Gizmo

That. Is. Fantastic.

In Soviet Russia, equipment cleans you! We could probably use the rooms in The Underground to store stuff like costumes and gear; no point having that stuff up in the brownstone for someone to stumble across. Kinda like having a separate room for each alter-ego.

All-Star's remarks seemed to catch Jack off-guard, and he paused for a brief moment. "Never really been a... 'stuff' kinda guy," he replied finally. He looked around around again, and continued more brightly, "But I see what you mean. It's all pretty swank." He crossed his arms and turned back to the monitors. "Seeing as it's not my birthday, however, I'm still searching for 'who' and 'why' to go with all this 'what'."

Yeah, I realized I was misunderstanding the ability when I went over the Super-Sense options again, Doc. The good news is, as of his last edit, Jack does have acute energy awareness. Actually, with 22 points in Charisma, he's got acute everything! Ba dum chh!

Jack leaned next to the one of the monitors in the center of the room when All-Star mentioned the training simulator. He spoke quietly out of the corner of his mouth to the representation of Vince on the screen. "How, ah, durable is that thing? Sparky over there isn't exactly Mr. Self Restraint with the whole 'tall buildings in a single bound' routine." The swordsman looked up to see the super-strong hero admiring the MAVERIC. "You... know you can fly under your own power, right?" He pointed over his shoulder to the staircase. "Like, really fast. Or is this a 'driving for the sake of driving' sort of thing?"

Yeah, I'd be willing to put in for that. Sort of like a way more awesome H.E.R.B.I.E.

Man, I kinda hope Vince is an AI and not just a cover for the Doc, 'cause he is way too much fun. Also: whoever said Charisma was a dump stat clearly didn't know what they were talking about.

Jack caught up with his cowboy comrade just before they reached the end of the staircase. "Colt," he said quietly through a toothy smile, "stop helping." The swordsman took in the presentation of the underground base with poorly concealed awe. The equipment on display was so far beyond what he was used to it felt unreal. He grinned broadly as he walked in a wide circle around the command and control room. "Vince, you are my new favourite super team forming CGI talk show host ever."

I'd say Nullify; if we don't have to worry about super-strength or laser vision, Toughness is less of an issue. Are we talking about defenses that are hidden on the outside of the brownstone, or internal security for The Underground?

"I am pretty terrific," Jack replied reflexively. The petite woman's smile threatened to physically rock him back on his feet. Yow. That's, uh... yeah. This was certainly a change of pace. Part of Jack couldn't help waiting for the other shoe to drop. After quickly clearing his throat, he managed, "Now if only I could convince Wikipedia; 'not notable' my well-defined buttocks."

Jack took a moment to decide whether Blink was pulling his leg or not. She didn't really strike him as the joke-a-minute type. "Uh, yeah," he replied. "Soft and corrupt. Totally don't crack my top ten secret police list." The swordsman had wondered what he was doing on the same list of recruits as someone like Velocity or even All-Star, but a background in Russian special forces certainly widened the spectrum. Talk about covering all your bases... More than ever he wondered what their mystery host had in mind.

That's really quite clever!

Jack regarded Blink's shakily forced smile with a raised eyebrow. "You're kind of a scary lady, you know that? You've got a sorta ex-KGB thing going on." He gave her an easy grin as they walked. "Don't get me wrong, it's a totally hot ex-KGB thing; you make it work for you. As for trust," he added with a shrug, "I'm not wearing this mask because it accentuates my fantastic bone structure - although it does - but this all seems pretty elaborate for a trap, don't you think?"

So I guess it turns out a bunch of Jack's feats are totally useless with PL caps. So: Dropping Improved Block 2 Improved Disarm 2 Improved Sunder Weapon Bind Weapon Break = 7pp 4pp - Raise Charisma to 22 (+6) (This improves his Bluff to +21 and Diplomacy to +12, obviously.) 2pp - Add Inspire 2 1pp - Improve "Super-Senses 1 [energy awareness]" to "Super-Senses 2 [acute energy awareness]" = 7pp Sandman finds your lack of faith disturbing

Jack's coat flapped wildly as All-Star sped past. "...oh yeah, we're gonna be best pals, me and him," he muttered as he collected himself and continued downward. He pulled a face when Kristian inquired about Colt's weapons. Joy, gun talk. The swordsman glanced up the way he'd come, calling out, "You coming, ladies? We haven't blown up yet or anything, so, y'know, that's good."

Jack let out a light laugh. "This guy again. Dude talks almost as much as I do," he observed. He walked about the room, taking a closer look at the revealed equipment. "Pretty swank, 'Vince', old boy. Alright, I'll bite." He shrugged to the others as Colt made his way down the stairs. "Cowpoke's got a point. Down the rabbit hole, eh?" Vaulting easily over the couch, he followed the withdrawn young man underground.

Man, words cannot convey how pumped I am to see 'Vince' reappear. In my head, he is played by Fred Willard.

"Now that is a good question." Jack looked around. "I get the feeling we're maybe not all on the same page here. I didn't get a whole lot more that time and place, frankly." He turned to face the couch where Grim was lounging. "How about it, Magical Girl Sailor Jersey? Seems like you've got the inside scoop. Dish."

Yuck. Well, the upside is that Jack'll have a lot more points to move around come next edit than I thought!

Well, that clears that up! It's just as well; after tinkering around with this a bit I found I had a lot of trouble matching up the ranges of every single effect. I had much more success just coming up with specific pairs as part of a single array.

Jack's eyebrow twitched almost imperceptibly at All-Star's abrasive attitude. At least Lady MacParanoid over there is polite. When the caped man gave the swordsman an appraising look, clearly expecting an introduction, Jack snapped to attention and saluted smartly. "Captain Stupendous Magnifico, Scion of a Thousand Stars, Son of Admiral Awesomestien, Slayer of Chupacabras, long may his name sound in the hallowed halls of my people." He gave All-Star a grave look. "Far have I traveled to meet the one called All-Star. We face a terrible enemy, and our only hope is a weapon powered by pure ego. You are our only hope." The swashbuckler leaned back against the table. "That said, I also answer to Jack," he drawled, deadpan. Before All-Star could respond, a seventh person arrived. "Hey, new guy! Well, so much for the kegger; no way you're legal."

Jack leaned against a nearby table as Grim shifted her outfit not once but twice. "Well, that's gotta be a time saver. So much for supers putting their pants on one leg at a time like everyone else." He made note when Velocity mentioned Blink's name, then gave a good-natured smirk when she introduced herself. "Yeah, I know. You're sort of a big deal, huh?" He placed his hands far apart, as if indicating distance, then drew them closer together. "I'm more of a think globally, act locally kinda guy. Jack of all Blades. Friends just call me Jack." The swashbuckler shrugged. "Well, friends and people looking to save time." He suppressed a wince when All-Star arrived. It's the guy who knocked 'Head's block off, he groaned inwardly. For a moment he thought the broad shouldered man had recognized him, but realized that he was talking to Colt instead. He's never seen me in costume, Jack reassured himself. Small favours. All-Star wasn't exactly his favourite person, but more than that Jack was embarrassed by his overreaction at the carnival's haunted house. Second chance at a first impression for both of us.

If they can't exceed caps, why do they even exist? I have a hard time imagining a character build which wouldn't be better served by putting the points into Attack Focus or Specialization or simply the basic attack bonus.

Erik took an involuntary half-step back as the fire eater released a massive gout of flame. His energy awareness made it clear, this 'Maxie Napalm', though Erik didn't believe for a moment that that was his real name, was certainly super human. Jack's palm practically itched to draw the fire into a sword. The young man blinked. He'd just thought of himself as 'Jack' instead of 'Erik'. He rubbed the back of his head ruefully. This little identity crisis is getting a little out of hand, he thought to himself. He definitely needed to spend more time without the mask and wig. As the performance continued to light up the area, Erik spotted Dead Head approaching accompanied by a sizable group of young women. He shook his head in disbelief, muttering, "The guy's dead and he sees more play than me. That's just messed up."

Jack hung back long enough to let the others enter the building before he approached the door. Not like I'm expecting it to explode or anything, but still... Catching the swinging door with his booted foot before it could close all of the way, he slipped inside. The swordsman immediately came face to face with a small woman with a bowl of cereal. "Nice, uh, slippers," Jack observed, moving in an arc to take a step backwards into the building. "More of a Leafs guy, myself, but with the opening they're having... Am I overdressed? 'Cause I missed the BYOPJs part of the invite. I'm like that, though. That could just be me," he rambled absently as he looked around the interior of the brownstone. A few step further inside, he spotted a familiar figure. "Colt! Hey, my fellow unusually-large-coat-wearing... guy." He moved over to the cowboy. "So, how's Freedom treating you? Super wacky fun? 'Cause I'm guessing super wacky fun." Looking about some more he saw the dark haired woman and what was unmistakably the Freedom Leaguer Velocity. Glancing back and forth between the three women, Jack nudged Colt in the side, murmuring, "Woah. Good team-up." Sweeping one side of his coat out as though it were a cape, he bowed melodramatically. "Ladies..." he greeted as he rose with a roguish grin.