Altairion (PL 10) - Acecipher

[acecipher]

Hey everyone, here's my first submission.

Player Name:acecipher

Character Name: Altairion

Power Level:10 (150/151)

Trade-Offs: -2 Attack / +2 Damage, -4 Defense / +4 Toughness

Unspent Power Points: 1

Progress To Bronze Status: 1/30

In Brief: A Cosmic Energy Manipulator, whose mathematically based cosmic energy control changes the very fabric of Time and Space. Always eager to develop his powers further and help others in need.

Alternate Identity:Drake Bannings

Identity:Secret

Birthplace:Palo Alto, CA

Occupation:Math Postdoctoral student

Affiliations:Prof. Patrick F. Chang (Advisor), Bethany Joy (Officemate), Ysabel Hernandez (Officemate)

Family: Carl (Father), Lisa (Mother), Alicia (Twin Sister)

Description:

Age: 28 (DoB:November 1st, 1981)

Apparent Age:25

Gender:Male

Ethnicity: Quarter Greek, Quarter Russian, Half VERY English.

Height: 6'1

Weight: 183 lbs

Eyes: somewhere between blue and green.

Hair: Brown

He is tall, with a fairly moderate build, just muscley enough to the point where its noticible to the female students of his. Besides a small beard on his chin, he is impeccably clean-shaven, all over his body (excluding his wild, unkempt hair). His clothes are usually very casual, nothing more than a T-shirt, Jeans, and running shoes, occasionally a polo or button-up shirt for fancier occasions. He has nothing against wearing suits, he's just too lazy to go through the effort of putting one on most of the time.

His costume has two layers, made out of cosmic energies warped to be visible to the human eye while still offering moderate protection. This covers him head to toe, leaving only a diagonal slit for his eyes and a hole in the top for his hair (these are still protected, but by cosmic energy that is 'clear.') The second later is comprised of an armored jacket and trousers with blue plates covering the wide surfaces of the arm, for aesthetic purposes. The entire costume is done in an orange and blue theme, mostly to match the standard colors of Altairion's cosmic blasts. Also in this layer is a set of gloves and boots. both with some armor plating to match the style of the jacket and pants. He also expands his device: it is a telescoping metal staff with three circles, each about a foot wide and perpendicular to the other two, with two circles inside the globe formed by the three free to spin. When he uses his powers, glowing geometric shapes form inside of the globe.

Power Descriptions:

His powers are all based off of the use of cosmic energy and advanced mathematics to manipulate time and space; as such, his powers usually manage to create glowing geometries extending into dimensions unseen all around him, casting him in a blue and orange light. Whenever he needs to get in costume, he puts his 'barrier jacket' up (Force field power), giving him the look of someone wearing an jacket and trousers with sown-in armored plates (this is a repulsive field of cosmic energy warped to reflect light in a familiar form. The wings are only there during flight. His blasts take the form of perfect (and I mean perfect) spheres, and his binds are torroids with no eccentricity.

History:

His childhood was utterly, utterly bland, and like many children with a vanilla background growing up in a rich suburb, this left him listless; his intelligence had managed to get him into the moderately prestigious University of California Santa Cruz in the Physics Major. After a horrendously bad breakup with his then-girlfriend, he had reached a point where he had decided to give up on life... and decided to spend his last moments seeing how it felt flying through the air straight down.

This, of course, was a horrendously stupid idea, and one he learned to regret... halfway down the building. But for some strange instinctual reason, when in flight, he worked out the mathematical formulae that would be needed for him to survive the fall, putting enough work upwards on his body to counteract the force downward provided by gravity, but without enough to strain his bones past their elastic modulus... and found himself unharmed, at the bottom of the physics building.

He went back to his life, living on, far distracted from the concerns of some minor heartbreak, and started experimenting, only stopping for bodily needs and the weekly homework assignment. He quickly developed a different repetoire of techniques, from flight to armor to other minor tricks. He was so excited about it that it had recently become the focus of his life... but he quickly found it boring, having no use for it. So, he decided to apply it for the one thing any single male college student would: being popular with the ladies (though he was still enough of a slug to never hold down a steady relationship). However, that eventually grew dull. He couldn't talk about his powers to his female companionship, so he started trying to find another person with powers like his, and surprisingly, found a fellow college student of his to shine greatly with cosmic power.

Having become socially isolated, he had a bit of akwardness approaching the student, but they became fast friends, as Drake had a natural charisma that helped him deal with people, and Josh (the engineer) had an obsession with 1970s rock music, something Drake once also counted among his interests. Drake exploited this mercilessly to get close to Josh; however, it was not lost upon him that he really had found a great friend, and eventually decided to stop being so manipulative, and try to become a friend. And found, surprisingly, that it was a refreshing change from manipulating everyone around him.

However, one day Josh was in quite a bit of hot water. His girlfriend had told him to not be late for a date, and there was no chance in hell Josh could make it through a traffic jam. However, Drake took hold of him by the shoulder, and used his spatial manipulation to get them there almost instantly, making Josh not only saved, but 10 minutes early with his apology letter. Drake told him to enjoy his date, and he told Josh about his own potential powers afterwards.

After showing Josh how to use his powers, the two quickly became enamored in a project that Josh, a Mechanical Engineer, had thought up, but had nowhere near the theoretical mind to finish: A device to amplify their cosmic power, doing the spatial calculations for them, allowing them to become progressively more and more powerful, eventually gaining domion over things they previously had not even dared dream of....

It was not an easy project. The method required taking multiple classes in linear algebra and reading all available journals on cutting-edge mathematics. Thankfully, both of them were far smarter than their position at a second-rate UC implied, and were able to, with great effort, push themselves to truly gain an understanding of the mathematics needed to precisely apply their powers, delving into topics as complex as vector spaces in quantum mechanics. A pleasant side effect of this was that both Drake and Josh were able to take independent research classes and have their research for making such a device replace part of their regular college workload, which, in turn, let them publish papers that got them research grants and scholarships, guaranteeing them a full ride all the way through their PhD research. The design saw them graduate and go into grad school together, and by the time it was done both had become as close as blood brothers. Despite the insane, mind-bending multidimensional calcualtions involved at each step of building, they finally had perfected the quantum-level computing needed to help them control and amplify their powers.

The pair massively expanded their powers with the aid of their two devices, staff-shaped objects with tiny labtop components that drew power from an imaginary dimension parallel to the ground in the normal world. Of course, they were still college students, so they both used their newly amplified power in the way that any college student would: to (again) become very, very popular with the ladies on campus.

They found this good, for a time, and saw both of them at a high point in their lives. But one day Drake was walking a girl home, when a boy passed by them on a bike, listening to music, not paying too much attention. Drake dismissed it with a thought, and went back to caraousing his partner, to be interrupted only seconds later by shreiking tires and screams. The kid had gotten hit by a truck that had run a red light. The scene of the accident was horrible and brutal, and shook Drake down to his core.

He finished walking his date home, and went back to his apartment. He recreated the event in his mind: the intersection was 18.3m in front of them, the truck probably had a mass of 3000kg and was going at about 48kmph. He kept going over the numbers again and again: it was an elementary physics problem to have stopped that truck. In a fit of drinking, he decided one thing: As soon as he graduates in a month, he would take up not only studies, but also dedicate his life to helping those who were not blessed with his great, superhuman powers. And so he took up the mantle of Denebrion.

This was all well and good, and for the next 6 years he helped the helpless in Santa Barbara while working on his masters, and then his doctorate in Mathematics. However, shortly after he completed his thesis two of his greatest enemies, the Yakuza and the MS-13, ganged up to take him down, and threw caution and collaterateral damage to the wind. Drake decided it was too dangerous to those around him to stay in that town, and decided to stage Denebrion's death in the fire due to a miscalculation and leave, letting Josh carry the burden of judging those trustworthy enough to know that he wasn't really dead, and continue with the good work he had started.

There was one problem with his plan though: He had no idea where to go. He knew of stories of heroes who weren't appreciated, and actually reviled, all across the nations (which were wildly aggravated and overblown by his still-shocked mind), but it wasn't until he had made it halfway through Texas that he came across a discarded newspaper. Two words caught his attention, and nothing else written there mattered: Freedom City.

He set off to Freedom City, knowing that there he could make a difference, just like he wanted to. He would do his best to make sure no more boys would be splayed out dying on the asphalt.

....Such was the romantic idea that set him off to Freedom City to become a superhero; yet, he had no place to stay, no job, and most importantly, no idea of what to do in terms of his heroing. However, on the Greyhound bus there, he's managed to apply for a postdoctoral spot at Freedom City College (something that, with his credentials, should be approved without any bother; plus, his full-ride grant he started receiving for his work in nth dimensional vector spaces was still good income), and had come up with the idea to take the name of another star in the Summer Triangle, to become Altairion.

Personality & Motivation:

For the most part, Drake is rather carefree person. He takes care of his studies, and his multidimensional mathematical reasearch, with this attitude. However, mention any of the math that he uses for his cosmic energy manipulation, or even just cosmic energy itself, and he becomes eager to learn everything one knows about it, and one's thoughts and theories on it. Another break of this carefree attitude is whenever someone is in danger: Drake will abandon whatever he is currently doing with all due haste to save whoever is needing rescue.

Powers & Tactics:

"So, you want to know how I stop the forces of darkenss and act as a champion of justice? Heh, how am I sure that you're not with the Yakuza and just seeking to use it against me?"

"Kidding, kidding. I just do that because if a Yak did come in, and they have in the past, they tend to pull guns at that statement, but I'm fairly sure that you're not by your reaction. So, down to business."

"The first thing I always do, of course, is pull up my barrier around myself. No point trying to help others if I just get taken out on the first charge, right? Heh, yeah. After that, I usually use my spatial travelling to teleport there, or to wherever I can get the best shot. If that's not on solid ground, I use my flight to try to get behind them, hopefully as quickly as possible."

"Now's where things get interesting. If I'm there with some buddies who I've set up an ambush with, which I'd have scoped out with my farsight, I'd just bind the evildoer, and let them take him down, if that's ok with them. Otherwise, I'd break out the heavy artillery, and have Polarion activate shooting mode to blast them with all of his might. Well.... maybe not all, since I can't help but do a bit of showing off whenever I do that. But just as hard as I can. And... that's mostly it, for my standard combat strategy. If I need to pull something out of my @#$ then I have no problem doing that, either; in fact, its rather fun every once in a while to do so, and gives me ideas that I might want to develop later on."

"So... that's it. Any other questions?"

---

Complications:

LaVernier's Organ: restricted to half power when his left hip is hurt.

Geometries of Unstable Power:Attacks give away his position for miles whenever he uses them at full power.

Hero Syndrome:Always tries to help those in danger.

Marked for Death (Yakuza):The Yakuza want him dead.

Abilities: 0 + 0 + 0 + 10 + 6 + 4 = 20PP

Strength 10 (+0)

Dexterity 10 (+0)

Constitution 10 (+0)

Intelligence 20 (+5)

Wisdom 16 (+3)

Charisma 14 (+2)

Combat: 8 + 8 = 16PP

Initiative: +8

Attack: +4, +8 cosmic attacks

Grapple: +4

Defense: +6 (+4 Base, +2 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed

Knockback: -0, -12 w/ Force Field

Saving Throws: 6 + 6 + 9 = 21PP

Toughness: +0/+14 (+0 Con, +14 Force Field [impervious 10])

Fortitude: +6 (+0 Con, +6)

Reflex: +6 (+0 Dex, +6)

Will: +12 (+3 Wis, +9)

Skills: 76R = 19PP

Concentration 12 (+15)

Craft (Electronic) 4 (+7)

Diplomacy 9 (+12)

Knowledge [Physical Sciences] 15 (+20, Skill Mastery)

Knowledge [Technology] 4 (+7)

Notice 10 (+13, Skill Mastery)

Search 10 (+15, Skill Mastery)

Sense Motive 12 (+15, Skill Mastery)

Feats: 12PP

Dodge Focus 2

Improved Initiative 2

Luck 3

Inventor

Trance

Skill Mastery (Knowledge [Physical Sciences], Notice, Search, Sense Motive)

Ultimate Save (Will)

Ultimate Skill (Knowledge [Physical Sciences])

Powers: 18 + 14 + 25 + 5 = 62PP

Device 6 (Easy to lose, Power Feats: Restricted 1 (Limited to Cosmic Energy Users; Must be able to solve the determinant of a 1000 x 1000 matrix of random numbers, once) [18]

Cosmic Array 13 (26pp array, Power Feats 4 Alternate Powers) [30PP]

Base Power: Blast 12 (cosmic blasts, Power Feats: Accurate 2) [26PP]

Alternate Power: ESP 6 (20 miles; visual and auditory senses, Extras: Duration - Sustained, Power Feats: Subtle) [25PP]

Alternate Power: Snare 12 (cosmic spatial distortion bond, Power Feats: Accurate 2) [26PP]

Alternate Power: Teleport 6 (cosmic spatial distortion, range: 20 miles, Extras: accurate 6, Affects Others 4, Power Feats: Change Velocity, Change Direction, Easy, Turnabout) [26P]

Alternate Power: Healing 12 (Power Feats: Persistent, Regrowth) [26PP]

The device is a telescoping metal staff with three circles, each about a foot wide and perpendicular to the other two, with two circles inside the globe formed by the three free to spin. When he uses his powers, glowing geometric shapes form inside of the globe.

Flight 7 (cosmic flight, 1000mph / 5000' per round) [14PP]

Force Field 14 (cosmic spatial distortion wards, Extras: Impervious 10) [24PP]

Communication 2 (Cosmic telepathic communication; 100ft) [2PP]

Super-Senses 4 (Cosmic Energy awareness [mental; extended, radius, ranged]) [4PP]

DC Block:

ATTACK      RANGE     SAVE                         EFFECT

Unarmed     Touch     DC 15 Toughness (Staged)     Damage

Blast       Range     DC 27 Toughness (Staged)     Damage

Snare       Range     DC 22 Reflex (Staged)        Ensnared/Helpless

Abilities (20) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (21) + Skills (19) + Feats (12) + Powers (62) - Drawbacks (0) = 150/151 Power Points

[Avenger Assembled]

Healing doesn't work as an AP for your Force Field; it'll hurt you too badly. Please make your Magic Awareness match the house rules. (I know the Archetype you used didn't have that, but this is where we make sure you check the House Rules first!) The drawback doesn't really work mechanically, that should be a Complication. (I did suggest alternate techniques for that to you.)

[Ecalsneerg]

As I said in Chat, and you apparently missed, the mana core thing isn't going to work thematically. In this setting, science and technology (which includes biology) and magic are two separate and distinct forces. Ergo, there isn't an internal organ which gives mortals access to magic. I mean, we've deliberately resisted giving magic any form of hard and fast rules in-setting, but that's just a bit too out there.

[Avenger Assembled]

There are a couple of ways to keep the organ thing, though:

Maybe it's an organic construct implanted in him for sinister (or good purposes) by magical entities. What jumps to my mind is the Grue Arcane; perhaps as the result of some terrible experiment! He could be an alien himself, all unknowin. Maybe he just thinks the organ is an issue and it's a matter of his psychological limitations on the power. Or maybe he just thinks he's a magician; he's manipulating cosmic energy or psychic powers or something, and that's where the node comes in.

[Gizmo]

In case you're having difficulty understanding the reason behind this objection, remember that we're working in a shared universe here. If you establish that there's an organ that makes you all magic, then any existing or future magic users have to somehow either work with that or work around it. There's room for flexibility, of course; one hero receiving mystic powers from a mysterious old man doesn't prevent another hero from studying for decades to get their own and so on, but what you're suggesting would be problematic.

It's been suggested that perhaps you might go with a 'chakra point' being his weak spot; somewhere that, if disrupted, would prevent the flow of magic through his body. That gives you the same effect without the 'You got biology in my mysticism! You got mysticism in my biology!' problem.

[Avenger Assembled]

So have you made the suggested edits, Ace? You do need to let us know.

[acecipher]

Yeah, I took a while since I had a midterm in multivariable calculus and GREATLY prefer to discuss things over chat rather than have to go round on the forums for a million times. But it's done now, and so what I've edited:

-Changed everything from Magical Power to Cosmic Power (which I wish I'd thought of myself far earlier xP) and done appropriate editing everywhere.

-Changed Ritualist to Inventor, and switched Knowledge (Arcane) with Knowledge (Physical sciences), and put all of my previous Skill Points in Knowledge (Physical) into Knowledge (Technology) and Craft (Electronics) to spoof inventions onto my device, as was discussed in chat. (No, not permanently increase the power points, just make a one-use invention, like ritualist).

-Fixed the Mana Core to have a time limit on the power loss, and made it like the suggested chakra points; also edited it to only weaken the powers by half in case of injury. Also renamed it a Lavernier's organ.

-Added in an aditional paragraph in the Character history, bringing it up to the present.

-Added the Marked for Death Complication.

-Added the restriction of Cosmic Energy Users to my device.

-Added a tag line onto the Geometry complication emphasizing that it is only for offensive powers.

-Redistributed points from the change from magical awareness to cosmic awareness: one went into giving the awareness the extended benefit, and the other went into communication, bumping it up by one point.

[Ecalsneerg]

Right, basically my problem here is this.

This is just a magic user only with a different descriptor. Other than calling it cosmic energy and not magic, you've not changed the aesthetics, stylings or anything else about the character in any way.

So you've got two options, really.

1. Revert back to a magic user, and get rid of the mana core idea. It doesn't fit in with how we've portrayed magic users in the setting so far, whose powers aren't "natural" in the sense they've got biological organs to do it.

2. Actually make him a cosmic energy controller, not a mage with a different descriptor. I think using super-advanced mathematics to channel the cosmic power of the universe is a good concept, but what you've currently got is just a mage with his descriptor changed to get around the fact we keep saying you shouldn't have a tumor to explain your power use.

[Gizmo]

It's really that simple. Is he Doctor Strange or the Silver Surfer? Choose.

[acecipher]

Alright... I've tried to do what I can. If I need to change it further I will.

[Ecalsneerg]

:approved:

[Avenger Assembled]

APPROVED

[Dr Archeville]

Archived due to inactivity.