souffle_girl

"I guess it would have been too much luck. Back to the original plan then, we head to Waterfront and look for the other side of the teleport spell?" When Mikala asked to leave, Emily politely nodded at the Miyamotos. "Don't worry, we'll find Haruko and bring her back safe," she said. She didn't know if they'd make it, but she figured that was what Haruko's parents needed to hear right now. Once outside, Emily glanced at her armor to check it was still there. Not that she really expected anyone to be so dumb to steal the only existing prototype of a ten feet tall combat armor with its owner's name clearly written on the chest. Even assuming they'd find out how to operate it. Still, she wouldn't want to see her baby scratched with a key by some vandal. She listened carefully at the AEGIS agent before speaking. "So, do we want to split up or we're heading straight for Waterfront? If we split, it will have to be in pairs so that each of us can cover the other's back."

"Sons of a... I'm on it," Angie replied, teleporting away from the flying pan. Seriously, all of this was getting weirder and weirder. Vegetable armor, a Pumpkar and now banana rifles? "Oliver, do you think the Fae have an hand in this? It looks like your style..." she asked her guardian spirit. Or was it the other way around, considering how childish he was? She kept following the odd car, teleporting in a random pattern to avoid the fruit bullets the goons were firing her way, and she considered the idea of teleporting ahead of the vehicle to try and stop it once and for all. No, she thought, too many people around. If they lose control they could hurt somebody.

[OOC: we really need an OOC thread for this game. Opposed INT check to see who wins?] "Internal hyperdrive and no sleep?" asked Emily, raising an eyebrow. Then she caught herself before saying anymore. Was this woman a robot or what? "Well, I don't have a chessboard either, but my laptop has chess on it. Just let me grab it. I guess I have to warn you, though; I have super intellect and I used to be good at this back in high school..." She came back moments later and rested the computer in her lap, turning it on. "By the way, what's up with the woman we picked up along the way? Is she even human? And I must assume she doesn't speak English, which might be a thorn in the side of team coordination."

"Emily," she replied, "Chess would be wonderful. I'm surprised you know how to play, didn't you spend just a few weeks on Earth?" Emily looked at the ship's hull nervously. "You know, I've never been to space before. Only a handful of people from my planet did, in fact. At least now. If what you said is true, then we had to be able of travelling between planets in the past. It's scary to think all that separates me from certain death is a this wall."

Once again, Emily checked the condition of her armor in the storage area. The arms, legs and weapons had been dismantled and laid neatly on one side of the room, along with a crate of fuel and ammo for it. She was currently busy cleaning the firing chamber of her Force Cannon. The thing required an unholy amount of maintenance, and she was thankful HAL was there with her to help out. Working on her armor kept her mind from spinning. She had barely learned that man wasn't alone in the universe - even if she'd never guessed aliens were actually fellow humans spread throughout the galaxy - when her colleague Corona asked her to join her and Memorial on a patrol mission hunting for pirates. Apparently, a people known as the Communion had sprung a surprise attack against the main galactic civilizations and Corona's people, the Lor, were in full retreat exposing their territory's flank to raiders of every kind. Assuming the Lor command knew what they were doing, whatever was going on on the frontline must have been really tough to call for such desperate measures. From what little she'd understood, civilian casualties had been high. Things looked bad, and she was frankly happy she wasn't in Corona's shoes. No wonder she looked so angry and worried. She wondered if she had friends, or family, among the dead and missing. She finished putting the weapon together and walked back to the passenger quarters, finding Memorial lost in her thoughts. Something about this war was worrying her. "Hi. Can I join you?" she asked her, "it just dawned on me I don't even know your name. The real one, I mean."

1d20+8=9 natural 1

The argument didn't seem like it was going to die down, as much as just being dropped. Judging by how touchy corona seems to be about the subject, Emily guessed it must be something that started a lot of time ago. "OK, I didn't mean to spark such a debate, I was just speculating. I'm not sure a stinking tunnel is the right place to discuss ancient history or anthropology anyway. So, the two of you come from different places, and even curtures it seems. Where are your homes? And what brings you to this merry ball of mud?"

Uhm... I guess you're right. Mechanized will just follow Corona and Memorial, especially now that they told her they're not from Earth Character: Mechanized What she's doing: Following Corona and Memorial

Mechanized walked closer to the hole. "Whoa, this really stinks. I'll go first again, cover my back," Emily said, and dropped into the hole. She activated a flashlight on her armor and looked around, trying to take her surroundings in. "You sure you two aren't pulling my leg? If there's more planets inhabited by humans out there, why don't we know about it? Why keeping it a secret? Also, there's plenty of evidence about human evolution on Earth. Either that's all bogus, Corona, or Memorial is right. Which prompts the question of how and when your ancestors left Earth in the first place."

Character Name: Nano Angel What She's Doing: Being examined by Lor scientists while under Star Knights escort. She's strange and well... alien even for Lor standards, and they're trying to determine if she's a threat.

The bizarre conversation between the two women didn't go unnoticed. Mechanized stared at one, then at the other, and barely managed to keep her jaw from dropping. She'd heard of beings from other planets, or even other dimensions, being on Earth, but she always assumed them to be urban legends. After all, supers of various origin were so different from one another that they could look like anything. Heck, she looked like a character straight out of a Salvatore novel! Also, judging from Memorial's words, she might think of Earth as "the seedworld for our species," something on which Corona disagreed. She wondered what that meant. "Wait, wait... Are you actually talking about Earth as if you were from somewhere else? Does that mean you're aliens or something? Is this the part where you tell me you're from somewhere near Betelgeuse and to grab my towel?" She'd already said that when she realized that, if they really were aliens, they wouldn't catch the reference. Or did people on their homeworlds pick up Earth communications?

Yes, silly me

Mechanized just heard her two companions talk about possibly being aliens. Sense Motive check to see if she believes it or not? 1d20+8=20

Gears turned in Emily's head as her theory gained more and more evidence. She cleared her throat and turned to look at her fellow heroes. "If you let me, I'd like to point out another possible explanation for what happened here. Terrifica, you mentioned that whoever used magic upstairs has much power and little refinement. Based on what we learned here, nobody actually witnessed the kidnapping. What if there was no kidnapping at all? Think about it: a young woman comes into her powers, it would be only natural for her to try them out. I did, when my mutation hit; except my powers made me good at Sudoku. What if Haruko was experimenting with her powers and she accidentally teleported herself? That would explain the apparently sloppy execution of the magic."

Interview 1. Where is your hero from? Denver, Colorado 2. How would your hero physically describe him/herself? Is this different from how others would? She'd call herself a freak. She's a bit harsh in her judgement though, as she is good looking in a strangely alien way. 3. Does your hero have distinguishing speech characteristics or recurring mannerisms? She often speaks nervously and quickly, and she can't keep her hands idle. 4. What is your hero's motivation? Survival is her first motivation, she needs to heal from the terrible scars of her recent past and learn to accept her new powers. Also, she wants to fight back at those that enslaved her. 5. What are your hero's greatest strengths and weaknesses? Diane can regenerate to the point of being virtually immortal. In truth, she already came back from the dead once. She's also extremely resistant to damage. However, EMP attacks can scramble her nanites and she can be hacked. 6. What does your hero love? What does your hero hate? Diane loves studying and playing bass guitar. She hates sports. 7. How would you describe your character's mental and emotional state? Diane is deeply scarred, and suffers from a number of psychiatric conditions including Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and bouts of anxiety, leftovers from her time as a lab rat and the trauma of going brain dead and being "repaired" back. She always needs thing to be tidy, especially when she gets nervous, and high stress situations can cause her to panic. 8. What does your hero fear the most? To be hacked. It happened once already, and when that happens she's an idle passenger inside her body. 9. What is your character's greatest ambition? She used to dream about contributing to the progress of mankind with some great invention. On some level, she still does. 10. How does your hero feel about the state of the world and his/her place in it? Diane's world was turned upside down, and now she doesn't think she has a place in it anymore. Also, she's not so sure as she used to be that mankind in inherently good. 11. Does your hero have any prejudices? How does he/she get along with others? She doesn't have particular prejudices, but she's often on the defense with people she doesn't know. 12. Where do your heroes loyalties lie? In what order? Diane's first loyalty is to mankind in general, and those she cares for second. 13. Does your hero have a lover or partner? How do they feel about the hero now? Diane is single. 14. Does your hero have a family? What is the relationship there like? Diane used to have a normal relationship with her family. Now she can't meet them anymore for fear tht her enemies will target them, and she misses them immensely. 15. How would the people closest to your hero describe him or her? As a strong woman, but also broken and afraid now. 16. Is your hero a role model? She doesn't know it, but for Natalie, she is. 17. How spiritual is your hero? Does your hero follow a religious tradition? Her parents are Catholic, and she is too. She's not very devoted, though. 18. Is your hero part of a team, or would he/she like to be? Why? Diane always worked well with other people. Now, she's a bit too scared to trust people again, but she's going to grow out of this. 19. How does your hero feel about the place of metahumans and aliens on Earth? She doesn't have a strong opinion on that, but she feels that those with more powers and abilities should also step up and use them for good. With great powers come great responsibilities and all that. 20. If you could give one piece of advice to your hero, what would it be? Have faith - even the worst injuries heal in time.

These two were the main villains of a M&M adventure I came up with, but I never played. I based the crunch on Ecalsneerg's archetypes of the Energy Controller and Gadgeteer, slightly modified. The second villainess is called Splice, the name in the thread title is a spelling mistake... Character Name: Red Venus Power Level: 10 Trade-Offs: -2 Attack / +2 Damage, -2 Defense / +2 Toughness In Brief: Mad villainess who thinks the male sex is evil incarnate. Has fire control powers. Residence: Unknown Base of Operations: Unknown Alternate Identity: Vera Erwin Identity: Public Birthplace: Los Angeles Affiliations: Diana "Splice" Broebuck Description: Age: 34 Gender: Female Ethnicity: Caucasian Height: 173 cm Weight: 58 Kg Eyes: Blue Hair: Red Red Venus is a slender woman in her thirties, with pale skin and high cheekbones. In combat she dresses in a skintight red catsuit and unmasked, with her long straight red hair tied in a high ponytail. Power Descriptions: Red Venus can summon flames from her body, throwing them around in fireballs. She can also fly, and summon a cloud of smoke around her. History: Red Venus was born as Vera Erwin in 1980 in Los Angeles, and her life was quite normal until she manifested as a mutant in 1994, displaying the ability to manipulate fire. Ms. Erwin always showed a great distaste for men, but she didn't start committing criminal acts against them until early 2010. Since then, her behavior became increasingly violent and anti-social, until she attacked and murdered a Mr. Frank Tabbart in August 2010, accusing him of having been abusive towards a woman in public. She associated with Diana "Splice" Broebuck in December 2010, when the two kidnapped Splice's father, and murdered him in a gruesome fashion. The pair's base was assaulted in 2011 by a superhero team. The squad found out the two had been capturing men and experimenting on them, in an attempt to create a biological weapon that could target males only. After her apprehension, Red Venus was determined to suffer from a severe case of schyzophrenia brought on by her mutation, and sent to a dedicated psychiatric hospital for treatment. In particular, by this time, she was firmly under the delusion that all men were evil and the male sex was to be eradicated from mankind. After a number of months of fruitless treatment, in the light of repeated attepts at attacking male staff and a steady progression of her disease, she was transferred to a stasis containment facility in the Arizona desert. Two months ago, the facility was attacked by Splice and at least another mutant, freeing Red Venus and killing most of the detention facility staff. Now the two of them are out in the open again, and they're bound to be up to no good. Personality & Motivation: Before taking on the identity of the Red Venus, Vera Erwin already had a negative view of men. Over time, though, her mental illness took a larger and larger grip on her mind. Today, she's a deranged and unstable person, affected by the delusional idea that each and every man in the world is evil and a threat to women. At best, he needs to be enslaved, and at worst eliminated. Red Venus is deeply and morbidly in love with Splice, and will do anything to protect her. Powers & Tactics: Red Venus is a terrorist through and through. She usually targets people or organizations that she perceives as dangerous to women, and attacks them without mercy and in a very spectacular fashion, usually through her fire control abilities. She also resorts to more conventional terror weapons including conventional bombs, sniping and biological and chemical warfare. When confronted in a direct fight, she usually uses her fire manipulation powers to hit her enemies with all her power. Should she need to retreat, she can summon a cloud of smoke to cover her retreat. Abilities: 0 + 0 + 4 + 0 + 0 + 6 = 10PP Strength 10 (+0) Dexterity 10 (+0) Constitution 14 (+2) Intelligence 10 (+0) Wisdom 10 (+0) Charisma 16 (+3) Combat: 8 + 8 = 16PP Initiative: +4 Attack: +4, +8 energy attacks Grapple: +4 Defense: +8 (+4 Base, +4 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed Knockback: -1, -11 w/ Force Field Saving Throws: 6 + 8 + 7 = 21PP Toughness: +2/+12 (+2 Con, +10 Force Field [impervious 10]) Fortitude: +8 (+2 Con, +6) Reflex: +8 (+0 Dex, +8) Will: +7 (+0 Wis, +7) Skills: 40R = 10PP Concentration 10 (+10) Intimidate 12 (+15) Knowledge (Tactics) 8 (+8) Notice 10 (+10) Feats: 6PP Dodge Focus 4 Improved Initiative Taunt Powers: 41 + 12 + 20 + 10 + 4 = 87PP Fire Control Array 18 (36pp array; Power Feats: 3 Alternate Powers, Accurate 2) [41PP] Base Power: Blast 12 (fire darts, Extras: Autofire; Fire, Heat, Mutant) [36PP] Alternate Power: Blast 12 (fireball, Extras: Area - Burst; Fire, Heat, Mutant) [36PP] Alternate Power: Obscure 9 (smoke field, Extras: Duration, Independent; Fire, Mutant) [36PP] Alternate Power: Strike 9 (fire shell, Extras: Aura, Duration 2 - Sustained, Fire, Heat, Mutant) [36PP] Flight 6 (500 MPH) (Mutant) [12PP] Force Field 10 (fire shell, Extras: Impervious; Fire, Heat, Mutant) [20PP] Immunity 10 (all fire effects) [10PP] Super-Senses 4 (energy awareness [mental, Acute, extended, ranged]) DC Block: ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC 15 Toughness (Staged) Damage Aura Touch DC 24 Toughness (Staged) Damage Fire Darts Ranged DC 27 Toughness (Autofire, Staged) Damage Fireball Ranged DC 22/27 Reflex (Area)/Toughness (Staged) Damage Abilities (10) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (21) + Skills (10) + Feats (06) + Powers (87) - Drawbacks (00) = 150 Power Points ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Character Name: Splice Power Level: 10 Trade-Offs: -2 Attack / +2 Damage, -2 Defense / +2 Toughness In Brief: Mad scientist bent on enslaving or eradicating the male sex Residence: Unknown Base of Operations: Unknown Alternate Identity: Diana Broebuck Identity: Public Birthplace: Flagstaff Affiliations: Vera "Red Venus" Erwin Description: Age: 25 Gender: Female Ethnicity: Caucasian Height: 167 cm Weight: 56 Kg Eyes: Brown Hair: Chestnut Splice is a young, unremarkably looking young woman with sharp brown eyes and short brown hair. In combat she wears a lightweight jumpsuit and a ton of odd looking gadgets. Power Descriptions: Splice is a genius inventor with vast knowledge in both technical and biological subjects. She built and uses a large array of devices, and can create new ones as needed. History: Diana Broebuck was born in 1989 in Flagstaff, but her family moved to Freedom when she was a little girl. Once in her teens, she manifested mutant powers under the form of an improved intellect and memory, and enrolled in Claremont High, where she graduated in 2008 with flying colors. Alas, Claremont alumni can fall to evil too. A couple of years after graduating from high school, Diana met Red Venus and quickly fell for the charismatic older woman, becoming her lover and her most devoted follower. Not much is known about her since then. People who met her before the Red Venus's capture described the two as having a very close, almost morbid romance, and Splice having apparently been completely captured by her partner's charisma. When their base was stormed in 2011, Splice evaded capture and disappeared, likely having found a way out of the country. Two months ago, Splice appeared again when she stormed the containment facility in Arizona where the Red Venus was confined, setting her free. Eight of the ten guards on duty at the time were killed mercilessly, while the other two - the only women - where spared. The exact way Splice managed to access the facility in the first place, and to neutralize the automated defenses, is still unknown but is likely a result of one or more of her devices. Personality & Motivation: Splice is utterly devoted to Red Venus's cause, although the reasons behind her loyalty are unclear. Dedicated to the extreme, Splice is the more stable counterpart to her more passionate lover. Powers & Tactics: Splice is the brain to Red Venus's heart. She's thought to be the responsible for the development of most of the tools and weapons the pair has been using, and government analysts fear it could be well within her capabilities to build a weapon of mass destruction, should she have access to the proper materials. When in battle, she makes use of every single trick and device to get an advantage, and teams up with her partner in shooting from afar. However, differently from Red Venus, she's known to resort to stealth and subtlety in her terror attacks. Abilities: 0 + 0 + 4 + 2 + 4 + 0 = 10PP Strength 10 (+0) Dexterity 10 (+0) Constitution 14 (+0) Intelligence 12 (+1) / 26 (+8) Wisdom 14 (+0) Charisma 10 (+0) Combat: 12 + 12 = 24PP Initiative: +7 Attack: +6, +8 ranged with Goggles Grapple: +6 Defense: +8 (+6 Base, +2 Dodge Focus), +3 Flat-Footed Knockback: -1/-11 with Force Field Saving Throws: 5 + 7 + 9 = 21PP Toughness: +2/+12 (+2 Con, +10 Force Field [impervious 10]) Fortitude: +7 (+2 Con, +5) Reflex: +7 (+0 Dex, +7) Will: +11 (+2 Wis, +9) Skills: 92R = 23PP Computers 12 (+20, Skill Mastery) Craft [Electronic] 12 (+20, Skill Mastery) Craft [Mechanical] 12 (+20) Disable Device 12 (+20, Skill Mastery) Knowledge [Technology] 12 (+20, Skill Mastery) Medicine 12 (+20) Notice 8 (+10) Search 4 (+11) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Feats: 7PP Equipment 2 Dodge Focus 2 Inventor Master Plan Skill Mastery (Computers, Craft [Electronic] Disable Device, Knowledge [Technology]) Powers: 15 + 16 + 8 + 8 + 18 = 65PP Device 5 (sonic gun, Easy to Lose, 25pp of traits) [15PP] (technological) Device 4 (force field belt, Hard to Lose, 20pp of traits) [16PP] (technological) Device 2 (rocket boots, Hard to Lose, 10pp of traits) [8PP] (technological) Device 2 (targeting goggles, Hard to Lose, 10pp of traits) [8PP] (technological) Container 3.6 (Mutant Mind) [18PP] Enhanced Intelligence 14 (Biological, Mutant) [14PP] Enhanced Feats (Eidetic Memory, Speed of Thought; Biological, Mutant) [2PP] Quickness 4 (x25 speed, Flaws: Mental actions only; Biological, Mutant) [2PP] Device 5 (Sonic Gun, easy to lose, Power Feats: 1 Alternate Power, technological) [15PP] Base Power: Blast 12 (sonic blaster ray) [24/24PP] Alternate Power: Dazzle 10 (ultrasonic piercing noise distributor, Extras: Area - Burst, Power Feats: Subtle) [23/24PP] Device 4 (force field belt, hard to lose, technological) [16PP] Protection 10: (Extras: Impervious 10) [20PP] Device 2 (Rocket Boots, hard to lose, technological) [8PP] Flight 5: (250 MPH, 2500' per round) [10PP] Device 2 (Targeting Goggles, hard to lose, technological) [8PP] Enhanced Feats 5 (Accurate Attack, Attack Focus (ranged) 2, Improved Aim, Power Attack) Super-Senses 5 (direction sense, distance sense, infravision, microscopic vision 1, time sense DC Block: ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC 15 Toughness (staged) Damage Blast 12 Ranged DC 27 Toughness (staged) Damage Dazzle 10 Ranged DC 20 Ref (area)/DC 20 Ref (dazzle), DC 20 Fort (lasting) Deafened Abilities (10) + Combat (24) + Saving Throws (21) + Skills (23) + Feats (7) + Powers (65) - Drawbacks (0) = 150 Power Points

because somehow I remembered her having battle scars. I'm obviously wrong.

Mechanized >Beware the Night, o Child of Light >Incursion: Opportunists and Opposition >Metallic Mesozoic Monsters! >Under the Australian Sun Nano Angel >Interview >Full Throttle Trailblazer >Babe in the Woods -> GMing too. All posts count towards Trailblazer anyway, so there's no need to differentiate them. >No Accounting for Taste GM

Emily had her invitation relayed to her by her sister, which left her with very little time to pack up. Thankfully, Stenford Arms had a small subsidiary in Australia and Jane had already arranged for a company jet to fly her there. Some days, she wondered if she was her sister or her secretary. Arriving at the Sydney Tower, Emily slipped into the room as quietly as possible. "Uhm... Sorry for being late. I'm Mechanized. I received the invitation a little late and it's been a pain to clear my battlesuit through customs with so little warning." She noticed the Anya, and smiled to her. "Hello, Corona. Nice to see you here. Ms Fields, a pleasure to meet you."

Thanks! I didn't mean to intrude, though.

I'm not really sure Mechanized's battlesuit shows up on the 'net...

Hi! I planned a little adventure to introduce my latest character, Nano Angel. What I'm looking for here is a team of 4-5 heroes with a mix of abilities, including psionic powers and technological knowledge. Synopsis: For the last several months, a mysterious hacker that goes by the name of Cyberskull has been wreaking havoc on the Internet, fooling even the best security systems thanks to his ability coupled with an astonishing amount of raw processing power. AEGIS has been trying to stop him without any success, but they've finally managed to pinpoint Cyberskull's location: a secret compound hidden deep in the Wharton State Forest. Time to assemble a superhero team and get rid of this villain!

Corona might ask Mechanized for help if she feels she's trustworthy enough. She wouldn't deny her help.

Count Mechanized in.

Notice check to look for more enemies: 1d20+8=18