GM WhtKnt's Forge of Heroes

Game Master WhtKnt

Strength 0, Stamina 1, Agility 1, Dexterity 2, Fighting 0, Intellect 4, Awareness 6, Presence 4

Advantages
Contacts, Eidetic Memory, Fearless, Languages 2, Trance

Skills
Acrobatics 4 (+5), Deception 4 (+8), Insight 4 (+10), Perception 4 (+10), Persuasion 4 (+8), Stealth 4 (+5)

Powers
Iron WIll (Saving Throw: Will; Impervious)
Mental Awareness: Senses 4 (Acute: Awareness, Analytical: Awareness, Awareness: Mental, Radius: Awareness)
Psychokinetic Shield: Protection 5 (kinetic, +5 Toughness; Impervious [4 ranks only], Sustained)
. . Telekinesis: Move Object 4 (Alternate; 800 lbs., DC 19; Damaging; Diminished Range 3)
Sensory Deprivation: Cumulative Affliction 7 (1st degree: Senses Impaired, 2nd degree: Senses Disabled, 3rd degree: Unaware, Resisted by: Will, Overcome by Fortitude, DC 17; Accurate 2: +4, Cumulative, Increased Range: ranged; Diminished Range 2)
. . Mental Static (Burst): Burst Area Nullify 5 (Alternate; Counters: All Mental, DC 15; Burst Area: 30 feet radius sphere, DC 15, Broad, Simultaneous)
. . Mental Static (Focused): Nullify 7 (Alternate; Counters: All Mental, DC 17; Broad, Simultaneous; Diminished Range 2)
. . Telepathy
. . . . Mental Communication: Mental Area Communication 2 (Linked; Area)
. . . . Mind Reading: Mind Reading 5 (Linked; DC 15)

Offense
Initiative +1
Grab, +0 (DC Spec 10)
Mental Static (Burst): Burst Area Nullify 5 (DC Will 15)
Mental Static (Focused): Nullify 7, +2 (DC Will 17)
Mind Reading: Mind Reading 5 (DC Will 15)
Sensory Deprivation: Cumulative Affliction 7, +6 (DC Will 17)
Telekinesis: Move Object 4, +2 (DC 19)
Throw, +2 (DC 15)
Unarmed, +0 (DC 15)

Complications
Enemy
Motivation: Doing Good
Secret: Secret ID - Antoine 'Tony' Collins

Languages
English, French, Italian

Defense
Dodge 5, Parry 5, Fortitude 8, Toughness 6, Will 8

Power Points
Abilities 36 + Powers 46 + Advantages 6 + Skills 12 (24 ranks) + Defenses 18 = 118

Background: Antoine 'Tony' Collins was born into a family of wealth. He grew up with the best of everything. Then, it all came crashing down. His parents died in a plane crash, and the bank took everything because of debts they owed. Being 16, running away (or 'escaping' as he called it) from a foster home and left pretty much broke, he found himself on the streets where things didn't exactly seem like a jewel (or even a Cubic Zirconia for that matter). One night when he and several others were bunking down inside an abandoned warehouse in order to get out of the cold night air, his life changed again.

Tony awoke to see four men dragging a fifth one to the back of the warehouse. Curious, Tony followed them. When they dropped him on top of some boxes, covered him with more boxes and stepped back. One of the men snapped his fingers and a jet of flame leaped out and started the boxes burning. Tony stood stunned as the men left quickly, leaving the fire burning higher and higher. Realizing he was the only one who could help the man, he rushed forward, to try to pull the man to safety. As he did, he noticed that the back wall was burning too and ready to collapse. The man was heavy, so it took Tony a bit to get him far enough away. By the time he did, the entire back half of the warehouse was engulfed in fire.

Lifting the man over his shoulders in a fireman's carry, Tony stumbled back toward where the others had been bedded down. To his amazement, they were still asleep, unawoken by the approaching fire. Something inside him clicked at that moment and in his disbelief, he *shouted* with his mind directly into theirs, trying to wake them. When he did, he could feel a lingering energy of something else that had caused them to stay asleep, but his mental outburst had brushed it off and they began waking and panicking. The heavy man, who somehow Tony knew was named Salvatore, began to stir too, wondering what was going on. As The flames closed in around everyone, Tony pushed outwards against the fire and the walls of the warehouse. Suddenly a path opened and the wall to the building exploded outward, giving everyone a chance to escape.

Tony hurriedly helped the man he'd rescued out, much easier now that the man was awake and walking. As they got outside with the others, they just stared as the building began to collapse right where they had been. To all the others, Tony's shout have been audible, waking them just in time. To the heavyset man though, Tony was the lifesaver and it called for a reward. Tony refused anything more than what it would take to get him back on his feet, independant and something to live on while he went to school. The man agreed and set him up with a trust fund and an apartment near the school.

After seeing what he'd seen and what he'd done, Tony knew there was something going on with him and with the men who'd left Salvatore to burn. Sal had taken care of helping him stand, now it was Tony's turn to run ahead and explore his new abilities. What he was going to do with them he had no idea, but as luck, or perhaps fate would have it he would have help choosing his path and learning his abilities.

*Note: Growing up, Tony's father had always told him how special he was. What Tony didn't know is that his father had made a deal with someone to oversee testing of a new designer drug that was supposed to stimulate the senses and enhance the perceptions. As a result, he treated his pregnant wife without her knowing. When it didn't seem to have any effect, he increased the dosages until it did. By that time, it had been in his mother's system for so long, that it had an unexpected effect on Tony before he was born. Already inclined toward being a mutant, the drug changed his mental 'wiring', allowing him to manifest his powers at some point. However, he'd never been put in a position where enough adrenaline was pumping through his system to kickstart his powers. Should he now be exposed to the same or a newer, more refined version the interactions with his abilities could have a major impact.

It was during these times that he saw a show put on by The Great Zatara. For the first time, he saw “magic” that he could not immediately figure out, and therefore had no chance of imitating. He spent as long as he could seeing the show, taking in every performance he could afford, all the while trying to find a way to meet the Master himself. Try as he might, no method gained him access, from playing the role of can and asking, to sneaking in after hours. Before long, the show departed, and Kreminski was left without money or any way to follow.

Working for a few months busking in the show’s absence, he earned enough to make his way to Romania, to try and seek out Zatara at his home. It was only upon arriving that he learned Zatana's rarely visited his ancestral castle, but had long made his home in the USA.

Broke and despondent, he decided to break into the castle and uncover Zatana’s secrets. What he saw inside shocked him to the core, and nearly killed him. However, he came away with a prize; a book of magic!

While the book was rudimentary, like the equivalent of a children's instruction book, it opened his mind to new things he had never imagined possible.

The next few years were spent in study, first mastering the child's guide, and then using his new knowledge of magic to identify other genuine books of magic among the junk and dross cluttering antique bookstores. Although he experienced more than a few mishaps, and a few severely close calls, he gained a remarkable degree of competence with spellcraft.

One of his most interesting was an attempt to master a spell to awaken a familiar spirit. He was practicing the preparation for the spell when he felt a surge of understanding, like he truly understood this spell in a way he hadn't with any other yet. Fearing the power and the understanding would fade and be forgotten if not used, he cast about for the nearest creature that might be suitable to the spell. The only thing he could see was a large cockroach infesting the dive hotel he was residing in at the time. He ended up naming the creature Gregor Samsa, as sort of morose tribute to his studies. In the days that passed, he often thought that while a roach would not have been his first choice (or second, or third), the little bug proved himself a valuable and intelligent aid, confidante, and in a strange way, a friend.

After the passage of enough years that he felt confident in his powers, he felt ready to seek out Zatara. His magic was strong enough that he could confront the man that had inspired him. His skills were sure to impress the one that had refused to even meet him all those years prior. He would convince the man to take him as his apprentice, or perhaps he would even best him outright, and prove himself a powerful magi.

Unfortunate, when he arrived in America this time, he learned that Zatara had recently died. How was spotty; everything from natural causes to an accident, to fighting demonic evils aside the Justice League of all things were put forward as explanations.

Kreminski was crushed. Having worked toward this eventual confrontation for so long, it had never even occurred to him that Zatara would not be there when he was ready. He spent some small time searching for answers to the riddle of Zatara’s death, but found his heart was not in it. It was in this vein that he found himself in Gotham city, distracted and taken entirely by surprise but a common mugger with a gun.

He thought of a hundred spells that would put this misanthrope in his place, and was still trying to decide which he would use when the thug shot him in the head.

What, you thought this story was about Igor Kreminski? Sorry, he's dead. The real hero of this story is his faithful friend and companion Gregor, the cockroach.

You see, after his lifelong friend and former master Igor was killed, Gregor was rather put out. What was he to do? Go back to being an ordinary cockroach? While that might actually be an option, as he could probably figure out the spells needed to remove the investiture, it didn't seem like a fair way to remember his Master’s legacy. How to do him credit, and find something worth doing?

The answer occurred to him before long, that the best way to serve his departed friend was to do away with the kind of scum that had killed him. That way he could demonstrate the power and skills Kreminski had commanded in life (and taught to him), but also right the wrong that his untimely death had presented.

Of course, mortal laws and morality were as confusing as hell to Gregor, but he was sure he could figure them out. First, he'd need a durable shell to use… something that would serve as transportation and protection, since roaches weren't exactly built to take on primordial foes. Well, Igor appeared to be done with his body, so a touch of zombification and the vehicle issue would be solved. He'd need room to ride around inside, but if he cleared out the brains and organs there would be plenty of room for someone his size in there, and as an extra benefit, he wouldn't need to go looking for food for weeks! Jeeze, this hero thing was going to be a snap!

The character is intended to be a bit strange, with elements of the usual fish out of water aspect of not knowing the ins and outs of why an action is considered right or wrong, but wanting to contribute nonetheless. For character motivations, I think Gregor will be channeling a bit of Plankton, Bender, Bob the Skull of Dresden Files fame, and perhaps a touch of Gru.

I like this idea, and think it would be hella fun, but if you would rather a more traditional magic using hero, I have ideas for that as well. Let me know what appeals to you.

Complications: outsider (born on thannager before it was invaded by the gordanians) obsession (Rhian wants to see the gordanians removed from his home and the thanagarians return to their home planet.) Temper (if my honor is challenged I cannot let it the insult stand)

Advantages: 13
Assessment, diehard, great endurance, improved initiative, startle, equipment, takedown x2, close attack x6,

Skills
Treatment 4 ranks, stealth 4 ranks, perception 10 ranks, intimidation 10 ranks, insight 6 ranks,

Powers & Devices
Senses: extended vision, low light vision, accurate auditory (2 ranks) 5 points (innate)
Flight: wings (2 rank) 3 points (innate)
Immunity: aging limited to half effect (longer lifespan), altitude sickness 2 ranks (1point)
Nth Metal gauntlets: (7 points) affects insubstantial 2 points, protection 6 ranks (permanent), regeneration 1 ranks, enhanced agility 1 rank , removable,
Berserker rage: move action activation, 12 points (Enhanced strength 3 ranks, 6 reduced int 3 ranks -6) (enhanced stamina 3 ranks) (improved defense will 6 ranks)

Equipment battle axe, small shield.
Notes

Daria Desmond was like her father, Mark Desmond, in so many ways… and yet not. He had lived in the news reports and headlines as the brutish villain Blockbuster, and had died as a forgotten hero at the hand of fiery titan Brimstone.

Growing up in the small mining town of Bleak Rock, West Virginia you could say the earth was always in her blood. A bright student, Daria had shown the same aptitudes for science as her father, but rather than focussing on his field of chemistry she had indulged in a childhood passion for rocks and geology.

She was always aware her father was different… He was massive, strong as ten men and possessed a simplistic view of the world. Yet as much as proud as she was of him, the old journals and research papers fascinated her even more. As a young girl they were merely pretty patterns, on bundles of coloured paper. When she asked her father about them he would grow frustrated, clearly recognising them but no longer able to articulate the higher thoughts they represented.

It was in those times that Daria caught a glimpse of the raw anger that had made her father such a brutally effective tool for real villains to exploit. Her mother had not hidden the story of Blockbuster from her… and while she was saddened by what he had endured, she was also driven to be as good a daughter as the good man he had become. Miner, caretaker and protector of Bleak Rock. Blockbuster was now a big hero in his own small way. And he too needed protection from those who would seek to use him again… a protection that came in the night… wearing the cowl of the bat.

Daria only met the Batman once. Her father introduced her when she overheard them talking… Wreathed in shadow he was a forbidding figure, but she never felt scared… The Batman had spoken quietly telling her “Remember child - The Blockbuster is dead. He died in a dark mine shaft ... and when he reached the light, he was reborn… A better man.”

Her mother would smile when Daria would recount the story (again and again).

As Daria grew into her teens her passion for science became ever more voracious. Her hard work bore fruit she was offered a surprise internship at the Thomas Wayne Foundation. While their she delved more into her father’s past and his research - which in turn drew her into meta-physical disciplines as much as her geo-sciences.

Until everything changed. Until Brimstone..

She remembered watching it on the news. A fiery giant named Brimstone facing off against countless government metahumans. The first line of defence. The Suicide Squad the news had called them. And they died at the titan’s hands. First to fall… the man mountain named Blockbuster…

He had died once before in an old mine. That was a poetic death. This was not. Burned alive by fire and Brimstone.

She remembered her mother crying, the sad faces of friends and neighbours at his funeral. Yet Daria did not mourn his passing for it lit a fire inside her…

She vowed not to be her father. And yet in his death she found her inspiration to be exactly like him. Blockbuster was dead, but the research she had done, the advances science had made showed showed that his heroism could live again. Daria had his formula. She had the drive to be a hero… she just needed his DNA to complete the sequences and her new Blockbuster compound would be complete.

So it was that in her lab at the University that she imbibed the new serum-compound. What she had failed to take into account was the residual plasma magnate imbedded into her father’s scorched DNA. The fiery heart of Brimstone.

When the serum burned through her veins and transformed her body - Daria become something else. Not Blockbuster. Yes she was strong and tall, but her skin was a tough mantle and her blood now molten. The fire of the serum had fortified her into something else… Temper was born.