Stormbreaker (PL 10/12) - Blue Rose (Bronze)

[Blue Rose]

Player Name: Blue Rose

Character Name: Captain Silvia the Stormbreaker

Power Level: 12 (153/177PP)

Trade-Offs: Attack/Damage (Variable)

Unspent Power Points: 24

Progress To Silver Status: 27/60 (Bronze Status earned with >Kit)

In Brief: Former mystical space dragon turned mystical space pirate.

Alternate Identity: Notus the Summer Breeze (lost)

Identity: Public

Birthplace: Wyrmward Gate

Occupation: Intergalactic space pirate

Affiliations: South Wind Pirates

Family: None by blood

Description:

Age: Ancient

Apparent Age: 34

Gender: Female (originally sexless)

Ethnicity: Apparently caucasian

Height: 5'6"

Weight: 132 lbs

Eyes: Green

Hair: Blonde

Captain Silvia, or Stormbreaker as has become her more common name when doing battle on Earth, looks nothing like a giant space lizard/deity. In fact, archaic dress aside, she looks like a perfectly normal human woman in her mid thirties, attractive but not extraordinary. A lean, slender body with a light layer of athlete's muscle beneath a face framed by shoulder-length, wavy flaxen hair.

Her full features would likely be cheerful and pleasant, were they to move normally. They don't; a fact that's undeniable on sight, yet hard to pin down. The way her face expresses itself, the way she moves, it's all odd, unnatural, inhuman. It's all controlled and graceful, to be sure, but more akin to some breed of predator. Perhaps a cornered, feral cat. Even when supposedly "relaxed", her face appears constantly wary and her body is always ready to strike. Adding to the appearance is a slightly inhuman set of teeth, not monstrous, but seeming rather more fang-like than is the norm. Her bicuspids in particular are long and sharp, though the right front bicuspid is cut short.

Her usual attire might have been considered the height of warrior's fasshion once upon a time, centuries ago, were it a time that accepted women in such a line of work as inserting long pieces of metal into people they don't like. Nowadays, it looks expensive if not high class and highly eccentric, though perhaps less so than those who go around in public wearing rubber pajamas. She wears an entirely functional chain shirt visible beneath her outer garments, usually some manner of gold- or silver-embroidered vest in a rich blue, violet, or green and all manner of battle-appropriate jewelry, from belt buckles designed in intricate knots of steel to amulets and clasps in the shape of various leaves, nuts, and emblems. On her back, she always wears a heavy cloak, less prone to billowing in the wind than many heroes', and always tilted to the left, covering her left arm. Or rather, the vacant air that would be her right arm; it was cut off past the elbow. And capping off the entire ensemble is a shining rapier of the highest quality, its hilt twisting in patterns of blue steel roses. A work of art as much as a weapon, but well-used regardless.

Power Descriptions:

Silvia's powers, relatively limited though they may be, revolve around the wind. As one normally can't see air, there is little to describe; she swings her sword, one does not see the shockwave flying through the air, and then a gash appears on her target. Her presence also calms the weather immediately around her. Nothing flashy, but one does tend to take notice when, in the middle of a hurricane, a woman walks along, everything around her hit by nothing more than a light drizzle.

Expanding 'power' to 'property,' her most impressive possession is the Ages Lost, her ship. Her space ship, in fact, though it looks very much like a much larger, fancier version of a Spanish galleon. Just floating in the sky. And made of golden dragon scales. And equipped with an exterior hyperdrive.

But that aside, it is much like a galleon on the exterior, even including a fully-functional weatherdeck, solar sails, and mooring lines, though the anchor is unlike anything seen on Earth; a large bulb with a gravity lock to hold itself in place, allowing it to anchor to empty space and sky.

History:

Notus the Summer Breeze. A dragon. A timeless, nigh godlike entity that took up residence in the Red Belt; a sector in space so named as a result of merchants' losses trying to conduct business in the area, only to lose their product to the storms. A calm spirit of the winds, Notus' presence brought peace to a section of the Red Belt large enough for trade to pass through. This place became known as Wyrmward Gate, and those reverent to the dragon (mainly some humans it had taken with it as its own personal cult) were permitted to settle on the now-habitable planets in the area, where they profitted greatly from their position on a now-vital trade route.

Where Notus came from before settling in the Red Belt, no one knows. Even it did not recall, or at least did not care to answer when asked. The real story, however, is fairly uninteresting to those not studying the more esoteric aspects of the multiverse. This dragon was never born. Nor was it made. It was one of the oldest entities in the universe, and like life itself, simply came into being by... whatever it is that created all life in the universe. Will of God, natural processes, burgeoning cosmic ley lines, tap dancing pixies, or something of the sort. But some how, some cosmic storm took to consuming meteors and other spacial munchies, then excreting star dust and repeating the cycle, growing increasingly complex in the process over the course of eons, slowly gaining sapience as it drifted about the universe until it coalesced into the form of the godlike dragon, Notus. A living, intelligent being, in a manner of speaking, but so far removed from conventional mortals as to make the status meaningless.

Once it landed in the Red Belt, it stayed for centuries. A choice. Perhaps the first real, fully-cognizent choice it had ever made; merely maintaining its own massive existence was an enormous feat, and the creature normally operated on instinct alone. So it found a nice place for a rest, sometimes chatting, sometimes hording, sometimes fending off invaders, but mostly sleeping and feeding on the Red Belt's hot gases and unstable energies, its mere presence bringing great fortune and rendering entire planets warm and fertile.

Then, he came. Serge the Swordsmith, a warrior and craftsman of legendary pedigree, and one ruthlessly dedicated to his craft. First, he attacked by surprise, a single strike that claimed a single fang. It seemed like nothing at first; a grave insult, but no threat, but that was incorrect. With that piece of the great dragon, Serge was able to forge an incredible weapon, melding it with other stolen elements to create Fang of Five Dragons, one of the mightiest blades in the galaxy, whose creation syphoned much of the dragons power, in addition to it being an absolute defense against its power. In the second attack, Notus was defenseless; protected by the Fang of Five Dragons, the Swordsmith crushed the godlike being and this time, he claimed its left forelimb and left the creature to die. He began forging the limb into Lash of Four Winds, a yet mightier blade whose creation drained still more of Notus' power, reducing it to almost nothing (comparatively speaking), not even enough to retain her form, or her life.

With her power gone and her wounds fatal, the Red Belt began to encroach on the gate once more, dooming the planets within to certain annihilation. Evacuations were conducted as best as possible, though growing storms destroyed many evacuation ships. However, a number of Notus' most loyal worshippers gathered, calling on great magics to save their god's life the only way they could. The vessel, the giant lizard? It was damaged beyond repair, yet it could be consumed, absorbed to create a new vessel for the creature's soul. A human vessel. Many sacrificed their lives in the ritual, and even once it was done, they had no way off the doomed planet and the former dragon's powers now failed to reach even a hundred feet. Thankfully, the survivors included several skilled spacefarers and a talented shipwright, and they gathered many of the dragon's shed scales, fashioning it into a crude ship (they made it a thing of beauty later). With the scales amplifying the human captain's power, they safely ignored the storms and escaped.

Soon after, they took up their chosen profession, harassing the aggressive, oppressive nations in their quadrant, attacking their warships and stealing their goods for resale to more benevolent allies. A lucrative business, and they survived by fleeing into ion storms and destructive anomolies where they couldn't be followed, thanks to the power of their captain, who took the name Silvia and was given the title Stormbreaker.

Her greatest goal, however, was to retrieve the swords made of her body, to regain her power, but the Swordsmith was a slippery one, especially with his masterwork incomplete. She eventually received word of those dealing with him taking base on Earth, a planet she barely remembered from the time before her transformation. There, she arrived to continue her old ways; thrashing evil, knicking their less intergalactically illegal stuff (and research notes as well), then selling it to the highest unobjectionable bidder. In the case of information, sometimes several times. The thrashing of evil was well received, though the knicking of stuff caused considerably more strife.

To smooth such things over, she has people. She has a manager and an agent, both to work on her image both publically and within the crimefighting community, and to determine which villains are particularly worthy of an eye, due to the high value of their posessions. Both goods and clients are gauged carefully, and any particularly uppity hero who dare call her a soulless mercenary crook or some sort can get a nice, long look at the ledger for the ten million she received for sale of a dimensional generator a couple weeks back- formerly used to store enough poison gas to wipe out all of Freedom City, now being used to evacuate the population of a planet suffering natural ash storms violent enough to render it nigh-uninhabitable. Twenty million to medical research. Thirty million to educational programs. Forty million to funds meant to repair damage from supercrime in locations not fortunate enough to have their own guardian spirit. Five million to local works projects, including a much-needed renovation to South Freedom Elementary's library. And of course, a few million cut out for parts and fuel for her ship, food and supplies for her crew. And some new furniture for her room, a very nice new set of boots, a feast or five that wouldn't be out of place atop Mount Olympus... hey, there's nothing wrong with a little cut for personal foibles.

Personality & Motivation:

The dragon Notus was tired. Eternally tired. Even when awake, it was always at the brink of collapse, overwhelmed by its own physical and magical magnitude. There was much it aspired to do, yet it was always too weary, even with its infinite time. And every time it woke up, it was to the sound of hundreds of worshippers.

Now, as a human, she is awake, and free to indulge in ambition to her heart's content. She does not stop and muse; she takes action, pouring all she has into everything she deems worth doing, eager to explore the world. Unfortunately, she's also used to mortals deferring to her in absolute reverence. She's gotten used to this no longer being the case, more or less, but insolence will still raise her ire far too swiftly.

She also learns with exceptional speed, and takes great pride in this, always eager to compete in any field and grow stronger. She especially can't resist a challenge to a duel.

Powers & Tactics:

Face foe. Stab foe. If they are far away, cut the sky from afar. If there are many foes, engulf them all in slashing winds. If they're flying in the sky, slam them down to Earth. If the fight's in the open air, call in Ages Lost and blow the foe away with the cannons, then take the baddies' stuff and sell it.

Silvia relies on mundane swordplay as much as powers, using them as a supplement rather than a replacement. Her wind powers, while useful, are far from the most impressive, though her ship is considerably more imposing. Either way, her means are rarely subtle.

---

Complications:

One Arm: The dragon Notus had its left forelimb lopped off, and the wound persisted into the human vessel, Captain Silvia. Although she can fight just fine with one arm, it does have its down sides.

Draconic Arrogance: Silvia is used to being worshipped by mortals, and the bulk of her crew is still composed of survivors of her cult. While she's learned a little bit about how to have reasonable expectations of humans who don't worship her, she is brittle and easily insulted.

Brash: Silvia's is a bold and adventurous spirit, still used to being a nigh-invincible dragon, even after that's been disproven. As such, with her newfound energy, she is far too apt to jump into a dangerous situation without a plan or go off and do something foolhardy simply because it's interesting.

Enemies: The South Wind Pirates, Silvia's crew, are pirates known for taking on the most ruthless empires in the galaxy. As such, the bounty on the captain's head is astronomical.

Unstable Cash Flow: While generally quite wealthy, Silvia's funds come from large, sporadic bursts of precious (legal) technology or information that she then sells to relatively trustworthy buyers. This is profitable, but inconsistent, and while she's still acquisitive as any dragon, she has also recently discovered the joys of spending money in vast quantities, meaning despite her incredible income and resources, she occasionally finds herself completely broke and struggling to even feed her crew.

Duelist's Pride: Silvia's is a highly competetive spirit, eager to prove herself in any manner of competition. She has trouble turning down a direct challenge, especially if it's a fair sword duel. No tricks, no powers.

Wind Reader: Sound is merely vibrations in the air. As such, Silvia is particularly aware of them, and far more vulnerable. Various sounds may effect her far more than her peers, in ways they could not possibly be affected. A shrill shriek her compatriots cannot even hear may bring her to her knees, and an enchanted song to bring her team into a daze may enthrall her outright.

Abilities: 10 + 2 + 6 + 4 + 4 + 0 = 26PP

Strength: 20 (+5)

Dexterity: 12 (+1)

Constitution: 16 (+3)

Intelligence: 14 (+2)

Wisdom: 14 (+2)

Charisma: 10 (+0)

Combat: 8 + 8 = 16PP

Initiative: +1

Attack: +4, +10 w/ Blast, +12 w/ Sword

Grapple: +9, +16 w/ Hands of Air

Defense: +10 (+4 Base, +6 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed

Knockback: -5, -3 flat-footed

Saving Throws: 5 + 6 + 6 = 17PP

Toughness: +10 (+3 Con, +4 Defensive Roll, +3 Chain Mail), +6 flat-footed

Fortitude: +8 (+3 Con, +5)

Reflex: +7 (+1 Dex, +6)

Will: +8 (+2 Wis, +6)

Skills: 48R = 12PP

Acrobatics 5 (+6) ^{Skill Mastery}

Escape Artist 5 (+6)

Intimidate 10 (+10) ^{Skill Mastery}

Knowledge (Arcane) 3 (+5)

Knowledge (Business) 3 (+5)

Knowledge (Technology) 3 (+5)

Notice 5 (+7) ^{Skill Mastery}

Pilot 14 (+15) ^{Skill Mastery}

Feats: 29PP

Attack Specialization 4: Sword

Benefit 3 (Crew, Wealth 2)

Defensive Roll 2

Dodge Focus 6

Equipment 12 (60 EP: Sword [5], Chain Mail [3], Ages Lost [52]-Space Vehicle)

Quick Draw

Skill Mastery: Acrobatics, Intimidate, Notice, Pilot

Ages Lost (Vehicle)

Size: Colossal [4EP]

Strength: 50 (medium load 8 tons, hvy load 12 tons, max load 24 tons) [0EP]

Defense: 2 [0EP]

Toughness: 13 [0EP]

Feature: [1EP]

Remote Control

Powers: [26 + 21 = 47EP]

Blast 12 (PFs: Accurate 2) [26 EP]

Flight 7 (1,000 mph/10,000 feet per Move action) [14 EP]

Space Travel 7 (100c) [7 EP]

---

Chain Mail (Protection 3) [3 EP]

Sword (Damage 3 [Feats: Improved Critical, Mighty]) [5EP]

Powers: 6 + 3 + 10 + 7 + 27 = 53PP

Environmental Control 3 (Calm Weather + Provide Breathable Air, 25-ft. radius) [6PP] (Stormbreak, Magic)

Enhanced Environmental Control 3 (to Environmental Control 6 [250-ft. radius]; Calm Weather + Provide Breathable Air; Flaws: Only on Ages Lost) [3PP] (Enhanced Stormbreak, Magic)

Flight 5 (250 mph / 2,500 ft. per move action) [10PP] (Wind Rider, Magic, Wind)

Super Senses 7 (Accurate Auditory Sense [2], Extended 2 on all auditory senses [4], Ultra-Hearing) [7PP] (Wind Reader, Magic)

Wind & Air Magics 12 (24 points; PFs: Alternate Power 3) [27PP]

Base Power: Blast 10 (Extras: Homing, Accurate 3, Alternate Power 3) [27PP] (Sky Cutter, Magic, Wind)

Alternate Power: Move Object 8 (Str 40 [med load 2 tons, hvy load 3 tons, max load 6 tons]; Extras: Range [Perception]) [24/24PP] (Hand of Air, Magic, Wind)

Alternate Power: Nullify Flight 10 (Extras: Range [Perception]) [20/24PP] (Downdraft, Magic, Wind)

Alternate Power: Damage 10 (Extras: Area [50-ft. Burst]) [20/24PP] (Slicing Gale, Magic, Wind)

DC Block

ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT

Unarmed Touch DC20 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical)

Sword Touch DC23 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical)

Sky Cutter Ranged DC25 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Magic/Wind)

Slicing Gale 50' Burst DC20 Ref/DC25Tough(Staged) Damage (Magic/Wind)

Downdraft Perception DC20 Will/Effect Nullify Flight (Magic/Wind)

Hand of Air Perception +8 Disarm/Trip/Grapple Move Object (Magic/Wind)

HoA (Thrown Object) Perception DC23 Toughness (Staged) Damage (Physical)

Totals: Abilities (26) + Combat (16) + Saving Throws (17) + Skills (12) + Feats (29) + Powers (53) - Drawbacks (0) = 153/177 Power Points

Edited September 1, 2014 by trollthumper
July 2014, +1 PP

[Dr Archeville]

Welcome to FC PbP!

You may notice she looks a bit different: I've taken the liberty of tweaking a few formatting errors, and making a few other small corrections to make it easier to read. There's still some items you'll need to address, though (such as how Flight and Space Travel cannot be APs off each other, and that Protection from Equipment does not stack with Equipment from Powers).

The background is quite nice (as is the pic), though I would like to see less ambiguity -- even if the character doesn't know where she's from, the player should. More importantly, though, is my concern that she may not be a good fit here. As she is now, she seems to me more like someone that should be a recurring guest character in an FC comic, not the main character of one. The "beats bad guys, steals their stuff, and sells it" is also a touch troubling. How do you see her interacting with the characters and setting? What would Stormbreaker's comic be about, what sort of stories/adventures would be in it, who might team up with her?

[Blue Rose]

Mechanical updates are in. Flight 10 with alternate Space Travel 10 (21 points) was split into Flight 7 (14) and separate Space Travel 7 (7). Dropped Protection 2 for another rank of Defensive Roll and +1 to Reflex. That should resolve the mechanics, yes?

The rewrites will be handled another day.

As for fitting her in? Well, were she a stand-alone, no restrictions? Most issues would begin in media res, either already raiding/attacking the baddie of the week, with us getting there in time for everything to fall apart for our dashing heroine to scrape through the unexpected disaster, if she weren't the crux of her own superteam in the form of her crew (completely unworkable in FCPbP).

However, for getting her more firmly into the FC crimefighting scene, she may need some stronger Earth ties. Media darling status, lots of that wealth spent on public works, and most relevant, an agent (and probably a lawyer, or at least someone to say, "This stack of power cores we stole from Doctor Megadeath's robot army is not any sort of doomsday device, nor is it the key to stopping his evil schemes, and the plant people of Planet Z we're selling them to aren't intergalactic tyrants."). A lust for attention would be a useful addition, so her agent would point her to heroes who are useful to associate with and offer a hand to. Kinda hard to turn down someone who shows up to the battlefield in a battleship, after all. She'd still fight crime out of a genuine desire to do good, mind, just, with plenty of photo ops and a hasty retreat with a fancy shiny at the end.

Of course, what more traditional, paragon-type heroes might see as showboating and money grubbing may cause some strife with fellow heroes, possibly leading to the oh-so-popular "Let's you and her fight" issue when the bickering gets too pointed for Silvia to take without a sword in hand, either after taking down the baddies as a bang for the end and set-up for later conflict or up front to turn an otherwise routine mission into a deadly threat by virtue of heroes being wounded and unwilling to cooperate. Standard fare, really.

Which isn't to say I expect her to constantly be fighting everyone; far from it. She's more than friendly enough if you're polite to her and works quite well enough with others, even when taking orders (bar the habit of going off half-cocked into the open without a plan). A ship is run by a crew, not a person, after all, and any wise captain bows to the experience of the boatswain who's been working his job for thirty years.

[Blue Rose]

Alright, updated. Not much added, but I do hope it addresses some concerns. For convenience, the main additions are here:

Where Notus came from before settling in the Red Belt, no one knows. Even it did not recall, or at least did not care to answer when asked. The real story, however, is fairly uninteresting to those not studying the more esoteric aspects of the multiverse. This dragon was never born. Nor was it made. It was one of the oldest entities in the universe, and like life itself, simply came into being by... whatever it is that created all life in the universe. Will of God, natural processes, burgeoning cosmic ley lines, tap dancing pixies, or something of the sort. But some how, some cosmic storm took to consuming meteors and other spacial munchies, then excreting star dust and repeating the cycle, growing increasingly complex in the process over the course of eons, slowly gaining sapience as it drifted about the universe until it coalesced into the form of the godlike dragon, Notus. A living, intelligent being, in a manner of speaking, but so far removed from conventional mortals as to make the status meaningless.

Once it landed in the Red Belt, it stayed for centuries. A choice. Perhaps the first real, fully-cognizent choice it had ever made; merely maintaining its own massive existence was an enormous feat, and the creature normally operated on instinct alone. So it found a nice place for a rest, sometimes chatting, sometimes hording, sometimes fending off invaders, but mostly sleeping and feeding on the Red Belt's hot gases and unstable energies, its mere presence bringing great fortune and rendering entire planets warm and fertile.

To smooth such things over, she has people. She has a manager and an agent, both to work on her image both publically and within the crimefighting community, and to determine which villains are particularly worthy of an eye, due to the high value of their posessions. Both goods and clients are gauged carefully, and any particularly uppity hero who dare call her a soulless mercenary crook or some sort can get a nice, long look at the ledger for the ten million she received for sale of a dimensional generator a couple weeks back- formerly used to store enough poison gas to wipe out all of Freedom City, now being used to evacuate the population of a planet suffering natural ash storms violent enough to render it nigh-uninhabitable. Twenty million to medical research. Thirty million to educational programs. Forty million to funds meant to repair damage from supercrime in locations not fortunate enough to have their own guardian spirit. Five million to local works projects, including a much-needed renovation to South Freedom Elementary's library. And of course, a few million cut out for parts and fuel for her ship, food and supplies for her crew. And some new furniture for her room, a very nice new set of boots, a feast or five that wouldn't be out of place atop Mount Olympus... hey, there's nothing wrong with a little cut for personal foibles.

[Dr Archeville]

That works much better, yes.

Everything looks alright, so here's your first :approved:

[Supercape]

All looks good to me (I presume you know the ultrasonic hearing is not accurate).

:approved: