Blarghy

Currently column B, but the first is waiting for him further down the road and he'd love a chance at the third. Part of his carelessness at the moment comes from not having faced anybody who can give him real trouble; thugs with guns can't reliably hurt or defend against Leviathan, and his easy success is lulling him into a false sense of security overall. Sounds good to me. Just concerning the third example, I'd rather that his transformation was pretty stable and reliable in and of itself (I avoided the Normal Identity drawback for this reason), but as a plot point, some villain or another could temporarily corrupt him via some kind of biological Nullification-type deal. Or he's not that hard to mind control, given his mediocre Will save. In that case, though, I think it might be better to wait until he's met some of the other heroes here and is running with them semi-regularly, so it packs more of an emotional punch (and the other characters have some reason to not just refuse to work with him afterward). I appreciate the offer to run a game, though! I'm all for it.

Happy New Year! I meant to post this last night, but I got lazy. My first character is approved and the holidays are almost past us, so I'm hoping for a few adventures, with pretty much anybody. Leviathan can pop up just about anywhere in the city, as either human or monster, and is sufficiently eager to be a hero that he's on board for about anything. He's a pretty standard bruiser (albeit tougher than he is strong, so perhaps I should call him a meat shield) who really, really wants to be Batman, but he approaches being a Cowl like it's a fashion statement rather than a full archetype. He doesn't have the experience, versatility of skills, or healthy sense of paranoia that makes most good Cowls, and hopefully, as his Complications and Reputation charts suggest, any of those could cause trouble for him during play. If anybody wants to pair him up with a real Cowl, he could learn from their example, but other kinds of heroes would interest him too. As a lifelong superhero nerd, Leviathan should jump at the chance to partner with about anybody, and ideally learn more about being a hero in the process. Street level stories are fine (I tried to build him so he'd be able to wade through crowds of Minions, laughing all the way), as are supervillain stories; I'd like to pit him against another tough, heavy-hitting build eventually. I'm still getting familiar with the M&M system, though. Hopefully that won't take too much patience on the GM's part.

Leviathan (1) News (1) Plus the Interview (in the News link above) and a Reputation chart.

Ready for Work Tristan Delacroix’s modern, professionally decorated apartment only had two features he particularly loved, the rest being taken for granted after growing up in the family mansion on Lantern Hill; he couldn’t properly appreciate luxury without any other experiences to which he might compare it. First, he chose this location because it overlooked the City Center. The southern and eastern walls of all top three stories were mostly windows. From any floor, Tristan had a clear view of Freedom Hall. He couldn’t easily watch the heroes who came and went at this distance, but the building itself predictably fascinated him. His second favorite was his enormous aquarium. The cylinder dominated most of the apartment—twelve feet in diameter and almost thirty of height, rising through every floor, from the living room to the game room and finally to Tristan’s bedroom at the top. Real coral and a sandy bed took up the ground floor, then gave way to ledges and a maze of transparent tubes above, and in the bedroom, a pair of floating islands supported by mesh wire. Guests mostly noticed the parrotfish swimming about, but Tristan designed the aquarium around James (or The Captain, named after Captain James Cook), his white-spotted octopus. When he wasn’t playing in the maze, he hunted hermit crabs in the coral and added their shells to the “garden” around his small cave at the bottom. Tonight, Tristan spent a minute looking for his favorite pet, then gave up and started picking out clothes. He pulled from the back of his closet some XL blue coveralls and boots; next to them jeans, a white T-shirt, hoodie, and sneakers; and for his third choice, cargo pants and a black, long-sleeved shirt, both about four inches too tall for him. He stepped in front of the full-length mirror. Last time, Tristan wore the face of a middle-aged African American man. A buttoned dress shirt, pleated slacks, and penny loafers. He didn’t like to use the same disguises repeatedly, especially not leaving his apartment, so that one was shelved for the time being. To start, I’ll be bald, he decided. His straight black hair, just washed, receded into his scalp until it disappeared. Tristan wormed his way into the oversized coveralls, buttoned them, and filled out the space with rolls of fat. He started working on a curly red beard when his phone rang. The Jaws theme made him sigh; he didn’t want to get bogged down tonight arguing with Delvin, but if he didn’t answer, his older brother would just keep calling. Or worse, come by in person. “Hello?” “Where’ve you been? Thomson said you haven’t come to the lab in over a week.” “My deadline isn’t until the end of next month,” Tristan protested distantly. His attention settled on his teeth; he opened his mouth wide and adjusted the spacing, added a faint yellow shade to them. “I won’t have you scraping something together at the last minute. I hope you’re…what is that, in the background? Are you listening to ‘Jingle Bells?’ What kind of a lunatic plays Christmas music right before the New Year?” “I probably won’t take down my tree until February,” he taunted. Delvin made a sound of mild disgust on the other end of the line. “…Listen, I want you back at work tomorrow. The last report from your team showed virtually no progress. You’ve been stuck at a mere 2.5% increase in mitochondrial efficiency, and we promised the directors at least 6%.” “We” meaning you and Alex, Tristan thought to himself. He made his cheeks sag and brought his eyes, now a dark green, slightly closer together. “I probably won’t make it tomorrow,” he answered casually, smiled at the angry sputter in his ear, and then added, “but I’ll get it done. Six percent by the end of January. Eight if you don’t bother me until then.” He could feel the cool, silent anger, and pictured Delvin’s pinched stare, furrowed eyebrows, and twitching mustache. But after a moment, the older man just said, “Eight percent. I’ll hold you to that.” “Hold away. Happy New Year, Delvin.” “Not until tomorrow,” he grunted, and hung up. Tristan tossed his phone on the bed. “You’re a mean oooone, Missster Griiinch,” he hummed. Ten minutes later, satisfied with his disguise right down to the leathery but pale complexion of skin that once saw daily sun but now worked indoors, Tristan topped it off with a ball cap and headed for the door. Freedom City could get a little disorderly around the holidays; maybe someone out there was spending the night doing something punchworthy. He could hope.

The HellQ Introduction Who are you? Sum yourself up in one sentence. Wealthy genius biologist who can transform into a reptilian crime-fighter. Do you have any nicknames, street names, titles, or nom de plume? Just Leviathan; I should try cultivating a few cover identities to make the most of my Morph. Seems a Cowl-y thing to do. Also, occasionally “lazy brat” to my brothers (perhaps not unjustly, with all the time I miss from work). What is your full birth name? Tristan Nicholas Delacroix. Where do you live? I’ve got a three-story apartment in Midtown. How old are you? What year were you born (if applicable)? 21. 1994. Physical Traits What is your gender? If not applicable, please explain. Male. How would you describe your heritage? An old French family with branches throughout Europe still today. Mine settled in Freedom City after the Revolutionary War, transitioned through various industries via old wealth, and currently thrives primarily from the Freedom Cross Institute, a pharmaceutical and biotech research company. How tall are you? 5’ 9”. What is your body type? Twiggy as Tristan, “Oh dear God” as Leviathan. Do you have any particular weaknesses, such as allergies or physical disabilities? No. How do you carry yourself? Are you graceful, or heavy on your feet? Can you be stealthy, do you walk with confidence? I’m not particularly graceful or clumsy, but as Leviathan, I lean toward the latter thanks to my size. Describe your skin, eye, and hair color. Pale, brown, and black, respectively. For Leviathan, scaly, white and black vertically-rectangular pupils, and none. How do you wear your hair, if applicable? Do you have facial hair? It can get messily ruffled when I get lost in hours and hours of lab work, but most of the time I keep it combed. I’m more likely to grow wings than a decent beard. Do you consider yourself attractive? Do others? Oh, I don’t think I’m too bad. I’m not the ruggedly handsome type, but few people have called me ugly. Do you have any scars, tattoos, piercings, or birthmarks? None to speak of. Do you resemble anyone famous? I could pass for about half of all the computer technicians in America, if that counts for anything. Do you have a dominant hand? Right. What kind of clothing do you wear? Comfortable, expensive, and tailored, for both casual and formal dress. My last pair of pajamas cost more than most monthly car payments. ...I’m not the thriftiest spender. Do you wear makeup? Not since the last time I passed out around my less courteous friends. What is your vocal range? Is your voice distinctive in some way? I have a soft voice, normally, but Leviathan sounds like James Earl Jones gargled with scotch and paint thinner. Do you have any distinctive habits, nervous tics, or mannerisms? Where did they come from, and what causes them? Do other people notice and remark on these habits? Do they annoy you or other people? I sometimes adjust my glasses when I’m thinking, but I wouldn’t call it a real habit. Not like when I used to play with my hands whenever I was nervous; that was a hard one to break. History Where do you come from? Freedom City, Lantern Hill. Have you made any major moves, or do you live in your hometown? I spent time in New York and Boston for college, and I’ve taken a few vacations to Europe and Asia, but I’m still based in Freedom City. Do you feel loyal to your country of citizenship? Do you consider yourself patriotic? How do you feel about the government of your country? I have a higher opinion of my city than my country. Our government...is anyone happy with our politicians these days? How do you feel about the place you come from? Freedom City is spectacular. The superhero center of the world; what’s not to love? Where is your home town? What was/is it like? See above. Growing up, were most of the people you knew similar to you, or were you somehow a minority? How did that affect you? I was surrounded by people who were rich, intelligent, or both, but they were almost always older than me by significant margins. I suppose it left me ill-equipped to relate to children, as I hardly met any besides myself. Is there something you've always been really good at or really bad at? How has that affected your life? Scientific fields of all stripes come easy to me, biology in particular. It gave me Leviathan—the best thing to ever happen to me. Were there any traumatic experiences in your early years (death of a family member, abandonment, orphaned at an early age)? This always sounds callous, but my parents’ deaths didn’t significantly affect me. I hardly remember them from when they were still alive, either. Still, I wouldn’t go so far as to call even their absent parenting traumatic. Sad, perhaps, that I’m not close to anyone in my family, living or dead, but I rarely dwell on it. Briefly describe a defining moment in your childhood and how it influenced your life. I saw the Raven once. The current one, not the original. I was eight years old, coming home from a day at the library, and she swept down out of nowhere, landed on a car in the oncoming lane, and slid through the front passenger window, like it was nothing. I made my chauffeur pull over; we watched as she kicked two men out of the car, brought it to a stop, and came out with the driver’s neck locked in one arm. I don’t know what it was all about, but I’ll always remember it. I wanted to be a hero even before that day, but that was the moment I decided to do more than just dream about it. What stupid things did you do when you were younger? I went through a phase where I wanted to be a gadget hero. Apparently using public computers to search for chemical bomb recipes will earn you a visit from some very tense people in black suits. Where did you go to school? How much school did you have, and did you enjoy it? Three years at Cornell, another three at Harvard, and private tutors before that. I’ve always liked to learn, although being about a decade younger than most of my classmates was sometimes tedious. Do you have any mementos of your childhood? What are they, and why did you keep them? If you have none, why not? I still have all the superhero posters that once hung in my bedroom on Lantern Hill, framed and in storage. I would probably keep them in my apartment even today, but I decided to distance myself from that fanship a bit, once I made real progress on Leviathan. Best to keep it under my hat. When did you decide to become a hero? Why? Did anyone influence you one way or another in the decision? See above, about the Raven. Is the reason you give people for becoming a hero different than your real reason? If so, why? Hopefully no one will ever ask; I plan to keep Leviathan a secret until I can really alarm my heirs on my deathbed. Do you have any deep, dark secrets in the past that may come back to haunt you? Leviathan is the only notable skeleton in my closet, I’m afraid. Do you represent yourself as being different from who you really are? Why? In terms of Leviathan, yes. The truth would not sit well with the FCI, or my brothers. If you do have these secrets, what do you fear would happen if the truth became known? How far would you go to protect those secrets? I would probably face some legal issues over my use of the FCI’s company property; much of what I’ve designed for Leviathan, I subsequently watered down and submitted to our R&D department, so technically, it belongs to them. Worst case, I might find myself sedated and on an operating table for study. But what would I do about it? Probably merely run away and start over somewhere new. I don’t think I have it in me to kill anyone, and nothing but the grave ever truly keeps a secret hidden, yes? Do you have any sort of criminal record? If so, is it public knowledge? I had a public drunkenness and disorderly charge, courtesy of my 21st birthday, but it’s been wiped. Amazing what a net worth of billions can accomplish. Call it a mistake born of youthful overindulgence. Family What are your biological parents' names? Emily and Wyatt. Were you raised by them? If not, please explain and describe who raised you. Throughout my childhood, I saw my parents, on average, a few times a week. In their place, I had a small army of rotating guardians and tutors; few of them stuck around long enough for me to get attached. What was their standing in the community? What did/do they do for a living? They ran the Freedom Cross Institute, which I suppose made them stand quite tall. Where are your parents now? A Lantern Hill cemetery (not THE Cemetery, despite the money they threw at that idea when planning their wills). Did your family stay in one area or move around a lot? Aside from vacations, business trips, and the occasional black sheep, we have lived in Freedom City since the Revolutionary War. How did you get along with your parents? How do you get along with them now (if applicable)? What little time we spent together was mostly amicable. How do your parents view you now, or how would they? They would be pleased that I’m still taking part in the Institute. Less pleased about Leviathan, if they knew. Do you have any siblings? If so how many and what are their names? Describe your relationship with them. Alexander and Delvin—jerk one and jerk two. We tolerate one another from a distance, and little else can be said about the subject. What was your birth order in the family? I’m the baby. Where are your siblings now (if applicable)? Do they have families of their own? What do they do? They both run the business end of the FCI (and Delvin dabbles on my side, much to my annoyance). Alex has a trophy wife, two boys, and enough illegitimate children to run his own soccer team. Delvin got married last year and wishes he had Alex’s talent for mistresses. Do you stay in touch with them or have you become estranged? Estrangement would be lovely, but we have to work together too much for such an arrangement. On a good day, I send them new biotech and they leave me alone. Do you love or hate one member of the family in particular? I wouldn’t go so far as to say I HATE them, but there is plenty of dislike to go around, between all three of us. Is any member of the family special to you in any way (perhaps, as a confidant, mentor, or arch-rival)? Sadly not. Are there any black (or white) sheep in the family (including you)? If so, please explain. I might be the black sheep in terms of not trying to advance the family fortune more than I have to, as part of my work (which I do because I enjoy it, and especially because of Leviathan). Do you have a notorious or celebrated ancestor? If so, please explain, including how it has affected your life. The Lantern Hill mansion is full of portraits of stuffy old people who made good business decisions. The only one I care about was Roland Delacroix, the first to come to America; he met Lady Liberty, and his journals claim that they worked together in the war, but there’s no real historical evidence for that (aside from perhaps the monetary funding our family gave to the rebels in general), so he was likely boasting. Do you have a partner and children currently? If so, please describe them. No on both counts. If you do not have a partner or children, do you want them someday? How firm are you in your opinion on this, and what might change your mind? Ehhh. Romance is nice when it happens naturally; I’m not one to chase it. As for children, I have so little experience with them that I don’t know what kind of father I could be. What type of person would be your ideal mate? Someone smart and independent, who has their own life; I think it’s a recipe for unhappiness, to define yourself solely by your spouse. I already have pets; I don’t want a human who acts like one. Relationships Do you have any close friends? If so, please describe them, and how you came to be close to them. I have plenty of people I can call if I want company for a night on the town, but most of them are casual friends. Purely in terms of whom I spend the most time with, all would be my coworkers (and taking into account how often I fail to show up at the FCI labs, that probably says something). It’s also just practical; maintaining a heroic second identity is easier when you keep most people at a bit of a distance. Do you have a best friend? If so, how did they become your best friend? How close are you to your best friend? Not particularly. If you were to go missing, who would worry about you? Alex and Delvin would certainly worry about their production deadlines. Have you lost any loves? If so, how did it happen, and what did you do? I don’t know if I’ve ever been in love. Lust or interest, yes, and I think my partners in the past have felt the same. When those relationships ended, it was usually a slow drift apart, rather than an angry or sad explosion. Do you have any bitter enemies? If so, please describe them and their history with you. Unfortunately no, but I can’t wait until I make a few as Leviathan. The best heroes have the best villains. If you have enemies, how do you think they might attempt to work against you in the future? Hopefully with guns and fists, rather than information. Searching for my life as Tristan would be much more painful. What is the worst thing someone has done to you? Delvin killed all the pets in my first aquarium, when I was ten. He sabotaged the oxygen filter. I thought it was my fault for over a week, before he couldn’t help gloating. I spent months setting it up; the mandarin dragonets in particular were just beautiful. Where do your loyalties lie? In what order? Myself, and then a tie between the FCI and the general public. Sadly in that order. I want to flip it around, but there’s a difference in what you want and what you really feel. Who or what do you trust the most? Why? Myself. Who else can you truly rely on? Who or what do you despise? Why? I don’t think I despise anyone or anything. I want that fire—all the best heroes have it—but it just isn’t in me yet. What qualities do you admire most in other people? Are these qualities you possess? Intelligence, courage, dignity, and basic goodness. I’ve got the first, at least, but the rest...I don’t know. I’m trying, but you can’t just wish for them to happen. What qualities do you hate most in other people? Do you have any of those qualities? Selfishness to the point of hurting other people to get what you want. I’m hopefully not that self-centered, thankfully. Worse is anyone who does this but denies it, or fails to consider the consequences of their actions because the axe falls at a distance, out of sight. If you’re going to be a villain, at least admit it. Do you have a secret identity? If so, who knows it? Do you hide it from people who are close to you? Why? Leviathan, no one, yes, and because they would at best try to make me stop. Do you work well on teams and in groups? Are you a leader or a follower? Decently well, unless I’m in one of my solitary moods. I try to be both effectively. I think leadership should shift around depending on who’s the best at a given situation, rather than be a hat that one person wears all the time. Are you on a super team? If so, how do you get along with your comrades? Do you trust them, or do you have secrets from them? No, but I’d love to be. Are you a member of any church, fraternal organization, club, committee, political party, or other group? How much time do you spend on that? At any given time, I’m the head of a few different teams at the FCI labs. I spend, on average, a little less than a full-time job on it; I’m bad about skipping work, then I sometimes make up for it with long nights in the lab. Personality & Beliefs Who are your heroes? Just about any proven superhero, but in particular, I’ve always idolized the Raven. I’m also a big fan of the Atom family. Did you ever become disillusioned with former heroes or idols? If so, why and what were the circumstances? No. Do you like being a hero? If so, what is the most rewarding part? If not, what makes you keep doing it? Oh yes. I love just being one. The feeling of making a difference is also great, when it works out that way, but the concept itself is exhilarating. Is there anything that would make you give up hero work, or even switch sides? Complete and total failure. Let’s hope it doesn’t come up. What are your short term goals (what would you like to be doing within a year)? A more effective and versatile Leviathan. What are your long term goals (what would you like to be doing twenty years from now)? To be known as a true hero, inspiring the next generation like the last inspired me. What is your greatest fear? Why? What do you do when something triggers this fear? To fail at being a hero. Not just temporary failure, but to entirely collapse beyond all recovery. I’ve wanted it for so long, and now, to get my wish...I don’t know what I’d do if I lost it. Is there anything you would give you life for? To save innocent people, I like to think. There’s only one way to know for sure, and I hope I can avoid it for the time being. How do you feel about money and material wealth? Do you desire it or disdain it? Are you miserly with what you have, or do you like to share? Is it a mark of success, or a means to an end? More often than not, I take it for granted. I buy what I want and share as I wish, but that’s easy when you’ve never seen the bottom of the well, much less ran out of water. How do you generally treat others? Polite but at least a little detached. Leviathan can be grim and grouchy, but that’s usually just part of the image. Are you a trusting person? Has your trust ever been abused? Not really. I know well enough to keep some distance, just for that reason. Are you introverted (shy and withdrawn) or extroverted (outgoing)? Do you have a lot of self-confidence? I’m normally confident and withdrawn at the same time. As Leviathan, I’m less so, since the whole business is still new and unfamiliar. I hope to transfer more of my assurance once I get the necessary experience. How do you act around attractive, available members of your preferred sex? Interested but unhurried. What are your most annoying habits? Refusal to fully trust, frequently disappearing from work and friends alike, and as Leviathan, undignified giggling when I do something cool. Do you feel contempt for any general category of people? Who are they, and why? Not really. As I’ve said, I lack the burning drive that comes with something to stand against, much though I might want it. What is your favorite food? Do you prefer any particular type of food? Do you take the time to enjoy your food, or do you eat as fast as you can? I love a good lobster; growing up in a port city has given me a taste for seafood in general (which I shouldn’t be too proud of, given how well I understand human overfishing). I savor my meals unless I’m in a hurry. What is your favorite drink (alcoholic or otherwise)? Jameson, no ice. What is your favorite treat (dessert)? Tarte Tatin. I don’t get it often unless I’m in New York, though; the Gotham Bar and Grill spoiled me. Are there any specific foodstuffs that you find disgusting or refuse to eat? Everyone thinks I’m crazy for it, but I don’t like chocolate ice cream. What is your favorite color? Are there any colors you dislike? Dark green. I matched Leviathan’s scales for it. I don’t have a least favorite color. What sort of music do you like? Is there any that you hate? Instrumentals, of about any genre. I don’t like songs with lyrics, especially when I’m working; it’s too distracting. If you have a favorite scent, what is it? The sea. Do you have a favorite animal? Octopus. What is your most treasured possession? Why? Either my private lab, or the aquarium in my apartment. The first gave me Leviathan. The second, I love to just sit and watch, especially James, my pet octopus. Do you enjoy "roughing it", or do you prefer your creature comforts? I appreciate nature, but the times I’ve endured it (mostly sailing trips), I needed professional guidance. I’m a city man. Is there a job or a task you would absolutely refuse to do? A distressing number of older students tried to get me to write their papers for them, back in college. I always refused. Plagiarism in general irks me; you should do your own work. Do you consider yourself a spiritual person? If so, how do your beliefs affect your life? How important is it to you? Negative on all counts. Was your faith influenced or molded by anyone special? I don’t have any atheist role models to point to; I just don’t believe there’s anybody out there worth praying to. If you want gods, Freedom City gets them all the time. If you belong to a religious organization, how often do you attend? Do you have a specific place of worship, or friends within the organization? How much do you agree with the beliefs of your organization? Also no. Could you kill? Have you killed? I don’t think I could. I hope I never have to find out. Life ends easily enough on its own without giving it a push. What circumstances led to you forming that conviction, or taking that action? I’ve devoted a large chunk of my life to medicine. For the rest of my time on this little blue dot, I hope I can advance human health in general. Killing seems very much at odds with that. Are there circumstances under which you believe it is permissible to kill? What are they? Ugh, fine. If someone was certain to kill other people, and could not be stopped or contained, then perhaps there are no other options. Given the choice between one life or several, I can approach it from a mathematical standpoint and pick the smaller number. How would you react to watching someone kill another person? Would your reaction be different if the killer was a friend or an enemy of yours? Depending on my physical state at the time, I think I’d either call the police or punch the murderer through the nearest wall. I hope I wouldn’t be so biased as to let a friend get away with it, and an enemy tough enough to survive might get tossed through the ceiling instead, right up into the clouds. How would you react if something important was stolen from you? I’m not much of an investigator, so I’d probably enlist help, either from the police or other heroes. How would you react to public humiliation? Grumpily. It isn’t the end of the world, but neither is it fun. How would you react if a good friend or relative were purposely or accidentally killed? Has it happened to you? Raging against bad luck is pointless, but as above, I’d react angrily to murder. I thankfully haven’t had to find out first-hand yet. What do you consider to be the worst crime someone could commit and why? What an unpleasant question. I could try to think of increasingly disgusting acts, but I think it’s more useful to speak broadly. Some crimes I understand; we have limited resources, so people have and probably will always steal and fight one another to get what they want. That’s bad enough, to put your well-being over everyone else’s in a violent fashion, but sadism is something else. Hurting people not because you “need” to, but because you want to. It can come in all kinds of horrifying flavors, but that basic premise is always bad news. If your life were to end in 24 hours, what five things would you do in those remaining hours? Get the city’s best lobster as my last meal, go free-running as Leviathan, tell everyone about my heroic identity, ask for an honorary position on the Freedom League, and make a cure for whatever peculiarly time-specific disease I’d been afflicted with. Career & Training Do you have any special training in your hero skills? If so, where and how did you get it? I’ve modified my muscle memory based on the videos I could find of other heroes and villains, to make myself a very accurate fighter (by average standards). Who taught you the most about your heroing abilities? What was your relationship with that person? No one. I’ve had to figure this out on my own (although allies and mentors are hopefully forthcoming in the future, now that I’m spending more time as Leviathan and meeting other heroes). Do you have any particularly unusual skills? How did you acquire them? Everything about Leviathan is pretty unusual, but the regeneration is probably at the forefront. I was also born with uncommonly high intelligence, and I’ve been to the nation’s best schools for biological and medical science, which led to Leviathan in the first place. Do you do something besides hero work for a living? Have you ever done anything else, or do you plan to? I’m the lead researcher at the Freedom Cross Institute. What is your preferred combat style? Punch until they give up. If I can’t reach the problem, grab something heavy and throw it. Have you ever received any awards or honours? I’ve got all kinds of academic awards, but none of them were remotely as satisfying as my first transformation. What skill areas would you like most to improve in? Is there anything you can't do that you wish desperately you could? I’d like to add more features to Leviathan. Unfortunately, I can’t give myself the kind of experience and investigative knowledge that my favorite heroes have. How do you act around people who are more skilled than you in areas you'd like to improve? Are you jealous, or do you try and learn? I’m both. Better heroes make me regret my own limitations, but I’m also happy to use them as examples. Lifestyle & Hobbies What is a normal day for you? How do you feel when something interrupts this routine? I either spend it at the FCI facilities or my private lab for Leviathan work, or I roam the city. I don’t have much of a routine, so variations don’t bother me unless I have specific plans. Do you have any hobbies, or interests outside hero work? What are they, and where did you pick them up? Marine biology. Sea life is fascinating, perhaps because I was born in a port city. I also like nightclubs and bars, if I’m in the right mood. What do you do for fun? Nights out on the town, alone or with friends, but the best times I have are as Leviathan. How can you beat becoming stronger, faster, and tougher than a human could ever dream of? Leaping hundreds of feet through the air, from building to building, outrunning sports cars...it’s beyond exhilarating. Do you have a costume? What does it look like? Leviathan is his own costume. How do you normally dress when not in costume? I prefer simple but stylish, when I don’t have to dress up for the cameras. Slacks and either polos or cotton buttoned shirts, with leather Oxfords. Lab coat, gloves, and goggles at work. What do you wear to bed most nights? Pajamas so comfortable they might be made from angel feathers. Do you wear any special jewelry? What is it, and what does it look like? No. Do you have a special place where you keep your valuables? The only material possession I’d consider important and difficult to replace would be my private lab in Riverside. What's your preferred means of local travel? How about long distance? By car or on foot for getting around Freedom City, and beyond that, I fly first class. Private jets are nice but a little too wasteful for my tastes. Miscellaneous Have you ever made a will, or tried to make arrangements for your death? What provisions did you make? No. If I died tomorrow, my estate would probably end up in Alex’s hands, and the only thing he’d be interested in would be my shares of FCI, which he already manages anyway, more often than not. If your features were to be destroyed beyond recognition, is there any other way of identifying your body? Well that’s grim. Dental records, I suppose? This is a scenario where I’d be grateful for my shapeshifting talent. What would you like to be remembered for after your death? A combination of medical marvels, and Leviathan, which I might reveal on my deathbed. Do you believe you pose a threat to the public? Why or why not? Other than the occasional bit of property damage (and most heroes must say the same), I don’t think so. What do you perceive as your greatest strength? My intelligence and Leviathan’s literal strength and toughness. What do you perceive as your greatest weakness? A lack of experience and versatility compared to many heroes. As a player, if you could, what advice would you give your character? Speak as if he/she were sitting right here in front of you. Use proper tone so they might heed your advice... Let your development as a hero happen naturally. Other than making a point to be as good a person as you can, trying to force it won’t help.

The Interview 1. Where is your hero from? Freedom City in general, Lantern Hill in particular. 2. How would your hero physically describe him/herself? Is this different from how others would? Thin, mostly. Black hair; I keep it fairly short. Glasses, no jewelry. Other people often comment on how young I look; once upon a time, that sort of thing bothered me, but it seems a petty grievance now that I can transform into a walking, scaly tank. Leviathan is enormous, powerful, and frightening, like a bipedal alligator. I imagine a psychologist might have plenty to say about that disparity. 3. Does your hero have distinguishing speech characteristics or recurring mannerisms? I try to limit my vocabulary a bit as Leviathan, as part of the disguise. Most people don’t expect him to be very smart. In both forms, I can be quiet unless something excites me; I’m not much for small talk. 4. What is your hero's motivation? To be a hero in and of itself. I’ve wanted it for most of my life, and now I’m finally here. 5. What are your hero's greatest strengths and weaknesses? I am impossibly durable, especially with regeneration; even against military-grade weaponry, I have no reason not to face threats head-on. However, that focus and limited versatility is a weakness I’m sure I’ll need to remedy. I also lack the practical experience of the heroes I grew up watching. 6. What does your hero love? What does your hero hate? I’m fond of my work, of course. Both in the lab and on the streets. What I hate, hmm…I don’t think I truly hate anything. Some people annoy me; I find various inconveniences in life to be tiresome. But real hate, I don’t think I have. Maybe that’s what holds me back from being the hero I want to be; all the greats seem to have something in particular to stand against. 7. How would you describe your character's mental and emotional state? As regular Tristan, I am usually calm and detached; Leviathan tries to portray the same, but I just have so much fun that sometimes it’s difficult. 8. What does your hero fear the most? Being discovered. Or, rather, losing my secret life because I was discovered. Alex and Delvin would make me stop; assuming I didn’t end up in a government lab somewhere, I might even have to run. That would be terribly inconvenient. Although…that could be the sort of defining motivation a hero needs for true greatness… 9. What is your character's greatest ambition? To be among Freedom City’s best. I take pride in my scientific studies too, but that has always come too easily to call it ambition. 10. How does your hero feel about the state of the world and his/her place in it? The world doesn’t look so bad from where I stand; I’m sure other people feel differently if they had the misfortune to not be born a genius trust fund baby. I see problems from a distance without having to experience them myself, and I think that position of privilege keeps me from properly understanding real hardship, while also obligating me to help make life better for everyone. I can do that with chemicals and a scalpel, but I’d rather use my fists. 11. Does your hero have any prejudices? How does he/she get along with others? I try not to look down on the less intelligent or wealthy; that’s the stereotype, after all. Sometimes it probably happens anyway, whether I realize it or not. Mostly, I can coexist with most people, so long as I’m in a sociable mood. 12. Where do your hero’s loyalties lie? In what order? Sad to say, myself, the general public, and then my brothers. I wish the arrangement was less self-centered. When I become Leviathan, I try to put everyone else’s welfare ahead of my own, but let’s be honest: I’m out there because I want to be. I can’t fail to notice, and it worries me to think that other heroes can see it too. 13. Does your hero have a lover or partner? How do they feel about the hero now? The most I’ve ever managed, or wanted, have been some casual flings. I spent my teenage years around older students and adults, which made dating difficult. 14. Does your hero have a family? What is the relationship there like? Just my brothers, unfortunately. We could be friendlier. Better to think of us not as siblings, but as a trained circus animal and his two demanding handlers. 15. How would the people closest to your hero describe him or her? I can be somewhat distant in my daily life; I’ve always been independent. Still, I try not to be too rude. I drift between wanting solitude and locking myself in a lab or library and scorning all company, versus needing to go out and suck up whatever social interactions I can. I like other people, but only when I’m in the mood for them. 16. Is your hero a role model? Ehhh…perhaps? I’ve been a guest speaker at enough universities and high schools to say that other people think I’m a role model. I believe I do good work as Leviathan too, even if I’m unhappy with my motivations. So, perhaps I’m a role model through my actions, but less so in my thoughts. 17. How spiritual is your hero? Does your hero follow a religious tradition? Ah, no. I’ve spent too much time studying horrible deformities and diseases to believe in any all-knowing, all-loving deity. Freedom City has seen a number of gods come through over the years, but even the effective ones would be hard to worship. How do you pray to someone if you can sit down and have a drink with them, as one regular person to another? 18. Is your hero part of a team, or would he/she like to be? Why? Oh yes. Or rather, no-then-yes. All the best heroes have teams. Then again, some of my favorites prefer to work alone…Maybe I could sign on but grumble about it? 19. How does your hero feel about the place of metahumans and aliens on Earth? I occasionally go out and turn into a quarter-ton mutant, by my own deliberate choice. I’m in no position to judge anyone based on their biology and genetics. 20. If you could give one piece of advice to your hero, what would it be? Learn to choose substance over appearance.

Content The Interview The HellQ Ready for Work The Ocean Blue From the Smallest Seed, Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Epilogue Kinship and Kidnapping Sanguine Sensibilities

Leviathan-related: The Freedom Cross Institute: Gather Information or Knowledge (Business) DC15: The FCI produces a variety of pharmaceutical products and medical innovations. DC20: Although a publicly traded corporation, most of the shares (and thus control) rest in the hands of the three Delacroix brothers, heirs to the family that built FCI in past generations. DC25: The FCI’s lead scientist and developer is the youngest of the Delacroix brothers, Tristan. He has no interest in management, however, and so he allows his older brothers to direct the voting power of his shares. Of the two, Alexander is the more powerful (physically and socially), but the middle brother Delvin dabbles in science and medicine, which makes him a vital link between Alex and the ground floor. DC30: Numbers from sales and reported revenue don’t add up. Most likely, the FCI has contracts with other organizations that bring in significant wealth on top of their own manufacturing. Since those contracts aren’t revealed to the shareholders, much less the public, those clients are probably from various government and military factions—or perhaps shadier groups. Tristan: Gather Information or Knowledge (Life Sciences): DC15: A child prodigy who attended multiple Ivy League universities at a young age and now works for the Freedom Cross Institute. DC20: Tristan is occasionally asked to consult with the police on matters of biological warfare, diseases, or mutations in Freedom City. Some people have noted that he perks up and shows greater interest when heroes also became involved in such situations. Leviathan: Gather Information or Knowledge (Streetwise): DC5: Leviathan is the last of an alien species that crashed here in ages past. We know this not because he's particularly famous, but because a fair bit of information about him has been posted in an online blog managed by the hero Bonfire. These two seem to work together quite a bit. DC5: The blog mentions Leviathan's primary abilities: he's incredibly tough, strong, and can regenerate at fantastic speeds. DC5: This giant lizard operates out of the ship in which his ancestors crashed; it is now buried somewhere at the bottom of the Great Bay. Bonfire's blog even has a lot of hazy pictures taken of the interior. DC20: Overall, the information provided online is fairly solid, but lacks independent verification. If these aliens have been around for thousands of years now, then only for the past few years has anyone actually seen one. That seems like one hell of a conspiracy. DC20: Leviathan comes off as gruff and stern, but he’s yet to refuse a conversation. Whenever someone works up the courage to ask him questions, he stops and answers. He talks a lot for a monster who pretends not to care, and sometimes, when he gets excited, he speaks like a different person. DC30: Leviathan is about as stealthy as a brick taped to an air horn, and yet no one’s been able to successfully track him back to his lair. He invariably ducks into a lightly occupied building at night, something like an apartment complex or the loading docks of a large store, and never comes out again. Maybe the creature can teleport, or walk through walls, or some other strange ability, but then why doesn’t he ever use it in combat?

Very true. Fixed that by moving a point from Attack Specialization to Attack Focus (it makes more sense for him to not be as good at flinging debris as punching), and fixed Defense by trading two of the Base points for three of Dodge Focus. I also decided to change his transformation Activation Drawback back to full round; I think it's a better fit thematically, and it adds to the danger of getting jumped unaware when he hasn't changed yet (most of the time he'll spend the entire adventure as Leviathan, once he knows it's hero time, to help protect his secret identity). With those two points and the one from messing with Defense, I bought three points of Leaping for his Container. Also fixed the final bonuses for Notice and Sense Motive; a Wisdom bonus got left in there from back when I had a positive modifier.

The only mechanical question I have (at the moment) is if there's a way (or a need) to tie his transformation abilities together, so that one of them doesn't get nullified by itself and leave the rest weirdly sticking around. I considered the Normal Identity Drawback, but I can't think of a way he'd be reasonably prevented from transforming, so it doesn't seem to fit. Though if I could get a full-round changing time in some fashion, that'd be suitable. The rest is fluff: Looks like there have been a few other Leviathans over the years here, but they're all in the Archives, so I assume the name is up for grabs, yes? If not, I'm open to other suggestions on a name. I picked the name of his family's company without much enthusiasm; I'm only tentatively attached to the Freedom Cross Institute. It's a blend of the city's name and the family name (Delacroix to Cross), and it makes me think of the Red Cross (a public image of goodness the two older brothers want to cultivate), so I guess it's functional. But if anybody has other ideas, I'd appreciate it. I think that's it for now. He should be fun to play; there's a lot of potential for trouble from his civilian life (kidnapping attempts ahoy!), and he's basically in the hero business for the same reason I signed up: because he thinks it's cool. Lots of room to grow into new abilities or just expand old ones, and the first Veterans award I get is going to net me a tricked-out underwater lab just off the coast, with uplifted aquatic minions. I'm thinking some shark guards and a talking octopus Alfred Pennyworth.

Some notes and questions to follow in the next post. Player Name: Blarghy Character Name: Leviathan Power Level: 10 150/150PP Trade-Offs: -5 Defense / +5 Toughness Unspent Power Points: 0 Progress To Bronze Status: 0/30 In Brief: If Bruce Banner really, really wanted to be the Hulk. Residence: A fantastic Midtown apartment comprising the top three stories of a high-rise complex. Base of Operations: Secret lab owned anonymously in Riverside, disguised as an isolated apartment building. Catchphrase: None Alternate Identity: Doctor Tristan Delacroix Identity: Secret Birthplace: Freedom City Occupation: Biologist, geneticist, non-practicing doctor, and all-around rich kid. Affiliations: The Freedom Cross Institute. Family: Alexander and Delvin Delacroix (older brothers, ages 31 and 28). Description: Age: 21 (DoB: May 7, 1994) Apparent Age: Anywhere from his actual age to mid-teens, in the right lighting and outfits (to say nothing of when he Morphs). Gender: Male Ethnicity: Caucasian (French ancestry) Height: 5’ 9” / 9’ 6” Weight: 118 lbs. / 700 lbs. Eyes: Brown / White with long, black, rectangular pupils Hair: Black / None In his daily life, Tristan is a slim, well-dressed, bespectacled young man with a face that will force him to show his driver’s license for every age-restricted purchase until he’s roughly sixty-five. Most bars and nightclubs refuse to let him in at all without a bribe, thanks to his general demeanor of intelligence that screams “I can probably make fake IDs.” His clothes, shoes, wristwatch, and personal electronics are visibly expensive, and so combined with his unintimidating appearance, he rarely walks alone at night for fear of being mugged or kidnapped (for which he’s had a special insurance policy since he was eleven years old). Leviathan, on the other hand, is a great big scaly monster with fists like cinderblocks. Unsurprisingly, he very rarely gets mugged, and not just because he has no pockets. Power Descriptions: If you’ve seen one gang member get punched through a wall, you’ve seen them all. More interesting is Leviathan’s regeneration. His flesh knits itself back together with incredible speed—and first, any attack must pierce his thick plate-scales. Tristan, in his human form, also has the useful ability to mold his features as he wishes. It was a stepping stone on his way to mastering the Leviathan transformation; these days he mostly uses it to leave his apartment complex without alerting the other tenants, and then onto some isolated place where he can fully become his hero self, away from prying eyes. It’s also handy for avoiding his pesky older brothers. History: Private tutors from the time he could talk, Cornell by age twelve, Harvard Medical School by fifteen (mostly to prove he could; both their hockey teams still hate him, of course), and at eighteen, the star of R&D at his family’s company, The Freedom Cross Institute…Tristan’s natural intellect let him zip through life from child prodigy to wealthy scientist so fast that he hardly had time to mourn his parents’ passing. His father died when he was seven (bone cancer) and his mother at nine (tripping on her way out of the shower; not the most glamorous death). A series of nannies, teachers, and full-time house servants primarily raised him anyway, which helped ease the transition. His parents had their hands full with the FCI, funded by old money dating all the way back to their family’s origins in Freedom City during the Revolutionary War. They nurtured it better than their own children, hoping to make the world a better place via lifesaving pharmaceuticals and various biotech. Finding tumors scattered up and down Wyatt’s spine probably redoubled those efforts. Had they kept their eyes turned closer to home on occasion, though, then perhaps Tristan would be less independent, and his brothers less sour. Today, Alexander Delacroix owns the old family mansion on Lantern Hill. The middle brother Delvin grudgingly accepts an equally opulent but less historic home in North Bay. They manage the Institute with their combined majority shares, including Tristan’s, as he has no interest in the tedious board meetings and other tasks. The brothers occasionally drag him out for public functions, but for the most part, he’s the cow whose milk supports their operations. So long as he occasionally turns in a new piece of useful research, they’re content to let him hide in his lab or amuse himself in the city. His distain for business and his ignorance concerning the end results of his hard work suits their purpose very well. And thus, the problem: unbeknownst to him, his older brothers have eaten the core of something potentially wonderful and are slowly rotting it from the inside out. The FCI was never a charity, but Alex and Delvin took whatever pretenses of goodwill it may’ve once had, stretched them into a thin veil to hide from public inquiry, and now use the corporation to rake in vast amounts of wealth even beyond their ancestral standards. Greed consumes them; the Institute’s applications of Tristan and his fellow scientists’ research are paltry compared to that of the many shadowy groups that purchase anything they might find useful. Biological weapons, controlled mutations, designer drugs—it makes no difference to the brothers, not that they typically know the outcomes at all. Sometimes they’re unaware of their clients entirely—such as the Labyrinth, which has a casual interest in this useful, though ultimately expendable, pawn. Meanwhile, Tristan has long been motivated not just by pride in his work (a factor, still) but by his own secret use of it. He spent his childhood largely isolated from the outside world, yet still aware that he lived in the center of Earth’s superhero activity. His lack of natural talents—beyond intelligence, which he couldn’t appreciate without an outsider’s perspective—depressed him for years, until he at last decided to take matters into his own hands. If nature wouldn’t give him what he needed, then he’d create it himself. He chose deliberately to specialize in biology and genetics, with a particular interest in marine subjects. One discovery led to another, and another, and another—he leapt from fine-tuning his immune system onto manipulating the operations of his cells, and then to his very genome. Finally, early this year, he achieved true transformation (and slightly less important, the reverse back to his original self). Since then he’s enjoyed a handful of “field tests,” which he performs with a level of glee he feels isn’t proper for a hero who wants to be taken seriously. He does his best not to giggle when he places anonymous calls to the police and races off into the night, leaving behind wrecked warehouses full of unconscious gang members. Personality & Motivation: Leviathan’s foremost motivation is heroism in and of itself—not so much for the goodness of a deed (which he feels to an extent and tries to cultivate in his heart), but the pride he takes in having, at long last, joined the ranks of Freedom City’s many defenders. He worries he doesn’t live up to the ideal he pictures (in particular, he envies the Cowls and tries to emulate them, with mixed success). Thanks to a decent amount of self-awareness, he realizes that being a hero is the sort of thing one achieves by having heroic goals, rather than the goal being heroism. That only frustrates him all the more; the breakneck speed of his youthful education hasn’t cultivated much patience, and he’s accustomed to more straightforward endeavors thanks to a lifetime of school tests and neatly-contained classes. Trying to be spontaneous is the opposite of spontaneity, and it drives him up the wall. His lifelong fascination with heroes causes him to react predictably to them: anyone who’s well-established, or just vaguely familiar, is bound to get a positive (if deliberately gruff; he tries to maintain his image) reception. Even unproven heroes like himself should have no problem making a new friend, although in their case, Leviathan finds it easier to see them as equals rather than heroes to a hero. In contrast, Tristan in his daily life is relaxed, confident, and dry. He’s surprisingly personable for being so isolated; growing up fast meant he spent his time with older children, and then full adults, and so, his attitude seems more mature than his face. He loves his work, so he naturally spends hours upon hours in his lab (either publically at the FCI or privately in his smaller, personal facility, where he conducts Leviathan-related studies), but at least once a week he wanders through the city. Often he wears a different face, but this habit began even before that talent; his brothers have long-since come to terms with him turning up in random places, Bill Murray style. In doing so, he clears his head and entertains himself by meeting unfamiliar people. Now that he can become the mighty and terrible Leviathan, he tours also in the hope of stumbling across something dastardly so he can punch the problem until it magically turns into a police report. Powers & Tactics: Leviathan’s body is full of “smart” stem cells and a redesigned nervous system capable of directing them. At their most basic, they allow him to change his features; lately, they repair grievous injuries and let him transform into a much larger, stronger, tougher version of himself—and even in his regular form, Tristan is hardier than the vast majority of humans. In terms of tactics, his are elegantly simple for someone who’s clever enough to normally get tangled in elaborate systems: find the bad people and punch them. He’s yet to find someone who can hit back hard enough to make him regret this decision. Thanks to deliberate exploitation of his muscle memory, Tristan is very good at physical abuse, and not terrible at range or weaponry. At least he recognizes the potential for situations he can’t knuckle his way through, but it’s just so satisfying. He’s nonetheless eager to expand on these core abilities. From sea life alone, he has a wealth of inspiration: will he next try to make his scales change color like an octopus, to hide his enormous body and pounce on criminals unseen? Will he take on the electrical touch of an eel? He already modeled his scales after limpet teeth, and his regeneration on the humble starfish. All kinds of sources are possible, but it’s traditional to stick with a theme, he supposes… Complications: “Aaaaaaahh!”: Leviathan sits on the fence between imagining himself as a brooding, outcast-by-the-society-that-misunderstands-him Cowl and wanting to be recognized and beloved by Freedom City for his good deeds. He leans toward the latter when civilians and cops alike see him, assume he’s on the wrong side, and greet him not with cheers, but with screams and gunfire. Foolhardy: There’s something about being able to take a rocket to the face, get back up after a moment, and walk away that makes a person overconfident. Combined with his burning need to prove himself as a hero, Leviathan can easily jump head-first into more than he can handle. His reflexes and willpower aren’t nearly as good as his physical durability, and there are ways to defeat a hero without leaving a scratch. Leviathan is more likely to underestimate such threats than most; he probably won’t take this lesson to heart until he’s learned the hard way a few times. Secret Identity: Tristan rightly suspects that his board of directors, let alone his brothers, wouldn’t appreciate knowing that he occasionally spends his nights as a punch-happy lizard monster. He takes great pains to hide his activities, and a credible threat to his privacy will scare him more than any gun in the city. Abilities: 0 + 0 + 10 + 10 + 0 + 4 = 24PP Strength: 10/30 (+0/10) Dexterity: 10 (+0) Constitution: 20/40 (+5/15) Intelligence: 20 (+5) Wisdom: 10 (+0) Charisma: 14 (+2) Combat: 8 + 8 = 16PP Initiative: +0 Attack: +10 Melee, +4 Ranged, +10 Improvised Throwing Weapons Grapple: +10/+24 Defense: +5 (+4 Base, +1 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed Knockback: -2/-11 Saving Throws: 0 + 4 + 4 = 8PP Toughness: +5/+15 (+5/+15 Con, +0) Fortitude: +5/+15 (+5/+15 Con, +0) Reflex: +4 (+0 Dex, +4) Will: +4 (+0 Wis, +4) Skills: 64R = 16PP Bluff 4 (+6) Computers 4 (+9) Diplomacy 4 (+6) Disguise 0 (+2/+12) Intimidate 5 (+7/+9) Knowledge (Earth Sciences) 5 (+10) Knowledge (Life Sciences) 15 (+20) Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 5 (+10) Knowledge (Technology) 5 (+10) Language (Latin) 1 Medicine 8 (+13) Notice 4 (+5) Sense Motive 4 (+5) Feats: 20PP Attack Focus (Melee) 6 Attack Specialization (Improvised Throwing Weapons) 3 Benefit (Wealth) 3 Dodge Focus Equipment 2 Improved Grab Improved Grapple Interpose Takedown Attack 2 Equipment: 2PP = 10XEP Headquarters: Private Lab Size: Medium [1EP] Toughness: +10 [1EP] Features: [8EP] Computer Concealed Fire Prevention System Gym Laboratory 2 [Masterwork] Library Security System Powers: (All Mutations) 62 + 4 = 66PP Leviathan Transformation Container 12.6 (Active, Drawback: Activation (Move Action) -1) [62] Enhanced Ability 16 (Constitution) [16] Enhanced Ability 12 (Strength) [12] Growth 4 (Large, Strength +8, Constitution +4) [16] Regeneration 15 (Bruised, Injured, and Staggered 1/Round w/o Rest) (Feats: Regrowth) [16] Speed 3 (50 MPH, 500 Ft./Move Action) [3] Morph 2 (Any Humanoid) [4] Drawbacks: (-0) + (-0) = -0PP DC Block ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC 25 Toughness Damage (Physical) Totals: Abilities (24) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (8) + Skills (16) + Feats (20) + Powers (66) - Drawbacks (0) = 150/150 Power Points

My idea was to show the dichotomy in a character who was once naturally talented, but now only has a lifetime of skills to rely on, and is rubbish outside of his expertise. He would know how to make himself likable but not be able to properly express himself (and struggle with the frustration of it in every significant conversation). He'd have a wealth of magical experience but wouldn't know how to teach it to other people--or be innovative with his lists of facts. He'd be able to operate most vehicles but only from a technical, muscle-memory standpoint, without the flair or confidence of a proper career driver/pilot. It also never occurred to me that several medium and two high skills would be considered powergaming in a system where other characters can jog past the sound barrier and juggle cars, perhaps at the same time. However, multiple people have now expressed concern over this aspect of the build (one of them a moderator), so I'll scrap it and go with one of my other ideas. I'm not particularly interested in redesigning it with higher ability scores, as that rather defeats the core concept that attracted me to it in the first place. But no worries. I didn't plan to start playing until probably after the New Year anyway, and I have another character I weighed against this one. I'll start working on it and try to get something up within the next few days.

That's what I was going for, though--a frail, clumsy twig with slow wits, clouded intellect, and passive surliness. I'll raise them all back up, of course (getting everything back to 10 is probably going to be my first priority, then eventually up to the 16 range), but my idea was to show his slow transition as he heals back into a real hero. But until then, I wanted him to get by with his old skills and abilities, and have the character arc of a broken man at his lowest point who must rebuild, and comes out the other side better for it. In his old life, when everything was handed to him by excellent fortune, he was greedy and vain, even if he wasn't necessarily bad. This time, he'll have to work for it, and that effort will mold him into a better person. By the time he gets back to positive modifiers, I want him to be much more appreciative of what he has, and when I get him back to the rough level I pictured him being in his backstory (around 16 in all stats--I'll probably keep them dead even across the board to show him being well-rounded), I want him to have Superman-level ethics. Essentially, prideful man falls hard, drags himself back up, and is forged by fire into someone better.

I like it. Keeps my early ideas readable too, if anyone happens to care for some reason. I think I can change thread titles, so I'll do that when it becomes more appropriate, and then add updated sheets periodically. Link to it from the Guidebook, and so on.

Leviathan Power Level: 12/15 (206/231PP) Trade-Offs: -5 Defense / +5 Toughness Unspent Power Points: 25PP In Brief: If Bruce Banner really, really wanted to be the Hulk. Residence: A fantastic Midtown apartment comprising the top three stories of a high-rise complex. Base of Operations: Underwater biological, living headquarters crated from his own body. Catchphrase: None Alternate Identity: Doctor Tristan Delacroix Identity: Secret Birthplace: Freedom City Occupation: Biologist, geneticist, non-practicing doctor, and all-around rich kid. Affiliations: The Freedom Cross Institute. Family: Alexander and Delvin Delacroix (older brothers, ages 33 and 30).  Description: Age: 24 (DoB: May 7, 1994 Apparent Age: Anywhere from his actual age to mid-teens, in the right lighting and outfits (to say nothing of when he Morphs). Gender: Male Ethnicity: Caucasian (French ancestry) Height: 5’ 9” / 9’ 6” Weight: 118 lbs. / 700 lbs. Eyes: Brown / White with long, black, rectangular pupils Hair: Black / None In his daily life, Tristan is a slim, well-dressed, bespectacled young man with a face that will force him to show his driver’s license for every age-restricted purchase until he’s roughly sixty-five. Most bars and nightclubs refuse to let him in at all without a bribe, thanks to his general demeanor of intelligence that screams “I can probably make fake IDs.” His clothes, shoes, wristwatch, and personal electronics are visibly expensive, and so combined with his unintimidating appearance, he rarely walks alone at night for fear of being mugged or kidnapped (for which he’s had a special insurance policy since he was eleven years old). Leviathan, on the other hand, is a great big scaly monster with fists like cinderblocks. Unsurprisingly, he very rarely gets mugged, and not just because he has no pockets. Power Descriptions: If you’ve seen one gang member get punched through a wall, you’ve seen them all. More interesting is Leviathan’s regeneration. His flesh knits itself back together with incredible speed—and first, any attack must pierce his thick plate-scales. Tristan, in his human form, also has the useful ability to mold his features as he wishes. It was a stepping stone on his way to mastering the Leviathan transformation; these days he mostly uses it to leave his apartment complex without alerting the other tenants, and then onto some isolated place where he can fully become his hero self, away from prying eyes. It’s also handy for avoiding his pesky older brothers. History: Private tutors from the time he could talk, Cornell by age twelve, Harvard Medical School by fifteen (mostly to prove he could), and at eighteen, the star of R&D at his family’s company, The Freedom Cross Institute…Tristan’s natural intellect let him zip through life from child prodigy to wealthy scientist so fast that he hardly had time to mourn his parents’ passing. His father died when he was seven (bone cancer) and his mother at nine (tripping on her way out of the shower; not the most glamorous death). A series of nannies, teachers, and full-time house servants primarily raised him anyway, which helped ease the transition. His parents had their hands full with the FCI, funded by old money dating all the way back to their family’s origins in Freedom City during the Revolutionary War. They nurtured it better than their own children, hoping to make the world a better place via lifesaving pharmaceuticals and various biotech. Finding tumors scattered up and down Wyatt’s spine probably redoubled those efforts. Had they kept their eyes turned closer to home on occasion, though, then perhaps Tristan would be less independent, and his brothers less sour. Today, Alexander Delacroix owns the old family mansion on Lantern Hill. The middle brother Delvin grudgingly accepts an equally opulent but less historic home in North Bay. They manage the Institute with their combined majority shares, including Tristan’s, as he has no interest in the tedious board meetings and other tasks. The brothers occasionally drag him out for public functions, but for the most part, he’s the cow whose milk supports their operations. So long as he occasionally turns in a new piece of useful research, they’re content to let him hide in his lab or amuse himself in the city. His disdain for business and his ignorance concerning the end results of his hard work suits their purpose very well. And thus, the problem: unbeknownst to him, his older brothers have eaten the core of something potentially wonderful and are slowly rotting it from the inside out. The FCI was never a charity, but Alex and Delvin took whatever pretenses of goodwill it may’ve once had, stretched them into a thin veil to hide from public inquiry, and now use the corporation to rake in vast amounts of wealth even beyond their ancestral standards. Greed consumes them; the Institute’s applications of Tristan and his fellow scientists’ research are paltry compared to that of the many shadowy groups that purchase anything they might find useful. Biological weapons, controlled mutations, designer drugs—it makes no difference to the brothers, not that they typically know the outcomes at all. Sometimes they’re unaware of their clients entirely—such as the Labyrinth, which has a casual interest in this useful, though ultimately expendable, pawn. Meanwhile, Tristan has long been motivated not just by pride in his work (a factor, still) but by his own secret use of it. He spent his childhood largely isolated from the outside world, yet still aware that he lived in the center of Earth’s superhero activity. His lack of natural talents—beyond intelligence, which he couldn’t appreciate without an outsider’s perspective—depressed him for years, until he at last decided to take matters into his own hands. If nature wouldn’t give him what he needed, then he’d create it himself. He chose deliberately to specialize in biology and genetics, with a particular interest in marine subjects. One discovery led to another, and another, and another—he leapt from fine-tuning his immune system onto manipulating the operations of his cells, and then to his very genome. Finally, early this year, he achieved true transformation (and slightly less important, the reverse back to his original self). Since then he’s enjoyed a handful of “field tests,” which he performs with a level of glee he feels isn’t proper for a hero who wants to be taken seriously. He does his best not to giggle when he places anonymous calls to the police and races off into the night, leaving behind wrecked warehouses full of unconscious gang members. Personality & Motivation: Leviathan’s foremost motivation is heroism in and of itself—not so much for the goodness of a deed (which he feels to an extent and tries to cultivate in his heart), but the pride he takes in having, at long last, joined the ranks of Freedom City’s many defenders. He worries he doesn’t live up to the ideal he pictures (in particular, he envies the Cowls and tries to emulate them, with mixed success). Thanks to a decent amount of self-awareness, he realizes that being a hero is the sort of thing one achieves by having heroic goals, rather than the goal being heroism. That only frustrates him all the more; the breakneck speed of his youthful education hasn’t cultivated much patience, and he’s accustomed to more straightforward endeavors thanks to a lifetime of school tests and neatly-contained classes. Trying to be spontaneous is the opposite of spontaneity, and it drives him up the wall. His lifelong fascination with heroes causes him to react predictably to them: anyone who’s well-established, or just vaguely familiar, is bound to get a positive (if deliberately gruff; he tries to maintain his image) reception. Even unproven heroes like himself should have no problem making a new friend, although in their case, Leviathan finds it easier to see them as equals rather than heroes to a hero. In contrast, Tristan in his daily life is relaxed, confident, and dry. He’s surprisingly personable for being so isolated; growing up fast meant he spent his time with older children, and then full adults, and so, his attitude seems more mature than his face. He loves his work, so he naturally spends hours upon hours in his lab (either publicly at the FCI or privately in his nigh-supernatural underwater facility, where he conducts Leviathan-related studies), but at least once a week he wanders through the city. Often he wears a different face, but this habit began even before that talent; his brothers have long-since come to terms with him turning up in random places, Bill Murray style. In doing so, he clears his head and entertains himself by meeting unfamiliar people. Now that he can become the mighty and terrible Leviathan, he tours also in the hope of stumbling across something dastardly so he can punch the problem until it magically turns into a police report. Powers & Tactics: Leviathan’s body is full of “smart” stem cells and a redesigned nervous system capable of directing them. At their most basic, they allow him to change his features; lately, they repair grievous injuries and let him transform into a much larger, stronger, tougher version of himself—and even in his regular form, Tristan is hardier than the vast majority of humans. In terms of tactics, his are elegantly simple for someone who’s clever enough to normally get tangled in elaborate systems: find the bad people and punch them. He’s yet to find someone who can hit back hard enough to make him regret this decision. Thanks to deliberate exploitation of his muscle memory, Tristan is very good at physical abuse, and not terrible at range. At least he recognizes the potential for situations he can’t knuckle his way through, but it’s just so satisfying. He’s nonetheless eager to expand on these core abilities. From sea life alone, he has a wealth of inspiration: will he next try to make his scales change color like an octopus, to hide his enormous body and pounce on criminals unseen? Will he take on the electrical touch of an eel? He already modeled his scales after limpet teeth, and his regeneration on the humble starfish. All kinds of sources are possible, but it’s traditional to stick with a theme, he supposes… Complications: [HQ] At the Speed of Plot: GMs shouldn't use the Healing Power of Leviathan's lair as it usually applies; moderate Regeneration speeds are more appropriate. In general, visitors to the headquarters should recover as quickly as the story allows--and if this is noticeably slower than Healing would usually permit, then a Hero Point might be appropriate. Perfect for heroes licking their wounds after a defeat and preparing to go after the villain for Round 2! The same guidelines can also apply to the Immunities granted by the lair; they stem from an extremely healthy environment rather than any magic, and should be treated as such. Note also that Immunity to Fatigue does not apply to Extra Effort, as detailed in the forum's House Rules. [HQ] Wrong Kind of Lockpicks: Leviathan's lair, being a living plant-like creature in its own right, shouldn't fear traditional intrusion methods. However, just because Disable Device won't work hardly makes it impregnable. Enemies with life magic, or medical and biological skills similar to Leviathan's own talents, should be able to apply those talents to enter uninvited. The Computers skill continues to work normally, with respect to hacking; Leviathan's electronics might not actually be electronic any longer, but they function the same in terms of what havoc an experienced programmer can accomplish with a keyboard. “Aaaaaaahh!”: Leviathan sits on the fence between imagining himself as a brooding, outcast-by-the-society-that-misunderstands-him Cowl and wanting to be recognized and beloved by Freedom City for his good deeds. He leans toward the latter when civilians and cops alike see him, assume he’s on the wrong side, and greet him not with cheers, but with screams and gunfire. Foolhardy: There’s something about being able to take a rocket to the face, get back up after a moment, and walk away that makes a person overconfident. Combined with his burning need to prove himself as a hero, Leviathan can easily jump head-first into more than he can handle. His reflexes and willpower aren’t nearly as good as his physical durability, and there are ways to defeat a hero without leaving a scratch. Leviathan is more likely to underestimate such threats than most; he probably won’t take this lesson to heart until he’s learned the hard way a few times. Secret Identity: Tristan rightly suspects that his board of directors, let alone his brothers, wouldn’t appreciate knowing that he occasionally spends his nights as a punch-happy lizard monster. He takes great pains to hide his activities, and a credible threat to his privacy will scare him more than any gun in the city. Abilities: 0 + 0 + 10 + 10 + 6 + 4 = 30PP Strength: 10/34 (+0/+12) Dexterity: 10 (+0) Constitution: 20/44 (+5/+17) Intelligence: 20 (+5) Wisdom: 16 (+3) Charisma: 14 (+2) Combat: 10 + 8 = 18PP Initiative: +0 Attack: +12 Melee (+5 Base, +8 Attack Focus, -1 Growth); +4 Ranged (+5 Base, -1 Growth); +8 Improvised Throwing Weapons (+5 Base, +4 Attack Specialization, -1 Growth) Grapple: +12/+27 Defense: +7 (+4 Base, +4 Dodge Focus, -1 Growth), +2 Flat-Footed Knockback: -2/-11 Saving Throws: 0 + 4 + 4 = 8PP Toughness: +5/+17 (+5/+17 Con, +0) Fortitude: +5/+17 (+5/+17 Con, +0) Reflex: +4 (+0 Dex, +4) Will: +7 (+3 Wis, +4) Skills: 132R = 33PP Computers 10 (+15) Craft (Chemicals) 10 (+15) Diplomacy 11 (+13) Disguise 0 (+2/+12) Intimidate 8 (+10/+12) Knowledge (Earth Sciences) 10 (+15) Knowledge (Life Sciences) 19 (+24) Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 10 (+15) Knowledge (Technology) 10 (+15) Language (Latin) 1 Medicine 19 (+22) Notice 12 (+15) Sense Motive 12 (+15) Feats: 24PP All-Out Attack Attack Focus (Melee) 8 Attack Specialization (Improvised Throwing Weapons) 2 Benefit (Alternate Identity (Alien Space Lizard!), Charity CEO, Wealth 3) 5 Dodge Focus 4 Equipment 8 (VA) Improved Grapple Interpose Takedown Attack 2 Equipment: 8PP = 40EP Headquarters: 6PP = 30EP Size: Huge [3] Toughness: 20 [3] Features: Communications, Computer 2 (Masterwork), Concealed 2 (+20), Dock, Gym, Infirmary 2 (Masterwork), Isolated, Laboratory 2 (Masterwork), Library 2 (Masterwork), Living Space, Pool, Power* (Healing 12; Affects Others Only), Power* (Immunity 5 [Disable Device 5]; Immunity 7 [Aging 1 (Half-Effect), Disease 1, Fatigue 5; Affects Others Only]) Power System, Security System, Self-Repairing, Workshop 2 (Masterwork, Chemicals Only). [24] * See Complications Submarine: 2PP = 10EP Defense: 8 Size: Huge [2] Speed: Swimming 4 (25MPH) [4] Strength: 40 [2] Toughness: 14 [1] Features: Remote Control [1] Powers: (All Mutations) 86 + 4 + 3 = 93PP Leviathan Transformation Container 17.8 (Active; Drawback: Activation [Full Action, -3]) [86PP] Enhanced Constitution 20 [20PP] Enhanced Strength 16 [16PP] Growth 4 (Large; Strength +8, Constitution +4) [16PP] Immunity 3 (Cold, High Pressure, Suffocation [Water]) [3PP] Leaping 3 (10x) [3PP] Regeneration 15 (Bruised 3, Injured 6, Staggered 6 [No Action]; Feats: Regrowth) [16PP] Speed 3 (50 MPH, 500 Ft./Move Action; PFs: Alternate Power 2) [5PP] AP: Burrowing 3 (5MPH, 50 Ft./Move Action in Soil (Less in Harder Materials)) [3PP] AP: Swimming 3 (10MPH, 100 Ft./Move Action) [3PP] Super-Senses 10 (Olfactory [Accurate 2, Blindsight 4, Extended 2 {1,000}, Tracking 2 {3 total}]) [10] Morph 2 (Any Humanoid) [4PP] Super-Senses 3 (Olfactory [Acute, Danger Sense, Tracking 1]) [3] Drawbacks: = -0PP DC Block ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC 27 Toughness Damage (Physical) Totals: Abilities (30) + Combat (18) + Saving Throws (8) + Skills (33) + Feats (24) + Powers (93) - Drawbacks (0) = 206/231 Power Point

Alright, I think I've got it. I moved some points back into skills (I decided that Regeneration was out of character, though I'll probably buy it eventually via a Device) and double-checked my math. I believe that Knockback is right; previously, I didn't understand how it worked, so I left it at +0 and waited to see if anybody said anything about it, but it's half your Toughness (rounded down), to be subtracted from damage that might send you flying, right? Neat mechanic. From what I can gather from the books, it's not that uncommon for a hard-hitting character to toss people literally hundreds of feet, just like you'd expect from comics and films. Onward to the other subforum for judging! One last question, though: since I plan to have Relic undergo extreme changes during the course of play, as he heals and grows and gains power points, I thought it'd be cool to show his progress by keeping copies of his sheet at each new PL. Where would be a good place to put them? I'll start a thread in the Guidebook eventually, but no one else has clogged theirs up with stats and such, from what I can see. It certainly wouldn't go in his News thread. Perhaps just new posts in his character thread, when (if) he's approved?

I like your ideas on feats. Drops the size down to something a little more reasonable, yet still very impressive (I think I'll keep the rank as is, given the Impervious cap). That's the theme I want for the Magical Array: slow and dangerous to use, but grand in scope. Also added the Storage Only flaw to the Dimensional Pocket, making it a little bigger in the process (mostly for lack of anywhere else to put that extra point), on the model of a cool pixie character I saw on the forums. I think that might be it. I'll let it sit for a day or two, think things over, see if I come up with any new ideas, and then move it forward for judging. In the mean time, I'm open to any other suggestions anybody might have. Thanks for your help! Edit: oh cool, there's a height and weight chart on this subforum, for references. Reflecting that, I've dropped his weight by a good 15 pounds or so, to show that he's skinny to the point of real danger (it's telling that there was no actual picture for the 90 pound range at his height). Of course, that'll gradually change as I slowly boost his ability scores back up. I plan to eventually get them all to 16, across the board (I figure that's about where he was in the past, at the top of his game), and if I want anything higher, I can always hook him up with a magical Device that boosts them even further.

Hmmm, I didn't know that about Defense. I'll adjust that, then (I wanted the Distracting flaw on the Magical Array to actually hurt, more than to just save points, or else I wouldn't have bothered with Dodge Focus at all). Thanks! As for the Force Field, I hadn't considered that people could cross over at will. I thought the Selective feat let me choose that. If it doesn't, then yeah, that more than anything else will make Create Object a better choice. I wanted to be able to prevent, say, falling rocks from killing people inside, but if I'm leading a crowd of civilians through a street full of alien soldiers trying to kill them or whatever, it's pointless if I can't keep the bad guys out. Edit: Ok, I messed with Defense a bit, following your advice (cut some skill ranks in the process, ended up with some extra points, and decided to get some Regeneration instead of putting them back where they were), and you also convinced me on Create Object (well, you and Jill O'Cure's example). The result follows my previous wish of being tough to do (it's got a Concentrate duration) yet impressive in scope. Too impressive, perhaps; I can make 10,000' cubes at the moment, because I have nothing else to spend those extra points on except for ranks of Progression. So...I'm open to suggestions in that regard. I guess I don't have to use it at its full extent, and it's nice to have the option of covering almost two mile-sections of the city if we get bombarded from orbit or something. I do worry it's too strong, though. And in other news, the friend who'll be joining me suggests "Relic" as Landon's hero name. He hunts them, and now he currently is one. I'll go with it if nothing better comes along, though I'm still open to suggestions.

3) Yup, that's exactly what I want! I'd like the Magical Array to be primarily for non-combat situations. In battle, he'll be a punch-and-shoot kinda guy. If he has to "bubble" people, I want it to be risky for him. 5) Ahh, ok. I'll look into that. Now, is the mechanic of offering cover noticeably superior to just a Toughness bonus? Especially since I can currently offer Impervious Toughness, at a sufficiently high rank that little should get through to anybody cowering inside. From what I gather, choosing one Power over another determines the mechanics, more than the fluff. I didn't think it would be a problem to have the Force Field be visible (I think it is in a few of the pictures of sample characters who have them in the books) as some kind of bubble. So it's really a choice between offering Toughness directly to anyone inside, versus an object that grants Cover and has its own Toughness, yes? 6) Seems like a lot of work for a niche ability, so I'll probably just drop it (it was a whim, really--the kind of thing a treasure hunter might find useful--but even seeing ghosts wouldn't let me question them, so I think it'd end up being a lot of points invested for relatively little gain). Edit: used those two points for Infravision and Ultravision. Still perhaps niche abilities, but now he can see a lot of things hidden to most people (again, useful for a tomb raider looking for clues). Your other suggestions: For Defense, 3 points (for 6PP) are regular, base Defense, and the other 6 are from Dodge Focus. I'm reading in the core rulebook, and it says that being flat-footed means you don't get your Dodge bonus. So wouldn't it be +3? All of the Powers have the Magical description, and are countered and nullified as such (it's listed at the top, right after Powers; I thought I read in The Newbie's Guide that you could do that if they were all the same). I'll fix the rest, though; you're right about the Strike. I had it labeled as Unarmed because it's a punch, but that's a fluff thing; I'll take it out so it's not confusing.

Questions and notes: 1) First of all, I’m not sure what to call the guy. I’m leaning toward “Solomon,” another magician who let pride get the better of him, but that’s mostly for lack of any better ideas (I’m also worried that the religious angle could be mildly offensive to some people, since that won’t be a feature of the character). Any suggestions? Anything magic-y could work, so long as it isn’t overdone (and already in circulation on this site). 2) Speaking of already in circulation, I was looking around, excited about my idea, and found…another moving-tattoo-magician, recently submitted. But the similarities end there, and Renegade would actually be a cool ally to have (he could apply new tattoos to anchor new Powers if I think of any during the game), so perhaps this is an example of good overlap? 3) The Magical Array is super cheap thanks to the Flaws I took. Think that’s a problem? I want it to be powerful and impressive, but only for non-combat, utility stuff, so maybe that makes it more balanced? I think he’d get stomped pretty fast if he tried casting while people were coming after him. And inside that array… 4) Is the Animate Objects power likely to be too strong? Again, I see it as more a utility ability than a combat option, and mostly I think it’d be cool to be able to recreate the Fantasia scene, bringing a whole room to life. I could drop the overall Rank (making them individually weaker) if anybody can think of other appropriate Extras to tack on. 5) My idea for the Force Field AP is that he could “bubble” large groups of endangered civilians and move them to safety. Does my writing of it looks feasible? I looked around a bit online and found some other builds that suggested handling it in this fashion. 6) With Super-Senses, I’d like him to be able to see ghosts and other such creatures. Would the Affects Insubstantial feat do that, or could I probably get by with Awareness (Insubstantial) and save a point? 7) I don’t actually have the book that includes the Nightmares drawback, but from what I can see online, it’s a DC15 Fortitude save, yeah? I don’t particularly need it (I can shave the points pretty easily if I have to), but it’s just perfectly in-character. 8) A general question: is each character limited to one thread/adventure at a time, or can they spread out, within reason (it’d be weird if the same person was just everywhere)? 9) And related to the above, do Hero Points reset for each new thread, meaning that you don’t have to track them over time (and your Complications don’t carry over)?

Hi, everybody. A friend and I have been looking at this place for a while, and I finally thought I'd sign up and give it a try. However, my experience is rather limited; I've only played in one short-lived M&M game before, and my Bug Swarm Scientist got knocked out in the first round of our first fight, leading me to believe that perhaps I could use some help. As such, I wanted to ask some questions before I moved to officially submit for the judges (I'll list them in the next post). General advice on the build, and fluff, is also appreciated. In general, with this character I want a long arc of self-improvement (I also thought it'd be fun and unusual to not only not boost his starting ability scores, but to actually lower them) as he recovers and rebuilds himself, coming out the other side as a better person than his old, greedy, vain self, and the occasional treasure hunt/tomb raid to break up the various city adventures. Not all the time, as that rather defeats the point of the setting, but I gather that there's already a few treasure hunters around? Anyway, here's what I have: Player Name: Blarghy Character Name: Relic (unless something better comes along) Power Level: 10 (150/150PP) Trade-Offs: +2 Attack / -2 Damage (Strike), -2 Attack / +2 Damage (Shotgun), -1 Defense / +1 Toughness Unspent Power Points: 0 Progress To Bronze Status: 0/30 In Brief: Half Constantine, half Indiana Jones. Residence: Currently homeless Base of Operations: See above Catchphrase: “Hmm…now that’s interesting.” Alternate Identity: Landon Hadley (A name I mostly picked at random after numerous searches to find something that no one has already used here. Christ, you people have accumulated a lot of characters over the years.) Identity: Public Birthplace: Alternate Dimension Freedom City (probably) Occupation: Globetrotting treasure hunter (formerly) and professional hobo (currently) Affiliations: None yet. Family: None, at least in this universe (and perhaps not in any other) Description: Age: Somewhere between thirty and eighty (interdimensional time travel can be terribly confusing) (DoB: June 28, 1985) Apparent Age: A very unhealthy thirty Gender: Male Ethnicity: Caucasian Height: 5’ 10” Weight: 92 lbs. Eyes: Amber Hair: Honey Brown On first inspection, and probably still afterward, Landon has got to be a heavy drug addict. His build is best described as “wasting,” his eyes are sunken and dark-rimmed, his cheeks gaunt, his skin uncomfortably pale. His clothes—jeans, worn sneakers, a faded T-shirt, and sometimes a hoodie that fondly remembers its days as an industrial grease rag—can only guess at when they were last washed. The outfit’s still an upgrade from his previous tattered rags, which he burned upon arrival in Freedom City. Of note, when he chooses to display them, are his tattoos. They tend to attract attention, which he enjoyed in the old days, but now finds inconvenient, so a simple use of Morph keeps them hidden. Some of them move; others change color. In no particular order: Around his right forearm between elbow and wrist coils a black mamba. Most of the time it sleeps, lightly rustling at most, but in combat or other moments of agitation, it stretches out across his whole arm, tail on his shoulder and head on the back of his hand, teeth flashing with every punch. Both his palms have a series of stacked rings crossed by straight lines, in the manner of scope crosshairs. The lines travel up each of his fingers and thumbs and, the thickest, down his wrists. Use of his Magical Array turns these black marks to an orange-gold color, similar to his eyes. Upon both his ankles, he has flurries of black feathers. When he Air Walks, they come to life and flutter across his skin. His right pectoral is decorated with a jeweler’s diamond. Any harm Landon suffers causes it to shudder and crack, until he recovers. His face has two sets of tattoos: in the center of his forehead, a single decorative letter in whatever language he’s currently reading (an English A by default, Scarlet Letter style). Beside and encircling his right eye, a crescent moon flanked by three dots. Landon's Magical Awareness is usually active, and thus a shiny blue; the black dots change to follow its example when in use. Finally, at the back of his neck, between the base and his hairline, is a bizarre, constantly-mutating, dark blob that resembles the child of an octopus and a lava lamp, with a furry spider somewhere up the family tree. Like the snake on his arm, it normally sleeps stationary, but occasionally this token from his unfortunate travels makes its way around the side of his head and looks at him from his peripheral vision, right in the corner of his eye socket. Landon hates that. Power Descriptions: Spell-casting is a relatively minor part of his daily life at the moment, but when he does so, Landon requires time-consuming hand signals that demand most of his concentration. His other magical abilities are more continuous. The snake on his arm powers his Strike/Improved Critical, the diamond his Protection, the feathers his Air Walking, the letter on his forehead his Comprehension, his eye decoration his Super-Senses, and lastly, the creature on his neck, his impressive Will Save and its Ultimate Effort. Once upon a time, Landon used a number of magical artifacts, but the only Device he still owns is his decorative Ottoman firearm. It isn’t technically a shotgun, but when this silver-laden weapon, studded with sapphires, roars to life in a torrent of blue fire, most people call it what it seems. Simply having the weapon in his hands (instead of the Dimensional Pocket in which he usually stores it) gives him the supernatural power to inspire fear. Said Dimensional Pocket opens like a zipper in the air. In years past, it was much larger (Landon once used it to store an entire ancient Chinese junk and all its treasure), but like the wizard himself, it has dwindled to pitiful proportions. History: Landon was (probably) born in a Freedom City much different from the one he now finds himself in. He always found it rather dull as a child; any superheroes of note were only passing through, and even that was sufficiently rare to dominate the news. His childhood was pleasant, but again, dull. His parents—Albert and Beatrice, working class—loved him. He had a younger sister and brother, Pearl and Thomas, who grew up to become an electrician and truck driver, respectively. Landon’s claim to fame was an above-average intelligence sufficient to carry him onto college, where he took a Bachelor’s in History, planning to become a professor someday. That was that, until by chance, he and a group of friends attended a stage magician’s show one weekend. In a world where real sorcerers exist, however rare and distant, the tricks were rather quaint. Hours later and after several drinks, they turned to laughable. Landon amused himself and his friends with some mocking finger-wiggling at the bar…and tossed a nearby table through the window. A decade later, now Mister (sometimes honorary Doctor) Hadley to all but his family and closest friends, Landon plundered ancient tombs, studied grimoires in languages either dead or unspoken by any human before him, and occasionally even fended off villainous threats of all stripes. He had more wealth than he could spend, and he was very free with his money. He had more fame than he wanted, and he very much liked fame. He was even briefly considered as a candidate for Earth’s next Master Mage, until the title’s current owner deemed him a bit too selfish and preoccupied for such a responsibility. Landon didn’t mind; he far preferred exploring and treasure hunting. Life was good. Life was better than good. Life was better than better than good. He sailed through it, year after year, deliriously happy with his fortune (he had to admit he was a little greedy), basking in the adoration of his family and fans (he had to admit he was more than a little vain), almost ready to settle down with a woman he loved and who loved him in return, until everything went horribly wrong. She told him not to go, his love, Claire Ashelmoore. But she always had her bad feelings right before his trips to distant lands. True, this was noteworthy even by Landon’s standards—a journey not just across continents, or even planets, but entire dimensions, to search for the fabled Library of Nitos, cast adrift between Space-That-Was-Not-Space—but he wanted to end his career, or at least begin to wind it down, on a brilliant note. He was approaching fifty, and though still in excellent shape, retirement and perhaps a few apprentices to carry on his legacy were both beginning to sound very appealing. He gathered his best artifacts. He triple-checked his calculations as he wove the portal, painstakingly studied. Leaving was easy. Coming back, not so much. Landon remembers decades of plane-hopping, from one terrible, inhospitable, alien realm to the next. In some, there was no air to breathe, not in the sense of oxygen, but because the matter itself took no form that he could describe as gaseous, liquid, or solid. In others, he could not see, not even with his magical vision, nor hear, nor feel, nor touch, nor taste, but fumbled and floated in desperation to find or create the next doorway out. He only survived starvation and other necessities at all thanks to his prudent Dimensional Pocket stockpiles, and when they ran out, very unpleasant foraging. But worst of all, his prison for the last several years—how many, he cannot say—was a place of utter darkness, home to monsters that found him amusing or tasty, or some other emotion without any human equivalent. They kept him captive, a source of magic and simple living energy that they had never experienced before. At last, he found a way to half-communicate with one of the smallest, a creature denied its place at the Table of Landon. During their next moment of solitude, he grafted it to himself, let it feed from him, and in return, it guided him to freedom. He also received an unexpected perk when it acted as a kind of mental firewall from attacks on his psyche, but the wizard would still prefer to pull the creature from his skin if they were not bound so tightly. And so, he returned through the final portal, to a world he thought he knew. His body and mind both had degraded drastically thanks to his torments, yet somehow, he was younger than before he left, let alone accounting for the time he spent “abroad.” The years had wound back. But also, the world he knew was different, sometimes in small ways, and sometimes in very painful ones. He and his family, far as he can tell, never existed here. Neither does his Claire. On a very minor bright note, the tiniest of consolation prizes, Freedom City is a lot more interesting than he remembered. And he must wonder, is that all this is: a trick of memory? Did he lose pieces of his sanity during his travels? Did his captors deliberately muddle his mind, change his history, for their own, unknowable reasons? He’s certain they tampered with him to a degree; many of his old spells are now absent from his brain, holes he can feel like cavities in a tooth. He watched them torn from him and devoured. Has he returned to his old home after all, and the differences are all in his head? Landon isn’t sure which possibility is worse. Either way, he’s here to stay, because he knows the road behind him, and he won’t be taking it a second time. Personality & Motivation: At the moment, Landon is a tragic, bewildered man searching for a handle on his life. He isn’t sure what to do or where to go; Freedom City suffices as a small anchor of familiarity, even if the differences he finds are inevitably painful. He might not realize it himself, but he’s in dire need of purpose and direction. Assuming he can find both, he might, luck willing, regain some of his old self. Once, he was a happy, optimistic man, ready to help others not just for the praise it earned him—something he certainly enjoyed—but for the goodness of a deed itself. Hopefully he can make this city, this world, his new home, as his previous one is almost certainly lost to him. Powers & Tactics: While he may be a wizard, Landon hardly ever casts magic during battle. He’s a skilled hand-to-hand fighter, and at range, he has his trusty shotgun. His martial arts mostly boils down to very precise aim, as even a light jab from his augmented fist can roll most people across the floor (and a good thing too, considering his poor physical condition these days). He’s practiced at bobbing and weaving, less so at avoiding attacks he can’t see to dodge, and yet surprisingly durable for a malnourished twig-man (again, thanks to the magic engraved on his skin). If he can’t reach an enemy, or won’t risk a melee with them, he relies on his more powerful but less accurate firearm. Combat, though, is just a secondary strength. What Landon really enjoys is exploration and study. He was easily one of his world’s most accomplished magical scholars (maybe one of this world’s too), and although his other areas of Knowledge have degraded thanks to the differences between this dimension and his (or perhaps his tampered memories), he claims a wealth of many skills gathered during a lifetime of adventure. Complications: Greedy: Some things never change, and Landon may be a traumatized shell of his former self, but he still loves to find and collect precious things. In particular he’s fond of magical artifacts, but anything of value—historical or monetary—might pique his interest. He’s more likely to fall for a trap baited with such things, and while he wouldn’t, say, ignore a clearly endangered civilian to go scoop up some ancient relic, he could easily get distracted and be delayed arriving to where he’s needed. Furthermore, mind control or social skills attempting to convince him to do something are more likely to succeed if they take his tendencies into account (penalties to his counter-rolls varying, to be decided upon by the GM). Functional Alcoholic: Landon isn’t addicted per se, but when he drinks, it’s to excess and for all the wrong reasons. He feels justified in wanting to drown his sorrows after what he’s been through, especially if something reminds him of what he’s lost. He won’t show up drunk to a mission, but enemies, deliberately or not, could catch him vulnerable if they found him at the right time. No Documentation: From his investigations thus far, Landon never existed in this world, and he certainly doesn’t have his wallet or passport. Combined with his ragged appearance, most authorities will probably make some quick assumptions about him. He avoids police for this reason. A whole host of other problems are also possible; it’s very inconvenient to live in the modern world without a paper trail. Phobia: Things that remind Landon of his trip through the alien dimensions will, as expected, trigger years of pent-up fears. Possibilities are endless (though hopefully not constant during all his adventures). A small, normal spider shouldn’t bother him, but a big, furry, dark one might provoke a Will save, and a giant mutated creature that should not be could do so at penalty. Actually encountering monsters from beyond the veil of humanity once more should negate his Will bonus entirely, and specifically meeting one of his old captors would be an automatic fail as he flees screaming into the night. Abilities: -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2: -12PP Strength: 8 (-1) Dexterity: 8 (-1) Constitution: 8 (-1) Intelligence: 8 (-1) Wisdom: 8 (-1) Charisma: 8 (-1) Combat: 16 + 8 = 24PP Initiative: -1 Attack: +8 Melee, +8 Ranged, +12 Strike Grapple: +7 Defense: +9 (+4 Base, +5 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed Knockback: -5 Saving Throws: 6 + 6 + 16 = 28PP Toughness: +11 Fortitude: +5 Reflex: +5 Will: +15 Skills: 148R = 37PP Bluff 10 (+9) Concentration 15 (+14) Diplomacy 10 (+9) Drive 10 (+9) Gather Information 10 (+9) Intimidate 10 (+9) Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 15 (+14) Knowledge (Art) 6 +5 Knowledge (History) 6 +5 Notice 10 (+9) Pilot 10 (+9) Search 10 (+9) Sense Motive 10 (+9) Stealth 10 (+9) Survival 6 (+5) Feats: 15PP Assessment Attack Specialization (Strike) 2 Dodge Focus 5 Evasion 2 Improved Critical (Strike) 2 Ritualist Ultimate Effort 2 (Knowledge (Arcane Lore), Will Save) Powers (All Magical): 62PP Comprehend 1 (Read All Languages) [2] Device 5 (Ancient Ottoman Shotgun) (Flaws: Easy-To-Lose) [15] Blast 12 [24] Fearsome Presence [1] Dimensional Pocket 1 (100lb Capacity) (Flaws: Storage Only) [1] Magical Array 16 (32PP, Flaws: Action (Full Round), Distracting, Feats: Alternate Power 6) [14] BP: Animate Objects 7 (Extras: Horde, Feats: Progression 4 (25 Constructs)) [32] AP: Astral Form 6 (20 Miles) (Feats: Selective, Subtle) [32] AP: Create Object 10 (Energy Bubbles/Domes) (Extras: Impervious, Flaws: Duration (Concentrate), Feats: Affects Insubstantial 2, Progression 7 (1,000' Cubed), Selective, Stationary, Tether) [32] AP: Healing 10 (Extras: Total, Feats: Persistent, Regrowth) [32] AP: Illusion 9 (All Senses, Flaws: Phantasms, Feats: Progression 5 (250' Radius)) [32] AP: Teleport 10 (Earth to Moon) (Extras: Portal, Flaws: Long-Range, Feats: Progression 2 (25’ Portals)) [32] AP: Telekinesis 15 (Feats: Improved Range, Precise) [32] Morph 1 (Hide Tattoos) [1] Protection 12 [12] Strike 8 [8] Super-Movement 2 (Air Walking 2) [4] Super-Senses 5 (Awareness (Magical), Darkvision 2, Infravision, Ultravision) [5] Drawbacks: +4PP Impoverished (1PP) Nightmares (2PP) Power Loss (Magical Array): Must have free use of hand movement to cast (Frequency: Uncommon, Intensity: Minor) (1PP) DC Block ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC 14 Toughness Damage -1 (Physical) Strike Touch DC 23 Toughness Damage 8 (Physical) Shotgun (Blast) Ranged DC 27 Toughness Damage 12 (Energy) Totals: Abilities (-12) + Combat (24) + Saving Throws (28) + Skills (37) + Feats (15) + Powers (62) - Drawbacks (4) = 150/150 Power Points