Jump to content

Reagent / Alkahest (PL8/15) - Gizmo


Gizmo

Recommended Posts

Reagent / Alkahest

Power Level: 8 / 15 (232/250PP) [258]

Unspent Power Points: 18
Trade-Offs:
     Reagent: +2 Attack / -2 Damage (Bartitsu Cane), None (Alchemical Flasks), +4 Defense / -4 Toughness
     Alkahest: -5 Attack / +5 Damage, -5 Defense / +5 Toughness

 

In Brief: Victorian-era alchemist struggling to contain a merciless force of nature.

Theme: Heads Will Roll by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

 

Alternate Identity: Winifred Wei
Identity: Semi-Secret
Birthplace: London, England
Occupation: Student
Affiliations: Claremont Academy
FamilyNone Living; Wei Chao (father, deceased), Wei Xia (mother, deceased)

 

Description:
Age: 18 (Subjectively; DoB: April, 1839)
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: British Chinese
Height: 5'4" / 8'6"
Weight: 120 lbs. / 600 lbs.
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black

 

Winifred Wei is a slim young woman characterized by her impeccable comportment and intense demeanor. Her jet black hair has recently been styled in a tidy pixie cut with sharp edges that keep it off of her heart-shaped face. Perpetual dark circles under her eyes speak to a lack of sleep and abundance of stress but her tone of voice is nevertheless clipped and precise. While gradually growing accustomed to modern fashions she still tends toward conservative styles and colours. When expecting trouble she carries a broad leather bandolier filled with stoppered vials of alarmingly coloured alchemical concoctions and is rarely seen without her elegant mahogany walking stick with its serpentine styled head.

 

Alkahest, by contrast, is a pallid mass of twisting, too-dense muscle with a greyish, corpse-like tint. Towering even with a pronounced stoop, her proportions are only nominally human and give only the most general indication of gender. Milky white eyes staring out from behind long, disheveled hair and a flat expression betray nothing as the beast stalks her target with a terrifying single-mindedness. The transformation is violent and chaotic, shredding conventional clothing and taxing the capabilities of skin-tight morphic molecules. Fortunately the Academy has been able to provide her with a looser, high collared lab coat made of the adaptive material.

 

 

History:
Wei Chao emigrated from Hong Kong to London in 1833 by taking a job as a deckhand for a prominent shipping company. Skilled at absorbing and applying new information and with a humble charm that ingratiated him with the company's officers, he made himself an indispensable assistant to the ship's doctor when a seafaring mishap left several sailors injured. With the help of his sponsor, in impressively short order and causing something of a stir Chao was accepted to the University of Cambridge to study medicine. Artfully walking the line between impressing his teachers and peers with his abilities without stepping on anyone's toes in a few year's time he had established himself enough to send for his wife, Xia. Similarly brilliant, she soundly invested the early profits of her husband's modest practice and the couple made themselves quite comfortable.

 

In 1839, after considerable difficulty, they had a daughter, Winifred. Fully assimilated and conscious of their social standing Chao and Xia practiced only enough of their homeland's traditions to benefit from the Western fascination with orientalism. Raised as a native Londoner, Winifred demonstrated prodigious intelligence from a very young age, if not the restraint and moderation her parent's practiced so carefully. Frustrated by the assumptions leveled against her based on ethnicity, gender and youth her talents for biting sarcasm and humiliating her detractors were a frequent source of contention at home. Assimilated or not, Chao was uncomfortable with the idea of his daughter marrying an Englishman and was convinced after months of cajoling to allow her to work as his assistant, at least for the time being.

 

Having devoured the contents of her father's medical texts even as a child, as a teenager Winifred chafed under the limited scope of a practicing physician. Scouring the city for more obscure tomes she found herself drawn into the booming community of fringe researchers who preferred to refer to their collective areas of study as 'rogue science' but were referred to in hushed tones in polite society as simply mad. Thrilled to learn from such progressive - if frequently unhinged - thinkers Winifred was particularly drawn to the mysteries of alchemy, throwing herself into its study unbeknownst to her parents.

 

Starting with a foundation in the alchemy of Hellenistic Egypt, pouring over diagrams purportedly copied from originals saved from the Library of Alexandria, she studied the writings of Jābir ibn Hayyān and Roger Bacon, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and Jan Baptist van Helmont among so many others. She found early success in dramatically improving the effectiveness of her father's tonics and moved on to more outlandish concoctions, such as a sticky tar that burst into flames when it came into contact with air and in one case a particularly potent airborne hallucinogen. Expanding her scope to Chinese alchemy and Indian rasayāna then even dubious information surrounding supernatural creatures she began to form her own theories about a serum that would not only cure infirmity but strengthen a person to the limits of human capability, granting perfect health, clarity and perhaps even immortality.

 

Her initial experiments along these lines were not promising but she could feel herself getting closer, on the very cusp of a monumental breakthrough. It was at this point that her parents discovered the increasingly conspicuous laboratory she had been hiding in her room along with her collection of esoteric writings. Horrified and frightened both for Winifred's safety and the family's public image they forbade her from any further scientific studies. Blaming themselves for leaving her too idle they hurriedly made plans to have her married off, hoping to put the whole thing behind them before the matter could become explosively public - perhaps literally.

 

Railing against the injustice and indignity, Winifred locked herself in her room and redoubled her efforts in a frenzy. Deciding that the consequences could be damned, she downed the latest version of her serum and immediately doubled over in agony. What followed she was only ever able to recall in a hazy blur: tearing clothing, the wall of her family home reduced to loose brick and dust, a thunderous boom and spreading flame, sharp cracks and wet pops and shouting constabulary. When she came to, gasping for air and wearing tattered rags, barely strong enough to stand, she knew she had created something truly monstrous, become something monstrous. She could feel the creature, her other self, barely contained and threatening to emerge again and could see only one solution.

 

Stumbling from shadow to shadow, she broke into the hidden laboratory of one of her fellow rogue scientists she mixed a poison that would do more than just kill her, even taking into account the formidable fortitude she estimated the creature to possess. It would render her body wholly inert, preventing any chance of contamination or of her work being replicated through the study of her remains. With a sobbed plea for forgiveness, she swallowed the draught. Her flesh hardened, turning to a glossy, jade-like substance and leaving Winifred Wei, alchemical prodigy, an unexplained statue of a huddled, grief stricken youth.

 

 

Personality & Motivation:
Well aware of her own impressive intelligence and used to having to prove it to others, Winifred has had her confidence severely undercut by the botched serum that created Alkahest. Given what now happens when she becomes upset, however, both aspects have been bottled up as best she can manage. She strives to be collected and professional at all times, leaving her seeming somewhat cold and distant apart from a dry wit that seeps through from time to time. The only thing her condition hasn't been able to damped is her curiosity and need to understand how things work. She is ultimately a scientist before all else and she now has the entirely new world of the modern day to discover and peel apart. She's happiest given solitude and a well stocked chemistry lab.

 

Although her transformed state is obviously more physically capable Winifred sees little potential for good in it. Principled and steadfast, she won't back down from a confrontation particularly in the defense of others but much prefers to labour under her own merits, doing everything she reasonably can to avoid turning into Alkahest. While she views the creature as a largely separate entity from herself she considers herself responsible for its actions all the same and works hard to do as much good as she can when she's herself to make up for them.

 

 

Powers & Tactics:
In combat Reagent carries a bandolier of flasks with a variety of alchemical potions. These range from a fairly straight-forward explosive to a fast acting hallucinogenic cloud to a draught that rapidly accelerates natural healing. Most of these she tosses like grenades, the flasks shattering on impact and releasing their contents, but since she can only carry so many at a time and because they are indiscriminate in their effects she in careful to choose her moments. More precise is her reinforced walking stick with which she is fully proficient but if a conflict has come down to a face to face confrontation something has probably gone very wrong along the way.

 

Alkahest is a single-minded force of nature. It has no tactics, only its target, which it pursues without pause or mercy. Strong and nigh-invulnerable, Alkahest will plow through walls, obstacles, friend and foe alike to get at the subject of its unspoken wrath then pummel it until it stops moving. Once that happens the creature chooses a new target, on and on until it has calmed enough to revert back to an exhausted Winifred.

 


Complications:
Chemical Mixture That Creates Chaos: 
Winifred is continuing to experiment with the serum that turned her into Alkahest, searching for a cure. Dangerous knowledge in the wrong hands.
 

Electing to Ignore It: Winifred was an iconoclast to begin with and removed from concerns over societal standing she's apt to simply ignore any instruction with which she doesn't agree.
 

Need a Little Old-Fashioned: Winifred clings to certain mannerisms such as her style of clothing to mitigate her future shock.
 

No Version of This: Upon transforming Alkahest will pursue whomever or whatever triggered the stress reaction with an inhuman single-mindedness, be they friend or foe.
 

So That's What That Does: An alchemist learns through experimentation! Winifred's sense of inquiry frequently outweighs her sense of caution.
 

Some Form of Electricity: While a prodigy in her own time Winifred has missed out on more than a century of scientific advancements that are now common knowledge.
 

Take That Away: Winifred is without a home, funds or familial connections. She relies on Claremont Academy for the necessities.
 

That's My Secret: Winifred's uncontrollable transformation into Alkahest is triggered by elevated stress, be it anger, fear or other trauma. She has to constantly work to keep her emotions in check.

 

 

Abilities: 4 + 2 + 4 + 14 + 0 + 8 = 32PP
Strength: 14/50 (+2/+20)
Dexterity: 12 (+1)
Constitution: 14/40 (+2/+15)
Intelligence: 24/8 (+7/-1)
Wisdom: 10/20 (+0/+5)
Charisma: 18 (+4)

 


Combat: 16 + 20 = 36PP
Initiative: +5/+1
Attack: +8 Base, +10 Melee
Defense:
     Reagent: +12 (+10 Base, +2 Dodge Focus), +5 Flat-Footed
     Alkahest: +10, +5 Flat-Footed

Grapple: +12/+36
Knockback: -2/-22

 


Saving Throws: 3 + 5 + 9 = 17PP
Toughness:
     Reagent: +4 (+2 Con, +2 Defensive Roll)
     Alkahest: +20 (+2 Con, +2 Defensive Roll, +3 Density, +11 Enhanced Constitution, +2 Growth) [Impervious 12]
Fortitude: +5/+18 (+2/+15 Con, +3)
Reflex: +6 (+1 Dex, +5)
Will: +9/+14 (+0/+5 Wis, +9)

 


Skills: 84R = 21PP
Bluff 2 (+6/+10) Attractive
Craft (Chemical) 13 (+20/+12) Skill Mastery
Concentration 5 (+5/+10)
Diplomacy 2 (+6/+10) Attractive

Disable Device 3 (+10/+2) Skill Mastery
Intimidate 4/16 (+8/+22) Enhanced Skill, Growth

Investigate 3 (+10)

Knowledge (Business) 1 (+8/+0)

Knowledge (History) 1 (+8/+0)

Knowledge (Life Sciences) 5 (+12/+4)
Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 13 (+20/+12) Skill Mastery
Language 4 (Arabic, Cantonese, English [Native], Italian, Latin)
Medicine 5 (+5/+10) Skill Mastery
Notice 5 (+5/+10)

Perform (Stringed Instruments) 6 (+10)

Perform (Vocals) 4 (+8)

Search 3 (+10)
Sense Motive 5 (+5/+10)
Stealth 0 (+1/-3) Growth

 


Feats: 10PP
Attack Focus (Melee) 2
Attractive

Challenge (Fast Startle)
Defensive Roll 1
Dodge Focus 2
Eidetic Memory

Improvised Tools
Inventor
Power Attack

Skill Mastery (Craft [Chemical], Disable Device, Knowledge [Physical Sciences], Medicine)
Speed of Thought

Startle

 

 

Powers: 20 + 3 + 1 + 95 = 119PP

Device 5 (Bandolier of Alchemical Flasks; 25PP Container; Flaws: Hard-to-Lose[20PP]

  • Base: Damage 8 (Byzantine Fire; Extras: Area [General, Burst], Ranged, Secondary Effect, Flaws: Action [Full Round], Unreliable [5 Uses], Feats: Alternate Power 5, Incurable, Progression 1 [Increased Area; 40' - 80' radius], Triggered 2) [25DP] (chemical, fire)
  • AP: Confuse 8 (Hallucinogenic Fumes; Extras: Alternate Save [Fortitude, +0], Area [General, Burst], Flaws: Unreliable [5 Uses], Feats: Progression 5 [Decrease Area 4, Increase Area 1; 20' - 80' radius], Ricochet, Triggered 2) {16/20} (chemical, inhalant)
  • AP: Drain Toughness 8 (Inorganic Solvent; Extras: Affects Objects Only [+0], Ranged, Secondary Effect, Flaws: Unreliable [5 Uses], Feats: Incurable, Ricochet, Triggered 2) {20/20} (chemical, acid)
  • AP: Healing 8 (Lesser Elixir; Extras: Total, Flaws: Unreliable [5 Uses], Feats: Stabilize, Persistent, Regrowth) {19/20} (chemical, qi)
  • AP: Obscure 5 (Magnetic Dust; Radio, Visual; Extras: Action [Move], Independent [+0], Flaws: Unreliable [5 Uses], Feats: Progression 2 [Decrease Area; 25' - 100' radius], Ricochet, Triggered 2) {20/20} (chemical, magnetism, smoke)
  • AP: Snare 8 (Resin Adhesive; Extras: Contagious, Flaws: Unreliable [5 Uses] Feats: Reversible, Ricochet, Triggered 2) {20/20} (chemical)

 

Device 1 (Bartitsu Cane; 5PP Container; Flaws: Easy-to-Lose) [3PP]

Damage 4 (Feats: Mighty) [5DP] (chemically treated wood)

 

Enhanced Feats 2 (Presence of Mind; Dodge Focus 2, Flaws: Limited [Human Form]) [1PP] (training)

 

Alkahest Form 20 (100PP Container [Active, Sustained]; Drawbacks: One-Way Transformation [When Calm, -3], Temporary Disability [Exhausted Upon Transforming Back, -2]) [95PP]

Density 6 (Mass x5; +12 Strength, +3 Toughness [Impervious], +2 Immovable, +2 Super-Strength) [18PP]

Enhanced Abilities 48 (Enhanced Strength 16, Enhanced Constitution 22, Enhanced Wisdom 10; Drawbacks: Decreased Intelligence 16) [32PP]

Enhanced Combat 2 (Counteracting Growth Penalty; Attack 1, Defence 1) [4PP]

Enhanced Feats 2 (Challenge [Fast Startle], Startle) [2PP]

Enhanced Skills 3 (+12 Intimidate) [3PP]

Growth 4 (Large; +8 Strength, +4 Constitution, -1 Combat, +4 Grapple, +2 Intimidate, -4 Stealth) [12PP]

Impervious 9 (Total 10) [9PP]

Immunity 7 (All Chemical Effects [Half-Effect, +5], Environmental Cold, Environmental Radiation) [7PP]

Regeneration 9 (Bruised 3 [No Action], Injured 6 [No Action]) [9PP]

Super-Senses 4 (Olfactory; Accurate [+2], Acute, Tracking 1) [4PP]

 

 

Drawbacks: -3PP

Vulnerability (Emotion Effects, Frequency: Common, Intensity: Moderate [x1.5 Effect]) [-3PP]

 


DC Block:
ATTACK                 RANGE                    SAVE              EFFECT
Unarmed (Reagent)      Touch                    DC 17 Toughness   Damage
Unarmed (Alkahest)     Touch                    DC 35 Toughness   Damage
Bartitsu Cane          Touch                    DC 21 Toughness   Damage

Byzantine Fire         Ranged, 40'-80' radius   DC 23 Toughness   Damage [Secondary Effect]

Hallucinogenic Fumes   Ranged, 20'-80' radius   DC 18 Fortitude   Confuse

Inorganic Solvent      Ranged                   DC 18 Reflex      Drain Toughness [Secondary Effect]

Resin Adhesive         Ranged                   DC 18 Reflex      Entangled/Bound

 

 

Totals: Abilities (32) + Combat (36) + Saving Throws (17) + Skills (21) + Feats (10) + Powers (119) - Drawbacks (3) = 232/250 Power Points

Link to comment
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...