Hellbound

Proving that, even with only 30pp to spend, I can still screw up a char sheet

So what's the dodge bonus on +1 defense? Is it rounded down to 0 or up to 1?

Hellbound reached out and held her arm back as she reached for the robe.

"No need for that, my fine, fiery friend. As you can see, we have ample privacy here in the comfort of the Hellcave. Those Hellpoles we use to travel here were never designed to carry tea sets, and so Alfred quite understandably finds it awkward to navigate them as such."

He placed a guiding hand on her shoulder and looked towards the roof of their secretive lair. A look of deep, ponderous contemplation etched itself across would could be seen of his features.

"I think it might be best if we kept our little practice sessions down here, for the future. We are, as they say, a little rough on the hardwood flooring. Those scorch marks would be difficult to explain to any unexpected guests, after all."

His speech was then interrupted as a warbling, anguished cry filled the echoing chamber.

"AH!" Hellbound turned towards the source of the sound. A flashing red, antique style phone resting beneath a glass dome was demanding attention.

"The Hellphone! That would be Commissioner Lightfoot, unless I miss my guess. No doubt some nefarious ner'er-do-well has plotted to take the good citizens of Freedom City into harm's way. Perhaps you should answer this one, old chum. I'm anxious to see if those Hellphone Etiquette classes you've been taking are worth the money."

"Depends on where you want to go." Hellbound began to carefully direct Moira to lay down on the canvass. Thankfully, the warehouse was still abandoned as they'd been granted privacy for their training session.

"I'd say there's no place else I'd rather be at the moment."

ooc; Done? :D

I'd like to say -- hey, man, nice shot

Hellbound will spend that hero point on Ultimate Effort: Toughness save. That'll give him a roll of 30, which means he still fails. Hopefully not by enough that everyone in the room is splashed by his blood.

It does sound like the monster will get a mouthfull of Strike: 2 and Emotion Control (Fear): 3, though.

Aw, man. I have GOT to lay off the chile verde before my afternoon naps. Weirdest fragging dream I've ever had, and if I'm ever that polite again I want one of you to hunt me down and shoot me in the sack.

Seriously. That was not cool... but Moira did look pretty hot in that outfit.

Hellbound and Moira are running a short lived, just-for-fun dream sequence. The timing of the dream can honestly be anything as there will be little continuity involved.

Who can tell what strange thoughts run through the minds of Freedom City's supermen? When a person who can survive direct artillery assaults begins to cast his mind free and let his thoughts wander, is their anyone who can rightfully predict on what he will ponder? Already, Hellbound could barely be considered human and now one had to wonder what he was thinking.

Even stranger, though, is how this odd young man will dream. When all restraints of an already unfettered life are cast off, can any intellect on the planet guess at what inhabits his mind in slumber? Peeking into the dreams of Hellbound now may reveal a clue or two, and more than a few surprises...

---

Deep beneath the busy streets and crowded sidewalks of Freedom City, directly below stately Payne Manor, out hero Hellbound stalks the shadowy depths of his home and headquarters; The Hellcave.

"I say, old chum..." He was addressing his faithful ward and sidekick, Lil' Devil, "Alfred has asked time and time again that you please not wear your costume while visiting Payne Manor. That's the fourth tea set he's dropped this week. Frankly, it's getting... a little out of hand."

Hellbound ceased in his pacing and turned to face the youthful, energetic and ever present companion that's he come to rely upon over these long, lonely years of crime fighting. His head was masked by the cowl of his Hellsuit and draped over one shoulder was the Hell-utility belt that he'd only recently gotten back from the repair shop.

"At the very least could you please put on a bathrobe? The poor man's heart might not be able to take the strain much longer."

Hellbound released Moira's hair and slid his hand behind the back of her neck. His fingers, strong enough to bend steel and tough enough to survive an incinerator, drew her in gently.

"Yeah." He admitted. "Just like that."

A delicate kiss was layed on her lips as the general course of the training session began to go awry. What had began as demonstrating a few combat basics threatened to turn into a completely different encounter if Moira didn't get his mind back on track.

I dunno... when Timmy falls down the well, who better to get him out than an honest-to-goodness cowboy? With or without the dinosaur.

Sweet... Sammy gets to be in charge if you let Hellbound ride him!

Er... the dinosaur, that is. Not Sammy.

Then Arrowhawk should probably be placed between Sammy and Scarab in terms of priority, though I don't see why we can have all interested parties involved -- pending referee approval.

Don't see why not, Sneerg. We're still in the planning phase so far, nothing has been finalized.

How many threads is the 'Hawk in at the moment? I'm looking at the following in terms of priority:

Sammy (As he's not in any threads yet, and his Soul Shooter might be useful if we end up going against the vallain I'm hoping for)

Scarab (Her mental scans and psychic attacks may well prove invaluable for this one)

Those two I'd like to have for a certainty. In addition...

Darkstar -- in 3 active threads at the moment

Avenger -- available after one or more concurrent threads close.

I'm willing to run with as many players as are willing to post regularly, but whatever ref we end up with may hold the number to something reasonable. We'll have to see once one has shown some interest in us.

Power Level: 2 (30PP)

Trade-Offs: None

Characters Name: Roman Michaels

Alternate Identity: None

Height: 6'0"

Weight: 184

Hair: Light Brown

Eyes: Blue

Stats: 16 PP

Str: 14 (+2)

Dex: 12 (+1)

Con: 14 (+2)

Int: 10 (+0)

Wis: 12 (+1)

Cha: 14 (+2)

Combat: 2 PP

Attack: +0

Grapple: +2 (+2 Str)

Defense: +1 (+0 Flat-footed)

Knockback: -0

Initiative: +1 (+1 Dex)

Saves: 1PP

Toughness: +2 (+2 Con, +0)

Fortitude: +3 (+2 Con, +1)

Reflex: +1 (+1 Dex, +0)

Will: +1 (+1 Wis, +0)

Skills: 40r = 10PP

Bluff 4 (+10)

Craft (Writing) 4 (+4)

Diplomacy 4 (+6)

Gather Information 4 (+6)

Investigate 4 (+4)

Knowledge (current events) 4 (+4)

Notice 4 (+6)

Profession (Television Host) 4 (+6)

Search 4 (+4)

Sense Motive 4 (+6)

Feats: 1PP

Connected (Production Crew)

Complications:

* Fame - Roman is well known for the show he hosts and will likely be recognized most places he goes. Furhter, as the show is quite popular these instances of recognition may include the occasional obessesed fan.

* Phobia - Sewers. Having recently lost his entire production crew to a monster in the city's sewers, Roman is understandably a little nervous about going bck into them.

DC Block:

Unarmed -- DC 17/Toughness -- Bruise

Costs: Abilities (16) + Combat (2) + Saves (1) + Skills (10) + Feats (1) + Powers (00) - Drawbacks (00) = 30/30

Personality: Outgoing and charismatic, Roman Michaels tends to make friends wherever he goes. He can typically be found in either the company of his production crew or those hard working individuals he's basing his current episode on. He has no fear of spending time with the boys after a day's shooting is over.

Description: Roman Michaels is the host of the cable show 'Back Breaking Labor'. This is an hour long, weekly broadcast from The Encounters Channel and features stories on the people in America who work hard every day for little or no reward. He's currently in Freedom City shooting various specials based on the Service and Support industry that's grown up around the superhero trade.

Backstory:

My name is Roman Michaels, and these are my labors: I explore the country looking for people who aren't afraid to break their backsâ€â€hard-working men and women who earn an honest living doing the kinds of labors that make civilized life possible for the rest of us. Now... get ready, to break your back.

Put simply, Roman is a journalist who has come to Freedom City as he films several episodes of his show 'Back Breaking Labor' as part of the Encounters Channel's 'Superhero Month'. He can be seen filming or scouting for new locations in, potentially, nearly any scene within, beneath or above the city. Anyplace where hard working men and women work to support or service the rough and tumble world of superheroics, he has a chance of either getting in the way or lending a hand.

His first exposure to what it means to fight evil came from within the sewers of Freedom as his entire production crew was eaten by a monster. This hardly even slowed the intrepid host down, however, as he's since replaced the lost members of his cable-TV family and upped the insurance premiums on them all.

Motivation: Roman is a personable, likely fellow who's primarily intersted in making a few entertaining episodes for his show within Freedom City and, perhaps, make a friend or two while he's here.

Okay -- got the request post up. Hopefully everyone approves of the outline that I listed for the storyline. If not, let me know what you'd like to see changed and I'll make some edits.

1) Hellbound

2) I'd like to see him in an environmentally themed story in which a raging fire/toxic chemical cloud/frigid waters/anything your heart desires provides the backdrop for a rescue effort. This should invovle anything which would require Hellbound to use Extra Effort to power stunt his Enhanced Con into an immunity. This will not only allow him to justify a future planned purchase of his, but also help to offset any negtive publicity generated by his Vignette: Blood on the Ice.

The objective of the story will be to save lives. A number of people should be put into jeopardy in a variety of adjacent locations, requiring the heroes to seek out trapped souls and get them to safety. Any number of movement powers and extra-sensory location skills may be required in the effort. It's entirely possible that not everyone will make it out alive, but the more people we can save, the better.

Our efforts should be resisted by one or more villains, and I already have at least one potential recruit to hopefully serve in that capacity. The villain/s in question may or may not be responsible for initiating the disastor. They may have been paid to execute a little environmental sabotage/terrosim, they may be getting their kicks by killing people or they may simply have stumbled across the scene by accident and decide to get in our way.

The villain/s should be in charge of a small group of thugs to aid in their efforts. The exact number and power levels of which is up to the ref to keep things even between the good guys and bad guys. If we manage to save enough people, then we win. If the bad guys manage to get enough people killed by the disastor, then they win.

It may not be necessary to actually bring the villain/s to justice. Not allowing them to delay our life saving efforts is more important than giving them the smackdown they richly deserve.

This may require some prep time on the part of the ref, but that's fine. At least one of the heroes would like to allow one or more of his concurrent threads to close out before joining, and the potential villain is still waiting on their latest character to be approved for play. I can get things started with the introductory portion of the storyline, but I'd like to know that a ref is able or willing to take over once we actually run into the challenging side of things. For that, I will wait until I receive word before getting anything at all rolling.

3) I have had four heroes in addition to Hellbound express interest in the story, and I am working to recruit one villain. The final number of good guys/bad guys is up to whatever the ref thinks they're able to handle.

4) Hellbound is currently involved in two threads, though one has been put on hold to help lighten the load on the other player involved. It may be picked up again later if some of her other threads close out before she's forced into hiatus.

Sweet -- looks like there is some good interest in this. That's what I was hoping for. So we currently have anywhere from 3-5 heroes ready to roll (dependent on both Scarab and Avenger's participation), and I'm in the process of recruiting us a PC villain as well -- I'd still love to see Miko be a part of this, if you're reading us, Saku!

I think that's probably enough to start hunting around for a ref. Later this morning I'll drop a line out that we're in search of one. I can handle the introductory portion of the adventure, but once we start running into challenges I'd prefer that someone else be in charge of the details. Life's just a little more interesting when you don't control those allied against you.

Hellbound is using All Out Attack to raise his Attack by +5, dropping his Defense by -5.

Improved Grab:

1d20+15=21

Into a Grapple: Pin

1d20+21=35

"Awrigght!" The young fighter turned at the monster's sudden appearance and leaped into action.

Yes, it was gruesome and, yes, it was scary, but he'd been waiting too long for this confrontation to let a little thing like fear slow him down. Perhaps if he'd been a normal man then the sight of the hideous predator would have him quivering on the floor, but 'normal' did not have much at all in common with Hellbound.

Instinct and surprise made him want to put his fist down the thing's throat, knock a few of those man-eating teeth out, but he was working with others in this one. There was a better tactic for him to employ.

Hellbound jumped on the creature even as he turned and reached for it, trying to turn his grasping hands into a Hammerlock to hold the creature for his friends to help beat upon.

I'm looking for interest in doing a little rescue work -- something that involves saving a large number of people from an environmentally oriented threat. Fire, chemical cloud, freezing water or the like is what I have in mind. Something that would require Hellbound to power stunt his Enhanced Con into an Immunity.

Bad guys are welcome either in the form of being the source of the disaster, trying to stop us from saving innocent lives or even doing a little reform work on the side. Good guys are welcome in helping out with the rescue.

Anyone interested?

I'm not contagious, Sneerg. Though I have been told that parts of me are infectuous. I don't think they're the parts I hug people with, however.

I'm assuming that Hellbound's Fearless feat makes him immune to the intimidation attempt?

He will then spend an HP to Sieze Initiative.

Oh, yes. Sorry I missed that bit -- 1d20+3=15

"Continuing is the plan." Hellbound walked to keep up with Moira. "Or at least it's the best one I've come up with. Unless someone has a way of actually tracking this thing down, I'm stuck with just walking --> that way until we get attacked.

"Hey, might not be the best plan, but I'm pretty sure it'll work eventually."

"No, Hellbound." O'Ren jerked a thumb at his chest in a friendly jibe. From the way the question had been posed it could almost sound like he was being referred to as 'Avenger'.

The hockey mask was a serious sort, focused on what he was doing and not leaving much room for casualty. Hellbound could respect that, it sometimes made for a better work environment.

Well, for most people, he figured. Being who he was, Hellbound didn't worry too much about making mistakes. Sometimes getting in over your head was just another way to have a good time.

"She's Moira. And we have no idea what's down here other than it's hungry and not too picky when it comes to buffets. It's already eaten a bunch of people up on the beach, you probably saw them on the way in if you came from there, plus a production crew. We figure about a dozen so far, somewhere in that neighborhood. That's one hell of an appetite, assuming it's alone."

Nifty! So now I know*, and I think I may have to take a look at these Dark Avengers sometime. In the meantime, what of the edit for Hellbound? Acceptable? Out of character? Too soon? He only has 2pp to spend at the moment. If the edit costs more than that, I'll have to fire this off next month.

*... and knowing is half the battle!