. They'd be reasonably different, but maybe.
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 11:35 pm
  • Neith: Many of my prematurely asked questions, answered, as you say! Specialized nanohives is a neat conceit. As for string controllers in comics... is Spider-Man sort of in that territory? I can think of anyone else.
Kinda? The various Spiders can do the "tie you up" trick or throw things around, but they never use it as anything other than adhesive or rope.
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 11:35 pm
  • Kazeka Kurogane: I think you mentioned Draconic Magic before, but I can't remember where else off the top of my head. I like it as a... style? source? form? of magic able to do more than just dragonfire, and instead the draconic nature is the traits, as you say, of consuming the relevant element, and becoming more dragon-like. Are there dragons on the "main" Earth? (if I'm forgetting already mentioned ones, apologies!)
There's Toryu, right above her. And Raheed is a Dragon summoned by magic. Otherwise I don't believe I've put dragons and magic together specifically anywhere else. It's not impossible that our Earth has dragons kicking around somewhere, but it is unlikely. They'd be like, cryptids or something.
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 11:35 pm
  • Seawings NuGen: I was curious how a team of children would work, but I appreciate both the builds and that they're largely running around having mostly innocent adventures, it seems. Once again, I appreciate that you've turned Koror into one of the major adventure hubs for this world.
A pretty minor city in the real world, a hub for heroism and adventure in the Phoenixverse. I wonder if Palauans would be flattered? :mrgreen:
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 11:35 pm
  • Raven: I do in fact find the Raven situation funny, and appreciate that its a chance for Raven to potentially learn from the experience, when she's probably determined not to.
She may not be able to. She's not human or even technically mortal, and thus can't change her fundamental nature like we can.
Commander Titan wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 11:35 pm
EternalPhoenix wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 7:50 am With all that said, I appreciate that you like Oliver the best of Yas & Friends. And I'm curious as to the direction you would have taken them.
The quick version is I've toyed with transplanting the trio to the 1930s, as a setting's Indiana Jones equivalent. Like I said, I never finished X-2 (nor played X at all), though I know the plot from the internet, so the supporting cast probably wouldn't make the jump with me, but I had the vision of three Adventurer Archeologists trying to stop a giant mecha take on the Trojan Horse or something.
Huh. That's kind of interesting. I like it, and I'd read a story in that 'verse. YRP doing the Indiana Jones thing.
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Re: The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse; Newest: StrRev! STG! Primrose! Aeon! Photophobia! Nimbus! Squad B! Dream Girl!)

Post by Commander Titan »

Well, BLACK's a swifter read then the Seawings & associates, but of course it sounds like the Phantom Network outsizes it, and simply requires fewer builds.

Thoughts:
  • BLACK: It's tough to walk the line with grimdark material like this, but I think it works well. One of my first non-Superman/Batman comics was The Authority, and whatever problems came with their later writers, it explored an interesting question, with superpowers going after "the real bastards" and I can see the value in BLACK doing that here. And as you say, its a little hard to do more four-color supers against more grounded villains, for a number of reasons. BLACK seems like they can also slip into other sorts of stories as well - more bleak occult stuff, or ninja wars, or Metal Gear-style black ops and rogue superweapons.
  • Phantom Network: A logical explanation of where BLACK gets its intel - like the Shadow's contacts expanded over a decades long career, or perhaps a bit like the Global Frequency, though I appreciate that the Network seems to primarily be informants, not a million-plus combatants or experts. It certainly means adventure could come from anywhere - and easy for crossovers. Any NPC/background character could later be revealed to be a Network agent.
  • Ghost: A suitably scary warrior-on-crime/terror/evil. The assassin-made-good is a fun trope, and his literal connection to Death puts a neat extra twist. Has there ever been a previous Guardian of Death to hold those chains? Or does the role not pre-date him? Would it ever be able to be passed on from him? Or is it a unique anomaly? Also - it occurs to me to ask, because I don't think I saw it mentioned, where is Dean City located?
  • Adept: Fair thoughts on the Jedi, and I appreciate the contrast with Ghost, in background, powers, and morality. After wondering who was slipping the records of James and David Scott's missions to Hollywood, I have to ponder - what powerful telepaths (or other escaped aliens?) have been picking up the stories of Adept's home galaxies and turning them into a major media franchise?
  • Spartan: Metal Gear is indeed cool. I appreciate the Spartan name theming.
  • Pyrewing: I also remember that Spider-Man cartoon, and was glad that I wasn't crazy when it was the first thing that came to mind with Pyrewing's backstory. Her powerset is really neat, and I've played with similar ideas before. It also provides a nice flashy, high-power contrast to the more conventional powers of some of the team. Obviously, even the best spec ops team can benefit from air support.
  • Prodigy: From aspiring astronomer to possible-future-Sith. The world isn't fair, is it? But at least her teacher seems to have a better handle on it than most Jedi Masters do.
  • Paradigm: An interesting addition. Presumably, if anything happens to Spartan, she'll be inspired to go into the field full-time? Also, quick note that her write-up tends to refer to her as "Prodigy," not Paradigm.
  • Relena: Like Pyrewing, it seems like the team is a good balance of "guns and grenades" and bigger superhuman firepower. Which makes me wonder - how did Ghost oppose her, when they were still/solely enemies? Was he unable to make a dent? Did she simply kill him a lot, only for him to inevitably to pop back up?
  • Talia Mortelini: A family so connected to the practices of death keeps being kept away from it. Interesting. Surprised, at first, that her immortality wasn't also connected to being a Guardian of Death, but now seeing that she is tied to the Seven Sorceries is also fascinating. Speaking of - I don't totally follow the note about "a full 49 are represented" that pops up with the Seven Sorceries - to be clear, is that seven different magicians for each Sorcery? And do these ninjas have any connections to the Nihara Clan?
  • Zack Mortelini: Nothing wrong with some Silver Age zaniness in even the otherwise dark teams. A real proper Frankenstein here! I appreciate the clone-zombie-whatever-its-comics! nature of his resurrections. That said, since I'm unclear from the context: is the mad scientist who resurrected him a "good" or "evil" mad scientist (if such terms can even be said to apply to, well, mad scientists)?
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Re: The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse; Newest: StrRev! STG! Primrose! Aeon! Photophobia! Nimbus! Squad B! Dream Girl!)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Commander Titan wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 12:27 am
  • Ghost: A suitably scary warrior-on-crime/terror/evil. The assassin-made-good is a fun trope, and his literal connection to Death puts a neat extra twist. Has there ever been a previous Guardian of Death to hold those chains? Or does the role not pre-date him? Would it ever be able to be passed on from him? Or is it a unique anomaly? Also - it occurs to me to ask, because I don't think I saw it mentioned, where is Dean City located?
The Death stuff, well, those are all very good questions. And wondrful opportunities for intrepid and curious PCs to go find out. As for Dean City, that's kind of like asking where Metropolis or Gotham is, honestly. It's equal parts modern Detroit, 1920s Chicago, Bludhaven, and Frank Miller's Sin City. It's not a big place, maybe half a million residents. I'm reasonably certain it's on one of the Great Lakes, but other than that?
Commander Titan wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 12:27 am
  • Adept: Fair thoughts on the Jedi, and I appreciate the contrast with Ghost, in background, powers, and morality. After wondering who was slipping the records of James and David Scott's missions to Hollywood, I have to ponder - what powerful telepaths (or other escaped aliens?) have been picking up the stories of Adept's home galaxies and turning them into a major media franchise?
Another wonderful opportunity for curious PCs to go find those things out. :mrgreen:
Commander Titan wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 12:27 am
  • Paradigm: An interesting addition. Presumably, if anything happens to Spartan, she'll be inspired to go into the field full-time? Also, quick note that her write-up tends to refer to her as "Prodigy," not Paradigm.
:oops: The things one doesn't catch. :oops: Fixed now, I think.
Commander Titan wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 12:27 am
  • Relena: Like Pyrewing, it seems like the team is a good balance of "guns and grenades" and bigger superhuman firepower. Which makes me wonder - how did Ghost oppose her, when they were still/solely enemies? Was he unable to make a dent? Did she simply kill him a lot, only for him to inevitably to pop back up?
If it wasn't clear, Relena is a literally playful young woman. When Vincent wasn't using high powered sniper rifles from 1000 feet away or high powered explosives, he got to be a toy for a while until she got bored and sent him away. Remember, she's liked him for a long while and she's not under normal cirumstances a killer.
Commander Titan wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 12:27 am
  • Talia Mortelini: A family so connected to the practices of death keeps being kept away from it. Interesting. Surprised, at first, that her immortality wasn't also connected to being a Guardian of Death, but now seeing that she is tied to the Seven Sorceries is also fascinating. Speaking of - I don't totally follow the note about "a full 49 are represented" that pops up with the Seven Sorceries - to be clear, is that seven different magicians for each Sorcery? And do these ninjas have any connections to the Nihara Clan?
In this case I'm using ninja in the pop cultural sense. They weren't literally ninjas. And yes, it was seven different magicians for each Sorcery.
Commander Titan wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 12:27 am
  • Zack Mortelini: Nothing wrong with some Silver Age zaniness in even the otherwise dark teams. A real proper Frankenstein here! I appreciate the clone-zombie-whatever-its-comics! nature of his resurrections. That said, since I'm unclear from the context: is the mad scientist who resurrected him a "good" or "evil" mad scientist (if such terms can even be said to apply to, well, mad scientists)?
He was good to Zack. The rest, well, he's dead. It doesn't really matter anymore. Though I suppose he was one of the more heroic ones. A villain might have tried to use Zack for their own purposes.
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Gobstopper (Bridget Kucerova)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Gobstopper (Bridget Kucerova)

Power Level: 9; Power Points Spent: 165/165

STR: +10 (16/30), DEX: +1 (12), CON: +3 (16), INT: +0 (10), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +4 (18)

Tough: +3/+9, Fort: +9, Ref: +9, Will: +6

Skills: Acrobatics 4 (+5), Bluff 4 (+8), Diplomacy 4 (+8), Gather Information 4 (+8), Intimidate 12 (+16), Language 1 (+1), Notice 6 (+8), Perform (percussion instruments) 11 (+15), Sense Motive 10 (+12), Stealth 4 (+5)

Feats: All-Out Attack, Attractive (+4), Challenge - Improved Demoralize, Challenge - Improved Startle, Improved Critical 2 (Unarmed Attack), Interpose, Power Attack, Startle, Takedown Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge (Auditory)

Powers:
Hard Candy Physiology (Container, Passive 12)
. . Glucosal Might (Super-Strength 6) (+30 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 51.2 tons; +6 STR to some checks; Countering Punch)
. . Glucosal Strength (Enhanced Strength 14) (+14 STR)
. . Hardened Organs (Immunity 9) (critical hits, disease, enviromental conditions (all), poison)
. . Layered Refractive Shell (Protection 6) (+6 Toughness; Impervious [3 extra ranks], Reflective (Energy) [3 extra ranks])

Attack Bonus: +8 (Ranged: +8, Melee: +8, Grapple: +18/+24)

Attacks: Unarmed Attack, +8 (DC 25)

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

Initiative: +1

Languages: English Native, Spanish

Totals: Abilities 26 + Skills 15 (60 ranks) + Feats 12 + Powers 60 + Combat 34 + Saves 18 + Drawbacks 0 = 165

Age (as of Jan 2019): 25
Height: 5’ 6”
Weight: 310 lbs (looks like 125 lbs)
Ethnicity: Variable (Any normal hard candy color; Caucasian [Czech-American] bone structure)
Hair: Violet
Eyes: Blue

Background: The story Bridget Kucerova tells about how she came to be is something about being born in a candy egg and breaking out of it a few years later with her powers as an otherwise normal three year old. This is a lie. It’s a very nice story, and superior to the reality, but it is not the truth. She doesn’t pretend it is. Not really. But still. The truth is that she was born (with no powers of any kind) to a pair of dirt poor petty criminals who rarely had enough money to feed themselves, let alone a third mouth. So she subsisted on whatever breast milk her mother could produce and the cheapest hard candy from the local convenience store. It was something she and her mother did together. Early bonding. It’s something Brie holds onto to, even now and even though she can’t actually remember it. Because that candy was cheap for a reason. The company was substituting some extremely dangerous chemicals in the candy and the packaging to save money. Some very mutagenic chemicals. They both got very sick. Her father (Mason) didn’t eat nearly enough to be affected. The same thing was happening to both of them, but the older woman did not have the youthful resilience and physiological flexibility as her daughter. She died before the change could complete. The lawsuit and resulting publicity gave young Brie and her father some real money for the first time in their lives. For the record, her mother was far from the only one to die, and several executives received lengthy prison sentences. A costumed detective style superhero made very, very sure of that. However, Mason could only be charitably described as a fiscal idiot, and they were soon broke again. But Brie was stronger than most grown men, even as a three year old, nothing seemed to be able to hurt her, and she really loved her Daddy. The man got ideas. Criminal ideas.

. . And so Mason went from petty criminal to armed robber. With his “Baby Girl” at his side, he embarked on a reign of periodic terror (they only committed robberies whenever their money started running out) across several states, always one step ahead of the law. The man may not have been good at much else, but damn did he have a knack for not being where people thought he’d be. For Brie, it was a life of fast food, stolen cars, and motel rooms. She had an absolute blast. Her daddy was a reasonably charming fellow, especially to folks who already liked him. They were quite the pair. Mason taught her how to fight, a bit. He’d picked up a little amateur boxing in his high school days, and he’d always been scrappy. More importantly, he taught her how to hold her strength back to avoid killing anyone. It was fine (even a little funny) for a three year old to break somebody’s shin with a kick, but a few years later Brie was slowly edging into genuinely superhuman might. Cops chased killers harder, he said, but in reality he couldn’t bear the thought of his Baby Girl with blood on her hands. If there was killing to be done, he’d do it. Brie wore a lot of hoodies, gloves, and long pants in those days to avoid being casually identified. One wouldn’t think that would consistently work, but it did. But all things, both good and bad, must come to an end. An unexpectedly resistant store owner left Mason flat on his back with a bullet in his chest. The police sirens were getting louder. Mason told his Baby Girl to run. Please, God. Run. And the 12 year old ran. Mason survived his wound, but got ten years for the attempted robbery. He was not connected to his other crimes. He always had the dammedest luck.

. . Brie was on her own. But her Daddy had taught her well. Not getting cold, hot, or sick and being able to eat food far too contaminated for normal people did have advantages, too. She robbed a few closed stores, did a few light muscle jobs, and may have fallen completely into the criminal underworld if not for a stroke of her father’s luck. An old friend of Mason’s from high school recognized her from years old stories. They had a chat, catching him up on life events. He got her a job with a touring indie band. It was just carrying their electronics and stuff. Basic roadie work. But it was legal, and it would keep her moving. If he could recognize her, so could the cops. Or worse, a superhero. Fair enough. Time went on. She got a good reputation in the roadie biz, moving from band to band as they broke up or stopped touring. Eventually she was pressed into service one night as a drummer, and found she had a bit of a talent for it. This too, eventually got around, and everyone’s favorite roadie became everyone’s backup drummer. She got roped into playing bouncer sometimes, too. But once again all things, both good and bad, must come to an end.

. . Brie was her father’s daughter and thus could only be charitably described as a fiscal idiot. At the level of indie music she was working at, the musicians themselves sometimes could get paid in the equivalent of 20 bucks and a ham sandwich. When that happened, she obviously didn’t get paid at all. Her new friends had to pay rent and bills, plus had a powerful need to eat at some point. Part time jobs don’t pay for everything. So she’d been doing a little (un)armed robbery of her own on the side. She’d rip open an ATM occasionally, or walk into a bank and make a “withdrawal” from the teller side of the counter. Naturally, she wore hoodies, gloves, and long pants to avoid being identified, along with a full face mask. But Mason had neglected a critical part of her criminal education. If you’re going to be a career robber, you shouldn’t keep wearing the same few outfits, especially if they have reasonably unique logos on them. And you certainly shouldn’t wear them in regular life at all, ever. Ah, well. Live and learn. Several years down the line, the FBI (because committing crimes across state lines means you deal with them and not the local PD) finally managed to track down the “The Polite Robber” via the logos for the various places she’d worked on her clothes. They were expecting a veteran criminal with a small degree of superhuman strength and the likely accompanying durability. They were decidedly not expecting a 19 year old whose lifting capacity could be measured in double digit tons who was completely immune to hand portable mundane weapons and had significant skill in hand to hand combat. They were also decidedly not expecting her friends to pull improvised weapons of their own while screaming “Fuck the police”. It was a complete shitshow. Just an embarrassing ass kicking for the FBI. It took weeks to get their SUV off that roof, and the internet is still making memes of the fight. Nobody dying or even getting seriously injured (she remembered her Daddy’s lessons) just made the whole situation more hilarious. Brie found herself with a crew at her back and a new nickname. Gobstopper, after how she was literally hard candy, even solid shotgun slugs had simply bounced off her, and she wasn’t even breathing hard when the FBI was fleeing. Talk about everlasting. As unintentional supervillain debuts go, it wasn’t bad.

. . Naturally, she used this newfound fame to get paid. Crime, after all, was never the goal. Money was. Unscrupulous promoters were more than happy to book the bands she worked with, as long as she’d be playing or at least making an appearance. And none of them were dumb enough to try and stiff a woman capable of leveling their building with her bare hands on her fee. But…none of the bands were actually hers, you know? She was a fill in, and she felt deeply uncomfortable using said newfound fame to replace anyone. Fortunately, there was a singer, guitarist, and producer in the same boat out there on the internet. This was the formation of the Sin-sations, though they didn’t meet in real life for some time. The group came to the attention of Photophobia, who brought them to the attention of Methion. The Grand Wizard wanted to see this unique young woman for himself, so he arranged a meeting. This was after speaking with Dream Girl (Sabrina Nowak), so Brie was now 22 years old. 3 years of milking her supervillainous notoriety without actually committing any crimes. Well, mostly. Resisting arrest was technically a crime, after all. As well as “destruction of public property”, whatever that meant. Maybe they meant the cop cars and such she busted up to keep them from following her around? Anyway, Brie had a talk with a mythical being (Methion, naturally), and then another one (Valine, this time). The whole band was there. First time they’d met IRL, matter of fact. Valine agreed to a trial period as STG members, and Brie found herself with the best paying job she’d ever had by several country miles. It came with some real fancy lawyers, too. So she could go pick up her Daddy in her new fancy car on his release date. And never was there a Daddy more proud of his Baby Girl. Talk about moving up in the world. The ol’ Kucerova luck just keeps working its magic. She and the band passed the trial period with flying colors, and have been Squad B for the last three years.

. . Brie sends her father money, enough to keep him out of trouble. She finally got that fiscal education she sorely needed these past three years with the girls, and of course she shared it with Daddy. Methion’s fancy lawyers got her pending charges thrown out on various technicalities. She’s free as a bird. A note. Gobstopper, until debuting with the STG, was a private nickname among her friends and not used in public. So only very old friends make the connection and don’t disbelieve it. The authorities are unaware of any connection between Bridget Kucerova, inactive supervillain and current pop starlet, and Gobstopper, supervillain and STG member.

Powers & Tactics: Brie is a mutant. Her body has been converted by exposure to several mutagenic chemicals and cooled sugar syrup into a being of living hard candy. No, nobody understands how this works or how she’s still alive. Like all mutants with completely altered bodies, her physiology is profoundly strange and makes little to no sense to medical or chemical science. Because her internal organs are all still there, if made of sugar, and they still seem to perform their usual functions. Hell, they function better than flesh and blood organs do. Poisons, diseases, and environmental conditions of all types have no effect on her. Her skin is strong enough to repel bullets from the types of firearms normally mounted on vehicles, and this durability is shockingly uniform across her “flesh”. No weak points here. Her bones are even stronger, and for some reason all energy attacks regardless of source reflect back to their source (if they’re not strong enough to harm her, mind). Her physical strength is completely superhuman. Her casual punches have cracked steel and she’s thrown fully loaded tractor trailers with ease. The FBI theorizes that she could throw full size tanks without straining herself. Why she doesn’t melt in the rain (for the millionth time she does, but extremely slowly; how else could she shower, geniuses?) and why she can change her skin color like she’s got a food dye generator inside herself (not even she knows this one) are genuine mysteries for the ages. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, though. Insects (especially the goddamn ants) try to eat her pretty regularly, and honestly she is pretty delicious to lick. But don’t lick her. Those mutagenic chemicals are still there in her system, and they will kill you in the same horror movie fashion as they did her mother. By slowly turning your flesh to candy and your blood to sugar water as all of your transforming organs gradually fail. Also it’s rude to lick people without permission and she might punch you for it.

. . Tactically, Gobstopper is a puncher. She’s an unarmed fighter half trained in boxing and half in street brawling. Improved Demoralize and Improved Startle mix things up, and she’s just as accurate throwing something big and heavy as she is punching. But really, this isn’t complicated. She’s Squad B’s muscle. She tanks hits the rest can’t via Interpose and hits harder than any of them. She still remembers her Daddy’s lessons, however, and doesn’t use all of her strength ranks until it’s proven to her that person won’t take lethal damage from her full strength. She All Out Attacks with relative impunity (provided the enemies can’t breach her Impervious), but Power Attack is reserved for especially tough opponents, desperation, or destroying objects. She doesn’t know what a power stunt is.

Personality: Brie is a sweetheart. Country born and bred, she’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. But don’t misunderstand. She’s a professional criminal from a family of professional criminals. The law means nothing to her, and the feelings and opinions of strangers don’t mean much more. All that talk about “responsibility” and “paying her debt to society” is just so much static in her ears. What about society’s debt to her? Girl’s gotta eat, you know. What she values is companionship and camaraderie. Doing what you have to do to survive in a world that doesn’t care if you live or die. It’s like Daddy said. The cops, the government, and rich folk don’t come around when you’re struggling. They don’t care a lick about your suffering or your hard times except to use it to get you to do things by their rules. But step out of line to get a little more for yourself and suddenly there’s this huge problem. So in the end, all we got to rely on is each other. The older she gets, the better she understand how right Daddy was.

. . Reality’s a little more complicated than Mason’s attempt at philosophy lays out, but Brie has never seen the inside of a school. She’s of average intelligence and completely untrained in critical thinking. She’s not stupid, but life and her Daddy have taught her that the two most important things in life are loved ones and money. Everything else is a distant and unreliable second.
Last edited by EternalPhoenix on Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse!)
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Davies
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Re: The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse; Newest: StrRev! STG! Aeon! Photophobia! Nimbus! Squad B! Dream Girl! Gobstopper!)

Post by Davies »

No Immunity (aging) so I take it that she's not Everlasting?
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Re: The Phoenixverse (A 2e OC 'verse; Newest: StrRev! STG! Aeon! Photophobia! Nimbus! Squad B! Dream Girl! Gobstopper!)

Post by EternalPhoenix »

Davies wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 9:44 pm No Immunity (aging) so I take it that she's not Everlasting?
Her mutation is pretty unique. Nobody knows how it works. And nobody knows if it's stable or not. She's not ageless now, but who knows what the future may bring?
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