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  1. N/A

    Emerald City Makeover

    I started a new spinoff thread for Bedlam City discussion here. .
  2. N/A

    Emerald City Makeover

    This comment prompted me to get my hands on Bedlam City, and I'm loving it. From the introduction: Welcome to Bedlam—the meaner, poorer, smaller, town next door to your main campaign city. The Gary, Indiana to its Chicago, the Newark to its New York, the Compton to its Los Angeles. The town where your PCs can go to have grim urban adventures for a change of pace. It’s the kind of town where a visit to the Department of Transportation won’t get a pothole fixed, but a visit to the local Mafiosi probably will. The tallest building in the city, the skyline-defining landmark, was abandoned halfway through construction. No one can afford to buy it or to tear it down, so it sits half-finished, slowly falling apart, empty save for rats and squatters, "like an amputated stump." I can't think of a better symbol. My favorite part about it is that it's explicitly designed to be an add-on to a campaign setting, not a campaign setting unto itself (though it can be used for that too). They stay away from worldwide metaplot stuff, so they won't contradict the existing worldwide metaplot of any given setting. And they avoided including any information that would identify its location. The city timeline even has a sliding scale, depending on the geography you choose. My second favorite part is that, by design, it doesn't suffer from the Freedom City style glut of existing NPC superheroes. There aren't really any superheroes who make the city their home, and even most of the supervillains are just doing work-for-hire as they visit or pass through. There's actually room for the PCs for once. By default, it's a smaller big city (half a million people at most), mostly likely on the East Coast or in the Midwest Rust Belt. Personally, I'd vote for it being relatively close to Freedom City, so we could get the Gotham / Hub City, Gotham / Bludhaven, Chicago / Gary dynamic, and to allow for easy commuting between the two, since it's supposed to be more of a secondary setting (though it doesn't have to be). But if the overall aim is to open up the setting more, then I guess the Midwest would work better to that end. The one major change I think we'd need to make is that there is a lot of rape and child molestation in there we'd probably want to change or ignore. There's also a lot of semi-institutionalized racism. The local Mafia syndicates consciously and specifically keep their neighborhoods all-white by any means necessary, leaving everyone else to occupy the worst parts of the city. We may or may not want to change that. On one hand, the city is supposed to be a bad place. On the other hand, players who have to deal with racism in their real lives may not want to have to deal with it in the game too.
  3. N/A

    Emerald City Makeover

    http://www.everywhereist.com/15-things-you-should-know-about-seattle/ Most of this applies to Portland as well.
  4. N/A

    Emerald City Makeover

    http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=67858 If you keep it in the Pacific NW, then you need to include some kind of homage to Pheonix Jones.
  5. N/A

    Emerald City Makeover

    If you do keep it in the Pacific Northwest, as an analogue of Seattle or Portland, then don't discount the Native American influence. That was something that struck me when I moved up here from California. Down in Cali, the Latin influence permeates everything, but up in the NW, there's still a strong Native American echo. Pretty much everything, from the mountains and rivers to the local school districts, is named after a Native tribe, or still has the name the Natives gave it. In Cali, all that stuff is named after the white guys who came from Spain and conquered/enslaved/"converted"/genocided/etc. the local Natives. It's a particularly strange contradiction to the local demographics, which are overwhelmingly Caucasian. Oregon was specifically set up by the American colonists to be an all-white territory, and the effects of those policies reverberate into the present day. I can probably count the number of black or Latino people I've seen west of the Willamette River on one hand, and even on the east side I wouldn't need more than two hands to count them all. Down in Cali, you can find horchata in most grocery stores. Up here, even the people working in the overpriced hipster markets don't know what you're talking about when you ask for it. There is some Asian influence up here, but there's at least as much of a Native American cultural echo. And Lewis & Clark are as ubiquitious up here as Gold Rush history and Spanish missions are down in Cali.
  6. N/A

    Emerald City Makeover

    I want to see an Emerald City superteam whose costumes all include flannel shirts (worn open over jumpsuits '90s style, tied around their waists, doesn't matter as long as it's there). I may or may not be entirely joking...
  7. Craft and Drive are two skills I'd recommend keeping in multiples of 5, since, like Knowledge, Medicine, Survival, Disable Device, etc., they have DCs in increments of 5. It's the stuff that involves contested rolls that I'd just try to get as high as possible. But that's just my style. I like to take 10/20 whenever I can, because the dice hate me.
  8. Including but not limited to: Acrobatics (with Acrobatic Bluff or Trip maneuvers), Bluff, Diplomacy (if you're using it for Fascinate), Disguise, Escape (if you're slipping out of bonds someone else tied, their Dex bonus increases your DC, and if you're trying to slip a Snare effect, the enemy's power rank increases the DC), Gather Information (if you're trying to find someone who's trying not to be found, their Knowledge [Streetwise] or Stealth gets added to your DC), Intimidation, Search (if you're trying to find something that someone else hid, they can use their Sleight of Hand or Stealth skill to determine your DC, and they can take 20 if they have time), Sleight of Hand (static DC to steal or plant something, but opposed vs Notice to get caught), and Stealth.
  9. In Brief: Huntress dresses like Moon Knight, after going to K'un L'un to learn how to control the Daredevil powers she got from Captain America's super-serum. Player: ShaenTheBrain Character: Mister Strix Power Level: 13 (10) Tradeoffs: None (+2 Attack / -2 Damage [Melee], +1 Attack / -1 Damage [Ranged], +2 Defense / -2 Toughness) Power Points: 193/193 Unspent Power Points: 0 Veteran Rewards: Bronze: Additional character slot at PL12/180PP (Mister Strix) Silver: 5PP of free Equipment ranks for Mister Strix, 10PP of Equipment/Minions/Sidekick unclaimed Residence: An outwardly modest townhouse, with a heavily modified and fortified interior, in the Southside neighborhood of Freedom City. Base of Operations: The bunker hidden under his townhouse. Alternate Identity: Brian Markus Brubaker Identity: Secret Birthplace: Freedom City, New Jersey, USA Occupation: Freelance Transcription Writer and Translator Affiliations: Shambala Temple (former student), Freedom City University (former student) Family: Franklin "Frank" Brubaker (Father, Estranged), Ann Miller-Brubaker (Mother, Deceased), Wade Brubaker (Younger Brother, Deceased), Valerie "Val" Nocenti (Ex-Girlfriend) Catchphrase: "..." Description Age: 27 (DoB: 1989) Apparent Age: 27 Gender: Male Ethnicity: Caucasian (Germanic descent) Height: 6ft 3in Weight: 250 lbs. Eyes: None (Grey prosthetics) Hair: Blonde The skin on the top half of his face is still heavily scarred from being lacerated and burned by jagged shards of superheated shrapnel. His hair and sunglasses hide most of the scars, but not all of them. He wears a set of acrylic prosthetic eyes which mimic his original grey eye color. When out in public in his civilian identity, his usual mode of dress is "business casual" (a holdover from his yuppie/preppie upbringing), and he wears the dark sunglasses and wields the white cane which universally mark him as a blind man. Aside from his blindness, he is in perfect health. Power Description Thanks to the DNAscent process, all of Brian's physical abilities are just outside the normal human range. His strength, speed, endurance, and agility are all slightly higher than what any normal person could achieve, and unlike athletes without super-powers, his body is optimized for all physical activity. For example, he can sprint and run long distances equally well, while a normal human needs a very different body type to excel at either activity. All of Brian's non-visual senses absorb information with far greater detail and sensitivity than a normal human. He can hear a person's heartbeat from across the room, hear a tear sliding down their cheek, and feel the vibration through the floor when they take a step. He can rest a pretzel on his tongue and count exactly how many grains of salt are embedded into it. He can hold a pistol in his hand and know exactly how many bullets are in it by how heavy it feels. He can run his fingers along a page of text and "read" it by feeling the difference between the ink and the paper, or "view" a picture by feeling the differences between the colors of ink or paint. He can carress an object gently enough to feel any fingerprints left on it without disturbing them, and he can perceive enough detail to compare them to other prints. His nose acts as a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, able to distinguish the chemical makeup of a substance by the smell of its molecular components. In essence, his hyperkeen senses turn him into a walking crime laboratory. His enhanced senses of hearing and touch also give him superhuman balance and physical coordination. Brian no longer has eyes, but his brain processes and interprets most of his enhanced sensory input visually. He can hear sound and feel vibration just as a normal human would, but he can also momentarily "see" it, with the waves of different frequencies and different decibel levels of sonic energy appearing to him as differently-colored and sized lines, coating and illuminating the space and/or objects around them. Scents appear in his mind's eye as translucent clouds of mist or smoke, in various colors and sizes, leaving trails he can follow. His sense of smell is acute enough to judge the distance between himself and its source, as a normal human would with sound. As he moves closer to the source of the scent, it becomes measurably "louder" to him. The DNAscent process not only enhanced Brian's original senses, but provided new ones as well. His brain has been altered to include a disk similar to a whale or dolphin's melon, which emits waves of ultrasound in all directions, receives the reflected waves after they bounce off of surrounding objects, and interprets the results. This allows him to "see" in all directions at once, though he focuses on one roughly 180-degree field of "view" at a time, with the rest appearing as translucent overlays. This allows him to "see" just as a normal human would see in the visual light spectrum, only in black, white, and various shades of grey, with the "color" dependent upon the physical surfaces and contours of the objects around him, and their relative distance from him and from each other. For example, he would perceive the bricks and grout of a wall as different shades of grey, with no correlation to their actual color in the visual light spectrum, and he would not perceive chalk drawings or spraypaint at all, unless the paint was thick enough to form a layer visible to the naked eye. The echolocation is far more advanced than that of any existing animals or technological devices, granting him acuity roughly on par with human vision in the visible light spectrum. He can turn his echolocation "off," in a manner similar to how a human closes their eyes. While it is active, anyone capable of perceiving ultra-sound can detect the waves emanating from his brain and the echoes returning to it. History Brian Brubaker never saw things clearly until the day he lost his eyes. "You can have anything you want, but you have to want it enough. With hard work, anything is possible. People get what they deserve." Frank Brubaker made sure his sons lived by those words. He was a self-described "city college kid" who "pulled myself up from nothing by my own boostraps." Ann Miller was a minimum-wage kid who hitched a ride out of the trailer park as soon as she could pass for 18. They were young and hungry, willing to do whatever it took to get ahead. By the time their first child was born, Brubaker Imports was one of Freedom City's most prominent shipping empires, moving just about anything that needed moving to just about anywhere in the world. Their kids grew up in a penthouse and went to private schools. But Frank always stressed the importance of hard work. His kids weren't going to have a free ride. They were going to work for everything they had, just like he had. Brian idolized his father, and spent every waking moment striving to earn his pride. He got near perfect grades, tried out for every sport, auditioned for every play, took after-school jobs and summer internships. Brian was 20, home from his sophomore year of university, the day he saw his family for the last time. His mother and little brother were already waiting in the limo. Brian was running down the driveway when the driver turned the key. They were going to pick up Brian's father on the way. They didn't make it. The ignition switch set off the car bomb. Ann and David were blown to pieces. Shrapnel shredded Brian's eyes and left deep cuts in his face. Brian woke up in the hospital to his father's voice, telling him that he was going to fix everything. He'd only been there a couple of days when his father told him he was being moved to a "private clinic." Brian didn't know why the new nurse sedated him. He was kept in an induced coma, but he could still hear the people around him. As the "treatments" progressed, he could hear them louder, more clearly, from further away. He heard things he was never meant to hear. Frank Brubaker's life was a lie. When recounting his family history, he'd neglected to mention that his grandfather was none other than the infamous Hans Graumach, also known as Die Eule of the Nazi superteam Die Ubersoldaten. In Frank's case, the apple didn't fall far from the tree. If he had told his sons the truth, then their words to live by would have been "In devastation, there is opportunity. When there is blood in the streets, buy property." The car bomb was meant for Frank, a "gift" from one of his "business rivals." The Brubaker fortune didn't come from moving freight. It came from smuggling and human trafficking, on an industrial scale. Frank and Ann's operation was built during the tail end of the Franklin Moore era and the aftermath of the Terminus Invasion. With a period of low superhero presence in town, and the sudden death and destruction of so many Freedom City citizens and their properties (legitimate businesses and mob fronts alike), they were able to quietly build up and then quickly fill a niche. These days, Brubaker Imports is a subsidiary of Delphic Industries, which is in turn owned and operated by Constantine Urallos, part of the inner circle of Taurus. Most of the trafficked victims are sold to sweatshops or into domestic slavery. Some are given to The Labyrinth to become test subjects for the DNAscent process. When Brian lost his eyes, Frank called in a favor. He didn't want Brian to become a brainwashed super-thug. He just wanted to give his only surviving son his eyes back. He didn't bother to get Brian's consent before submitting him to the DNAscent process. As far as the Labyrinth scientists were aware, the treatment failed. Brian's body was enhanced just past the peak physical condition for a normal human, but his eyes had failed to regenerate. Brian had heard enough to know he should keep the unintended side-effects to himself. He didn't tell anyone about how all his other senses had been enhanced, or how he now possessed a natural sonar that would be the envy of every navy on Earth. The DNAscent process didn't restore what he'd lost, but it enhanced everything he had left. He knew that he would need to keep his cards close to his chest if he were ever going to be able to use his new gifts to dismantle the horrific empire his father had built on a foundation of blood and human misery. He was quiet and distant after his "recovery." His father didn't press the issue. Frank was consumed with guilt, a foreign sensation to him. When Brian decided to "study abroad," Frank didn't try to stop him. The school in Spain returned Brian's tuition cheque. He had never shown up. Brian eluded the bodyguards Frank had secretly sent after him before they made it out of the airport. His bank account was emptied, and if the funds were transferred to a new one, it wasn't one Frank's people were able to trace. Brian Brubaker vanished off the face of the Earth. He wandered through Europe and Asia for a time, before he found himself chasing the legend of Shambala Vale, scaling the mountain peaks, and finding refuge among the ancient order of monks. They taught him how to focus his new senses. They instructed him in the original martial art from which all others descended. They helped to temper his rage. During one of his meditations, he observed an owl plucking a rat off the ground right before that rat broke into a container of stored rice. That incident became a symbol for him, and soon, it would become a symbol for his people. Seven years after he left, Brian Brubaker quietly returned to Freedom City. His father employed thugs, crooked cops, money-laundering accountants, coyotes and snakeheads, all vermin who preyed upon the innocent and the desperate. Brian became a creature of the night who would rid his city of that vermin. He became Mister Strix. Personality Brian grew up as a happy son who idolized his father. Now that idol has fallen farther than he ever thought possible. The revelation of his father's true nature forced Brian to re-examine everything he ever thought he knew about himself and the world around him. Good things didn't always come to those who worked hard for them like he was always taught. In fact, more often than not, the worst things happened to the best people, while the worst people took advantage of them and laughed all the way to the bank. Even if you never give up, you can still lose. Those revelations, and the trauma of his injuries, lost family members, and subsequent transformation, left him bitter, cynical, and full of rage. Gaining the ability to know when most people are lying showed him just how often people lie, which eroded his faith in human nature even further. His time with the Shambala monks helped to soften that edge, but he still believes that justice only happens in the world when a righteous person forces it to. The monks showed him that the world can be a better place than it is, without vermin like his father gnawing at its foundations. But they will, unless an owl comes along to eat them first. So much of the world he thought he knew is a dirty lie, that he's not even sure it's worth saving. But he'll die before he stops trying to save it, because it's his people who corrupt and destroy it, so he owes the world that much. These days, Brian enjoys solitude, partially as a result of his disillusionment and partially as a practical matter of his enhanced senses amplifying every outside stimulus. Just as everyone a speedster meets is the annoyingly slow customer in front of them in the ATM or checkout line, every person Brian meets is the neighbor who blasts his TV or stereo at all hours of the night or the guy sitting next to him on the bus who hasn't showered in a week. He rarely engages in conversation at all, and even when he does engage, he remains laconic, withholding, almost sullen. He does have a sense of humor, but it leans toward the dry, the morbid, and the self-depricating. He is reluctant to volunteer information, and his reaction to those he meets defaults to suspicion (though his powers make clearing that suspicion and earning some measure of trust a faster process than it would be otherwise). Everyone is guilty (of something) until proven innocent, but it's easy for him to prove them innocent. Powers & Tactics Brian is an expert martial artist, and a world-class detective, athlete, and inflitrator. The DNAscent process left him at peak physical condition, just barely superhuman. His enhanced senses make it almost impossible to lie to him or to catch him off-guard. He prefers to strike from stealth, ending a fight in one decisive blow before it begins. When facing a foe directly, he still takes any opportunity to remove the advantage of their sight, whether by destroying light sources or by deploying smoke bombs. He adapts his fighting style to each opponent, seeking to counter them rather than match them or beat them at their own game. If they seem to favor karate punches and kicks or the knee and elbow strikes of muay thai, he'll use jiujutsu grapples. If they fight defensively, focusing on avoiding or parrying, he'll be aggressive, getting inside their defenses quickly and ferociously. Since the Shambala style is the foundation for every martial art on Earth, anyone fighting him is likely to see something familiar, and something completely foreign. He uses his cape to obscure and distort his movements. His enhanced agility allows him to move and strike in unexpected directions and angles relative to his foes. He uses custom-built throwing knives, stylized like crescent moons or owl beaks or talons, to disarm and distract foes at a distance, before closing in to finish the job. Complications Addiction (Caffeine, Painkillers): Brian's enhanced senses cause him headaches and make it difficult for him to get restful sleep. The meditation techniques he learned in Shambala Vale mitigate this problem, but they do not eliminate it entirely. The GM can force Brian to save against effects like Nauseate, or automatically inflict conditions like Sickened, to represent the pain caused either by his powers or by medication withdrawal. The GM can also inflict conditions like Fatigued upon Brian to represent lost sleep. Disability (Blindness): Brian's enhanced touch can feel the difference between ink and paper, and even between different pigments, which allows him to perceive color by touch. His echolocation, on the other hand, can perceive distance, size, and shape, but not color. It can perceive texture, but not with the same level of detail as normal human vision. This means he can only read text or view pictures if they are within arms reach. The screens of television sets, computer monitors, tablets, and smartphones may as well be blank to him, even to his touch, unless they are versions of those devices specifically made for blind users. He cannot perceive the level of light in the local area directly. At best, he can guess if he is in close enough proximity to a light source by feeling the heat from it, if it emits significant heat at all. (He can feel the heat from incandescent bulbs, but LED bulbs are difficult at best.) Anything in his surroundings which depends on light, text, or color is invisible to him once it is physically out of reach. His enhanced smell can identify people by their individual scent, and his echolocation and tremorsense together provide enough detail to differentiate between people based on size, shape, and mass, but not enough to let him tell their faces apart from one another. He is physically capable of operating a vehicle or heavy machinery, but he cannot obtain a license to do so while maintaining his secret identity. Enemies (Frank Brubaker, The Labyrinth, Katanarchists): Neither Brian nor his father understand the full scope of The Labyrinth. Brian's father is a very small piece in a very big game. Brian's disruption of human trafficking operations has caused him to cross paths with a splinter sect of Katanarchists who have been corrupted by the Schattenwelt, and they now count him among their targets. Family Secrets: His father is a crime lord with good publicity, and his great-grandfather was a Nazi. Lost Love: Brian had a girlfriend in college, Valerie "Val" Nocenti. When he vanished from her life without warning, she came looking for him. When she asked too many questions, Frank Brubaker panicked and overreacted. He had her kidnapped and subjected to the DNAscent process, turning her into his brainwashed bodyguard and enforcer. The woman Brian loved now stands at his hated father's side. Noticeable (Echolocation): Anyone with Ultra-Hearing, or any other applicable Super-Senses, can hear the waves of ultrasound being broadcast and received by Brian's brain when he uses his echolocation. This includes animals such as dogs, bats, dolphins, and whales. Obligation (Shambala Temple): The monks of the Shambala Vale took Brian in and trained him. One or more of their number may call upon him for aid in the future. Secret (Identity): Brian may be superhuman, but he's not invincible. One sniper's bullet could end him. And if Brian's father finds out who's targeting him, then he'll make Brian wish for a bullet to the head. Vulnerability (Sensory Overload): A GM can inflict a penalty, or a degree of automatic failure, upon Brian's ability to save against any power effect which overwhelms non-Visual type senses, such as an Auditory Dazzle effect from a loud noise, or a Nauseate effect from noxious gas. Brian may also suffer Damage (or some other attack effect), either automatically or with a failed Concentrate check, just by being in close proximity to the source, target, or area of any power with a relevant sensory descriptor, such as "Sonic." A GM may also require Brian to make a Concentrate check in order to take actions or avoid penalties while in the vicinity of a strong senory stimulus. Abilities 16 + 16 + 16 + 6 + 6 + 4 = 64PP Strength: 26 (+8) (Heavy Load: 1,200 lbs.) Dexterity: 26 (+8) Constitution: 26 (+8) Intelligence: 16 (+3) Wisdom: 16 (+3) Charisma: 14 (+2) Combat 8 + 8 = 16PP Initiative: +12 (+8 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative) Attack: +12 Melee (+4 Base, +8 Attack Focus), +4 Ranged (+4 Base), +11 Masterwork Throwing Knives (+4 Base, +6 Attack Specalization, +1 Masterwork) Grapple: +20 (+12 Melee Attack, +8 Strength) Defense: +12 (+4 Base, +8 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-FootedUncanny Dodge Knockback Resistance: 4 ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC23 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical, Bludgeoning) Stunning Attack Touch DC23 Fortitude (Staged) Dazed/Stunned/Unconscious Throwing Knives Ranged DC24 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical, Piercing) Saving Throws 0 + 2 + 7 = 9PP Toughness: +8 (+8 Con) Fortitude: +8 (+8 Con, +0PP) Reflex: +10 (+8 Dex, +2PP)Evasion 2 Will: +10 (+3 Wis, +7PP)Ultimate Save Skills 148R = 37PP Acrobatics 7 (+15)Skill Mastery Climb 7 (+15)Skill Mastery Concentrate 7 (+10) Craft (Structural) 2 (+5) Disable Device 12 (+15)Skill Mastery Escape 7 (+15)Skill Mastery, Ultimate Skill Gather Information 13 (+15) Intimidate 13 (+15)Skill Mastery Investigate 12 (+15) Knowledge (Streetwise) 6 (+10) Languages 7 (Arabic, Braille, Chinese [Mandarin], English [Native], Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish) Notice 17 (+20)Skill Mastery Search 12 (+15) Sense Motive 17 (+20)Skill Mastery Stealth 7 (+15)Skill Mastery Swim 2 (+10)Swimming Feats 39PP Acrobatic Bluff Attack Focus (Melee) 8 Attack Specialization (Throwing Knives) 3 Benefit (Wealth 1) Dodge Focus 8 Equipment 5 (25EP)Veteran Reward Evasion 2 Grapple Finesse Hide In Plain Sight Improved Initiative Improved Ranged Disarm Luck 2 Quick Change (Costume) Quick Draw Skill Mastery 2 (Acrobatics, Climb, Disable Device, Escape, Intimidate, Notice, Sense Motive, Stealth) Stunning Attack Takedown Attack Trance Ultimate Save (Will) Ultimate Skill (Escape) Well-Informed Equipment 5PP = 23/25EP Grapple-Gun Super-Movement 1 (Swinging) [2EP] Masterwork Smartphone (Modified for blind users) [1EP] Medication (Caffeine pills, Painkillers) [0EP] Smoke Pellets Obscure 2 (10ft radius, Visual-Type Senses, Extras: Action [Move], Independent, Total Fade, Flaws: Limited [One Sense: Normal Vision], Unreliable [5 Uses], Feats: Slow Fade [1 minute], Drawbacks: Full Power, Reduced Range 2 [2 20ft Range Increments / 40ft Max Range]) [2EP] Throwing Knives Damage 1 (10 10ft Range Increments / 100ft Max Range, Extras: Autofire, Range [Ranged], Feats: Masterwork [+1 Attack], Mighty) [5EP] Tools (Disable Device, Investigate) [0EP] Townhouse with Secret Bunker (PL13 HQ) [13EP] Size: Tiny [-1EP] Toughness: +10 [1EP] (Earthquake-Proofing, Bulletproof Windows, Steel Plate Shear Walls Reinforced With Pre-Cast Concrete) Features: Communications, Computer 2 (Masterwork [modified for blind users]), Concealed (+15DC), Fire Prevention System, Gym, Laboratory, Library, Living Space, Power System, Security System 2 (DC25), Workshop [13EP] 2 + 1 + 2 + 5 + 13 = 23/25EP = 5PP Powers 25 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 28PP Enhanced Senses 5 (25PP Container [Passive, Permanent]) [25PP] (Descriptors: Mutation) Immunity 5 (Interaction Skills, Flaws: Limited [1/2 Effect]) [3PP] Super-Senses 6 (Danger Sense 3 [Sense Types: Auditory, Olfactory, Tactile], Uncanny Dodge 3 [Sense Types: Auditory, Olfactory, Tactile]) [6PP] Super-Senses 4 (Normal Hearing [Sense Type: Auditory, Default Extras: Acute, Radius, Ranged], Extras: Accurate, Analytical, Extended [100ft Notice Increments]) [4PP] Super-Senses 5 (Echolocation/Ultra-Hearing [Sense Type: Auditory, Default Extras: Acute, Radius, Ranged], Extras: Accurate, Analytical, Extended [100ft Notice Increments]) [5PP] Super-Senses 4 (Normal Smell/Taste [Sense Type: Olfactory, Default Extras: Radius, Ranged], Extras: Acute, Analytical, Extended [100ft Notice Increments], Tracking [1/2 Speed]) [4PP] Super-Senses 1 (Normal Touch [Sense Type: Tactile, Default Extras: Accurate, Acute, Radius], Extras: Analytical) [1PP] Super-Senses 2 (Tremor-Sense [Sense Type: Tactile, Default Extras: Accurate, Acute, Radius], Extras: Ranged) [2PP] 3 + 6 + 4 + 5 + 4 + 1 + 2 = 25PP Leaping 1 (x2, Running Long Jump: 36ft) [1PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Training) Speed 1 (10MPH / 100ft per Move Action) [1PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Training) Swimming 1 (2.5MPH / 25ft per Move Action, Can always Take 10 on Swimming checks) [1PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Training) Abilities (64) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (9) + Skills (37) + Feats (39) + Powers (28) - Drawbacks (0) = 193/193 Power Points
  10. I'd consider folding the melee Damage power into the array. He can't attack with both his fists and his blast at the same time anyway, so why bother paying for them separately? I would also consider combining the Force Field and the Protection, and going with one or the other. The current setup seems needlessly complicated. He isn't gaining much by being able to turn off the force field, since he's already got permanent Protection and Impervious toughness. I also wouldn't bother with Impervious unless you take at least 5-6 ranks of it. Below that, it's not even good for screening minions. Keep in mind that, despite what all of Steve Kenson's character sheets would have you believe, you're not limited to only buying Array ranks equal to your power level. If you want a higher rank for any of those more expensive alternate powers, you're allowed to buy a bigger array. Also keep in mind that the house rules allow you to Accurate/All-Out/Defensive/Power-Attack for up to +/-2 without having the feats. I understand taking just a couple ranks in a skill for concept reasons without ever intending to actually use it, but if you do want to actually succeed at skill checks, then I recommend looking at each individual skill in the book, finding out what you want to be able to reliably do, and then building your skill bonuses to be within 10 or 20 of whatever DC that requires. That way, you can take advantage of the Take 10 and/or Take 20 mechanics, or at least have a decent chance of making the check if you actually need to roll. At present, most of those skill bonuses are too low to reliably make even the most basic of checks. There's no need to write his Hero Points on the sheet.
  11. Brian Markus Brubaker Gather Information: DC15: He's blind. He's Frank Brubaker's son. He moved to Europe during college. DC20: The Brubaker family came to America from Germany after World War 2. Brian is Frank Brubaker's only surviving son. His little brother Wade was killed, along with their mother Ann, in a car bomb back in 2009. The explosion blinded Brian. No suspects were ever identified. DC25: He's back in town, keeping a low profile. He doesn't seem to be in contact with his father, or anyone else for that matter. DC30: He's living like a hermit in a Southside townhouse. A lot of work was done on the house right before he moved in. DC35: Brian is the illegitimate great-grandson of Hans Graumach, also known as Die Eule, a member of the Nazi superteam Die Ubersoldaten. Frank Brubaker Gather Information: DC15: Brubaker Imports is one of the largest shipping companies in the country. Frank built it up from nothing with his bare hands. He was a city-college boy who pulled himself up by his own bootstraps. DC20: For a legitimate corporation, Brubaker Imports employs a lot of ex-convicts, and people with suspected ties to organized crime. Frank Brubaker's wife Ann and younger son Wade were killed by a car bomb back in 2009. Frank's older son Brian was crippled. No suspects were ever identified. DC25: The car bomb was meant for Frank. His public persona is a lie. Brubaker Imports is a front for an organized crime syndicate, one of the largest smuggling and human trafficking operations in the world. DC30: Several employees of Brubaker Imports have superpowers. DC35: Frank is the illegitimate grandson of Hans Graumach, also known as Die Eule, a member of the Nazi superteam Die Ubersoldaten. DC40: Brubaker Imports is an arm of The Labryinth. Several of its employees have been subjected to the DNAscent process. He even had his son Brian subjected to it after he was blinded. Brian survived, but the procedure failed to restore his sight. Knowledge (Business): DC15: Brubaker Imports is one of the largest shipping companies in the country. Frank built it up from nothing with his bare hands. He's a city-college boy who pulled himself up by his own bootstraps. DC20: Frank Brubaker's wife Ann and his younger son Wade were killed by a car bomb back in 2009. His elder son Brian was crippled by the explosion. No suspects were ever identified. Knowledge (Streetwise): DC15: For a legitimate corporation, Brubaker Imports employs a lot of ex-convicts, and people with suspected ties to organized crime. Frank Brubaker's wife Ann and younger son Wade were killed by a car bomb back in 2009. His older son Brian was crippled. No suspects were ever identified. DC20: The car bomb was meant for Frank. His public persona is a lie. Brubaker Imports is a front for an organized crime syndicate, one of the largest smuggling and human trafficking operations in the world. DC25: Several employees of Brubaker Imports have superpowers. DC40: Brubaker Imports is an arm of The Labryinth. Several of its employees have been subjected to the DNAscent process. He even had his son Brian subjected to it after he was blinded. Brian survived, but the procedure failed to restore his sight. Mister Strix Gather Information or Knowledge (Streetwise): DC15: Mister Strix is a masked vigilante who started operating in Freedom City in 2016. He seems to be able to sneak up on anyone, despite wearing an all-white costume. He doesn't talk much, even to cops or other vigilantes. He plays his cards close to his chest. He's bad news. He hasn't killed or crippled anyone yet, but he's come close. Most of the criminals who have crossed his path were traumatized by the experience. He won't be getting an invitation to join the Freedom League anytime soon, but he would have fit right in with FORCE Ops. DC20: Mister Strix seems to focus his attention on human trafficking, ranging from lone domestic slaves housekeeping for rich families, to busting up entire sweatshops. He also intercepts snakeheads and coyotes in-transit. He uses distinctive throwing knives, shaped like what appears to either be a crescent moon, or the beak or talon of an owl. DC25: Mister Strix appears to have either superpowers, or cutting-edge tech and world-class skills. He routinely performs record-breaking feats of athleticism. He seems to be able to see in the dark, and he seems to have eyes in the back of his head. His throwing knives are custom-made, not produced by any known manufacturer. DC30: Most of Mister Strix's targets have been connected to Brubaker Imports, a front company for one of the largest smuggling and human trafficking syndicates in the world. DC40: Most of Mister Strix's targets have been connected to the lower levels of The Labyrinth. Knowledge (Arcane): DC20: Mister Strix's fighting style includes techniques practiced by the monks of Shambala Vale. Knowledge (Arcane or Theology): DC15: Owls are considered birds of ill-omen in most human cultures. Many supposed sightings of ghosts, aliens, and cryptids such as the Mothman are suspected to actually be owls. DC20: Owls were portrayed as monsters or harbingers of death by the Greeks, the Congolese, the Japanese, the Kenyans, several Native American tribes (including the Aztecs, the Cahuilla, the Hopi, the Mayans, the Navajo, and the Seminole), the Romans, and the Welsh. They were symbolic of Lilith in Judeo-Christian mythology. In the earliest vampire legends, they transformed into owls, not bats. Medieval Europeans had many superstitions about owls, such as the idea that they only roosted near haunted buildings. They feature prominently as antagonists in the works of scholars such as Geoffrey Chaucer, John Keats, Pliny The Elder, Ovid, and Virgil. DC25: The Strix was a vampiric, cannibalistic owl-monster from Greco-Roman mythology. That legend later evolved into the Eastern European vampires called "Strigoi." Knowledge (History or Pop Culture): DC15: The Raven started an informal tradition among Freedom City vigilantes of using bird motifs. DC20: The only other masked vigilante to use an owl motif specifically was Die Eule, a member of the Nazi superteam Die Ubersoldaten. Knowledge (Life Sciences): DC10: Owls are nocturnal, solitary predators, found all over the world. They prey on vermin, such as rodents and insects. They can spin their heads all the way around. DC15: Owls have specially-adapted feathers that make their wings completely silent. They can actually "only" rotate their heads about 270 degrees, thanks to having twice as many neck vertebrae as humans. But they can rotate their heads back and forth so quickly that it appears to the naked eye that they can spin 360 degrees. DC20: Owls are birds who belong to the "Strigiformes" order. Most also belong to the "Strigidae" family, and many belong to the "Strix" genus." Owls have several physical adaptations for nocturnal hunting. Their ears are asymetric, which, along with the discs of feathers around their eyes, enable them to focus on a wider range of sounds at longer distances than most birds, and to pinpoint the locations of those sounds accurately. Their eyes are larger in proportion to their bodies than most birds, and unlike most birds, their eyes both face the same direction, which gives their vision depth perception and detail.
  12. Also, I think you could sidestep the issue of the Equipment discount in the variable power pool by just buying the +2 circumstance bonus from temporary Masterwork tools with a temporary 1PP Feature power.
  13. You can technically build a Gadgets variable at two different tiers, "Any Power, Multiple powers at once" or "Any Trait, Multiple traits at once." There's a 1PP per rank difference. And while you could make a case for using the cheaper "Any power" tier to effectively be "Any trait" by grabbing "Enhanced" traits, if you're building in good faith, you should really opt for the more expensive tier if you plan to grab skills, feats, etc. instead of just powers.
  14. I don't think you're allowed to make Permanent powers Selective. I think that's part of the whole Permanent deal, that you can't turn it off. Otherwise, you're getting a Continuous duration for 1PP instead of +1PP per rank.
  15. According to the book, Suffocation Immunity is 1PP for one type and 2PP for all. I don't see Suffocation on the house rules descriptor list, so I'm not aware of any change from the book. Immunity to all Necromancy effects would only be 5PP. It's an Uncommon descriptor, a specific type of Magic. Agreed that Fearsome Presence and Inpervious are both useless if you're not taking at least 5-6 ranks. It's also worth mentioning that most skills that don't involve contested rolls have DCs in increments of 5. So if you make use of the Take 10 and Take 20 mechanics (which you should), then a +2 won't get you anything, and a +6 or a +7 won't get you anything that a +5 wouldn't get. I would lower the bar for skills being worth to take at all to +5, rather than +10. I wouldn't say that Rage is useless. It's very points-efficient. But it's weird, and you should fully understand what it does before you take it. It doesn't break caps, so once you activate it, you're down 1 Power Level on defense (-2 Def), but up one Power Level on offense (+4 Str / +2 Dmg). So it's like simultaneously All-Out Attacking and Power Attacking for 2 points each. It pushes you a little bit toward "glass cannon," but it makes sense for Wolverine types, especially if they have alternative sources of damage mitigation like Regeneration and/or Impervious Toughness.
  16. In Brief: Huntress dresses like Moon Knight, after going to K'un L'un to learn how to control the Daredevil powers she got from Captain America's super-serum. Player: ShaenTheBrain Character: Mister Strix Power Level: 13 (10) Tradeoffs: None (+2 Attack / -2 Damage [Melee], +1 Attack / -1 Damage [Ranged], +2 Defense / -2 Toughness) Power Points: 193/193 Unspent Power Points: 0 Veteran Rewards: Bronze: Additional character slot at PL12/180PP (Mister Strix) Silver: 5PP of free Equipment ranks for Mister Strix, 10PP of Equipment/Minions/Sidekick unclaimed Residence: An outwardly modest townhouse, with a heavily modified and fortified interior, in the Southside neighborhood of Freedom City. Base of Operations: The bunker hidden under his townhouse. Alternate Identity: Brian Markus Brubaker Identity: Secret Birthplace: Freedom City, New Jersey, USA Occupation: Freelance Transcription Writer and Translator Affiliations: Shambala Temple (former student), Freedom City University (former student) Family: Franklin "Frank" Brubaker (Father, Estranged), Ann Miller-Brubaker (Mother, Deceased), Wade Brubaker (Younger Brother, Deceased), Valerie "Val" Nocenti (Ex-Girlfriend) Catchphrase: "..." Description Age: 27 (DoB: 1989) Apparent Age: 27 Gender: Male Ethnicity: Caucasian (Germanic descent) Height: 6ft 2in Weight: 225 lbs. Eyes: None (Grey prosthetics) Hair: Blonde The skin on the top half of his face is still heavily scarred from being lacerated and burned by jagged shards of superheated shrapnel. His hair and sunglasses hide most of the scars, but not all of them. He wears a set of acrylic prosthetic eyes which mimic his original grey eye color. When out in public in his civilian identity, his usual mode of dress is "business casual" (a holdover from his yuppie/preppie upbringing), and he wears the dark sunglasses and wields the white cane which universally mark him as a blind man. Aside from his blindness, he is in perfect health. Power Description Thanks to the DNAscent process, all of Brian's physical abilities are just outside the normal human range. His strength, speed, endurance, and agility are all slightly higher than what any normal person could achieve, and unlike athletes without super-powers, his body is optimized for all physical activity. For example, he can sprint and run long distances equally well, while a normal human needs a very different body type to excel at either activity. All of Brian's non-visual senses absorb information with far greater detail and sensitivity than a normal human. He can hear a person's heartbeat from across the room, hear a tear sliding down their cheek, and feel the vibration through the floor when they take a step. He can rest a pretzel on his tongue and count exactly how many grains of salt are embedded into it. He can hold a pistol in his hand and know exactly how many bullets are in it by how heavy it feels. He can run his fingers along a page of text and "read" it by feeling the difference between the ink and the paper, or "view" a picture by feeling the differences between the colors of ink or paint. He can carress an object gently enough to feel any fingerprints left on it without disturbing them, and he can perceive enough detail to compare them to other prints. His nose acts as a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, able to distinguish the chemical makeup of a substance by the smell of its molecular components. In essence, his hyperkeen senses turn him into a walking crime laboratory. His enhanced senses of hearing and touch also give him superhuman balance and physical coordination. Brian no longer has eyes, but his brain processes and interprets most of his enhanced sensory input visually. He can hear sound and feel vibration just as a normal human would, but he can also momentarily "see" it, with the waves of different frequencies and different decibel levels of sonic energy appearing to him as differently-colored and sized lines, coating and illuminating the space and/or objects around them. Scents appear in his mind's eye as translucent clouds of mist or smoke, in various colors and sizes, leaving trails he can follow. His sense of smell is acute enough to judge the distance between himself and its source, as a normal human would with sound. As he moves closer to the source of the scent, it becomes measurably "louder" to him. The DNAscent process not only enhanced Brian's original senses, but provided new ones as well. His brain has been altered to include a disk similar to a whale or dolphin's melon, which emits waves of ultrasound in all directions, receives the reflected waves after they bounce off of surrounding objects, and interprets the results. This allows him to "see" in all directions at once, though he focuses on one roughly 180-degree field of "view" at a time, with the rest appearing as translucent overlays. This allows him to "see" just as a normal human would see in the visual light spectrum, only in black, white, and various shades of grey, with the "color" dependent upon the physical surfaces and contours of the objects around him, and their relative distance from him and from each other. For example, he would perceive the bricks and grout of a wall as different shades of grey, with no correlation to their actual color in the visual light spectrum, and he would not perceive chalk drawings or spraypaint at all, unless the paint was thick enough to form a layer visible to the naked eye. The echolocation is far more advanced than that of any existing animals or technological devices, granting him acuity roughly on par with human vision in the visible light spectrum. He can turn his echolocation "off," in a manner similar to how a human closes their eyes. While it is active, anyone capable of perceiving ultra-sound can detect the waves emanating from his brain and the echoes returning to it. History Brian Brubaker never saw things clearly until the day he lost his eyes. "You can have anything you want, but you have to want it enough. With hard work, anything is possible. People get what they deserve." Frank Brubaker made sure his sons lived by those words. He was a self-described "city college kid" who "pulled myself up from nothing by my own boostraps." Ann Miller was a minimum-wage kid who hitched a ride out of the trailer park as soon as she could pass for 18. They were young and hungry, willing to do whatever it took to get ahead. By the time their first child was born, Brubaker Imports was one of Freedom City's most prominent shipping empires, moving just about anything that needed moving to just about anywhere in the world. Their kids grew up in a penthouse and went to private schools. But Frank always stressed the importance of hard work. His kids weren't going to have a free ride. They were going to work for everything they had, just like he had. Brian idolized his father, and spent every waking moment striving to earn his pride. He got near perfect grades, tried out for every sport, auditioned for every play, took after-school jobs and summer internships. Brian was 20, home from his sophomore year of university, the day he saw his family for the last time. His mother and little brother were already waiting in the limo. Brian was running down the driveway when the driver turned the key. They were going to pick up Brian's father on the way. They didn't make it. The ignition switch set off the car bomb. Ann and David were blown to pieces. Shrapnel shredded Brian's eyes and left deep cuts in his face. Brian woke up in the hospital to his father's voice, telling him that he was going to fix everything. He'd only been there a couple of days when his father told him he was being moved to a "private clinic." Brian didn't know why the new nurse sedated him. He was kept in an induced coma, but he could still hear the people around him. As the "treatments" progressed, he could hear them louder, more clearly, from further away. He heard things he was never meant to hear. Frank Brubaker's life was a lie. When recounting his family history, he'd neglected to mention that his grandfather was none other than the infamous Hans Graumach, also known as Die Eule of the Nazi superteam Die Ubersoldaten. In Frank's case, the apple didn't fall far from the tree. If he had told his sons the truth, then their words to live by would have been "In devastation, there is opportunity. When there is blood in the streets, buy property." The car bomb was meant for Frank, a "gift" from one of his "business rivals." The Brubaker fortune didn't come from moving freight. It came from smuggling and human trafficking, on an industrial scale. Frank and Ann's operation was built during the tail end of the Franklin Moore era and the aftermath of the Terminus Invasion. With a period of low superhero presence in town, and the sudden death and destruction of so many Freedom City citizens and their properties (legitimate businesses and mob fronts alike), they were able to quietly build up and then quickly fill a niche. These days, Brubaker Imports is a subsidiary of Delphic Industries, which is in turn owned and operated by Constantine Urallos, part of the inner circle of Taurus. Most of the trafficked victims are sold to sweatshops or into domestic slavery. Some are given to The Labyrinth to become test subjects for the DNAscent process. When Brian lost his eyes, Frank called in a favor. He didn't want Brian to become a brainwashed super-thug. He just wanted to give his only surviving son his eyes back. He didn't bother to get Brian's consent before submitting him to the DNAscent process. As far as the Labyrinth scientists were aware, the treatment failed. Brian's body was enhanced just past the peak physical condition for a normal human, but his eyes had failed to regenerate. Brian had heard enough to know he should keep the unintended side-effects to himself. He didn't tell anyone about how all his other senses had been enhanced, or how he now possessed a natural sonar that would be the envy of every navy on Earth. The DNAscent process didn't restore what he'd lost, but it enhanced everything he had left. He knew that he would need to keep his cards close to his chest if he were ever going to be able to use his new gifts to dismantle the horrific empire his father had built on a foundation of blood and human misery. He was quiet and distant after his "recovery." His father didn't press the issue. Frank was consumed with guilt, a foreign sensation to him. When Brian decided to "study abroad," Frank didn't try to stop him. The school in Spain returned Brian's tuition cheque. He had never shown up. Brian eluded the bodyguards Frank had secretly sent after him before they made it out of the airport. His bank account was emptied, and if the funds were transferred to a new one, it wasn't one Frank's people were able to trace. Brian Brubaker vanished off the face of the Earth. He wandered through Europe and Asia for a time, before he found himself chasing the legend of Shambala Vale, scaling the mountain peaks, and finding refuge among the ancient order of monks. They taught him how to focus his new senses. They instructed him in the original martial art from which all others descended. They helped to temper his rage. During one of his meditations, he observed an owl plucking a rat off the ground right before that rat broke into a container of stored rice. That incident became a symbol for him, and soon, it would become a symbol for his people. Seven years after he left, Brian Brubaker quietly returned to Freedom City. His father employed thugs, crooked cops, money-laundering accountants, coyotes and snakeheads, all vermin who preyed upon the innocent and the desperate. Brian became a creature of the night who would rid his city of that vermin. He became Mister Strix. Personality Brian grew up as a happy son who idolized his father. Now that idol has fallen farther than he ever thought possible. The revelation of his father's true nature forced Brian to re-examine everything he ever thought he knew about himself and the world around him. Good things didn't always come to those who worked hard for them like he was always taught. In fact, more often than not, the worst things happened to the best people, while the worst people took advantage of them and laughed all the way to the bank. Even if you never give up, you can still lose. Those revelations, and the trauma of his injuries, lost family members, and subsequent transformation, left him bitter, cynical, and full of rage. Gaining the ability to know when most people are lying showed him just how often people lie, which eroded his faith in human nature even further. His time with the Shambala monks helped to soften that edge, but he still believes that justice only happens in the world when a righteous person forces it to. The monks showed him that the world can be a better place than it is, without vermin like his father gnawing at its foundations. But they will, unless an owl comes along to eat them first. So much of the world he thought he knew is a dirty lie, that he's not even sure it's worth saving. But he'll die before he stops trying to save it, because it's his people who corrupt and destroy it, so he owes the world that much. These days, Brian enjoys solitude, partially as a result of his disillusionment and partially as a practical matter of his enhanced senses amplifying every outside stimulus. Just as everyone a speedster meets is the annoyingly slow customer in front of them in the ATM or checkout line, every person Brian meets is the neighbor who blasts his TV or stereo at all hours of the night or the guy sitting next to him on the bus who hasn't showered in a week. He rarely engages in conversation at all, and even when he does engage, he remains laconic, withholding, almost sullen. He does have a sense of humor, but it leans toward the dry, the morbid, and the self-depricating. He is reluctant to volunteer information, and his reaction to those he meets defaults to suspicion (though his powers make clearing that suspicion and earning some measure of trust a faster process than it would be otherwise). Everyone is guilty (of something) until proven innocent, but it's easy for him to prove them innocent. Powers & Tactics Brian is an expert martial artist, and a world-class detective, athlete, and inflitrator. The DNAscent process left him at peak physical condition, just barely superhuman. His enhanced senses make it almost impossible to lie to him or to catch him off-guard. He prefers to strike from stealth, ending a fight in one decisive blow before it begins. When facing a foe directly, he still takes any opportunity to remove the advantage of their sight, whether by destroying light sources or by deploying smoke bombs. He adapts his fighting style to each opponent, seeking to counter them rather than match them or beat them at their own game. If they seem to favor karate punches and kicks or the knee and elbow strikes of muay thai, he'll use jiujutsu grapples. If they fight defensively, focusing on avoiding or parrying, he'll be aggressive, getting inside their defenses quickly and ferociously. Since the Shambala style is the foundation for every martial art on Earth, anyone fighting him is likely to see something familiar, and something completely foreign. He uses his cape to obscure and distort his movements. His enhanced agility allows him to move and strike in unexpected directions and angles relative to his foes. He uses custom-built throwing knives, stylized like crescent moons or owl beaks or talons, to disarm and distract foes at a distance, before closing in to finish the job. Complications Addiction (Caffeine, Painkillers): Brian's enhanced senses cause him headaches and make it difficult for him to get restful sleep. The meditation techniques he learned in Shambala Vale mitigate this problem, but they do not eliminate it entirely. The GM can force Brian to save against effects like Nauseate, or automatically inflict conditions like Sickened, to represent the pain caused either by his powers or by medication withdrawal. The GM can also inflict conditions like Fatigued upon Brian to represent lost sleep. Disability (Blindness): Brian's enhanced touch can feel the difference between ink and paper, and even between different pigments, which allows him to perceive color by touch. His echolocation, on the other hand, can perceive distance, size, and shape, but not color. It can perceive texture, but not with the same level of detail as normal human vision. This means he can only read text or view pictures if they are within arms reach. The screens of television sets, computer monitors, tablets, and smartphones may as well be blank to him, even to his touch, unless they are versions of those devices specifically made for blind users. He cannot perceive the level of light in the local area directly. At best, he can guess if he is in close enough proximity to a light source by feeling the heat from it, if it emits significant heat at all. (He can feel the heat from incandescent bulbs, but LED bulbs are difficult at best.) Anything in his surroundings which depends on light, text, or color is invisible to him once it is physically out of reach. His enhanced smell can identify people by their individual scent, and his echolocation and tremorsense together provide enough detail to differentiate between people based on size, shape, and mass, but not enough to let him tell their faces apart from one another. He is physically capable of operating a vehicle or heavy machinery, but he cannot obtain a license to do so while maintaining his secret identity. Enemies (Frank Brubaker, The Labyrinth, Katanarchists): Neither Brian nor his father understand the full scope of The Labyrinth. Brian's father is a very small piece in a very big game. Brian's disruption of human trafficking operations has caused him to cross paths with a splinter sect of Katanarchists who have been corrupted by the Schattenwelt, and they now count him among their targets. Family Secrets: His father is a crime lord with good publicity, and his great-grandfather was a Nazi. Lost Love: Brian had a girlfriend in college, Valerie "Val" Nocenti. When he vanished from her life without warning, she came looking for him. When she asked too many questions, Frank Brubaker panicked and overreacted. He had her kidnapped and subjected to the DNAscent process, turning her into his brainwashed bodyguard and enforcer. The woman Brian loved now stands at his hated father's side. Noticeable (Echolocation): Anyone with Ultra-Hearing, or any other applicable Super-Senses, can hear the waves of ultrasound being broadcast and received by Brian's brain when he uses his echolocation. This includes animals such as dogs, bats, dolphins, and whales. Obligation (Shambala Temple): The monks of the Shambala Vale took Brian in and trained him. One or more of their number may call upon him for aid in the future. Secret (Identity): Brian may be superhuman, but he's not invincible. One sniper's bullet could end him. And if Brian's father finds out who's targeting him, then he'll make Brian wish for a bullet to the head. Vulnerability (Sensory Overload): A GM can inflict a penalty, or a degree of automatic failure, upon Brian's ability to save against any power effect which overwhelms non-Visual type senses, such as an Auditory Dazzle effect from a loud noise, or a Nauseate effect from noxious gas. Brian may also suffer Damage (or some other attack effect), either automatically or with a failed Concentrate check, just by being in close proximity to the source, target, or area of any power with a relevant sensory descriptor, such as "Sonic." A GM may also require Brian to make a Concentrate check in order to take actions or avoid penalties while in the vicinity of a strong senory stimulus. Abilities 16 + 16 + 16 + 6 + 6 + 4 = 64PP Strength: 26 (+8) (Heavy Load: 1,200 lbs.) Dexterity: 26 (+8) Constitution: 26 (+8) Intelligence: 16 (+3) Wisdom: 16 (+3) Charisma: 14 (+2) Combat 8 + 8 = 16PP Initiative: +12 (+8 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative) Attack: +12 Melee (+4 Base, +8 Attack Focus), +4 Ranged (+4 Base), +11 Masterwork Throwing Knives (+4 Base, +6 Attack Specalization, +1 Masterwork) Grapple: +20 (+12 Melee Attack, +8 Strength) Defense: +12 (+4 Base, +8 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-FootedUncanny Dodge Knockback Resistance: 4 ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC23 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical, Bludgeoning) Stunning Attack Touch DC23 Fortitude (Staged) Dazed/Stunned/Unconscious Throwing Knives Ranged DC24 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical, Piercing) Saving Throws 0 + 2 + 7 = 9PP Toughness: +8 (+8 Con) Fortitude: +8 (+8 Con, +0PP) Reflex: +10 (+8 Dex, +2PP)Evasion 2 Will: +10 (+3 Wis, +7PP)Ultimate Save Skills 148R = 37PP Acrobatics 7 (+15)Skill Mastery Climb 7 (+15)Skill Mastery Concentrate 7 (+10) Craft (Structural) 2 (+5) Disable Device 12 (+15)Skill Mastery Escape 7 (+15)Skill Mastery, Ultimate Skill Gather Information 13 (+15) Intimidate 13 (+15)Skill Mastery Investigate 12 (+15) Knowledge (Streetwise) 6 (+10) Languages 7 (Arabic, Braille, Chinese [Mandarin], English [Native], Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish) Notice 17 (+20)Skill Mastery Search 12 (+15) Sense Motive 17 (+20)Skill Mastery Stealth 7 (+15)Skill Mastery Swim 2 (+10)Swimming Feats 39PP Acrobatic Bluff Attack Focus (Melee) 8 Attack Specialization (Throwing Knives) 3 Benefit (Wealth 1) Dodge Focus 8 Equipment 5 (25EP)Veteran Reward Evasion 2 Grapple Finesse Hide In Plain Sight Improved Initiative Improved Ranged Disarm Luck 2 Quick Change (Costume) Quick Draw Skill Mastery 2 (Acrobatics, Climb, Disable Device, Escape, Intimidate, Notice, Sense Motive, Stealth) Stunning Attack Takedown Attack Trance Ultimate Save (Will) Ultimate Skill (Escape) Well-Informed Equipment 5PP = 23/25EP Grapple-Gun Super-Movement 1 (Swinging) [2EP] Masterwork Smartphone (Modified for blind users) [1EP] Medication (Caffeine pills, Painkillers) [0EP] Smoke Pellets Obscure 2 (10ft radius, Visual-Type Senses, Extras: Action [Move], Independent, Total Fade, Flaws: Limited [One Sense: Normal Vision], Unreliable [5 Uses], Feats: Slow Fade [1 minute], Drawbacks: Full Power, Reduced Range 2 [2 20ft Range Increments / 40ft Max Range]) [2EP] Throwing Knives Damage 1 (10 10ft Range Increments / 100ft Max Range, Extras: Autofire, Range [Ranged], Feats: Masterwork [+1 Attack], Mighty) [5EP] Tools (Disable Device, Investigate) [0EP] Townhouse with Secret Bunker (PL13 HQ) [13EP] Size: Tiny [-1EP] Toughness: +10 [1EP] (Earthquake-Proofing, Bulletproof Windows, Steel Plate Shear Walls Reinforced With Pre-Cast Concrete) Features: Communications, Computer 2 (Masterwork [modified for blind users]), Concealed (+15DC), Fire Prevention System, Gym, Laboratory, Library, Living Space, Power System, Security System 2 (DC25), Workshop [13EP] 2 + 1 + 2 + 5 + 13 = 23/25EP = 5PP Powers 25 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 28PP Enhanced Senses 5 (25PP Container [Passive, Permanent]) [25PP] (Descriptors: Mutation) Immunity 5 (Interaction Skills, Flaws: Limited [1/2 Effect]) [3PP] Super-Senses 6 (Danger Sense 3 [Sense Types: Auditory, Olfactory, Tactile], Uncanny Dodge 3 [Sense Types: Auditory, Olfactory, Tactile]) [6PP] Super-Senses 4 (Normal Hearing [Sense Type: Auditory, Default Extras: Acute, Radius, Ranged], Extras: Accurate, Analytical, Extended [100ft Notice Increments]) [4PP] Super-Senses 5 (Echolocation/Ultra-Hearing [Sense Type: Auditory, Default Extras: Acute, Radius, Ranged], Extras: Accurate, Analytical, Extended [100ft Notice Increments]) [5PP] Super-Senses 4 (Normal Smell/Taste [Sense Type: Olfactory, Default Extras: Radius, Ranged], Extras: Acute, Analytical, Extended [100ft Notice Increments], Tracking [1/2 Speed]) [4PP] Super-Senses 1 (Normal Touch [Sense Type: Tactile, Default Extras: Accurate, Acute, Radius], Extras: Analytical) [1PP] Super-Senses 2 (Tremor-Sense [Sense Type: Tactile, Default Extras: Accurate, Acute, Radius], Extras: Ranged) [2PP] 3 + 6 + 4 + 5 + 4 + 1 + 2 = 25PP Leaping 1 (x2, Running Long Jump: 36ft) [1PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Training) Speed 1 (10MPH / 100ft per Move Action) [1PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Training) Swimming 1 (2.5MPH / 25ft per Move Action, Can always Take 10 on Swimming checks) [1PP] (Descriptors: Mutation, Training) Abilities (64) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (9) + Skills (37) + Feats (39) + Powers (28) - Drawbacks (0) = 193/193 Power Points
  17. Aside from donating money, the other big thing you can do to help if you live in America is donate some blood. The blood banks in Orlando reached capacity within a couple of days, but only because other cities all over the country flooded them with donations. Now the supplies are running low basically everywhere in the country except Florida. It varies from one city, state, and region to another which organization(s) handles blood donation, but you can find out about your local blood drives with a simple Google search. Most drives happen in mobile trailers during normal business hours, but there's usually at least one or two weekend drives in any given month. Obviously, this depends on your eligibility, and in addition to the diseases and disabilities which can render you ineligible, there are some irrationally discriminatory restrictions regarding sexual orientation, sexual activity, and body art, among other things. But if you are eligible, if you are healthy enough to donate, the need is greater than ever.
  18. Looking at that build, the first things that leap out at me are "I'd buy another couple ranks of Comprehend (Languages), and also Comprehend (Codes)," and "Why is he buying Recovery bonus directly instead of buying up CON?"
  19. I don't think there'd be any issues regarding his appearance and his status as a Claremont student. There are enough metahumans in the World of Freedom that I doubt anyone would assume Claremont must be a super-school just because one funny-looking kid goes there. Assuming anyone needs to see him going to/from there in the first place. There are probably discrete ways to get on and off campus. Locke is a great last name. Maybe for the first name, another name that starts with "D"? Or you could go with another language's version of the name. I couldn't find any direct variants, but apparently it's a Gaelic name that roughly translates to "Dark Water" or "Black River" (one part "Black/Dark", one part "Water/River/Stream/etc.").
  20. N/A

    Player Away Thread

    I'm still here. I know I'm behind in my threads again. I'm hoping to catch up over this weekend. Feel free to pester me and/or delay my initiative order as you see fit to keep things moving until I get my ass in gear.
  21. Kingsnake and Woodsman can auto-pass those checks with Skill Mastery (assuming Woodsman is inclined to make those checks; Kingsnake is). Nighthawk could make them on 14 with raw Int or 16 with raw Wis if she were so inclined. Yeezus. None of the PCs can make that check, even if they take 20 or use Ultimate Skill. Kingsnake and Woodsman can auto-pass those checks with Skill Mastery (assuming Woodsman is inclined to make those checks; Kingsnake is). Nighthawk could make them on 14 with raw Int or 16 with raw Wis if she were so inclined. Kingsnake and Nighthawk can both take 10 to pass those checks.
  22. N/A

    Dirty Blvd.

    "They have the entrance covered from every angle" Kingsnake's gravelly voice advised from the darkness of the alley behind the teen heroes. "More cameras than the Millennium Mall, all out of sight." Fortunately for me, sound waves aren't as easily fooled. "They'll see anyone who even walks down the street outside. Alarms, too. The roof is wired. But the locks and alarms on the roof are standard issue, off-the-shelf, not like the Fort Knox hardware on the front door. That's my best bet for getting in quietly." He turned to Woodsman. "If you're coming with me, take the long way around the block and approach from the opposite side. Go up to the top of the building nextdoor and jump to the roof directly. That's our best chance of finding a blind spot in the cameras." With that, he faded back into the shadows.
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