Geez3r

Alright, I updated the Equipment section.  I added a few odds and ends to give Maxima a full on utility belt, and the Commlink is now a properly built Communication power. 

Martial Artist – PL 13 (210pp)

Abilities: 14 + 14 + 14 + 2 + 6 + 4 = 54PP

Strength: 24/ 26  (+7/+8) 

Dexterity: 24/26 (+7/+8)

Constitution: 24/26 (+7/+8)

Intelligence: 12 (+1)

Wisdom: 16 (+3)

Charisma: 14 (+2)

Combat: 24 + 24 = 48PP

Initiative: +15/+16

Attack: +12, +18 Melee

Grapple: +25/+27

Defense: +18 (+12 Base, +6 Dodge Focus), +6 Flat-Footed

Knockback: -3/-4 with Powers

Saving Throws: 3 + 7 + 6 = 16PP

Toughness: +7/+8 (+7/+8 Con)

Fortitude: +10/+11 (+7/+8 Con, +3)

Reflex: +14/+15 (+7/+8 Dex, +7), Evasion 2

Will: +9 (+3 Wis, +6)

Skills: 120R = 30PP

Acrobatics 15 (+22/+23)

Diplomacy 12 (+14)

Drive 9 (+16/+17)

Intimidate 12 (+14)

Knowledge (arcane lore) 9 (+10)

Knowledge (Theology & Philosophy) 9 (+10)

Language 2 (1 Native, Plus 2 others)

Notice 11 (+14)

Sense Motive 11 (+14)

Sleight of Hand 15 (+22/+23)

Stealth 15 (+22/+23)

Feats: 49 PP

Acrobatic Bluff

Attack Focus (Melee) 6

Challenge (Acrobatic Bluff as a Move Action)

Dazing Attack

Defensive Attack

Defensive Strike

Defensive Throw

Dodge Focus 6

Elusive Target

Evasion 2

Equipment 2

Favored Opponent (Ninjas)

Fearless

Follow up Strike

Grappling Finesse

Hide in Plain Sight

Improved Critical (unarmed) 2

Improved Grab

Improved Grapple

Improved Initiative 2

Improved Throw

Improved Trip

Luck 3

Move-By Action

Paralyzing Attack

Power Attack

Redirect

Set Up

Stunning Attack

Takedown Attack 2

Uncanny Dodge (visual, auditory) 2

Equipment 2 Ranks - 10 EP

Commlink [1EP]

Motorcycle [9EP]

Powers: 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 3 = 13PP

Enhanced Strength 2 [2pp]

Enhanced Constitution 2 [2pp]

Enhanced Dexterity 2 [2pp]

Speed 1 [1pp]

Leaping 1 (x2 distance) [1pp]

Super-Strength 1 [2pp]

Unarmed Supremacy 3 [3pp]

Drawbacks: (-0) = -0PP

Abilities (54) + Combat (48) + Saving Throws (16) + Skills (30) + Feats (49) + Powers (13) - Drawbacks (00) = 210/210 Power Points

After a bit of a hiatus, I figured I'd at least round out the last series of builds I'd left hanging. So, in my own personal head cannon, the difference between PL 12 and PL 13 is what sets apart maximum human capability and those who have begun to transcend those limitations. That means you're going to start seeing some low key powers crop up in this set of builds. Like, even in comic book land, you can't claim to be a normal person, and also be PL 13, Karate Kid I'm looking at you. To that end, I gave this newest variation a bit of low level powers that pretty much just bump up normal human abilities to the low end of the super-human spectrum. With their +18 attack bonus and Unarmed Supremacy 3, they essentially can never roll lower than a 21 on basic attack roll, meaning they can punch anyone with a +11 Defense bonus or lower in the face any time they want, which is everyone that's not wearing brightly colored spandex and most of the people who are. Nothing too much else to say about this version, you're just better across the board.

 

And then there was another new arrival to the group, one who toward over everyone of the teens.  Giang looked up at Maxima as she introduced herself and gave the older heroine a small bow.  "Greetings Maxima.  It is an honor to meet you.  I am Tusnami."

"Good evening, and Merry Christmas Mz...er, Maxima!" he said with a quick recovery of his bright grin, offering her his much smaller hand "I'm El Heraldo, champion of Puerto Rico! You're really huge," Subito added, eyes sparkling with new excitement "Could you make yourself even bigger, if you wanted to? Not a lotta people who can go giant in Freedom City, I gotta say. Where you from?"

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Arcturus, Tsunami, El Heraldo." replied Maxima as each of the teenaged heroes introduced themselves, alternatively shaking hands and attempting to bow as the situation warranted.  It was El Heraldo that got her going however.  "Born and raised here in Freedom.  And this is about as big as I get.  Giantomorphism tends to be a rarer super-powered trait.  Most tend to only be able to increase their stature to 15-20ft while retaining a mostly human form.  The square-cube law states that when an object undergoes a proportional increase in size, its new volume is proportional to the cube of the multiplier and its new surface area is proportional to the square of the multiplier.  The first problem that will occur is the dissipation of oxygen across the body, which effectively causes suffocation even if the subject's lungs and blood vessels are working properly.  The heart will attempt to compensate for this by beating faster, but it's exceeds the normal rhythm of the heart and will soon induce cardiac arrest. 

For this reason, you'll find that the larger gigantomorphs almost always have the source of their power lie in some form of mysticism as it can bypass these ordinary restrictions.  I postulate that some form of life-sustaining spell is added into the mix, much like a given spell might allow a witch or wizard breath underwater.  Not being a practitioner however, all I have are hypothesis.  Now biological giantomorphs on the other hand tend to have some RNA....aaaaannd I'm going to stop talking now." said Maxima catching herself before she went into a long rant explaining in graphic detail how most giantomorphs (herself included) had their skeletons grow first, tearing apart their bodies in the process, before all the meat of their body grew back to fill in the gaps, hopefully before their nervous system finished. 

 

Player Name: Geez3r
Character Name: Maxima
Power Level: 11/13 – 195/202PP
Trade-Offs: -5 Attack // +5 Damage; -5 Defense // +5 Toughness
Unspent Power Points: 7
Progress To Bronze Status: 22/30
 
In Brief: Super smart mutant experiments on herself for the double whammy of SCIENCE! & JUSTICE!
 
Alternate Identity: Dr. Cassandra Steel, aka: Cassie
Identity: Secret
Birthplace: Freedom City
Occupation: Scientist / Researcher
Affiliations: Grant Conglomerates 
Family: Alexander & Lisa Steels (father & mother respectively)
 
Description:
Age: 29 (DOB: November 19, 1984)
Apparent Age: Same
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Height: 5'8†/ 8'8â€
Weight: 165 lbs / 8,000 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Dirty Blonde / Black
 
Cassandra Steel is a relatively tall woman with a toned and moderately muscular frame. She often attempts to contain her bushy, dirty-blonde hair into a pony tail, with varying degrees of success. When she's working in the lab, there will often be a few pens and pencils tucked behind her ear or in her ponytail for later use. Her dark brown eyes are usually focused intently on the task at hand. Those that know her joke that she has a mischievous or even slightly mad look about her, especially when she's deep in her work. She tends to dress rather conservatively, rarely having a skirt above her knee or wearing a shirt with a low neckline. The one caveat to that is that Cassandra often prefers to wear clothes with short or no sleeves.
 
As Maxima, Cassandra undergoes such a radical transformation that she doesn't even have to bother with a mask. She quite literally gains three feet in height and puts on a few thousand pounds of muscle; the logistics of which sent even her super powered brain reeling. Her facial structure also changes. Her cheekbones become more defined, as does her jawline, but her other features become more rounded. In addition, her hair turns get black, and loses its bushy quality becoming sleek and straight.
 
Her costume is based on the singlet worn by Olympic weightlifters. It is primarily a light blue, but has a large white strip running down her front and down her back, as well as two smaller stripes on the side of each leg. The boots she wears follow the same color scheme.
 
Power Descriptions:
 
Cassandra's powers started out as a genetic mutation. She was stronger and tougher than her peers, but far and away from an unstoppable powerhouse. But that wasn't enough for Cassandra, so she took matters into her own hands. Over the years, through genetic and chemical manipulation, she augmented her existing powers into something far greater.
 
The most notable result of this experimentation is her Maxima form. Cassandra is able to temporarily dramatically increase her size and stature for an exponential increase in her strength and durability. While it may be true that this form came about due to chemical manipulation, it doesn't require Cassandra to take any sort of drug or potion to catalyze the transformation at this point.
 
 
History:
 
Cassandra is a native of Freedom City. She was the daughter of Alexander and Lisa Steels, the former being a professor at the Hanover Institute of Technology, and the later being a lab tech for AEGIS. So it would come as no surprise to the average onlooker that they were the intellectual type, and wanted the same for their daughter. They always took a very active role in her education, and did everything except give her written tests.
 
To be fair, it worked out quite well for them. Cassandra developed into quite a brilliant little girl. She was insatiably curious about pretty much everything. However, as her parents did their level best to ensure that the majority of Cassandra's free time was taken up with something educational, this could have very well been a way for Cassandra to try to interact with the outside world, or at least have some awareness of it.
 
Cassandra was the quiet and shy nerd at school, and didn't have many friends. She figured that was just her lot in life, but that would change in middle school. Every year they always did those presidential fitness tests, and every year Cassandra was at best marginally average. But in 6^th grade, Cassandra was suddenly the best in the class, hands down. When they were doing pull-up, the gym teacher had to tell her to stop because Cassandra had already hit them limit.
 
Cassandra got a whole lot of odd looks after that. But for the first time in a long while, there was something Cassandra was good at that didn't involve a book. And moreover, she didn't have to be this shy, nerdy girl her parents wanted her to be. In the bit of spare time that she did get, Cassandra began to experiment to see what the limits of her powers were.
 
Around this same time, Cassandra also noticed another change, she was getting smarter. She had always been an egghead, but now she was getting a solid 100 on every test without effort, and she was practically able to recite parts of her textbook verbatim. These two events lead to Cassandra's fascination with biology and chemistry. She wanted to know what was happening in her body and if there was a way to improve upon it.
 
However, a teenager has access to precisely none of the components for conducting such research. For the next several years, Cassandra breezed through school, while slowly building the groundwork for her future tests, coming up with various hypothesis and theories as to how her powers work. When she was finally admitted into the prestigious Hanover Institute of Technology, she was able to begin her experiments in earnest.
 
Over the course of her college career, Cassandra gained a great deal of clarity on how her powers worked., and she even began to create formulas and compounds to augment her developing powers. This eventually gave birth to her signature ability to “Max-out†and dramatically increase her stature and power.
 
After college, she went had a few part time internships here and there, but she didn't get her big break until she signed on with Grant Conglomerates.  Sure, Grant Conglomerates' subsidiaries have had a few run-ins with the law in the past, but either out of eagerness or naivety, Cassandra signed on the dotted line. She was fresh out of college, and here she was being offered a rather prestigious position at a company that is at the forefront of superhuman biology. It was practically too good to be true. Well actually it was too good to be true.
 
Certain higher ups in the company know of Cassandra's abilities and that she augmented those abilities with drug-treatments. She was hired with the full intent of being shipped off to an expendable subsidiary, and being abducted to be experimented on under the cover of “an unfortunate industrial accident†that tragically claimed the life of a young scientist. There was just one problem: the defunct project that was going to be scrapped for this industrial accident? Cassandra made it work. The product being made was a compound to increase bone density. The goal of the project is to reverse the damage done by osteoporosis... oh and if was used on healthy individuals it could likely make them stronger and more resilient to injury, but the former sounds better in a press release.
 
In a moment of pragmatic clarity rarely seen inside shady boardrooms, the executives called off the abduction of Cassandra. They reasoned that instead of trying to forcefully get the information from Cassandra, they could use her expertise in the field to wholly and legitimately make a mountain of money. They realized that a compound to increase one's bone density is something Cassandra likely had to take at some point. And that if they kept putting her on projects like this, she would slowly but surely give them her formula piece by piece. All the while, building up goodwill with a hero, who in all likely hood would go to bat for them if any of their seedier operations came to light.
 
To that end, Cassandra was placed in a special operations group, that was a think tank for Grant Conglomerates subsidiaries. They would assist when projects reached a stumbling block. It also gave Grant Conglomerates' top scientists time to document and study Cassandra, as well as give them iron clad reasons to pick her brain on all matter of subjects.
 
To date, Cassandra has noticed precisely none of this, after all, she's just in it for the science. She has now worked for GC for nearly two years, and has become very successful financially. She has added quite a few patents to her name, and has used her funds to further her own research during her down time. She recently made an acquisition of an old research facility for one of GC's subsidiaries', which was shut down due to various health and safety violations. Which to Cassandra meant that she could get it cheaply and no one would pay any mind to her doing extensive renovations to it. The top levels are now her living spaces, with some of the labs still being functional. The lower levels, from the outside appear to be decommissioned, but Cassandra has instead converted it to a headquarters for her activities as Maxima.
 
 
Personality & Motivation:
 
Cassandra is the type of person that prefers to set their own goals regardless of what society says. She can be quite the risk taker while in the pursuit of her goals, especially when she believes she's on the verge of a breakthrough. She was never much of the social butterfly, so suddenly being thrown into the spotlight as a super-hero has thrown her considerably off her game. As such, she will try to duck the spot light as often as possible. Which can be hard as she wants to start meeting up with the other more experienced heroes for some tips and advice. She wanted to try and go about being a hero solo, but well, you only need one bad experience with atomically powered gorilla robots to shake that notion out of your head. The only time she really opens up and starts talking is when she's discussing something scientific, at which point the difficulty becomes getting her to stop.
 
Most people would consider her to be a bit of a health nut. She always watches what she eats, bringing precisely measured meals for lunch whenever she's at work. She's been known to go to the gym almost daily, and most certainly going jogging on a daily basis. A few brave souls from her friends and coworkers have tried to go with her one on occasion or another, and she has left everyone gasping for breath on a street corner. This actually servers 3 purposes. Firstly, she actually is just a bit of a health nut, and really does enjoy exercising. Secondly, maintaining a precise diet and exercising daily are key to keeping her powers in check. Last but not least, it gives her a perfectly legitimate excuse for going on patrol as Maxima, after all by this point no one even bats an eye when Cassandra goes missing for hours and comes back winded and sore.
 
She is firm supporter of almost any scientific endeavor, feeling that the pursuit of knowledge is one of the most, if not the most, noble of aspirations for humanity. And she'll defend that notion zealously, to the point of being flat out rude to people. She believes science is the way we can craft a better tomorrow, but only if we let it take its course. She took up the mantle of a hero in part because she feels that too much of the world's scientific resources are being taken up by the war against super villains. She wants to do her part to end this conflict so scientists the world over can get back to solving problems that better society.
 
 
Powers & Tactics:
 
Cassandra is able to radically increase her size and strength practically with a thought. She has dubbed this “Maxing out†for rather obvious reasons given her superhero identity. Maxima is still a novice crime fighter, as reflected by her abilities. Her saving grace is that she is so strong and tough, she is able to afford to be a little rough around the edges. Her main tactic is quite essentially to pummel the bad guys into submission without any real frills. In her civilian ID, Cassandra has taken up some self defense classes and greco-roman wrestling to supplement her rather lacking skill set, but as of yet they haven't made a significant impact on her combat style.
 
However, Cassandra's greatest unexpected strength is her intelligence. Most of her foes think they can easily outsmart her. Boy are they surprised when she starts spouting technobabble. She's hoping that interaction with the other heroes will help supplement her skill set.
 
 
Complications:
 
Identity: Secret.
Not all it's cracked up to be: Growth and Density have cost reductions to indicate that sometimes being extra big and heavy isn't all that fun. GM's are free to exploit that whenever they want without compensating with a Hero Point.
Chemical Dependency: Maxima uses a chemical regimen to augment her powers, and also to keep them in check. If left devoid of these treatments over a period of time, or if a large concentration of other chemicals or formulas make it into her system, it can throw her powers out of whack.
Corporate Puppet: Unbeknownst to her, Cassandra's identity and powers are known to the higher ups in Grant Conglomerate's science division, and they are pumping her for information reguarding super-human biology so that they can weaponize it.
Blind to the Obvious: While Maxima is extremely intelligent, but also rather naïve and not so good with the social graces. That combination means that she can miss an obvious clue or hint that's staring her right in the face. That coincidentally sets up for an excellent eureka moment down the line.
 
 
 
Abilities: 12 + 0 + 12 + 10 + 10 + 0 = 44PP
Strength: 22/42 (+6/+16)
Dexterity: 10 (+0)
Constitution: 22/32 (+6/+11)
Intelligence: 20/30 (+5/+10)
Wisdom: 20 (+5)
Charisma: 10 (+0)
 
 
Combat: 8 + 8 = 16PP
Initiative: +10
Attack: +4, +6 Melee (-1 Size Modifier)
Grapple: +12, +31 w/powers
Defense: +6 (+4 Base, +2 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed (-1 Size Modifier)
Knockback: -2, -18 w/powers
 
 
Saving Throws: 2 + 2 + 3 = 7PP
Toughness: +6/+16 (+6/+11 Con, +5 Protection) 10 Impervious
Fortitude: +8/+13 (+6/+11 Con, +2)
Reflex: +2 (+0 Dex, +2)
Will: +8 (+5 Wis, +3)
 
 
Skills: 104R = 26PP
Computers 5 (+15, +17 w/tools)
Craft (Chemical) 10 (+20)^{Skill Mastery}
Diplomacy 4 (+4)
Disable Device 5 (+15, +17 w/tools)
Intimidate 10 (+12, +14 Maxed Out)
Investigate 5 (+15, +17 w/tools)^{Skill Mastery}
Knowledge (Business) 5 (+15)^{Skill Mastery}
Knowledge (Civics) 5 (+15)^{Skill Mastery}
Knowledge (Life Sciences) 10 (+20)^{Skill Mastery}
Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 5 (+15)^{Skill Mastery}
Knowledge (Technology) 5 (+15)^{Skill Mastery}
Medicine 10 (+15, +17 w/tools)^{Skill Mastery}
Notice 10 (+15)
Sense Motive 10 (+15)
Search 5 (+15)
 
 
Feats: 16PP
All Out Attack
Attack Focus (Melee) 2
Benefit (Wealth 3)
Dodge Focus 2
Eidetic Memory
Equipment 12 (free from Player Rewards)
Interpose
Luck
Power Attack
Quick Change

Skill Mastery 2 (Craft (Chemical), Investigate, Knowledge (Business), Knowledge (Civics), Knowledge (Life Sciences), Knowledge (Physical Sciences), Knowledge (Technology), Medicine) [2pp]
Speed of Thought
 
Equipment (60/60 EP)
 
Utility Belt & Other Gadgets
Commlink - Communication 5 (radio; 5 mile radius) [5ep]
Handcuffs [0ep]
Camera [1ep]
Binoculars [1ep]
Concealable Microphone [1ep]
Mini-Tracer [1ep]
Flashlight [1ep]
Masterwork Tools 4 (Computers, Disable Device, Investigation, Medicine) [4ep]
 
Headquarters – Re-purposed Grant Conglomerate's Research Laboratory [25ep]
 
Toughness: +15 (2ep)
Size: Large (2ep)
Features: Combat Simulator 2, Communications, Computer, Concealed, Defense System 4 (see below), Fire Prevention System, Gym, Holding Cells (+50% Toughness), Infirmary, Laboratory, Library, Living Space, Pool, Power System, Security System 2, Workshop (chemical) [21ep]
 
Defense Systems: All have a +10 Attack Bonus
1 – Snare 10 – Glue Guns
2 – Stun 7 Extras: General Area Burst; Drawbacks: Full Power – Sleeping Gas
3 – Obscure 4 (Visual & Auditory, 50ft radius) – Peristant Flash Bangs
4 – Blast 10 – Deterrent Lasers
 
Shared Headquarters – Average Joe's [21ep]
 
Toughness: +15 (2ep)
 
Size: Large (2ep)
 
Features: Combat Simulator 2, Communications, Computer, Concealed, Defense System 2 (see below), Fire Prevention System, Garage, Gym, Infirmary, Library, Living Space, Pool, Power System, Security System 2 [18ep]
 
Defense Systems: All have a +10 Attack Bonus
 
1 – Snare 10 – Bola Launchers
 
2 – Blast 10 – “Stun Gunsâ€
 
 
 
Powers: 72 + 10 +1 + 2 + 1 = 86PP
 
Container 12 (Max Out Form; 12 + 18 + 6 + 12 + 7 + 3 + 2 = 60pp) Extras: Continuous Duration [72pp]
Growth 4 Extras: Permanent (+0), {12pp}
+8 Strength
+4 Constitution
+2 Intimidate
+4 Grapple Checks
+5 Carrying Strength
-1 Combat Size modifier
-4 Stealth Checks
Density 6 Extras: Permanent (+0) {18pp}
+12 Strength
+ 3 Protection, +3 Impervious
Super-Strength 2
Immovable 2
x5 Mass
Enhanced Constitution 6 {6pp}
Protection 5 Extras: Impervious Toughness 7 {12pp}
Super-Strength 3 Power Feats: Shockwave {7pp}
Leaping 3 {3pp}
Speed 2 {2pp}
 
Enhanced Intelligence 10 [10pp]
Leaping 1 [1pp]
Quickness 4 (x25 speed) Flaws: Limited to mental actions (-1) [2pp]
Speed 1 [1pp]

 
 
Drawbacks: (-0) = -0PP
 
 
DC Block:
 

ATTACK                     RANGE        SAVE                                        EFFECT

Unarmed                    Touch           DC 20 Toughness (Staged)     Damage (Physical)

Unarmed, Powered    Touch           DC 30 Toughness (Staged)      Damage (Physical)

Shockwave                 50ft cone     DC 25 Toughness (Staged)       Damage (Physical)

                                                       DC 20 Reflex save for Half

 
Abilities (44) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (07) + Skills (26) + Feats (16) + Powers (86) - Drawbacks (00) = 195/202 Power Points
 
NOTES
 
While Maxed out, Maxima has an effective Carrying Capacity of 70.
Light Load – 64 Tons
Medium Load – 125 Tons
Heavy Load – 200 Tons
Maximum Load – 400 Tons
 
Her Speed is 3, for 50mph, or 500fpr.
 
Her Leaping is 4 (x25 height).

Maxima

>Bright Lights and Good Cheer  (9)

Arcturus

 

"Errant! Happy Holidays!" He grinned widely and almost gave him a hug. He was certain that was a bad idea, so he just waved as he was more or less dragged over to their group. Having spent some time with Errant, he felt like he understood the quiet psychic a little better. Errant valued his privacy and personal space. If anything, Errant was the one psychic he knew that he could trust.

 

"You guys have definitely been keeping busy," he said with a nod. "You know you can always call me if you need anything, yeah? The Academy's got my number in last year's directory, and I'm pretty sure they have Parkhurst's number around for magically inclined students..."

Maxima and Crusader exchanged a few more pleaseanties before they parted ways to mingle with the other heroes in the crowd.  Maxima took a few moments to eat what was on her plate before swapping the dish out for a glass of sparkling apple cider.  Her conversation with Velocity kept playing over in her head, about how she started out as a super-hero while she was still in high school. It got her curious what it must be like to be a teenage super-hero.  Sure she had powers back in the day, but fighting crime never even crossed her mind.  She wanted a little more insight into the matter and figured she would invite herself to chat with some of the younger heroes that were present. 

Maxima made her way over to the group, stooping low so she was only slightly towering before introducing herself.  "Hello.  I don't believe I've met any of you before.  My name's Maxima, I'm just making the rounds, introducing myself to everyone.  And who might you all be?"

Velocity

 

Velocity could not help but smile slightly as Maxima dropped down to one knee in order to be closer down to the level of everyone else.  She could imagine being so tall was at times very inconvenient.  But the muscular heroine certainly looked formidable.

 

"So, I know Silver pretty well," the speedster began, giving her friend a small smile, "what about you two?"  She continued, glancing at first Maxima and then Crusader.  "You been at the superhero thing for very long?"

 

"Myself, it has been...wow, seven years or so now, but then I got started when I was still in high school."

 

Crusader

 

"About... three years, technically." Crusader had to seriously think about it, nodding slowly. Maxima's height didn't seem to bother him; if it did, he didn't show any real outward sign of noticing. "The mantle just sort of fell into my lap from the Crusader before me... and even then, that was after college. I can't help but feel like there's more I could be doing but it's been kind of a rough year."

Maxima shook her head laughing.  "Guess that makes me the newbie.  If you go by when I put on the tights, I'm still a rookie." confessed Maxima now having even more of a respect for the people standing around her.  I couldn't image going to school and trying to be a superhero at the same time.  Who would have time for-- oh, right.  Super-speed.  thought Maxima now a bit envious of Velocity, and also annoyed that her own experiments into developing anything other than increased strength and toughness had gone precisely nowhere.  "I've had my powers for a little longer than a decade now, but they didn't start becoming as... pronounced... as they are until recently."  continued Maxima, now realizing that she could have been training for this lifestyle for a couple of years now, rather than come into it raw.  

"Normally I would try and make a break for dry clothes but, my stomach has other ideas."  Before she could ask what the League had to offer their guests, they were greeted by another one of Freedom's heroes.  Nodding towards the newest arrival, "A pleasure to meet you Maxima.  You know, the longer I look around the room, the more I'm disappointed in myself for not networking in the community more."

 

"C'est la vie," she shrugged.  Feeling like it was up to her to get the conversation started past the introductions she set aside plans of food and dry clothes, "So, everyone get their Christmas shopping done?  Or are you guys like me and tend to wait until the last minute?"

"Don't worry, I'm in the same boat with you there; I look around the room and the only names I know are from the news." replied Maxima, feeling quite glad that there was someone else here in a similar position.  Eager to have a more casual conversation she continued saying "I'm more or less done with all my shopping.  Still trying to grab a few small stocking stuffers here or there, but I got the bulk of everything else last weekend.   I've got people that are easy to buy for though." she answered distractedly.  Right now her main focus was deciding whether she should continue this conversation at full height or stoop down a bit.  Deciding on the latter, she dropped to one knee so that she could talk to the other heroes more or less at eye level instead of them talking to her navel. 

Silver returned the hug from her friend, "Hey Vel.  Happy Holidays yourself."  The scientist nodded towards the bag she had across her back, "You mentioned something about a changing room?  Traffic's a nightmare and I didn't feel like slinging webs across town in a dress."  She could not see it but there was a hint of a playful smirk in the younger woman's words.

 

Nodding to Crusader she held out a hand, "Merry Christmas to you as well."  Halfway through the handshake, Silver's stomach let out an almost embarrassingly loud rumble.  "Sorry, I missed lunch.  The day job's been crazy and I had to tie up a purse snatcher on the way here."

OK.  You're here, on time, and you haven't made a complete fool of yourself.  So what the heck was step two?  thought Maxima to herself as she left with side conference room with her plate of food.  She stood off to the side for a moment while she got the lay of the land from her vantage point.  It seemed like everyone knew at least a handful of people there, or were at least braver than she was. Deciding to bite the bullet, Maxima made her way up to one of the groups to introduce herself. 

She figured a good place to start would be the hosts since they would be there to help smooth over awkward greetings and the like, plus they were probably the ones to know everyone in attendance.  For the moment, the yellow speedster seemed to be mostly still chatting it up with another woman and a male super hero.  "Hello." said Maxima as she walked up to the group giving them a small wave.  "Hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I just wanted to introduce myself.  The name's Maxima."

Fleur de Joie

 

At that moment, the wide double doors to the side conference room swung wide open to reveal Fleur de Joie and a vast panopoly of food and drinks. "Sorry we were running a little late, everyone," she announced with flustered good cheer, "but feeding superheroes is a tough gig. Should be something for everybody on the table or behind the bar, so dig in!" For tonight, Fleur had traded in her green uniform for a festive emerald-colored tassel dress that moved around her like the needles on a Christmas tree. She'd pinned her hair as usual, but her floral crown was a Santa Lucia wreath, with six white Christmas lights replacing the traditional candles. Her face was flushed, but she seemed happy to see so many people here already. 

 

True to Fleur's description, the conference room set aside for the food held something to please almost any palate. Chafing dishes ran the length of one wall with hot hors d'ouevres from a dozen different holiday traditions, while another wall held cold dishes, vegetables, and a carefully marked off section of food that was obviously meant to please alien taste buds. Desserts of all kinds took another whole wall. while a towering blue ice sculpture of Freedom Hall held pride of place on the punch table amidst half a dozen bowls and carafes and hundreds of cups. A bar with an attendant was set up in the corner for those who wanted more than punch or coffee. The room smelled delicious, and with the doors open, the scent quickly began to spread, even as Fleur hastened off to greet all her friends. 

Good timing.  thought Maxima to herself as the doors swung open to the conference room.  "Oh, it just looks wonderful." she said off hand to the petite Fleur as she walked into the room, leaving Fleur to greet the other guests.  She had come in here with the express intention of getting something to eat, but was immediately side tracked when she saw the section for alien cuisine.  She hardly saw anything there appetizing to her palette, but from a biologist's perspective it was absolutely fascinating.  You could learn a lot about a species by their food of choice, and the presence (and even absence) of ingredients and flavors gave insight into their metabolism and their natural environment.  And unless her eyes deceived her, which may very well be the case given how precisely nothing on the table looked like anything she had seen before, some of the dishes contained items of extraterrestrial origin.  Maxima had to fight the urge not to take samples so she could run some tests back at her lab.  But seeing as how this was the holidays and there was a relatively limited selection to begin with, that would fall under the category of Grinch-like behavior.  

Keeping a weather eye out for anyone sampling the alien cuisine, Maxima went about loading her plate with a lot of the healthier options, but also made room for a brownie and a slice of apple pie.  Having hands the size of dinner plates certainly made the balancing act easier.  

"Velocity really stepped up with the planning an execution, but Doctor Metropolis and Fleur de Joie also helped a lot. It was completely a team effort.

 

As for 'off-limits', the downstairs here, the museum, and a couple of the smaller and larger side rooms are kind of the 'party area'. Some of the more sensitive upstairs stuff is locked down. Unless you tore through a wall or something-"

 

Which seemed entirely possible with her build.

 

"-You don't have anything to worry about. If you're not supposed to get in an area, the door just won't open for you. We made sure there were extra signs up for directions, too. Took me a month to get used to the layout here.

 

If you're really keen on looking at some of the more operation-geared parts, we could see about a small tour for some folks later on. At the moment we're all a bit busy with the meet and greet."

 

Gabriel had nodded and/or waved to other heroes he knew as they entered while he conversed with the heroine who could probably dribble him like a basketball.

Maxima raised her right hand "I do hereby swear I will not tear through any walls tonight." she said jokingly.  "I would love to take part in a tour, but as you said, for later on tonight."  She spots a clock off in the distance and notices it's getting close for the next round of her chemical regimen, which means she'll need some food in her stomach.  "Well I do believe I'll sample some of your teammates' handiwork then, and try the refreshments." she said gesturing further into the ball.  "Join me if you'd like, otherwise we can meet up after your hosting duties die down.  Finding me should be easy; I'm rather hard to loose in a crowd." she added with a smile.  "I'll probably grab a seat somewhere so people don't have to kill their necks looking at me." she added. 

She took about a half step towards the refreshments before turning back to Gabriel, and stooped down low, whispering "Actually, uh... can any of them support my weight?"

Gabriel slowly walked over to one side of the hall, making sure they weren't in a lane of foot traffic. It seemed an unconscious gesture, meant to ensure easy entrance and movement for others.

 

"It's nice to meet you, Maxima. As for knowing people here, well, that's the point of the party, isn't it? To "meet and greet" as some might say. Besides, even I don't know everyone here at the party, just the folks I work with somewhat regularly."

 

He raised an eyebrow at her nerves, but smiled warmly.

 

"I was scared stiff when I arrived for the first time as well. Then to have to actually interview, almost like a job? Even more intimidating! I think this is a lot better. This is just food, fun, and friends."

Maxima followed Gabriel to the side of the hall, without paying it any mind.  She seemed to relax quite a bit now that she was talking to someone; a person she was getting to know she could handle, a crowd of strangers, not so much. "Yeah I can imagine that would be a rather rough interview." said Maxima, recalling some of her own past interviews.  Changing the subject somewhat, she turned her attention to the hall itself.  "You guys really did a number decking this place out.  Probably helps you got someone on the team with superspeed." says Maxima as she gestures in Velocity's general direction.  "Is there any place off limits here, or can I just wander around?  Might put a damper on the holidays if I set off the alarms while poking around."  she asked suddenly.  "I don't want to be rude to the party guests or anything." she said backpedaling.  "It's just, you guys have got to have some impressive, and I'd be kicking myself through to next year if I didn't try to get a peak.  I understand if you can't for security reasons, but I figured I'd ask before we really got into the swing of things."

 

With another quick handshake, he was moving on through the crowd, smiling, nodding, and waving at people as he went. Finally, he ended up next to Maxima, who he had to look up at a bit. That didn't deter him from offering her a handshake.

 

"Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I don't believe we've had the pleasure of being introduced! You can call me Gabriel."

"Trust me, you're not alone in that boat." chuckled Maxima as she stooped a little to shake Gabriel's hand.  "The name's Maxima; I'm glad to make your acquaintence, and Happy Holidays to you as well." replied Maxima as she flashed another smile.  "I may have to lean on you a bit here, I don't really know anyone here." she confessed.  "I'm just kind of nervous about being, well, here." she continued gesturing around the Hall.  Maxima honestly had no idea why she was telling Gabriel all this.  Maybe it was nerves, maybe she just needed to get this off her chest, or maybe she just felt she could trust Gabriel. 

Maxima could hardly believe that she got an invitation to the party.  To be honest, it seemed like she always missed out on these big events and team ups.  She did however lend a hand whenever she could.  Her most common appearance would be after the fight, where she would lend a hand with the clean up.  Sure, Dr. Metropolis could handle a lot of these sorts of things, but if he was injured or busy, or if the streets were simply littered with mechanical dinosaurs, a helping hand never hurt. 

But never the less, when the hour arrived, Maxima made her way to the League HQ, one jump at a time.  She mounted the steps and was immediately thankful that the robust architecture meant that she didn't even have to stoop down to make her way inside, nor did she have to duck once inside.  It was an odd feeling to stand at her full height indoors.  Maxima had opted for more of a dressed down approach, as she wore her full costume; she had a nagging doubt that she wouldn't be recognized if she ditched the blue and white singlet.  But to get a little into the festive spirit, she did put on some candy cane earings and had her nails done up in a festive red and white. 

While she beamed and waved at anyone who caught her eye, she had the sudden realization that even though she knew the name of pretty much everyone in the room from the news and TV, she had never had an honest to goodness conversation with any of them. 

Maxima

[3]

(1 IC / 1 GM)

Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief when she saw on honest to go EMT already on scene treating the injured man.  But now she had the problem of trying to find the shooter. 

That part would be significantly easier than treating a bullet wound as it would happen, as the White Knight made his presence known. 

Well that escalated quickly.  thought Cassandra darkly to herself as she began eyeing the crowd looking for a quick place to change.  Unfortunately, at an even like this there were hundreds of people milling about and now that a meta-fight was about to break out, everyone would be scattering to every nook and cranny, meaning she wouldn't have any place to privately Max-out.  Cassandra tried to get away from the crowds to try and find someplace to Max-out away from prying eyes, putting her faith that Ironclad could keep a lid on things for a few moments.

Well as they're rapidly losing their numbers advantage, bad guys are going to change up their strategem and instead just go for collateral and endager civilians.  Hero Point for the Complication. 

Hellfire takes a 10 on her Acrobatics check from Skill Mastery to stand from prone as a free action. 

Condition Summary

20 - Hellfire - Bruised x1

19 - Goons - 3 Remaining

17 - Graft - HP x2 - Unharmed

16 - Maxima - HP x3 - Unharmed

11 - Brimstone - Unharmed - Rage (8)

GM Post

Seeing things were clearly not going their way, Brimstone shouted at Hellfire "Get up!  We still got a job to do!  Plan B!" before he took to the air and started streaking across the campus straight towards a group of expo attendees who had fled the scene. 

Brimstone for her part dusted herself off, cursing Brimstone as he took flight.  She lept back into the air and headed back at a 90 degree angle from her partner over to the nearby parking lot.  As she flew over it, she strafed it with fireballs, blowing up four or five cars and lighting a handful more on fire. 

The gang members for their part made a big show of continuing to smash up the outdoor displays. 

Meanwhile, inside the building Graft was protecting, Cassandra had finally managed to untangle herself from the crowds.  She ducked into one of the side rooms which she knew had a door on the other side of the room, and after going through that door she arrived in an almost deserted hallway.  She quickly darted into the nearby women's locker room, and finding it similarly empty breathed a sigh of relief. 

She stashed her pack in one of the lockers, and gave one more last look around.  Alright.  All clear.  she thought to herself.  As she Max'd out, muscles pretty much exploded from her body as she practically doubled in size.  As always, she was half frightened at how quickly the change took place.  She just thought about the change and then, bam, she's nearly 9ft tall. 

A few moments later she made her way out the side door before a quick leap put her in the midst of the action on the campus green.  She surveys the surrounds before raising her dukes and asking the air "Alright... who's first?"

Martial Artist – PL 12 (190pp)

Abilities: 14 + 14 + 14 + 2 + 6 + 4 = 54PP

Strength: 24 (+7)

Dexterity: 24 (+7)

Constitution: 24 (+7)

Intelligence: 12 (+1)

Wisdom: 16 (+3)

Charisma: 14 (+2)

Combat: 24 + 24 = 48PP

Initiative: +15

Attack: +12, +17 Melee

Grapple: +24

Defense: +17 (+12 Base, +5 Dodge Focus), +6 Flat-Footed

Knockback: -3

Saving Throws: 3 + 7 + 6 = 16PP

Toughness: +7 (+7 Con)

Fortitude: +10 (+7 Con, +3)

Reflex: +14 (+7 Dex, +7), Evasion 2

Will: +9 (+3 Wis, +6)

Skills: 100R = 25PP

Acrobatics 15 (+21)

Diplomacy 8 (+10)

Drive 5 (+11)

Intimidate 8 (+10)

Knowledge (arcane lore) 9 (+10)

Knowledge (Theology & Philosophy) 9 (+10)

Language 2 (1 Native, Plus 2 others)

Notice 7 (+10)

Sense Motive 7 (+10)

Sleight of Hand 15 (+21)

Stealth 15 (+21)

Feats: 47 PP

Acrobatic Bluff

Attack Focus (Melee) 5

Challenge (Acrobatic Bluff as a Move Action)

Dazing Attack

Defensive Attack

Defensive Strike

Defensive Throw

Dodge Focus 5

Elusive Target

Evasion 2

Equipment 2

Favored Opponent (Ninjas)

Fearless

Follow up Strike

Grappling Finesse

Hide in Plain Sight

Improved Critical (unarmed) 2

Improved Grab

Improved Grapple

Improved Initiative 2

Improved Throw

Improved Trip

Luck 3

Move-By Action

Paralyzing Attack

Power Attack

Redirect

Set Up

Stunning Attack

Takedown Attack 2

Uncanny Dodge (visual, auditory) 2

Equipment 2 Ranks - 10 EP

Commlink [1EP]

Motorcycle [9EP]

Powers: 00pp = 00PP

Drawbacks: (-0) = -0PP

Abilities (54) + Combat (48) + Saving Throws (16) + Skills (25) + Feats (47) + Powers (00) - Drawbacks (00) = 190/190 Power Points

So more punching. At PL 12, this martial artist has hit what I consider to be the cap for normal human characters in comic books. In my head cannon, realistic characters are PL 8, and can only hit PL 9 in very specific circumstances, ie: Muhammed Ali while in a boxing match.  But seeing as how Martial Artist character can very conceivably run up against demons, monsters and robots on the regular, they get kicked up a notch. 

With this interation, I started digging more heavily into the splat books for their Feat selection.  Martial Artists get to the point where they just start stringing feats together into one massive combo, which I feel is appropriate. 

Example:  An foe attacks you in melee and misses.  With Defensive Throw, you can immediately make a Trip Attack against them.  Defensive Strike provides a +4 bonus on this attack roll, Improved Trip provides a +4 on the actual Trip attempt itself, while Improved Throw means that the opponent opposes with the lesser of their Strength or Dexterity.  Chain that with some full Defensive/Power Attack on the next round to finish them off, using Improved Grab to restrain them if need be, keeping in mind that Grappling Finesse will keep you with your full Defense Score. 

Cassandra stood there stunned for a moment as what just happened washed over her.  When her mind finally caught up, she found herself already pushing her way through the crowds towards the source of the gunshot.  She wasn't a practicing medical doctor, butt she knew more than enough to stabilize someone long enough for a true EMT to get on site.  Please let them be okay.  she pleaded mentally as she found her progress through the crowd to be painfully slow. She tried to follow in Jessica's wake, as she seemed to have an easier time getting through the crowd. 

Cassie looked at Jessica a little cock-eyed as she started to stammer.  Why is she the nervous one?  Cassie pondered to herself.  But when Jessica gave her reason, Cassie couldn't help but burst out laughing.  "Oh I'm sorry!  I didn't mean to embarrass you." said Cassie as she put her arm on Jessica's shoulder to console her.  "I forgot how young you were Jessica; you've done just so much in your life that it's hard to believe you're practically still a kid." she explained pointedly with a smile.  "And to top it off, most of my coworkers are married, so 'Mrs.' is kind of the default for me."

"That little faux pas aside, how are things going down at the Lab now?  Any little projects I should be jealous of?" she added with a smirk. 

GROWN UP BY SUPERCAPE
 
Alright, I've got 3pp for Maxima to spend. 
 
1.  Spend 1pp to buy Interpose. 
 
2. Spend 1pp to buy 1 rank of Equipment to purchase the following:

Commlink [1ep]

Handcuffs [1ep]

Masterwork Tools 3 (Disable Device, Investigation, Medicine) [3ep]

The tools and handcuffs are of course to be carried in a utility belt. 
 
3. Get rid of the Dynamic Power Feat on Super-Strength and the DAP of Leaping, and just buy Leaping 4 outright.  I figure with her increased size and weight, she'd smash anything to pieces if she tried jumping any farther. 
 
I also noticed that the Intimidate line didn't take into account the bonus for increased size category. 
 
Updated sheet

 
Player Name: Geez3r
Character Name: Maxima
Power Level: 12 - 180/183PP
Trade-Offs: -5 Attack // +5 Damage; -5 Defense // +5 Toughness
Unspent Power Points: 3
Progress To Bronze Status: 3/30
 
In Brief: Super smart mutant experiments on herself for the double whammy of SCIENCE! & JUSTICE!
 
Alternate Identity: Dr. Cassandra Steel, aka: Cassie
Identity: Secret
Birthplace: Freedom City
Occupation: Scientist / Researcher
Affiliations: Free-lance think tank
Family: Alexander & Lisa Steels (father & mother respectively)
 
Description:
Age: 28 (DOB: November 19, 1984)
Apparent Age: Same
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Height: 5'8†/ 8'8â€
Weight: 165 lbs / 8,000 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Dirty Blonde / Black
 
Cassandra Steel is a relatively tall woman with a toned and moderately muscular frame. She often attempts to contain her bushy, dirty-blonde hair into a pony tail, with varying degrees of success. When she's working in the lab, there will often be a few pens and pencils tucked behind her ear or in her ponytail for later use. Her dark brown eyes are usually focused intently on the task at hand. Those that know her joke that she has a mischievous or even slightly mad look about her, especially when she's deep in her work. She tends to dress rather conservatively, rarely having a skirt above her knee or wearing a shirt with a low neckline. The one caveat to that is that Cassandra often prefers to wear clothes with short or no sleeves.
 
As Maxima, Cassandra undergoes such a radical transformation that she doesn't even have to bother with a mask. She quite literally gains three feet in height and puts on a few thousand pounds of muscle; the logistics of which sent even her super powered brain reeling. Her facial structure also changes. Her cheekbones become more defined, as does her jawline, but her other features become more rounded. In addition, her hair turns get black, and loses its bushy quality becoming sleek and straight.
 
Her costume is based on the singlet worn by Olympic weightlifters. It is primarily a light blue, but has a large white strip running down her front and down her back, as well as two smaller stripes on the side of each leg. The boots she wears follow the same color scheme.
 
Power Descriptions:
 
Cassandra's powers started out as a genetic mutation. She was stronger and tougher than her peers, but far and away from an unstoppable powerhouse. But that wasn't enough for Cassandra, so she took matters into her own hands. Over the years, through genetic and chemical manipulation, she augmented her existing powers into something far greater.
 
The most notable result of this experimentation is her Maxima form. Cassandra is able to temporarily dramatically increase her size and stature for an exponential increase in her strength and durability. While it may be true that this form came about due to chemical manipulation, it doesn't require Cassandra to take any sort of drug or potion to catalyze the transformation at this point.
 
 
History:
 
Cassandra is a native of Freedom City. She was the daughter of Alexander and Lisa Steels, the former being a professor at the Hanover Institute of Technology, and the later being a lab tech for AEGIS. So it would come as no surprise to the average onlooker that they were the intellectual type, and wanted the same for their daughter. They always took a very active role in her education, and did everything except give her written tests.
 
To be fair, it worked out quite well for them. Cassandra developed into quite a brilliant little girl. She was insatiably curious about pretty much everything. However, as her parents did their level best to ensure that the majority of Cassandra's free time was taken up with something educational, this could have very well been a way for Cassandra to try to interact with the outside world, or at least have some awareness of it.
 
Cassandra was the quiet and shy nerd at school, and didn't have many friends. She figured that was just her lot in life, but that would change in middle school. Every year they always did those presidential fitness tests, and every year Cassandra was at best marginally average. But in 6^th grade, Cassandra was suddenly the best in the class, hands down. When they were doing pull-up, the gym teacher had to tell her to stop because Cassandra had already hit them limit.
 
Cassandra got a whole lot of odd looks after that. But for the first time in a long while, there was something Cassandra was good at that didn't involve a book. And moreover, she didn't have to be this shy, nerdy girl her parents wanted her to be. In the bit of spare time that she did get, Cassandra began to experiment to see what the limits of her powers were.
 
Around this same time, Cassandra also noticed another change, she was getting smarter. She had always been an egghead, but now she was getting a solid 100 on every test without effort, and she was practically able to recite parts of her textbook verbatim. These two events lead to Cassandra's fascination with biology and chemistry. She wanted to know what was happening in her body and if there was a way to improve upon it.
 
However, a teenager has access to precisely none of the components for conducting such research. For the next several years, Cassandra breezed through school, while slowly building the groundwork for her future tests, coming up with various hypothesis and theories as to how her powers work. When she was finally admitted into the prestigious Hanover Institute of Technology, she was able to begin her experiments in earnest.
 
Over the course of her college career, Cassandra gained a great deal of clarity on how her powers worked., and she even began to create formulas and compounds to augment her developing powers. This eventually gave birth to her signature ability to “Max-out†and dramatically increase her stature and power.
 
After college, she went had a few part time internships here and there, but she didn't get her big break until she signed on with Grant Conglomerates.  Sure, Grant Conglomerates' subsidiaries have had a few run-ins with the law in the past, but either out of eagerness or naivety, Cassandra signed on the dotted line. She was fresh out of college, and here she was being offered a rather pretigious position at a company that is at the forefront of superhuman biology. It was practically too good to be true. Well actually it was too good to be true.
 
Certain higher ups in the company know of Cassandra's abilities and that she augmented those abilities with drug-treatments. She was hired with the full intent of being shipped off to an expendable subsidiary, and being abducted to be experimented on under the cover of “an unfortunate industrial accident†that tragically claimed the life of a young scientist. There was just one problem: the defunct project that was going to be scrapped for this industrial accident? Cassandra made it work. The product being made was a compound to increase bone density. The goal of the project is to reverse the damage done by osteoporosis... oh and if was used on healthy individuals it could likely make them stronger and more resilient to injury, but the former sounds better in a press release.
 
In a moment of pragmatic clarity rarely seen inside shady boardrooms, the executives called off the abduction of Cassandra. They reasoned that instead of trying to forcefully get the information from Cassandra, they could use her expertise in the field to wholly and legitimately make %$@& load of money. They realized that a compound to increase one's bone density is something Cassandra likely had to take at some point. And that if they kept putting her on projects like this, she would slowly but surely give them her formula piece by piece. All the while, building up goodwill with a hero, who in all likely hood would go to bat for them if any of their seedier operations came to light.
 
To that end, Cassandra was placed in a special operations group, that was a think tank for Grant Conglomerates subsidiaries. They would assist when projects reached a stumbling block. It also gave Grant Conglomerates' top scientists time to document and study Cassandra, as well as give them iron clad reasons to pick her brain on all matter of subjects.
 
To date, Cassandra has noticed precisely none of this, after all, she's just in it for the science.
 
 
 
Personality & Motivation:
 
Cassandra is the type of person that prefers to set their own goals regardless of what society says. She can be quite the risk taker while in the pursuit of her goals, especially when she believes she's on the verge of a breakthrough. She was never much of the social butterfly, so suddenly being thrown into the spotlight as a super-hero has thrown her considerably off her game. As such, she will try to duck the spot light as often as possible. Which can be hard as she wants to start meeting up with the other more experienced heroes for some tips and advice. She wanted to try and go about being a hero solo, but well, you only need one bad experience with atomically powered gorilla robots to shake that notion out of your head.
 
Most people would consider her to be a bit of a health nut.  She always watches what she eats, bringing precisely measured meals for lunch whenever she's at work.  She's been known to go to the gym almost daily, and most certainly going jogging on a daily basis.  A few brave souls from her friends and coworkers have tried to go with her one on occasion or another, and she has left everyone gasping for breath on a street corner.  This actually servers 3 purposes.  Firstly, she actually is just a bit of a health nut, and really does enjoy exercising.  Secondly, maintaning a precise deit and exercising daily are key to keeping her powers in check.  Last but not least, it gives her a perfectly legitimate excuse for going on patrol as Maxima, after all by this point no one even bats an eye when Cassandra goes missing for hours and comes back winded and sore. 
 
She is firm supporter of almost any scientific endeavor, feeling that the pursuit of knowledge is one of the most, if not the most, noble of aspirations for humanity. And she'll defend that notion zealously, to the point of being flat out rude to people. She believes science is the way we can craft a better tomorrow, but only if we let it take its course. She took up the mantle of a hero in part because she feels that too much of the world's scientific resources are being taken up by the war against super villains. She wants to do her part to end this conflict so scientists the world over can get back to solving problems that better society.
 
 
Powers & Tactics:
 
Cassandra is able to radically increase her size and strength practically with a thought. She has dubbed this “Maxing out†for rather obvious reasons given her superhero identity. Maxima is still a novice crime fighter, as reflected by her abilities. Her saving grace is that she is so strong and tough, she is able to afford to be a little rough around the edges. Her main tactic is quite essentially to pummel the bad guys into submission without any real frills. In her civilian ID, Cassandra has taken up some self defense classes and greco-roman wrestling to supplement her rather lacking skill set, but as of yet they haven't made a significant impact on her combat style.
 
However, Cassandra's greatest unexpected strength is her intelligence. Most of her foes think they can easily outsmart her. Boy are they surprised when she starts spouting technobabble. She's hoping that interaction with the other heroes will help supplement her skill set.
 
 
Complications:
 
Identity: Secret.
Not all it's cracked up to be: Growth and Density have cost reductions to indicate that sometimes being extra big and heavy isn't all that fun. GM's are free to exploit that whenever they want without compensating with a Hero Point.
Chemical Dependency: Maxima uses a chemical regimen to augment her powers, and also to keep them in check. If left devoid of these treatments over a period of time, or if a large concentration of other chemicals or formulas make it into her system, it can throw her powers out of whack.
Corporate Puppet:  Unbeknownst to her, Cassandra's identity and powers are known to the higher ups in Grant Conglomerate's science division, and they are pumping her for information reguarding super-human biology so that they can weaponize it.
 
 
Abilities: 10 + 0 + 12 + 10 + 4 + 4 = 40PP
Strength: 20/24/44 (+5/+7/+17)
Dexterity: 10 (+0)
Constitution: 22/26/30 (+6/+8/+10)
Intelligence: 20/30 (+5/+10)
Wisdom: 14 (+2)
Charisma: 14 (+2)
 
 
Combat: 10 + 8 = 18PP
Initiative: +0
Attack: +5, +8 Melee (-1 Size Modifier)
Grapple: +12, +36 w/powers
Defense: +7 (+4 Base, +4 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed (-1 Size Modifier)
Knockback: -3, -19 w/powers
 
 
Saving Throws: 2 + 2 + 3 = 7PP
Toughness: +6/+12/+17 (+6/+8/+10 Con, +4/+7 Protection) 7/10 Impervious
Fortitude: +8/+10/+12 (+6/+8/+10 Con, +2)
Reflex: +2 (+0 Dex, +2)
Will: +5 (+2 Wis, +3)
 
 
Skills: 92R = 23PP
Computers 5 (+15)
Craft (Chemical) 10 (+20)
Diplomacy 4 (+6)
Disable Device 5 (+15, +17 w/tools)
Intimidate 10 (+12, +14 Maxed Out)
Investigate 5 (+15, +17 w/tools)
Knowledge (Business) 5 (+15)
Knowledge (Civics) 5 (+15)
Knowledge (Life Sciences) 10 (+20)
Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 5 (+15)
Knowledge (Technology) 5 (+15)
Medicine 8 (+10, +12 w/tools)
Notice 5 (+7)
Sense Motive 10 (+12)
 
 
Feats: 14PP
All Out Attack
Attack Focus (Melee) 3
Benefit (Wealth)
Dodge Focus 4
Eidetic Memory
Equipment
Interpost
Luck
Power Attack
 
Equipment (5 EP)

Commlink [1ep]

Handcuffs [1ep]

Masterwork Tools 3 (Disable Device, Investigation, Medicine) [3ep]

 
 
Powers: 37 + 4 + 4 +10 + 11 +11 + 4 = 81PP
 
Container 6 (Max Out Form; 30pp) Extras: Continuous Duration (+1); Feats: Quick Change (into/out of costume) [37pp]

Growth 4 Extras: Permanent (+0), {12pp}

+8 Strength

+4 Constitution

+2 Intimidate

+4 Grapple Checks

+5 Carrying Strength

-1 Combat Size modifier

-4 Stealth Checks

Density 6 Extras: Permanent (+0) {18pp}

+12 Strength

+ 3 Protection, +3 Impervious

Super-Strength 2

Immovable 2

x5 Mass

 
Enhanced Strength 4 [4pp]
Enhanced Constitution 4 [4pp]
Enhanced Intelligence 10 [10pp]
Protection 4 Extras: Impervious Toughness 7 [11pp]
Super-Strength 5 Feats: Shockwave [11pp]
Leaping 4 [4pp]
 
 
Drawbacks: (-0) = -0PP
 
 
DC Block:
 

ATTACK               RANGE        SAVE                                               EFFECT
Unarmed              Touch        DC20 Toughness (Staged)                            Damage (Physical)
Unarmed, powered     Touch        DC22 Toughness (Staged)                            Damage (Physical)
Unarmed, Max         Touch        DC32 Toughness (Staged)                            Damage (Physical)
Shockwave            AoE Cone     DC27 Toughness (Staged)/ DC 22 Reflex for Half     Damage (Physical)

 
 
Abilities (40) + Combat (18) + Saving Throws (07) + Skills (23) + Feats (14) + Powers (81) - Drawbacks (00) = 183/183 Power Points
 
NOTES
 
While Growth & Density are active, Maxima has an effective Carrying Capacity of 84.
Light Load: 954,368 lbs. – 477.18 Tons
Medium Load: 1,908,736 lbs. - 954.37 Tons
Heavy Load: 2,867,200 lbs. - 1,433.60 Tons
Maximum Load: 5,734,400 lbs. - 2,867.20 Tons
Push/Drag: 14,336,000 lbs. - 7,168.00 Tons
 
Leaping Ranks (Running/Standing/Vertical)
Rank 1 (34/17/8) – Move Action
Rank 2 (85/42/21) – Move Action
Rank 3 (170/85/42) – Move Action
Rank 4 (425/212/106) – Move Action

Cassie was going about her warm ups, while also mentally going over a problem she was having a work.  A reaction wouldn't catalyze, she was hoping this run would give her the time to mull over some solutions to try in the lab on monday.  Then it appeared that she had another visitor appear out of the crowd. 

This time however, it wasn't their first meeting.  True they had met only very breifly, but a founding member of the Lab and the big boss of one of the largest tech companies in the city is someone you remember meeting.  "Yes I am.  A pleasure to see you again Mrs. Parker." she replied beeming and extending her hand to the other scientist.  "I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I am so thankful for that opportunity.  It really fostered a lot of connections in the community."  she said humbly, trying to get that out of the way first so she could gush about the Lab's facilities. 

A lot of things happened very quickly in that conversation just now.  "Uh... I'll follow up on that.  Thanks..." Cassie said slowly as she took the card out of reflex. What the heck just happened?  she said, her mind reeling once again.  And on top of everything else, did he just hit on me?  How does he switch gears like that?  she thought incrediously. 

"Yeah, I'm going to have to get back to you on all this." she said as she gave the card a once over and put it in her pocket.  "I need to get back to warming up and focusing on the marathon here.  It was... interesting... talking to you." she said excusing herself from the conversation.