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

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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

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The Lancet
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As with many superpowers who shun the public spotlight, little is definitely known about the woman who calls herself the Lancet (or, just as often, la Lancette.) She first appeared in Syria in 1996, assisting and protecting medics active during the U.S.-led invasion of the nation, both from the insurgents and from any other forces who meant them harm. The Lancet has since been active in warzones throughout western Asia and east Africa. While she observes a medic's traditional unarmed status, she is definitely not a pacifist and shows willingness to employ her super-strength in the defense of patients and doctors alike. And then there are her other talents.

The best guess as to the Lancet's identity is that she was at one point Dr. Genievre Gygax, born in Geneva in 1962 and graduating from the Geneva University Hospitals in 1986, where she also completed her residency. In 1988, she joined Médecins du Monde and was dispatched to Iraq to provide medical care to victims of the civil war that erupted following the downfall of the Baathist government. A year later, she became an apparent casualty of that war, apparently killed when a car bomb destroyed her vehicle. Her body was not recovered from the wreck, however, and it was rumored that she had actually been kidnapped.

The Lancet has never claimed to be Dr. Gygax, nor has she ever denied the putative identification, which is supported mostly by the similarity between the facial features of the two women. Aside from these, she is roughly fifteen centimeters taller, has differently-colored eyes and hair, and -- of course -- superpowers of unknown origin. The surviving family of Dr. Gygax are divided in their opinions about her identity, but the consensus is that she is performing work that their relative would have respected, generally.

Her primary superpower, aside from her heightened physical attributes and swift recovery time, is the ability to exert a form of telekinesis that cleans and closes injuries. (She cannot use this power to cure diseases, which she regards as a personal failing.) This process is excruciatingly painful for the recipient, akin to having surgery conducted without anesthetic. The Lancet prefers not to use this as weapon but can and will do so in the defense of others.

The Lancet typically responds to the idea of herself as a superhero with a roll of her eyes. She has exactly no interest in preventing crimes other than the theft of medical supplies (and even then has been known to freely donate what would have been pilfered if she believes the thieves' need is genuine, rather than being inspired by greed.) Her focus is entirely on providing medical treatment and protecting the injured and innocent. Much as with her powers, she heals but will not offer comfort, often being noted for having an extremely cold expression. How much of this is an emotional reserve needed to allow her to maintain her sanity under the extremely stressful circumstances in which she usually operates, and how much is natural, is known only to herself.

While dismissive of the idea of being one, she has worked with superheroes in the past, however, most notably La Donna Universale. Because of this relationship, she has recently been contacted by the Powerhouse in regards to a certain event, in which they believe she would better equipped to observe (and if necessary intervene) than they would. While she would normally focus on actual battlefields, the idea of preventing fatal injuries arising from a series of blood sports appealed to her, and so she has agreed to their proposal.

The Lancet -- PL 11

Abilities:
STR
5 | STA 5 | AGL 6 | DEX 2 | FGT 7 | INT 4 | AWE 4 | PRE 4

Powers:
Heals But Does Not Comfort: Linked Perception Range Healing 9, Limited to Others; Linked Perception Range Cumulative Affliction 9 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated); Requires Check (Treatment, DC 15) - 59 points
Walks Through Hell Unfazed: Immunity 5 (aging, disease, poison, need for sleep, starvation & thirst); Regeneration 10 - 15 points

Advantages:
Assessment, Connected, Defensive Roll 2, Diehard, Fearless 2, Great Endurance, Improved Initiative, Languages 3 (several, [French is native]), Leadership, Startle, Uncanny Dodge.

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+7), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+11), Expertise: Military 4 (+8), Expertise: Science 6 (+10), Expertise: Streetwise 4 (+8), Insight 7 (+11), Intimidation 8 (+12), Investigation 5 (+9), Perception 6 (+10), Persuasion 7 (+11), Treatment 9 (+13), Vehicles 4 (+6).

Offense:
Initiative +10
Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 5)
Heals But Does Not Comfort -- (Perception Range Will 9)

Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 11, Fortitude 7, Toughness 10/5, Will 11

Totals:
Abilities 74 + Powers 82 + Advantages 15 + Skills 33 + Defenses 14 = 211 points

Offensive PL: 9
Defensive PL: 11
Resistance PL: 9
Skill PL: 8

Complications:
Saving Lives--Motivation. Icy Demeanor. Methodical.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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Davies
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

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Talante
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A Hesperan Fable

One day, by a great river, a serpent met a frog. The serpent said to the frog, "Carry me across the river, and I shall reward you, for I cannot swim so great a width."

Said the frog, "How do I know you will not try to bite me with your fang?"

Said the serpent, "If I bite you, will we not both perish?"

So the frog carried the serpent, but half-way across the river, the serpent bit the frog. Feeling death drawing near, the frog asked, "Why do you do this, for will we not both perish?"

"No," said the serpent, "for I can swim
half so great a width. I need you no longer."

But the river was wider yet, and so the serpent drowned before reaching the other side.

Too much ruthlessness is a danger to one's own self, as well as to others.


That Talante of the Serpent Soul rose up and overthrew the queen damned to memory is well known to those who study Hespera's history. That she didn't truly want to do so, despite the disgust that her enemy's actions provoked in her, is not as well known. She was even then an elder, and desired only to complete her duty and then retire. It is likely that, had she not been egged on by her followers, she might have held back and supported whoever eventually did lose their patience with the madwoman, and the history of Hespera would have taken a different turn.

Having slain the false queen before her own throne, Talante was proclaimed queen by the Oracles. That was where the trouble began. As a soldier and commander, Talante was first rate; as an administrator and negotiator, she was decidedly sub-par. Furthermore, many of the fallen queen's policies did not particularly offend her, such as those meant to reduce the power of the Great Houses, and she tried to continue them, making enemies of the Great Houses and all but ensuring the start of another civil war.

That didn't happen, however, for instead she was drawn out of her proper time and place, brought forward some six hundred years to a Hespera much changed, where the Great Houses she knew were only memories and perversions of nature -- male soldiers -- were common. Those who brought her revealed that their history claimed she had vanished, and that they had speculated that might have been because of time manipulation. So they had fulfilled the causal chain, and now asked her to take up the Queenship she had never formally vacated, and make Hespera great again.

Talante should have known better. Just as with her followers back then, they were only using her to pursue agendas of their own, like the blasphemous notion that the Oracles should be thrown down! But she closed her mind to her own suspicions and brought civil war to her homeland, and it fell to outsiders -- aliens, of all things -- to fix the mess that she helped to start. In the end, she walked away from Hespera, swearing that she would kill any who dared to follow her. None tested that, and so she escaped.

Of course, she now had nowhere to go. If Hespera had changed greatly from how it had been in her time, the world outside the barrier was even more unlike her knowledge of it. Avoiding contact with outsiders as much as possible, Talante made what she believes to be a valiant effort to understand their world. She failed, and deep down always knew that she would fail. The outsiders just aren't interesting enough to merit her understanding. It doesn't help, of course, that she is old even without years added by time-screwiness, and suspects that her life is drawing to a close.

Passing through Africa, and then Arabia, and then India, she began to hear rumors of a great martial competition. Battle, at least, was something that she would always understand, and the prospect of worthy opponents intrigued her. But far more so was the claim that the alien ruler who began this exhibition would grant a wish to the one who was victorious. If he is an alien, and allows other aliens safety in his domain, then perhaps, if she triumphs, he might grant her the ability to leave this fallen world behind, and seek out the distant world where her people had their origins, if the legends are true. That would be an interesting end to her story.

If nothing else, at least she'll get to take out her frustrations on some deserving targets. Or deserving enough. She just hopes that the river isn't wider than she currently believes.

Talante - PL 12

Abilities:
STR
8 | STA 9 | AGL 4 | DEX 5 | FGT 12 | INT 3 | AWE 4 | PRE 2

Powers:
Hesperan Biology: Immunity 2 (disease, poison) - 2 points
Hesperan Telepathy: Mental Communication 3; Comprehend Languages 2 (understand and speak all languages) - 18 points
More-Than-Hesperan Strength: Enhanced Strength 4, Limited to Lifting (100 tons) - 4 points
More-Than-Hesperan Swiftness: Leaping 7 (900 feet); Speed 6 (120 MPH); Swimming 6 (30 MPH) - 19 points
Orichalcum Spear: Strength-based Damage 3, Improved Critical, Reach; Easily Removable (-2 points) - 3 points
Sougaze: Cumulative Sight-Dependent Mind Reading 10 - 20 points

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, All-out Attack, Close Attack, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Set-Up, Skill Mastery (Intimidation).

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+9), Athletics 5 (+13), Deception 8 (+10), Expertise: History 6 (+9), Expertise: Military 9 (+12), Insight 4 (+8), Intimidation 9 (+11), Perception 6 (+10), Ranged Combat: Throwing 4 (+9), Stealth 4 (+8), Vehicles 6 (+11).

Offense:
Initiative +8
Unarmed +13 (Close Damage 8)
Orichalcum Spear +13 (Close Damage 11, Crit 19-20, Reach 1)

Defense:
Dodge 10, Parry 12, Fortitude 11, Toughness 11/9, Will 10.

Totals:
Abilities 94 + Powers 63 + Advantages 14 + Skills 33 + Defenses 14 = 218 points

Offensive PL: 12
Defensive PL: 12
Resistance PL: 11
Skill PL: 8

Complications:
Vengeance--Purpose. Honor (must not be too ruthless.) Old Wounds. Temper.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Li Zuwén
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Born in the year before the island of Taiwan stopped being a province of the Republic of China and became its entire body, there's some question as to whether the individual who goes by the name Li Zuwén was really born to that name. He will calmly agree that his name is only different by a single character from that of the legendary Li Shuwén, while just as calmly disclaiming any familial connection to him. There are many branches of the Li family, after all. Suggesting that he adopted the name to suggest that connection will get a laugh, and the suggestion that he would have gone for a reference to the man's most famous art name ("God Spear Li") if he were going to do that.

Regardless, Li Zuwén grew up in the years of Taiwan's economic miracle. He hasn't ever really talked about those years, beyond a comment that he once worked in Keelung harbor as a young man. At some point, when he was around sixteen, he discovered the practice of the martial arts -- specifically Taijiquan, the internal art sometimes better known as tai chi. He became a fanatical practitioner, and his studies led him to develop some advanced techniques long before his masters thought he was ready. This resulted in some conflicts, and eventually led him to leave his home for the United States in 1974.

Settling in Philadelphia, he set out to pass on the lessons that he'd learned. However, Li's insistence that his students had to learn the traditional 108 movements of the form made it less popular than the simplified 37 movement version that another Taiwanese immigrant had developed sometime before. Still, he had enough success to keep him afloat, and if he sometimes felt frustrated at his students' lack of enthusiasm, he kept it to himself.

And then he found his disciple. Late in 1982, sixteen year old Leon Yung was ambushed by a group of Python-associated gang members who weren't inclined to accept his refusal of their invitation to join them. As fate would have it, this conflict happened to take place outside of the apartment where Li was visiting one of his students, and the young master decided to come to the younger man's assistance. Impressed by what he saw, Leon showed up to study at the academy the next day, and proved to have a genuine talent for the art.

Leon would go on to become a hand-to-hand combat instructor for JSOT, and later perform the same work for Argus, as well. Li remained a part of his life throughout all of this, and an avuncular figure to his three sons as well. Tragically, Leon was killed during Zane's coup in 2006 and his widow responded to this by cutting Li out of her life and that of her family in the aftermath. Shattered by his own grief for the loss of a man he'd loved like a son, Li closed his school and retreated from the world for several years.

In 2015, he was finally moved to visit one of his old students while she was in the hospital, and he happened to be seen easing her pain by one of the doctors, who wanted to learn how to perform this technique. Li told him that this was part of an entire body of lore that he would have to learn, not some magic trick, but Dr. George Robinson managed to impress him, just as Leon had before him. Teaching again revitalized the now elderly martial artist, as did reconnecting with Leon's now grown sons. The fact that he has passed on his teaching to worthy pupils makes him feel content that he has accomplished something with his life, and so he is more willing to take chances with that life than he might have in the past.

Li Zuwén isn't really certain what he boon he'll ask if he overcomes the great difficulties that lie before him and wins through to the end of this tournament. The smart thing to do, probably, would be to ask the alien ruler of Bhutan to leave Earth and never return, but that would also lead to a fair amount of chaos. Well, he will face that challenge when he must, and do so with a calm heart and a steady hand. He suspects that he will have to hit quite a few people more than once in the process, though.

Li Zuwén - PL 9

Abilities:
STR
1 | STA 0 | AGL 3 | DEX 2 | FGT 10 | INT 4 | AWE 3 | PRE 3

Powers:
Qi Sense: Senses 6 (danger sense; accurate acute ranged detect life) - 6 points
Qi Techniques: Array (12 points)
  • Flurry of Blows: Selective Burst Area Damage 4 - 1 point
  • Nerve Strike: Cumulative Affliction 6 (Resisted by Fortitude; Dazed, Stunned, Paralyzed) - 12 points
  • Pain Ease: Energizing Healing 6, Temporary - 1 point
  • Vitality Boost: Enhanced Stamina 2; Enhanced Strength 4
Style Analysis: Perception Range Cumulative Affliction 9 (Resisted by Will; Vulnerable, Defenseless), Conditions Limited to Own Attacks, Limited Degree, Insidious, Quirk (one who notices the effect can resist with Deception instead of Will), Subtle - 19 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Assessment, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Evasion 2, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Languages 3 (English, French, Hokkien others, [Mandarin is native]), Move-by Action, Precise Attack (close/concealment), Skill Mastery (Treatment), Trance, Uncanny Dodge.

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+8), Athletics 5 (+6), Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+12), Expertise: Philosophy 9 (+13), Expertise: Streetwise 7 (+11), Insight 8 (+11), Intimidation 4 (+7), Perception 6 (+9), Treatment 8 (+12).

Offense:
Initiative +7
Unarmed +12 (Close Damage 5/1)
Nerve Strike +12 (Close Fortitude 6)
Flurry -- (Burst Area Damage 4)
Style Analysis -- (Perception Range Will 9)

Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 11, Fortitude 5/3, Toughness 7/5/2/0, Will 11

Totals:
Abilities 56 + Powers 41 + Advantages 19 + Skills 26 = Defenses 20 = 161 points

Offensive PL: 9
Defensive PL: 9
Resistance PL: 8
Skill PL: 8

Complications:
Enlightenment--Motivation. Elderly.

Note: In his physical prime, during the 70s and 80s, he had STR 2 and STA 2, but two ranks less in all INT, AWE and PRE-based skills. His Qi Techniques array had a 6 point reserve, with powers like those of George Robinson, and his Style Analysis power was only a rank 6 Affliction.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Trijata
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Art by Alexandra Curte

Trijata is the name of a rakshasi in the legends of Rama, the great hero and incarnation of Vishnu. As with most figures of mythology, her character varies from story to story; in some versions of these events, she is portrayed as a willing servant of Ravana, the great demon-king. In most versions, though, and certainly in the Ramayana, Trijata is shown to be wise and merciful, is friendly to both Rama and his wife Sita, is rewarded for her good deeds, and has a small religious following even today.

The contemporary woman who is also known by the name of Trijata does everything in her power to make it clear that she is not her namesake, and neither believes herself to be holy nor desires any worship. When asked about her use of the name, she will claim that she considers Trijata to be worthy of emulation, even if she tends to be much more active than the legends portray the rakshasi. She believes that telling the full truth would cause more trouble than the situation merits.

That full truth is that she is a rakashasi, or at least she believes herself to be descended from beings who were called rakshasa and rakshasi in India. Her family taught her that they had also been known as oni and mazoku in Japan, shen in China, and djinn in Arabia, and she wonders whether stories about satyrs and dryads in Greece might come from the same source. Wherever they lived, they were regarded as monsters -- but monsters who could, as in the stories of Trijata and others like her, demonstrate proper behavior and become heroes.

Trijata herself was born sometime in the mid-eighteenth century, on Sri Lanka. Supposedly, her ancestors were capable of great feats of illusion, but the only power that she and her family retained was the ability to make themselves look like ordinary humans, allowing them to live in secrecy. And for a long time, that was just what she did, even after she left her home behind and wandered throughout the Indian subcontinent. She lived in Bundelkhand for a while, and claims to have known and admired Laxmi Bai.

When she finally returned to her homeland, in the 1960s, she could not find any other members of her family or clues to tell her where they might have gone. Trijata fears that she may be the last of her kind still alive. Well, if that is the case, then it behooves her to live a worthwhile life so that the story of her people is not just one of terror and cruelty. She started out by working to protect and support the communities where she lived, acting in secrecy as much as possible and then moving on when suspicions began to develop. It was a good life, and made her happy.

Then things got complicated in 1982, when she stumbled into rescuing the Prime Minister of India from assassins sent by something called the Pythonian Insurgency. Questioned by the authorities in the aftermath, she stammered out that her name was Trijata, and ever since then she has been stuck as what most people assume to be a human superhero using the rakshasi heroine's name as her own. (Which is almost true, but could get her in hot water if the full truth ever becomes known.)

Trijata is stronger, tougher and faster than most humans, heals more quickly and has lived long enough to become very good at defending herself and others. While she possesses teeth and claws whose sharpness could probably be compared to that of a razor blade, if that wasn't utterly cliche by this point, she would only ever use them against beings who are every bit as monstrous as she appears to be -- such as people who threaten or harm children. Even then, she has no wish to permanently harm or kill anybody.

Sponsored to take part in the tournament by a Mumbai film studio who've made movies about her heroic adventures -- entirely made-up ones, mostly -- Trijata has been subtly encouraged to invite Thunder Dragon to allow filming in Bhutan. She's not sure about that idea, and instead plans to ask him whether, as she's begun to suspect, her people are of extraterrestrial origin and if he's encountered other examples of them elsewhere in the cosmos. Of course, she also recognizes that she's a long shot to win, but will do what she can.

Trijata - PL 9

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

Powers:
Claws and Fangs: Strength-based Damage 2, Improved Critical 2 - 4 points
Healing Factor: Immunity 3 (aging, disease, poison); Regeneration 10 - 13 points
Human Semblance: Morph 1 (ordinary human) - 5 points
Swiftness: Enhanced Advantages 2 (Close Attack, Improved Initiative), Quirk (Close Attack is only enhanced against opponents with a lower Initiative total); Enhanced Defenses 4 (Dodge 2, Parry 2); Quickness 4; Speed 4 (30 MPH) - 13 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, All-out Attack, Beginner's Luck, Benefit (Cipher), Close Attack, Fearless, Improved Initiative 2, Languages 4 (English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Sinhala, Tamil, many others [Vedda is native]), Power Attack, Takedown, Trance.

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+12), Athletics 6 (+13), Expertise: History 7 (+8), Expertise: Magic 6 (+9), Expertise: Philosophy 6 (+7), Insight 10 (+13), Perception 7 (+10), Persuasion 8 (+11), Stealth 6 (+12).

Offense:
Initiative +14
Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 7)
Claws and Fangs +9 (Close Damage 9, Crit 18-20)

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

Totals:
Abilities 80 + Powers 35 + Advantages 13 + Skills 31 + Defenses 7 = 166 points

Offensive PL: 9
Defensive PL: 9
Resistance PL: 9
Skill PL: 8

Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Fame. Obviously Inhuman (outside of disguise.) Secret Identity.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Luis Almeida
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Unlike many superpower martial artists, Luis Almeida's abilities weren't unlocked through his practice of his discipline; instead, he started practicing his discipline to help him develop and improve his abilities. From early childhood onward, he was aware that he was a bit faster and more graceful than other children in the favela where he was growing up. Naturally, he thought to use these talents to excel at football and lift himself (and his family) out of their poverty.

Unfortunately, during his adolescence his talents surpassed what could be passed off as simply human, and were shown to be superpowers. That put an end to his football dreams, and for a while he found himself adrift, even engaging in some petty crime. He began to turn his life around when he started to learn capoeira, which gave him the opportunity to use his talents in a way that was socially acceptable and granted him excitement and fame.

At twenty-one, he was scouted to make his first movie, and though it was a flop at the box office, reviews of his performance were good enough that he was given more opportunities. This was also around the time that his path first crossed with O Homen de Oro, who happened to pursue some criminals through one of his film shoots. Excited by this development, Luis assisted in capturing these men and wound up befriending the superhero. For a while, Luis considered becoming a 'hero for hire', like that Thriller fellow, but decided that he had enough on his plate with his film career. When the opportunity arises, however, he will unhesitatingly use his talents to help rescue people in danger. Yes, this makes him famous. No, that's not why he does it.

One way that he's very different from most entertainers is that he lives a very abstemious lifestyle, drinking only soft drinks and avoiding any drug usage. Partly this is the legacy of his sports background, and Luis' belief that his talents might fade if he doesn't treat his body like the finely tuned instrument that it is. Partly, it's a moral conviction. He parties just as much as anybody, but likes to do so when fully in control of himself.

Sponsored for the current tournament by the Furtado family trust, specifically Pedro Blanco, Luis has been told to ask Thunder Dragon to leave Earth and never come back if he manages to win this thing. He thinks he has a good shot at this, particularly in like of his recently developed 'hit secreto' technique, an incredibly fast blow that few martial artists can see much less defend against. Whether it will avail him in this conflict remains to be seen, but win or lose, he expects that he'll have a blast along the way.

Luis Almeida - PL 10

Abilities:
STR
3 | STA 3 | AGL 7 | DEX 3 | FGT 12 | INT 1 | AWE 3 | PRE 2

Powers:
Fast Runner: Speed 2 (8 MPH) - 2 points
Hit Secreto: Perception Range Damage 5, Limitation (functions as a Close Attack, resolved as a Close Attack against targets with Quickness), Subtle (detected by rapid vision) - 10 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Assessment, Attractive, Benefit (well-off), Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Evasion 2, Fearless Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improvised Weapon, Instant Up, Language 2 (English, Spanish, others [Portuguese is native]), Move-by Action, Power Attack, Redirect, Set-up, Takedown, Uncanny Dodge.

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+14), Athletics 10 (+13), Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+14), Expertise: Performance 8 (+10), Insight 8 (+11), Intimidation 8 (+10), Perception 9 (+12), Vehicles 8 (+11).

Offense:
Initiative +11
Unarmed +15 (Close Damage 3)
Hit Secreto -- (Perception Range* Damage 5)

Defense:
Dodge 15, Parry 14, Fortitude 6, Toughness 5/3, Will 8.

Totals:
Abilities 68 + Powers 12 + Advantages 21 + Skills 30 + Defenses 18 = 149 points

Offensive PL: 9*
Defensive PL: 10
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 9

Complications:
Fame/Thrills--Motivation. Fame. Straight-Edge.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

And Away We Go! First match to be posted later today.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Aperion
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Located slightly more than a thousand parsecs coreward from Earth, not far from those sectors of space that have been conquered by the Dark Side, the planet Aperion is the capital -- and sole inhabited planet -- of a tiny pocket of space that those forces have not yet challenged. It seems likely that this is due to the fact that it is the home base of those who use the Power Prism, who have never used any less awkward collective name. This is where the Power Prisms are created, and the Technate believes that this is also where those who use them are chosen and trained.

That last belief is not completely accurate, but the Council of Aperion does absolutely nothing to disabuse the Technate of that notion. The fact of the matter is that the majority of Power Prisms change hands completely at random, passing from one failing hand to another. Matters being as they are, it is a quite common occurrence for the new possessor of a Power Prism to be the individual who ended the life of its previous possessor. Not all of those who use this instrument are law-upholding, or even law-abiding, and the Prism will function regardless of the user's character. The case of Derat Bahasta, alias el Diablo Rojo, should be ample evidence of that.

There are two main authorities on Aperion. The Council is composed of current and retired users of the Prism, recruited from countless worlds within the Technate, the Unclaimed Regions, and further afield. They handle the planet's defense, diplomacy and most other daily business, having been established to do all this some four hundred years* ago by the other authority. These are the beings known as the Lightsmiths, who run the machinery that create the Prisms. As a certain entity claimed, telling a half-truth, they are a species who consist of a giant human-like brain attached to a vestigial semi-humanoid body.

The Lightsmiths' sole interest is in creating new Power Prisms and observing their development. Aside from what little effort they expend on the basics of life -- feeding, resting, and other biological functions -- and on study to improve their abilities, this is literally all that they do. They possess instrumentation which can detect the whereabouts of any Power Prism that they created anywhere in known space, and which can inform them as to how developed they have become through regular use. They do not have the ability to detect anything about the entities who use them. Nor would they be interested in having that ability. With only one exception, they don't care who uses their Power Prisms, as long as they are used.

That exception is that they were, at one point in the past, able to focus enough of their attention on other matters to realize that, if they gave this power to any individual without concern, the possibility existed that it might be used against themselves. To prevent that possibility, they created the Council after vetting its immediate members for such ambitions, and charged them with defending Aperion in general, and the Lightsmiths in particular, from all threats. In the early centuries of its existence, the Council acted like any military focused group would do, often engaging in pre-emptive attacks against potential threats to Aperion. More recently, since shortly before the formation of the Technate, the Council has begun to act more like a combination of a law enforcement agency and emergency services provider, working with friendly governments against mutual threats, so as to discourage potentially hostile activity.

Regardless, the Council receives information about the whereabouts of those Power Prisms which are in use from the Lightsmiths. While the latter are not generally interested in the character of those who use their creations, the same is not true of the Councilors, who dispatch agents to investigate the activities and nature of such individuals. Those who are using their abilities in what these agents believe to be an inappropriate manner will have their Prisms removed, and probably be turned over to local law enforcement where possible. Others will be invited to return to Aperion for a time in order to learn more about their abilities. If that invitation is refused, they won't (generally) press the issue.

The Power Prism that is used by Victor Furtado was, for most of his career, assumed to still be in the possession of B'zz Trgal, who had indicated a complete lack of interest in journeying to Aperion when he was confronted, on several different occasions, by agents of the Council. After the Powerhouse joined forces with the Last Men Standing, however, the intelligence that it had passed to another hand was shared with them, and an experienced agent, Edeth, was sent to investigate. This took longer than it should have due to some other problems, involving defending the planet from the Dark Side, and resulted in something of a comedy of errors following Victor Furtado's departure from Earth for a journey to Aperion.

The greatest secret of the Lightsmiths is that their factory is powered by a single object -- one of the five Cosmic Gems of interstellar legend, arguably the prototype for the Power Prisms themselves. It would be possible to remove the Power Gem from their factory, and this would not affect the Prisms that exist in any way. But it would make it impossible to create further Prisms, and the Lightsmiths would spare no effort to retrieve it, for they literally cannot imagine any existence that does not involve making more Prisms for all eternity.

Aperion Lightsmith -- PL 13
Image

Abilities:
STR -1 | STA 0 | AGL 3 | DEX 4 | FGT 6 | INT 11 | AWE 8 | PRE 6

Powers:
Basic Telepathy: Mental Communication 4; Comprehend Languages 3 - 28 points
Defensive Field: Enhanced Defenses 16 (Dodge 8, Parry 8); Sustained Protection 8 - 32 points
Psychic Functions: Array (52 points)
  • Clairsentience: Remote Viewing 18 (250,000 miles; visual, mental), Dynamic - 2 points
  • Memory Alteration: Perception-Ranged Cumulative Affliction 13 (Resisted by Will; dazed, stunned, transformed) - 1 point
  • Mind Probe: Cumulative Effortless Mind Reading 13, Dynamic - 53 points
  • Mind Thrust: Perception-Ranged Damage 12, Resisted by Will, Split Attack 2, Subtle 2 - 1 point
  • Parakinesis: Perception-Ranged Shapeable Area Damage 12, Variable 2 (energy), Dynamic - 2 point
  • Psychokinesis: Perception-Ranged Damaging Move Object 12, Precise, Subtle 2, Dynamic - 2 point
Psychic Senses: Senses 9 (detect life [accurate, acute, analytical, radius, ranged], darkvision) - 9 points
Psychokinetic Flight: Continuous Flight 6 (125 MPH) - 18 points
Shielded Mind: Impervious Will 13, Limited to Mental Effects - 7 points

Advantages:
Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Extraordinary Effort, Improved Defense, Jack-of-all-Trades, Speed of Thought, Teamwork, Well-informed.

Skills:
Deception 8 (+14), Expertise: Galactic 5 (+16), Expertise: Science 7 (+18), Insight 9 (+17), Perception 5 (+13), Persuasion 9 (+15), Technology 7 (+18)

Offense:
Initiative +11
Unarmed +6 (Close Damage -1)
Memory Alteration -- (Perception Range Will 13)
Mind Thrust -- (Perception Range Damage 12, Resisted by Will)
Parakinesis -- (Perception Range Shapeable Area Damage 12)
Psychokinesis -- (Perception Range Damaging Move Object 12)

Defense:
Dodge 16/8, Parry 18/10, Fortitude 6, Toughness 8/0, Will 13

Totals:
Abilities 74 + Powers 156 + Advantages 8 + Skills 25 + Defenses 20 = 283 points

Offensive PL: 13
Defensive PL: 13
Resistance PL: 10
Skill PL: 13

Complications:
Obsession--Motivation. Slow Movement (becomes Hindered if Flight is nullified.)


The Power Gem
Image
Actual size

Power Gem: Removable (-31 points)
Force Field: Sustained Impervious Protection 20; Sustained Immunity 10 (life support) - 50 points
Phased Flight: Flight 18 (50,0000 MPH), Aquatic; Insubstantial 3; Movement 3 (environmental adaptation [zero-g], space flight 2) - 58 points
Power Uses: Array (45 points)
  • Basic Blast: Ranged Damage 20, Accurate 2, Affects Insubstantial - 45 points
  • Exo-Armor: Enhanced Advantage 5 (Close Attack 5); Enhanced Strength 16; Enhanced Strength 8, Limited to Lifting (400 kilotons, minimum) - 1 point
  • Explosive Blast: Ranged Burst Area 3 Damage 11, Affects Insubstantial - 1 point
  • Force Objects: Moveable Impervious Create 10, Precise - 1 point
  • Reactive Armor: Reaction Damage 11, Affects Insubstantial - 1 point
  • Stun Blast: Ranged Affliction 22 (Resisted by Fortitude; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated) - 1 point
  • Tractor-Presser Beam: Move Object 22 (100 kilotons), Precise - 1 point
Note: It is not possible to replicate all the abilities of a Power Prism with the Power Gem; the former creations are infused with the psychic energies of the Lightsmiths, and someone adept in their use can do things with them that the Power Gem cannot do. In theory, it would be possible for someone using a Power Prism to achieve levels of power comparable to that of the Power Gem and the Mind Gem ... but the Lightsmiths believe that it would take more than a thousand years of training.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Yusei
Image\

The rulers of Yusei, capital of the Yusei Star Kingdom, have taken some pains to misinform the neighboring Crimson Imperium concerning their state. The Kingdom is believed by most (notably not by the Crimson King and some of his agents) to be about as large as the Imperium, when it in fact encompasses a smaller volume of space and fewer inhabited worlds than any other current interstellar state, with the exception of Aperion's Protectorate. On the other hand, the scholars of the Crimson Imperium believe that the human race native to Yusei is, as with the majority of humanity within the Imperium, descended from Chiraben sources, despite the Yusei's insistence that they are not. Ironically, that insistence is only a partial truth.

The roots of Yusei date back to the start of the 800s CE on Earth, specifically to the nation of Japan. In the first decade of that century, a woodcutter from a village in that country discovered a crashed spacecraft containing a living passenger, specifically an Albadine aristocrat. He and his wife nursed her back to health, in some awe of her obviously supernatural origins. Reports of this "heavenly maiden" circulated throughout the empire of Japan, and even reached the Imperial court. If one is to believe the somewhat fictionalized account of these events -- Taketori Monogatari, or The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter -- the "maiden" may even have been courted by the Emperor of that time, but refused him as she planned to return to her own country.

She had not yet departed by 812, however, at which point Japan was afflicted with an epidemic of smallpox that killed more than half of its population. To save the lives of those that she had come to care about, the Albadine used her supply of technology to vaccinate the populace of the village, violently breaking her own people's cultural taboos in the process. Further, she grew concerned that her action could lead to greater harm to those she sought to protect, who might be dissected to determine why they lived while so many others died. Thus, when at last a vessel of the Gardeners answered her summons, she explained her concerns to the villagers and asked them to accompany her on her voyage. Overwhelmingly, they agreed.

The Gardeners transported the Albadine and her followers to a planet far away from Earth, the world of purple seas and skies that would later be known as Yusei. Briefed on what her hosts knew of this world, chiefly the presence of megafauna there, the 'princess' trained several of the villagers in the fighting and psychic arts of her people, so that they would be able to defend the colony that they would found. It would take a long while for the people of Yusei to grow used to their new world, but they were adaptable and resourceful, were fruitful and multiplied. Their 'princess' eventually left them after a generation had passed, but promised to one day return. More than a thousand years later, it is still an article of faith with some of the population that she will do so, but most accept that she is long dead.

After a few centuries*, however, a different group of strange visitors from another world arrived on Yusei. 'Rising stars' from Cherab, they had fled their home world and were now in search of another. While the guardians of the Yusei were potent, they could not match these beings' power. A different solution was sought, and an agreement was negotiated with some of these would-be gods that they would receive the idolization they desired if some of the more malevolent members of their party were expelled. As these individuals had already annoyed many of their peers, this was considered an acceptable arrangement.

Some of the scapegoats were killed, others fled, and in the end the remaining overfolk settled in as Yusei's new gods. Gradually, they established kinship with many of the leading families of the Yusei, either legitimately or otherwise. With their help, both technological and otherwise, the Yusei conquered what remained of their planet, and then nearby planets as well. A thousand years later, a few of the first generation of the gods are still alive, though they are all quite elderly and rarely leave their fortified temples save for brief excursions. (Actual immortality was possessed by relatively few of their people.) They still exert much influence over the Yusei people, but rule is in the hands of the Star King and his court -- distantly related to all the gods, and thus obligated to none of them.

The Yusei would prefer it if they could ignore the presence of the Crimson Imperium not far from their borders, as they did for centuries. But that is not an option, and they are resigned to the fact that a war between their two powers is inevitable. Their leaders are doing all in their power to ensure that it is a war they will win, but their strategic projection is that unless the Crimson Imperium is distracted by a major civil war or invasion from another party, they are doomed. Their troops' quality is high, and their technology superior, but the sheer numbers that the Imperium can call upon will bring about their inevitable doom, with the likely collapse of their opponent in the aftermath a comfort as cold as interstellar space.

Some of the Yusei leadership have responded to this grim scenario by descending into decadence and focusing on petty games of influence. In the course of one such struggle, which even drew the Royal House into it, a remarkable treasure came into the hands of the current Star King. Neither he nor any of the sages of his court have realized that the gem of unknown origin that they now possess, and have stashed in the royal treasury, is one of the five Cosmic Gems of interstellar legend. As such, as long as they do not know what they own, they might be willing to trade this priceless wonder for something of much lesser worth but apparently similar rarity. Or someone could try stealing it, and probably face hundreds of the Star Kingdom's crack troops in the process.

Yusei Soldier -- PL 8/MR 9
Image

Abilities:
STR
4 | STA 5 | AGL 4 | DEX 5 | FGT 8 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 1

Powers:
Defensive Shielding: Immunity 10 (life support); Sustained Protection 2, Impervious 4 - 16 points
Flight Gear: Flight 13/7 (16000 MPH/250 MPH), Higher level is only in microgravity; Removable (-4 points) - 16 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Equipment 4, Improved Defense, Power Attack.

Equipment:
Blaster Staff (Strength-based Damage 2; Ranged Damage 8), Commlink, 2 points as needed

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8), Athletics 3 (+7), Close Combat: Staff 2 (+10), Expertise: Military 5 (+6), Insight 6 (+8), Intimidation 7 (+8), Perception 6 (+8), Ranged Combat: Blaster 3 (+8), Vehicles 4 (+9).

Offense:
Initiative +4
Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 4)
Staff +10 (Close Damage 6)
Blaster +8 (Ranged Damage 8)

Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 8, Fortitude 5, Toughness 7/5, Will 8

Totals:
Abilities 60 + Powers 32 + Advantages 8 + Skills 20 + Defense 12 = 125 points

Offensive PL: 8
Defensive PL: 8
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 4

Complications:
Duty--Motivation. Others as Needed.

Note: This is an inexperienced Yusei soldier. For a more experienced PL 9 veteran, increase STR to 5, FGT to 9, add Improved Initiative and Teamwork, increase Close Combat to 3 ranks, Expertise: Military to 6 ranks, Perception to 8 ranks, Ranged Combat to 5 ranks, Dodge to 11, and consider adding Expertise: Magic at 6 ranks (or higher for a specialist, who might also have Senses 1 [mystic awareness].)

Matter Gem
Image
Actual size

Matter Gem: Removable (-24 points)
Body Hardening: Enhanced Stamina 10, Impervious - 30 points
Matter Control Powers: Array (84 points)
  • Disintegration: Linked Ranged Weaken Toughness 12, Affects Objects, Secondary Effect; Linked Ranged Damage 12, Secondary Effect - 84 points
  • Transmutation: Continuous Ranged Transform 12 (anything into anything) - 1 point
Matter Perception: Senses 5 (analytical vision, vision penetrates concealment) - 5 points
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

The Underworld
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Whether there is an existence for an individual's consciousness after their biological existence ends remains an unanswered question. The existence of hauntings suggests that something might endure, but not perhaps the whole of a person's identity. All these uncertainties are not made a bit clearer by the existence of the reality known as the Underworld, which just raises even more questions.

The Underworld exists within a computer complex located beneath the continent now known as Antarctica. Created thousands of years ago, during the height of the Olympian era, it was intended as both a reward for individuals whom the Olympians favored and an additional punishment for those whom they felt deserved such matters. The computer, monitoring the minds of every human being on Earth, would record those minds at the moment of their death, and introduce these recorded consciousnesses into a virtual reality program -- the Underworld. And it has continued to do so long after the Olympians who created it have ceased to exist.

The Underworld is generally a fairly grim and uncomfortable place, though there are pleasant regions as well, designed to make 'deserving' humans feel at home. (However, even these regions were designed with Stone Age humans in mind, not contemporary ones.) Whether comfortable or uncomfortable, however, the existence of a human consciousness within the Underworld is relatively brief. It is rare for these entities to exist for more than about a decade before they dissolve into nothingness, with a few rare persons of great willpower enduring for up to two centuries before that happens. Even in the Underworld, nothing ever lasts forever.

With one exception. The virtual realm is managed by the recorded consciousness of the Olympian known as Irkalla, known as its queen. (She remembers having volunteered for the position. Whether that memory is authentic is open to question.) She seems to be a very mercurial entity, sometimes acting as a cruel tyrant to the souls here, inflicting tortures for the slightest perceived transgression, sometimes as a much more benevolent ruler, offering care and consolation. Regardless of how she might acts, she always answers threats to herself with terrible force, but there are indications that she can be and has been beaten. However, she is always restored to the system from backups within a day, though the backups will be of a version of Irkalla who likely does not remember her most recent demise.

It is only in recent years that serious challenges have been made to Irkalla's rule over the Underworld, by the recordings of noteworthy superheroes and supervillains. These include many of the members of the Institute, who have endured since their physical deaths. Currently led Doctor Freeze and his father, and in an uneasy alliance with a group of villains led by Diavolus, these champions intend to liberate all the souls held in bondage in this place and somehow escape back to their former reality. They are certain that Irkalla curses their names nightly.

She has completely fooled them. The truth of Irkalla is that she is a profoundly lonely entity, who mourns the departure of each soul from her kingdom, and whose actions -- whether cruel or kind -- are always chosen to extend the time that someone exists within the Underworld before dissolving. Her duty is to protect the Underworld; caring for its inhabitants, seeing that they receive what she thinks they need, is her voluntary choice. She is amazed at the strength of will and the courage that these heroes (and even the villains) demonstrate, and considers the fact that they oppose her to be the greatest honor she has ever been granted. Irkalla will oppose them, because she must, but she loves them, and will go down fighting, again and again, always with a smile on her face.

The computer complex that creates this virtual reality is empowered by one of the Cosmic Gems of interstellar legend. If the Mind Gem were to be removed from its circuitry, it would no longer be able to capture additional consciousnesses, and would enter a sleep state when all those within it finally fade. (Irkalla has vague memories that this happened at some point in the past, but can't remember any details.) It would be also be theoretically possible to use that facility to download a consciousness from within the Underworld to a new body -- whether organic or otherwise -- but getting to the complex, covered by tons of ice and rock and never intended to be accessed in this manner, is no easy task.

Irkalla -- PL 14
Image

Abilities:
STR
10 | STA 14 | AGL 5 | DEX 4 | FGT 12 | INT 5 | AWE 7 | PRE 6

Powers:
Ancient and Eternal: Comprehend Languages 4; Immortality 5 (1 day); Immunity 11 (aging, life support); Impervious Toughness 12 - 45 points
Authority of the Underworld's Queen: Array (44 points)
  • Chains You Forged In Life: Ranged Cumulative Affliction 14 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Damage; Hindered & Vulnerable, Defenseless & Immobilized), Extra Condition, Limited Degree - 1 point
  • Flames of Perdition: Linked Ranged Damage 12; Linked Ranged Burst Area Damage 6 - 1 point
  • Gaze of Doom: Perception Ranged Cumulative Affliction 14 (Resisted and Overcome by Will; Impaired, Stunned, Paralyzed), Vision Dependent - 1 points
  • Knows All: Cumulative Mind Reading 14, Subtle 2 - 44 points
  • Sees All: Remote Sensing 7 (120 miles; all senses, Simultaneous), Subtle 2 - 1 point
  • To Dream of Heaven: Perception Ranged Affliction 14 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated) - 1 points
Advantages:
All-out Attack, Evasion, Fearless 2, Power Attack, Seize Initiative, Skill Mastery (Intimidation), Startle

Skills:
Expertise: History 8 (+13), Expertise: Magic 6 (+12), Insight 8 (+15), Intimidation 8 (+14), Perception 4 (+11), Persuasion 6 (+12), Ranged Combat: Authority 10 (+14), Stealth 8 (+13).

Offense:
Initiative +5
Unarmed +12 (Close Damage 11)
Flames +14 (Ranged Damage 12 and Ranged Burst Area Damage 6)
Chains +14 (Ranged Affliction 14, Resisted by Dodge)
Gaze -- (Perception Range Will 14)
Dream -- (Perception Range Will 14)

Defense:
Dodge 14, Parry 12, Fortitude 14, Toughness 14, Will 11

Totals:
Abilities 126 + Powers 84 + Advantages 8 + Skills 29 + Defenses 13 = 260 points

Offensive PL: 14
Defensive PL: 14
Resistance PL: 13
Skill PL: 10

Complications:
Duty--Motivation. Lonely. Sense of Duty (the dead.) Virtual Entity (cannot leave the Underworld.)

The Mind Gem
Image
Actual size

Mind Gem: Removable (-23 points)
Cosmic Knowledge: Mental Communication 5; Comprehend Languages 4; Enhanced Advantages 3 (Jack-of-all-trades, Speed of Thought, Well-Informed) - 35 points
Shielded Mind: Enhanced Will 14, Impervious Limited to Mental Effects - 21 points
Telepathic Powers: Array (58 points)
  • Mind Burn: Perception Range Damage 14, Resisted by Will, Subtle 2 - 1 point
  • Mind Cloud: Continuous Concealment 10, Passive, Resisted by Will; Illusion 11 (all but mental) - 1 point
  • Mind Freeze: Cumulative Perception Range Affliction 14 (Resisted by Will; Vulnerable, Defenseless, Paralyzed), Subtle 2 - 1 point
  • Mind Mastery: Cumulative Perception Range Affliction 14 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Compelled, Controlled), Subtle 2 - 1 point
  • Mind Mold: Cumulative Perception Range Affliction 14 (Dazed, Stunned, Transformed [memories altered]), Subtle 2 - 1 point
  • Mind Probe: Cumulative Effortless Mind Reading 14, Subtle 2 - 58 points
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by RainOnTheSun »

Davies wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 6:27 am The Underworld
Well, that's existentially horrifying. Interesting, though. It reminds me a bit of that game set in the far future of Freedom-world.
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

RainOnTheSun wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 3:40 am
Davies wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 6:27 am The Underworld
Well, that's existentially horrifying. Interesting, though. It reminds me a bit of that game set in the far future of Freedom-world.
It draws quite a bit from some of the inspirations of that, specifically Bangsian fantasies like Philip José Farmer's Riverworld.

Thanks!
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Gedaugen
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As with nearly all the luminaries of Daath, what is known about the man called Gedaugen -- 'the Vanguard', in an archaic dialect of Imperium Standard -- is based largely on accounts given to Aun Taxad by his mentors, and thus of questionable accuracy. In this unique case, however, Much of it is supported by certain statements that the man himself made to Vittara while he was training her. She remembers him as a cruel taskmaster, but not one who engaged in any deceptions or mind games while she was under his tutelage, and believes that he was largely truthful. It remains to be seen if this is the case.

According to the compiled narrative, roughly one hundred and fifty years* ago, a small group of Technate citizens grew disenchanted with their government, and chose to leave their nation's borders to create a new colony which would be more to their liking. This was a fairly common movement at that time in the Technate's history, with the colonies of Pyrnn and Trantia both being established by similarly-motivated groups within about a decade* of that point. The founders of the breakaway colony of Gemnollen were more like Trantia in that they did not reject contemporary technology, but their focus was on developing a life that did not depend upon it.

Gemnollen's leaders believed that all of life's problems could be solved through the practice of certain esoteric martial arts which had supposedly been preserved when their forebears fled the Imperium. (It should be noted that if these martial arts were actually practiced there, they aren't any longer, and there are no records of them having been practiced. Given how readily the Imperium censors its own history, this may not mean much.) They also believed in celibacy, among other disciplines, and intended that their colony would grow through the arrival of new students from within the Technate. When this failed to materialize after a few decades*, they turned to cloning to create a new generation of students.

The man called Gedaugen was allegedly a clone of the original founder of the Gemnollen colony, and soon demonstrated that he was an extremely talented practitioner of their martial arts practices. It was apparently suggested within their community that he had actually been geneforged, with material supposedly preserved from pre-space Chirab, that of one of the so-called 'rising stars'. That would explain why he was able to use these martial arts to shape, control and even reverse the effects of entropy on himself and other living creatures, to a much greater degree than any of his colleagues. By the time that he had reached adulthood, the leaders of the colony asked him to join them as their Grand Master of Rot.

He refused. His only interest was in developing his talents further, and taking part in the administrative and political duties of the Grand Master would get in the way of that. When they seemed unwilling to accept his refusal, Gedaugen decided to leave Gemnollen and take his studies of entropy out into the much larger universe beyond its skies. He did so, and, eventually, his journey took him to Daath in pursuit of ultimate power. He received some gift from Ananke, and paid for it with some loss -- possibly the bonding of his metal armor to his skin -- and took up the rule of a small principality on Daath.

When the wars of the Dark Side began, some time after his arrival, he was summoned by Abraxas and asked what he would contribute. Gedaugen offered to be the trainer of the most elite among the armies that were being raised, which surprised those who were familiar with him; his strategic acumen had been demonstrated in a number of the petty wars that had been waged before Abraxas' arrival. Abraxas ignored this and installed Gedaugen as the Dark Side's official master drill sergeant, and so he has served ever since.

While not turning the Dark Side's soldiers into killer angels, Gedaugen largely remains in his own principality. It is a harsh realm, but not the most unpleasant place on Daath. He is not kind to those he rules, but not cruel to those who manage to live beneath his notice. Furthermore, according to Tavipahter, he has apparently negotiated some sort of arrangement with the commanders of the Dark Side by which his service as a trainer removes any obligation for his subjects to be conscripted for their armies. They are still subjected to propaganda which incites them to do so voluntarily, but the numbers of those who do are quite small. What motivates this is a secret known only to Gedaugen.

This is not the greatest secret kept by Gedaugen, however. That would be the fact that, during his cosmic travels, he somehow became the possessor of one of the Cosmic Gems of interstellar legend. The Entropy Gem is perhaps the weakest of the five, perhaps because the concept of "entropy" in the World Less Magical lacks certain spiritual associations that it might possess in other realities. It can grant its wielder powers much like those possessed by Gedaugen ... but he has never used it himself, relying entirely on his own abilities. Nevertheless, he would guard it ferociously and unrelentingly pursue any individual who stole it from him. However it came into his hands, guarding the Gem has become one of his primary goals in life. Perhaps it is simply the symbol of all he hopes to become, something pure that has endured even in the abyss where he now abides.

Alternatively, it's possible that he just doesn't want anyone to become a greater wielder of entropic energy than himself.

Gedaugen -- PL 13

Abilities:
STR
11 | STA 11 | AGL 4 | DEX 2 | FGT 9 | INT 3 | AWE 6 | PRE 6

Powers:
Abiding: Immunity 11 (aging, life support); Impervious Toughness 7 - 18 points
Entropic Catalysts: Array (36 points)
  • Boundary: Healing 12, Others Only, Selective Burst Area - 36 points
  • Cascade: Affliction 12 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Fortitude; Vision Impaired, Vision Disabled, Vision Unaware), Selective Burst Area, Limited to One Sense - 1 point
  • Exergy: Damage 9, Alternate Resistance (Fortitude), Selective Burst Area - 1 point
  • Mitigation: Healing 9, Self Only, Reaction (when damaged) - 1 point
  • Momentum: Move Object 9, Selective Burst Area 2, Limited to Moving Away - 1 point
  • Reaction: Affliction 12 (Resisted by Fortitude; Impaired, Disabled), Limited Degree, Selective Burst Area - 1 point
Force Shield: Enhanced Defenses 4 (Dodge 2, Parry 2); Strength-based Damage 4; Activation (Move Action, -1) - 7 points
Translation Circuit: Comprehend Languages 3 - 9 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, All-out Attack, Fearless, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Improved Trip, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Takedown 2, Weapon Break.

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+10), Athletics 3 (+14), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+13), Deception 4 (+10), Expertise: Galactic 8 (+11), Expertise: Military 12 (+15), Insight 4 (+10), Intimidation 6 (+12), Perception 6 (+12), Technology 6 (+9), Vehicles 9 (+11)

Offense:
Initiative +8
Unarmed +13 (Close Damage 11)
Shield Bash +9 (Close Damage 15)

Defense:
Dodge 13/11, Parry 15/13, Fortitude 13, Toughness 11, Will 11.

Totals:
Abilities 104 + Powers 75 + Advantages 12 + Skills 34 + Defenses 18 = 243 points

Offensive PL: 12
Defensive PL: 13
Resistance PL: 12
Skill PL: 10

Complications:
Responsibility--Motivation. Brutal and Merciless. Obedient to Daath's Ruler and Viceroy.

The Entropy Gem
Image
Actual size

Entropy Gem: Removable (-12 points)
Abiding: Abiding: Immunity 11 (aging, life support) - 11 points
Entropic Powers: Array (48 points)
  • Boundary: Healing 16, Others Only, Selective Burst Area - 48 points
  • Cascade: Affliction 16 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Fortitude; Vision Impaired, Vision Disabled, Vision Unaware), Selective Burst Area, Limited to One Sense - 1 point
  • Exergy: Damage 12, Alternate Resistance (Fortitude), Selective Burst Area - 1 point
  • Mitigation: Healing 12, Self Only, Reaction (when damaged) - 1 point
  • Momentum: Move Object 12, Selective Burst Area 2, Limited to Moving Away - 1 point
  • Reaction: Affliction 16 (Resisted by Fortitude; Impaired, Disabled), Limited Degree, Selective Burst Area - 1 point
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Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Urilia
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Image by Brezeburg.

In so far as is known, no human being has ever visited the anomalous structure dubbed Urilia. The published account of a sailing ship visiting it in 1925 is complete fiction, unlike other segments of that short story. After it became apparent that there was something at 47° 9′ 0″ S, 126° 43′ 0″ W, Argus arranged to set up a series of buoys at ten, five and two knot distances around it, both to alert anyone approaching that point and to alert themselves when anything came out of it. The latter is believed to have contributed to the prevention of global catastrophe, repeatedly.

Urilia is not an island. The region of the sea and sea floor where it appears have both been studied carefully by the Morrison Institute -- only when it is absent -- and it has been confirmed that this is not a case where something rises from the bottom of the ocean. The current model is that it is, much like Dread Island, located in a subspace fold that only occasionally intersects with local space time, but that unlike Dread Island, it is a floating body on which great towers rest. (The tallest of these structures exceeds 300 meters in height.) When it materializes, it does so roughly half a kilometer beneath the surface, but rises very quickly, suggesting either that the central structure possesses considerable buoyancy, or that known physical laws have no relevance here.

Should someone be both suicidally foolish and cosmically fortunate enough to try and explore Urilia while somehow avoiding its most famous resident -- possibly while that entity is elsewhere -- they will find the caverns beneath its surface to be largely empty, or containing what would appear to be wreckage. Unlit by any illumination, those hoping to find information about the beings who created this place will be disappointed; there are no convenient mosaics that outline their history, no carved inscriptions that will reveal secrets of the universe.

Within the lowest chamber, the beings who were known as the Xothi can be found. Physically, they are similar to the self-image that Kthulu has been projecting out into the collective unconsciousness for longer than the entire duration of humanity's existence, if a bit smaller. Their current state could be described as fossilized, but it seems to function as a state of suspended animation rather than actual death; telepathy will confirm that they are dreaming. Waking them would require a very involved process, and would be a bad idea to end all bad ideas and probably all good and indifferent ideas as well.

The Xothi are utterly hostile to any life, especially any life with pretensions towards intelligence, that is not themselves. The notion of anything trying to communicate with them will briefly surprise them before they attempt to destroy the source of that communication and anything that reminds them of it. Fortunately, the Xothi are not likely to awaken in the current geological epoch. They expended a great deal of energy the last time they were active, around 65 million years ago, and will probably not awaken of their own volition for at least another 100 million years, and possibly longer.

Despite what you are probably expecting at this point, the Xothi's hibernation is not caused by the presence of one of the Cosmic Gems of interstellar legend. It is a purely natural phenomenon. The sleep from which they awoke on that earlier occasion, on the other hand, was the result of a process developed by members of the Rpdwactk species (sometimes known as the Elder Things or Old Ones) roughly 300 million years ago. The power source of that process was a fragment of the Time Gem, hidden within the Xothi's sleep chamber. When it was removed from this place by entities unknown, the Xothi awoke and destroyed most of what remained of the Rpdwactk colonies on Earth before returning to their sleep.

Removing that fragment -- necessary to reconstruct the Time Gem -- will cause that reawakening. However, removing it before the correct moment will cause a time paradox that will both destroy the individual who does it and possibly alter the course of Terrestrial history in ways that are impossible to predict. There are ways around that former difficulty, but it is still probably the most difficult task awaiting one who would gather all five of the Cosmic Gems.

Xothi -- PL 13
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Abilities:
STR
13 | STA 14 | AGL 4 | DEX 4 | FGT 7 | INT 5 | AWE 12 | PRE 4

Powers:
Aquatic: Immunity 14 (cold effects, drowning, heat, high pressure, poison); Movement 1 (environmental adaptation [water]); Swimming 6 (250 MPH; includes +1 for Growth) - 19 points
Claws: Strength-based Damage 2, Improved Critical - 3 points
Huge Size: Permanent Growth 8 (+8 Strength, +8 Stamina, -4 Parry, -4 Dodge, +4 Intimidation, +1 Speed); Protection 2, Impervious 8 - 34 points
Overwhelming Mind: Mental Communication 2, Limited to other Xothi; Perception Range Affliction 12 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated), Subtle - 43 points
Senses: Senses 3 (darkvision, mystical awareness) - 3 points
Shielded Mind: Impervious Will 12, Limited to Mental Effects - 6 points
Tentacles: Elongation 3, Limited to Extra Limbs; Extra Limbs 4 - 6 points

Advantages:
Chokehold, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Move-by Action, Power Attack.

Skills:
Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+11), Expertise: Galactic 9 (+13), Expertise: Magic 9 (+13), Insight 2 (+14), Intimidation 4 (+12), Perception 2 (+14)

Offense:
Initiative +4
Claws +11 (Close Damage 15, Crit 19-20, Reach 2)
Tentacles +11 (Close Damage 13, Reach 5)

Defense:
Dodge 9, Parry 11, Fortitude 14, Toughness 14, Will 12

Totals:
Abilities 100 + Powers 114 + Advantages 4 + Skills 15 + Defenses 17 = 250 points

Complications:
Destruction--Motivation. Utter Contempt for All Non-Xothi.


The Time Gem
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Actual size, when fully assembled

At some point in its history -- possibly in the far future -- The Time Gem was or will be shattered into five different fragments, which each possess some of the original's power. Only by bringing them into the same temporal region inside a gravity well similar to Earth's will cause them to reform as the original.

* One of the fragments is incorporated into the mechanisms that create the Pillars of Eternity. Removing it will change that instrumentality so that those who pass through it can be destroyed by time paradox, where they are normally protected from it. However, this destruction, like anything else that critically damages the time projections that the Pillars create, will still just cause their originals to return to their point of origin. (This fragment grants the Time Manipulation Basics power described below.)

* One of the fragments can be found on the home world of the Destrons, powering their time and space displacement method. Removing it will prevent them from continuing their invasions, for good and ill. (This fragment grants the Temporal Banishment power described below.)

* One of the fragments is incorporated into the mechanisms of Lord Carnifex's powered armor. Removing it will force him to find another power source for the armor, but not otherwise inconvenience him meaningfully. His own time control abilities have another origin. (This fragment grants the Accelerate Aging power described below.)

* One of the fragments can be found in a rural village in the northern hemisphere of the planet Chirab, where it has caused a period of 12 days to repeat in a neverending cycle for the last twelve hundred years. Individuals entrapped within this effect periodically awaken to the reality of their condition, but rarely more than one at time; this awareness invariably fades after a thousand repetitions or so. Removing the fragment will kill every one of the more than two hundred persons entrapped within the effect as the delayed aging catches up with them at once. (This fragment grants the Temporal Distortion Field power described below.)

* One of the fragments was hidden within Urilia, three hundred million years ago. (This fragment grants the Temporal Stasis power described below.)

Time Gem: Removable (-27 points)
Timeless: Immunity 6 (aging, temporal effects) - 6 points
Time Manipulation Basics: Enhanced Advantage 5 (Improved Initiative 4, Seize Initiative); Enhanced Defenses 20 (Dodge 10, Parry 10); Flight 8 (500 MPH); Movement 6 (space travel 3, time travel 3); Quickness 8 - 61 points
Time Manipulation Mastery: Array (55 points)
  • Accelerate Aging: Ranged Cumulative Affliction 18 (Resisted by Fortitude; Fatigued, Exhausted, Transformed [elderly and feeble]), Reversible - 55 points
  • Temporal Banishment: Ranged Movement 3 Attack (Time Travel 3), Resisted by Dodge, Accurate 2, Extra Ranks 9 (DC 24), Precise, Reversible - 1 point
  • Temporal Stasis: Ranged Affliction 18 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Will; Hindered and Vulnerable, Defenseless and Immobile, Paralyzed and Unaware), Extra Condition, Reversible - 1 point
  • Time Distortion Field: Burst Area Affliction 15 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Will; Hindered and Vulnerable, Defenseless and Immobile, Paralyzed and Unaware), Extra Condition, Reversible - 1 point
Time Shield: Sustained Impervious Protection 7 - 14 points
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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Davies
Posts: 5080
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:37 pm
Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Chantress
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The second time Dana Griffith's life changed forever, she was just a few weeks past her twenty-third birthday and expecting that her current night would be pretty much a repeat of every other night for the last week. She'd do her show to a sold-out crowd, singing and dancing up a storm, and using her superpowers to enhance the performance. Sure, the tour's security chief had warned her that Missoula had been having a lot of problems with Saturn recently, but those jerks had bigger fish to fry than her, surely? Unfortunately, it seemed that they didn't, and now a bunch of heavily armed thugs were coming up out of the audience for her!

None of this had been what she wanted for her life. The first time her life changed forever was when she was fifteen and her cute talent of perfect pitch, refined through constant vocal practice, turned into something much more notable: a song that could shatter stone. Her parents immediately agreed to pack her off to Wales so that she could be a student at the Academy, where she learned to control sound in many different ways, whether drawing the vibrations into herself to strengthen the force field she could create, or making people faint from the sounds that she made.

But while she tagged along with the other kids while they were 'studying Practical Heroics', Dana's heart was never really in it. Fighting scared her, and while she could protect herself with her force field, it seemed really week by comparison to the defenses everyone else seemed to have. More often than not, she ended up the hostage who had to be rescued, which further soured her on all of this. Dana didn't want to be a hero, she wanted to be an entertainer. And so, once she graduated in 2017, she followed the example that fellow alumnus Warp Witch had blazed, two years earlier, using the stage name 'Chantress'.

Things went pretty well. From time to time, she'd help out in crisis situations and help to save lives, but avoided actual superpower combat. The closest she got to it was when she was one of a number of entertainers whom Jodie Crowley kidnapped to try and siphon their 'magnetic energies' or something like that, and she would up helping Blakestone drive the crazy old wizard off. In the aftermath, Blakestone noted that said crazy old wizard had not been completely wrong about the sort of energies that Chantress possessed; Dana might be able to learn to use magic. That wasn't anything that she was interested in doing, though, so she just filed it away.

And now here she was, watching a bunch of terrorists make short work of her security team, and knowing that she was next. She wasn't a fighter, she wasn't a magician, she was just a singer. So if this was how she was going to go out, she was going to go out singing. The tune she picked to sing, using her powers to create the accompaniment, was one she'd first heard as a child; it had been one of her mother's favorites. And as she started the second verse, she began to feel something building.

Somewhere after midnight, in my wildest fantasy
Somewhere just beyond my reach, there's someone reaching back for me
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat --


Just before she delivered the verse's last line, she heard a voice not her own, saying unfamiliar words: "Somewhere, in the middle of our darkest night, we made up the story of a man who will never let us down." And, with a sensation of a vast series of wheels turning in her mind to somehow achieve a one-in-a-billion combination, Chantress all but shrieked the last words.

It's gonna take a Superman to sweep me off my feet!

And. There. He. Was.

The man who thinks of himself as Clark Bradley wasn't sure what was going on. He remembered strolling off after one more adventure, and now he was suddenly standing on stage watching a bunch of palookas with guns trying to scare people. Well, no matter what was happening, he always knew what to do about that, and jumped in to start educating this miscreants in the error of their ways. Fortunately, they didn't need a lot of educating. Afterwards, when the police showed up -- or at least he guessed that these were the boys in blue, though they weren't wearing that anymore -- he finally got to ask the lady who'd been watching all this from the stage what the sam hill was going on.

"I needed a hero," she told him. "And you came."

"Well, all right then," he said, accepting this as an explanation right before he went back.

And so, despite everything, Chantress has found herself becoming a hero herself. Who had been helped must help others, or it was all meaningless, right? She still doesn't like fighting, and prefers to support her 'Superman' from behind. But she's found herself getting just a little bit braver. If she's to believe everything that Blakestone has told her, when she asked for her advice last week, 'Clark' is a part of her mind given form. So maybe there's something inside of her that's every bit as fearless as he seems to be.

Chantress -- PL 9

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

Powers:
"I Need a Hero!": Heroic Summon 9, Activation (Move Action) - 26 points
Sonic Absorption: Enhanced Sustained Protection 3, Fades, Limited rank of absorbed sonic effect; Immunity 10 (sonic effects) - 11 points
Sonic Control: Array (27 points)
  • Deafening Shriek: Ranged Cumulative Affliction 13 (Resisted by Fortitude; Hearing Impaired, Hearing Disabled, Hearing Unaware), Limited to One Sense - 1 point
  • Hypnotic Song: Cumulative Hearing Area Affliction 9 (Resisted by Will; Entranced, Compelled, Controlled), Concentration Duration, Instant Recovery - 27 points
  • Sonic Blast: Ranged Damage 13 - 1 point
  • Sonic Projection: Illusion 9 (hearing), Area 9 (15000 cft) - 1 point
  • Vertigo: Burst Area Progressive Affliction 9 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated), Hearing Dependent - 1 point
Sees Sound: Senses 2 (analytical tracking hearing) - 2 point
Sonic Shield: Sustained Protection 5 - 5 points

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Attractive, Benefit 2 (independently wealthy), Defensive Attack, Evasion, Fascinate (Performance), Grabbing Finesse, Improved Trip, Inspire 2, Languages (Spanish), Redirect, Taunt.

Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11), Athletics 5 (+6), Close Combat Unarmed 3 (+6), Deception 4 (+9), Expertise: Magic 1 (+6), Expertise: Performance 8 (+13), Insight 7 (+10), Perception 9 (+12), Persuasion 5 (+10), Ranged Combat: Sonic Powers 2 (+5)

Offense:
Initiative +5
Unarmed +6 (Close Damage 1)
Sonic Blast +5 (Ranged Damage 13)
Deafening Shriek +5 (Ranged Fortitude 13)
Hypnotic Song -- (Hearing Area Will 9)
Verigo -- (Burst Area Will 9)

Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 6, Fortitude 3, Toughness 10/7/2, Will 8.

Totals:
Abilities 48 + Powers 75 + Advantages 14 + Skills 25 + Defenses 12 = 174 points

Offensive PL: 9
Defensive PL: 9
Resistance PL: 6
Skill PL: 8

Complications:
Developing Sense of Responsibility--Motivation. Fame. Public Identity. Weakness (becomes Fatigued without regular exposure to loud noises or music.)

"Superman" -- PL 9
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Abilities:
STR
5 | STA 8 | AGL 3 | DEX 3 | FGT 8 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 3

Powers:
Fast Recovery: Regeneration 10 - 10 points
Keen Senses: Senses 3 (extended hearing, extended low-light vision) - 3 points
Just Plain Fast: Speed 3 (15 MPH); Leaping 4 (120 feet) - 7 points

Advantages:
All-out Attack, Attractive, Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Fearless 2, Improved Initiative, Improved Smash, Improvised Weapon, Interpose, Leadership, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Takedown.

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+9), Close Combat: Unarmed 3 (+11), Deception 6 (+9), Expertise: Streetwise Hercules 6 (+7), Intimidation 8 (+11), Investigation 6 (+7), Perception 8 (+10), Ranged Combat: Throwing 5 (+8).

Offense:
Initiative +7
Unarmed +11 (Close Damage 5)

Defense:
Dodge 8, Parry 10, Fortitude 8, Toughness 8, Will 8.

Totals:
Abilities 66 + Powers 20 + Advantages 15 + Skills 23 + Defenses 13 = 135 points

Offensive PL: 8
Defensive PL: 9
Resistance PL: 8
Skill PL: 6

Complications:
Justice--Motivation. Accident (sartorial damage.) No Legal Status. Vulnerable (magic.) Wisecracks.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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Davies
Posts: 5080
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:37 pm
Location: Edmonton, AB

Re: A World Less Magical But No Less Fantastic

Post by Davies »

Kamāngīr
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According to legend, in Iran's heroic age, the heroic Iranian general Manuchehr reached an agreement with his Turanian opponent, Afrasiab, under which such territory as fell within the range of a bowshot would be returned to the Iranians, with all their other former territories being surrendered to their foes. Guided by divine inspiration, however, Manuchehr had a special bow and a golden arrow crafted, and bade his greatest archer, Arash, to fire the shot that would determine their fate. Most versions of the myth claim that Arash destroyed himself firing that bow, but that the shot travelled a thousand leagues or more. This tale of Āraš-e Kamāngīr, Arash the Archer, has remained a popular one in Iran right up until the present.

Ironically, the current heir to that particular legend never really intended to be known as an archer. When Nader Tabasi trained with the military and later with SAVAM -- the successor to the notorious SAVAK, installed by the current Shah after his succession to the throne in 1986 -- he was taught to use rifles and pistols in conjunction with the superpowers of coordination and clairvoyance that he'd developed. Tabasi first used a bow almost by accident; his gun having jammed, he seized a museum piece to shoot one of the terrorists who seized the National Museum during an incident in 2006 that was never adequately explained to him.

While commended for his role in that episode, his superiors and colleagues largely viewed Tabasi as a liability. They perceived him, accurately or not, as unacceptably soft, preferring to go for incapacitating shots rather than kills. His political opinions were also considered suspect, though here it would be more accurate to say that he was overly apolitical; while outwardly loyal to the Shah, Tabasi nursed what he believed to be private concerns about the direction of the Shah's government. Ultimately, this led to an attempt to eliminate him during a mission undercover in Turkey in 2011.

Tabasi survived but managed to keep that a secret, and was left uncertain about his next actions. He still wanted to protect the Iranian people from those who would harm them, whether those foes were external or internal. But if he used his black market connections to supply himself with firearms, he'd be strengthening those very same forces, or at least further contributing to the corruption of the state. But if he used a bow and arrows, civilian weapons, things could be very different. So it was that, a year after Nader Tabasi 'died', an individual using the name Arash Azari found employment with one of Teheran's leading newspapers, and a bowman, dubbed Kamāngīr by the press, began fighting a quiet war on crime in the city's nights.

Kamāngīr cannot match the legendary shot of Arash, but has been able to use his clairvoyance to fire an arching shot that struck a target hundreds of miles away. He also enjoys a very limited precognitive talent that lets him see a few seconds into the future, allowing him to dodge bullets and explosions. Aside from such considerations, Nader Tabasi is a highly trained commando with a keen eye for detail, and has learned the skills of criminal investigation though hard practice. He still prefers to avoid killing when possible, but has no illusions that he will always be able to do so, and those who deal out death to the innocent can expect to receive it in kind. He does not consider himself innocent.

During his few missions that have taken him out of his homeland, Kamāngīr found himself working rather well with Egypt's Medjay, and has considerable respect for her talents and determination. He also briefly crossed paths with the Ghost Hunter, but hasn't really formed an opinion about him. Aside from these, he has not had any contacts with other superheroes, though he was familiar with Mossad's team of psychic operatives from his time with SAVAM, and he is similarly all but unknown outside of Iran. At least, for now.

Kamāngīr -- PL 9

Abilities:
STR
3 | STA 3 | AGL 6 | DEX 6 | FGT 6 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 1

Powers:
Bow and Arrows: Array (10 points); Removable (-4 points)
  • Long Shot: Perception Range Damage 5, Tiring - 1 point
  • Rapid Fire: Ranged Multiattack Damage 3 - 1 point
  • Standard Shot: Ranged Damage 5 - 10 points
Clairvoyance: Enhanced Advantages 3 (Evasion 2, Improved Initiative); Enhanced Defenses 8 (Dodge 4, Parry 4); Remote Sensing 8 (250 miles; hearing, visual); Senses 1 (danger sense) - 36 points

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Assessment, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Evasion 2, Extraordinary Effort, Fearless, Improved Aim, Improved Critical 4 (bow), Improved Initiative 2, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 4, Skill Mastery (Perception), Takedown, Teamwork, Ultimate Effort (Aim).

Skills:
Acrobatics 5 (+11), Athletics 8 (+11), Close Combat: Unarmed 6 (+12), Deception 10 (+11), Expertise: Military 8 (+9), Expertise: Streetwise 8 (+9), Insight 8 (+10), Investigation 8 (+9), Perception 10 (+12), Ranged Combat: Bow 3 (+9), Stealth 6 (+12).

Offense:
Initiative +14
Unarmed +12 (Close Damage 3)
Rapid Fire +13 (Ranged Multiattack Damage 3)
Standard Shot +13 (Ranged Damage 5, Crit 16-20)
Long Shot -- (Perception Range Damage 5)

Defense:
Dodge 13/9, Parry 12/8, Fortitude 6, Toughness 5/2, Will 8

Totals:
Abilities 56 + Powers 42 + Advantages 21 + Skills 38 + Defense 14 = 173 points

Offensive PL: 9
Defensive PL: 9
Resistance PL: 7
Skill PL: 7

Complications:
Justice--Motivation. Hunted by the Authorities. Secret Identity.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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