Geez3r

******************************* Tuesday, June 3rd - 23:16 ******************************* It's a quiet night, like many others in this area. Eric could afford a far grander house than the one he had here in the Riverside area, but he loved his house and the location. It was just a humble single story house with a finished basement. The inside was furnished with comfort and practicality in mind, with just minor attention being paid to design. Eric had to quite a few double takes around the neighborhood when he first moved in, but the people around here don't really pay you any mind, and are geniunely good people. He spent many of his first nights just strolling around town taking in the sights and enjoying the crisp night air. But those days had passed a long time ago, now Eric had another hobby to occupy his nights. The relative silence of the night was broken by a buzzer sounding; the coffee was ready. Eric set down what he was doing and made his way to the elevator in his workshop. A short ride later, and a quick trip through a wall that wasn't really there and he was again in his basement. He paused at the threshold, in a moment of thoughtless contemplation before walking to the table where he had set up a coffee machine. He had brought it down from the kitchen because it had become rarer and rarer that whenever he was up late he would actually be in his house. Eric had been spending more and more time in his bunker, working on the Arms of Malice, and it showed. Even though he is still at the spry age of 28, he appears to be at least 10 years older. His deep red hair has begun to dull, the spark that used to frequent his eyes has been exchanged a dead glaze. The shadows under his eyes have become almost as permanent as the wrinkles on his face. But nothing shows the age more than his hands. His joints are crooked and swollen, and his kin looks like it was pulled tight over his bones from the way that seemingly jut out. Most of his nails are broken and the nail on his right ring finger is gone entirely. His flesh displays the scars of dozens of scratches, cuts, gashes, and burns. His right hand is in fact still bleeding from a cut on two of his knuckles. But Eric pays them no find. There is still work to be done. Eric likes his coffee with 2 spoonfuls of sugar and a dash of cream, but he is drinking this cup black, as he had been doing for the past 3 weeks. It wasn't about the taste, it was about the energy, about staying up that extra hour, it was about surpassing his own weakness on his way to greatness. Eric discarded his empty mug and looked at his right hand, studying it for a moment. Noticing every little imperfection on it, and then he thought about the hands of his suit, which were unblemished, strong, smooth and steady. Eric then returned to his workshop, with a new design in mind. It would not be completed this night, he would go to bed for the night in 2 hours time. He needed sleep, he was after all, just human... for now.

"That's it? That's all the information you got? Really? Heh. I'll going to be back a lot sooner than I thought." With that, Malice turns on his heel and starts walking down the hallway, no longer trying to be quiet. Without turning around, he gives an offhand wave to Fawcett with a curt "Ta." as he rounds a corner. Malice retraces his steps down the hallways, clambering up the steps and out the very door he used to gain entry into the building in the first place. On the roof he pauses for a moment to put the lock back in working order, more or less, before walking to the egde of the roof. There he jumps off the roof and plumets a good 50ft before he pulls out of the dive, and accelerates up into the night sky. It's about a full minute before Eric realizes he has no idea where he's going. When he comes to this realization he blinks a few times and he comes to a halt, hovering in mid-air. Sure the Arms of Malice had all the necessary programs and all that, not to mention what some would call a few unnecessary weapons systems, but it was missing many of the other "luxury" items, like maps. Eric than began circling the area trying to find a landmark of some kind so he could find his way back home. I think I just found my new priority.

I think Malice would be up for that, though in a limited sense. Creating a solid power base is definately on the to-do list, preferrably by controling the criminal element. Kicking the snot out of supers is also on the to-do list. As is using legally ambigious to acquire some power. On the other hand, working with certain supers is something he would like to avoid, unless its a means to an end, in which case he can deal with it. So basically he'd be a silent partner then lends some tech knowledge and leg-breaking ability to the Organization at his own volition.

Well from what you've said already, it looks pretty straight forward. 1) You've got that covered. 2) You'll want this to be a Hard to Lose Device. Each rank costs 4 and gives you 5 PP to mess around with. Armor can be represented by Protection, making your more resistant to being hurt, maybe with the Impervious extra. Increased Strength is just Enhanced Strength, possibly with some Super-Strength thrown in. And then just top it off with Immunity (life support), which means your immune to poison, disease, all environmental conditions, and you don't need to breath (or the suit takes care of that need for you). 3) You'll want this to be an Easy to Lose Device. Each rank costs 3 and gives you 5 PP to mess around with. As it's a sword, you'll want the strike power with the Mighty extra, which basically means it's pointy and it also relies on the weilder's strength. You'll also want to tack on the Penetrating extra as well. To represent the mystical energy, have an alternate power be a Blast. Next to get the specifics, you'll have to worry about Trade-offs. First off is Defense vs. Toughness. I think in your case, you'll want to favor Toughness instead of Defense, but this is just me projecting here. Then for Attack vs DC modifier, I can't really say. To you want to be accurate as all get out, but not particularly damaging, or unable to hit the broad side of a barn, but be able to instantly cut down anything larger, or just split the difference. Anyway you slice it.... just realized what a bad pun that was.... I don't think you'll want to go for a huge trade-off, probably about a 1 or a 2, to represent both skill at the sword and being quite powerful. Then, you'll want to figure out where your abilities come from. Are they all yours, due they come from mostly the weapons and armor, or do you split the difference. This is more of a concept choice than anything else, just go with what you think fits the concept better. So to summarize: 1) Figure out your trade-offs. 2) Are you home grown or empowered? 3) Fill in the blanks for Ability scores, Powers and Combat. Then you'll have a nice solid framework for your character, and you ca then mess around with skills, feats and saves. If you go over the 150 PP limit, don't worry, with some rules fu we can get you back under the limit.

And to think, it could get so much worse with a simple PF: Mighty, thrown it at the end there, or for an extra 1PP/rank you can make it ranged. Not that big of a nusiance to those with Impervious, but potential death on a stick for those without.

I was actually really considering Eric taking off the Arms of Malice (but still keeping his helmet on for obvious reasons) and just flat out duking it out.

At Malice reached a conclusion to his internal debate, he realized with a start that he hadn't been paying attention, and Fawcett could have easily ran away. When Malice looked back up, he was shocked to not only still see Fawcett standing there, but actually approaching him. In a stunned silence, Malice listens to Fawcett's proposal. He crosses his arms in a contemplative manner and thinks to himself for a moment. He's got serious cajones, I'll give him that, but they the heck does he have to keep making me second guess myself!? I guess he does have a point though. I really don't have to necessarily use him to get to Scarab. And if they turn out to be a dead end, I can always come back... But then again, the other leads are supers.... Which also means two birds with one stone. "Alright Fawcett, you got yourself a deal. I'll turn around and leave this building right now, just the way I came in, but in exchange, you'll have to give me a few leads. Who did Scarab know, and where are they now? But know that if you lie to me, or they turn out to be uncoperative I'll be back, and I won't be nice the next time around."

I'd say my favorite ones are found here: http://www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?t=19945 Some of my favorites are:

I was operating under the assumption that it was either public knowledge or a secret that Fawcett wouldn't blurt out in this sort of situation, so no real need for me to acknowledge it. In regards to my IC post, Malice is distracted probably for about a minute, which may or may not be long enough for Fawcett to get some help ;)

It had become a distinct possibility that the location to Scarab's lair, wasn't buried in the records room, but rather in Fawcett's head, and yet Malice had yet to act. Malice had been ready to break this man's bones, to throw him through walls and windows, to burn this building to the ground, anything to get his way, but he stopped dead in his tracks when Fawcett said "It's real easy for a man in a powersuit to be tough." his determination shattered. Malice stands there stunned, unable to come up with a response. He looks down at the palms of his hands (and away from any old men who just so happen to be inching their way along a wall towards freedom) obviously going through an internal conflict, as he is looking back and forth between the two. Am I really going to beat up an old man to get what I want? Why the heck shouldn't I, what did I build the Arms of Malice for anyway? To take the supers down, not to become like them. I'm not anything like those supers. But, I'm using my power to take advantage of those weaker than myself, and demand things of others, even it it's their life's work. But my own hard work and determination is what got me here. And how far did it get me exactly? I build weapons of war for a living for crying out loud! That's different. No it's not, I'm just a murderer who's never pulled the trigger before. I am not a murderer! Then what was I planning on doing here tonight? I didn't plan anything sinister. How exactly can I not plan anything sinister while wearing a flying death machine? I snuck in through the roof after hours, picked the lock instead of breaking it, attempted to sneak around the building, and when I was discovered, I even set my fricken weapons to stun; no death machining going on here. And yet here I am threating an old man, while I'm safe in anti-tank armor. Shut up. ... ... There's always Bob. .... I think I can work with that. edited for clarity and spelling

Inside the suit, Eric smiles at Fawcetts slowly waning anger. He nods slowly when Fawcett asks him if he's genuinely interested in The Scarab. "I'm not interested in the lair itself per se. But what is inside of it. To be reincarnated and live multiple life times means acquiring first hand knowledge of centuries worth of information." At this point, Malice becomes much more entusiastic and start talking with his hands much more than is necessary. "And if he was the scholar you say he was, then he must of records, diaries, books, heck, even stone tablets just over flowing with information. Do you know what can be done with that sort of knowledge!? To have that sort of power at your fingers, to know secrets that have been lost to the sands of time... God, do you know what you can do with such power!?" As he practically shouts the last line, he has to take a deep breath before continuing, with a bit of a chuckle, and speaking in a much softer voice. "Well Mr. Fawcett, I don't know. I really don't know what can be done with that power. In my office, there is a piece of paper hanging on my wall that declares that I am a genius, not that it matters much in this damn city." He mutters in a small aside to himself, though still loud enough to be heard. "And yet, what wonders lie in that lair are truly beyond my comprehension. To be able to study that information and advance my understanding of the world, of the universe, of ... everything by so, so much... it's everything I could dream of."

My knowledge of Scarab is minimal at best, but I just got the Freedom City book so I'm getting a bit of knowledge. However, its still not complete, and I'm not quite sure what is common knowledge and what isn't, so if I say anything that isn't in the domain of public knowledge, or just plain wrong, tell me. Thanks. And I thought that Scarab's identity was a secret, meaning you just let the cat out of the bag, or is it public knowledge?

Malice stands there for a moment, and although you can't physically see his face, you can tell he's quite dumb founded for a moment there. "Mr. Fawcett, I'm not quite sure if you grasp this or not... but I'm literally standing in a giant computer. Don't you think I'd know if the information I want is digitally available? No, the information I want is from the old days. You see, all of modern science and technology is based off the knowledge of past discoveries. So from time to time, it becomes necessary to study the past in order to move forward, especially if those in the past were on to something; even more so if they were onto something long, long before anyone else." Malice takes a few steps forward so he's about 10ft away from Fawcett before continuing again. "If you haven't grasped my intentions by now Mr. Fawcett, allow me to spell it out for you. I want the location of Scarab's lair, and if the records in that room don't give me that information, you will."

As the guard tries to shout a warning to whoever's inside the records room, Malice merely thought Bad move as he squeezed the "trigger" and the guard prompty dropped. Then the rather old man came dashing out of the records room to his friend's need. Inside his suit, Eric smilies at his change in luck. Frederick Fawcett himself, this ought to speed things up. After Fawcett says his piece Malice replies "Relax, I know enough not to use the big guns in doors, Mr. Fawcett. Bob there just got hit with the equivalent of a very high tech tazer, he'll be fully back on his feet within the hour and be no worse for wear, other than a bit of headache." Malice pauses for a moment as he begins walking down the hallway closer to Fawcett before begining again to say in a more professional demeanor "And believe me Mr. Fawcett, I am the last one here that wants those documents to come to harm. For you see, they are the reason for me coming here this very evening." Malice leaves what he wants specifically unsaid to see how Fawcett will react.

Forgot to put it in the description of the roll, but the Fort Save against the attack is 22, should the guard resist.

Within a few moments of wandering the corridors, Malice was practically on the records room doorstep, having so far gone undetected. Being so near his goal, Malice quickened his pace, and his nerves calmed quite a bit. That was until one of the guards came out of the door talking to someone inside. While mentally saying a few words of choice that he wouldn't repeat in front of his mother, he scanned the area to see if there was a room he could quickly dart into. But, he had grown too cocky and the nearest door was easily 30 feet away and he could only get there in time if he ran or flew, both of which were rather noisy. Malice was about to be spotted, but thankfully for himself, he had prepared for just such an occasion. Switching on his Mindbender Special, which was accompanied by a high pitched hum, Malice raised his right arm and trained his aim on the guard shouting "FREEZE!" Having got his attention, Malice said in a normal voice "Place any firearms, radios, cell phones or night sticks you have slowly on the ground, and then back away from them, slowly." while preparing to fire should the guard have other ideas.

With a satisfied smirk on his face, Malice stowed his tools and begins to descend down the stairs, closing the door behind him. He was going a bit slower than he normally would to help soften the sound of his feet, but he apparently didn't have to bother as no one is around. Checking one of the directories on the wall, Malice notes the location of the records room and beings heading down the hallway. Malice navigates the hallways in bated breath, while keeping a sharp eye out for guards and attempting to remain undetected on his way there.

Yeah, it's done.

I'll spend the point I got for Malice on a rank in Equipment to begin the basics of building a headquarters. Stats for the HQ: Size: Tiny [-1] Toughness: 10 [1] Features: Computer, Concealed, Power System, Security System, Workshop (dedicated to working on power armor) [5] Originally, Eric had used his own basement and tools to design and build the Arms of Malice, but after its completion, he realized that should it ever need real work done on it, he'll need more space. With a bit of ingenuity, elbow grease, wads of cash and a power suit that could lift over 200 times its own weight, and tear matter apart molecule by molecule, Eric had made a bunker for himself below his own house. A section of one of the walls in his basement is a hologram, which "blocks" access to the elevator which takes you another 30 feet down to the base itself, assuming you can bypass the security on the elevator. The base itself isn't all that much to look at. It's essentially just wall to wall tech, with blinking light and monitors as far as the eye can see. There's bit and pieces of half-finished prototypes and scavenged parts lying all over the room. Scematics and designs with various levels of completion are strewn all over a table in the corner, right next to an equally high mound of crumbled paper. What's more is that there are wires running all over the ground going from what appears to be the main power unit in the center of the room to every corner of the room like the druken weavings of a spider.

Seeing no obvious security on the roof, Malice lands on the roof, his eyes darting about to make sure his arrival went unnoticed. Taking the lack of alarms as a good sign, Malice makes his way over to the door leading down stairs. There he noticed just a simple lock and no alarm. He pauses for a moment at the door to both give the newly installed software to start up and to make a mental note to beef up the security of his own corporate buildings. Using one of the tools kept on his person for minor repairs as a lock pick, Malice tried his hand at picking the lock. He made sure that he followed the steps exactly, but failed to read ahead on step 3, and his tool got bent in the lock. "@#%*" grunts Malice as he gently slides the tool out again. He paces in a small semi-circle and breaths in and out slowly to try to calm his nerves, and bend the tool back into a useable form. Having done so, he once again tries to pick the lock, while also deciding that if this doesn't work this time around, he'll simply rip the lock off the door.

Not sure what the heck the DC is exactly to open the door so I kind of winged it. One way or another I'm getting in that door... just might take my a whie. Should the lock not open, I'm just going to go into beat-stick mode and take a full-round action to break the lock, at which point the lock breaks.

Under the pale moonlight, a figure was crouched on a rooftop. The figure was clad in red and blue power armor, and his eyes were trained on his target: the Rhodes Building. In the years to come, this figure would be known as Malice, and the man inside would be known as Eric Micheals, but as of right now, he was unknown. Giving yourself a fancy name and costume, and parading yourself around town did nothing but give you a small blurb in the bottom corner in some obscure page in the newspapers in this town. For your name to have any weight you need to be the sort of person who people love and respect, or fear and hate; you need to have power. Getting that recognition, getting that name, getting that power, that's what brought Malice here this evening. The late and great Scarab, who had the power to hold the world in his hand, and to even prove that heroes were not immortal, it was the power of this man that Malice seeked to have, and to surpass. There was a rumor on the winds that in this building, there was information revealing the location of Scarab's lair, and along with it, Scarab's vast stores of weapons and information. On the rooftop, Malice finally stood up after waiting for everyone to clear out of the building. Eric shifted his weight from side to side, flexed his fingers and inhaled and exhaled slowly to try and calm himself. It was no little avail however as his heart continued to drum along in his chest. With a little hesitation and one last calming breath, Malice leap into the air. Here goes nothing. he thougt as he made his way to the roof of the Rhodes building.

Thank you.

Alright, I reduced the drawbacks to uncommon. To compensate, I reduced his attack bonus by 1, took a point out of attack focus melee and purchased attack specialization (strike).

I just noticed that I hadn't given Malice the complication: Hatred (supers who were "handed" their powers) which is more or less the summation of the character. What I mean by handed is essentially everyone who either woke up one day with powers, or was given their powers by some 3rd party. Can you add that in there for me?