About Maggie MuiMAGGIE MUI
=Abilities=
=Offense=
=Defense=
=Powers=
Paper Tricks (Standard Abilities)
=Equipment=
=Advantages=
Beginner's Luck [She read it in a book]: Spend a hero point to gain, effectively, 5 ranks in one skill of your choice you currently have at 4 or fewer ranks, including skills you have no ranks in, even if they can’t be used untrained. These temporary skill ranks last for the duration of the scene and grant you their normal benefits. Benefit: Literary Fourthwalling: A significant perk or boon. Maggie may be able to recognize characters from published literature, including mythology, fiction, history, or comic books. Successful Expertise or Investigation checks may reveal useful information about them. Truth, however, is stranger than fiction, so this may not always be reliable. Defensive Roll 2: As long as she is able to defend herself, gain a +2 to Toughness checks. Eidetic Memory: You have a +5 circumstance bonus on checks to remember things, including resistance checks against effects that alter or erase memories. You can also make Expertise skill checks to answer questions and provide information as if you were trained, meaning you can answer questions involving difficult or obscure knowledge even without ranks in the skill, due to the sheer amount of trivia you have picked up. Equipment 2: 10 equipment points. Improved Initiative 1: +4 to Initiative Interpose: Once per round, as a reaction, you can choose to place yourself between the attacker and an ally that has been successfully attacked, making you the target of the attack instead. The attack hits you rather than your ally, and you suffer the effects normally. You cannot use this advantage against area effects or perception range attacks, only those requiring an attack check. Languages 3: In addition to her native Cantonese, Maggie is fluent in English, Japanese, Mandarin, and French. Move-by Action: When taking a standard action and a move action you can move both before and after your standard action, provided the total distance moved isn’t greater than your normal movement speed. Seize Initiative: Spend a hero point to go first in Initiative order. Do this only at the start of combat, when you would normally make your initiative check. Teamwork: You’re effective at helping out your friends. When you support a team check (see Team Checks in The Basics) you have a +5 circumstance bonus to your check. This bonus also applies to the Aid action and Team Attacks. Uncanny Dodge: You are not vulnerable when surprised or otherwise caught off-guard. You are still made vulnerable by effects that limit your mobility. Well-Informed [She read it in a book]: When encountering an individual, group, or organization for the first time, you can make an immediate Investigation or Persuasion skill check to see if your character has heard something about the subject. This works only once per subject. =Skills=
Power Points
=Complications=
===SUMMON STATS==
Paper Bat (Wind ☴):
Summons a dire bat that can distract enemies or carry a person in flight. Can be Small or Medium; Stats here include adjustments for Small size. ABILITIES
POWERS
ADVANTAGES
SKILLS
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
PP
Paper Giant (Mountain ☶):
Summons a giant with telescoping arms that can barrel its way through a fight and destroy objects. ABILITIES
POWERS
ADVANTAGES
SKILLS
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
Power Points
Paper Snake (Marsh ☱):
Summons a giant snake that can tunnel through walls and “swallow” its opponents. Typically used in a Gargantuan form, but can be Large or Medium. ABILITIES
POWERS
ADVANTAGES
SKILLS
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
PP
Paper Wolf (Thunder ☳):
Summons a wolf-like creature deft at diving into the fray and disabling and attacking enemies. ABILITIES
POWERS
ADVANTAGES
SKILLS
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
PP
Paper Doll (Earth ☷):
Summons a man-sized four-armed paper doll useful for grappling and infiltration ABILITIES
POWERS
ADVANTAGES
SKILLS
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
Power Points
==DESCRIPTION==
Summary:
Maggie comes from a world where the British Empire and China were the strongest superpowers in the world for most of history until very recently. She is a young woman from Hong Kong who works as a detective, bodyguard, and occasional freelance agent. As part of the Three Sisters Detective Agency, she works alongside her adoptive sisters Michelle and Anita, who are all paper masters: people who can telekinetically manipulate paper, including alter its durability, to turn it into razor sharp weapons, bulletproof shields, and animated origami marvels. She went to work at a young age for an organization called Dokusensha, ostensibly a book publisher, but secretly a front for the Chinese intelligence organization. She and her sisters worked as freelance agents for Dokusensha for years, but when the company tried to kidnap and brainwash their favorite author—Nenene Sumiregawa, a woman for whom they’d been serving as a bodyguard—to use her in a world domination scheme, the Paper Sisters attacked the facility and saved her. Maggie much later learned that Dokusensha had altered her and her sisters’ memories and genetics, giving them their paper powers and manipulating them into joining forces, but free from their influence, they chose to remain adoptive sisters nonetheless. After thwarting Dokusensha, the Paper Sisters and their allies (Nenene, a paper master named Yomiko Readman, a clone of Mata Hari with phasing powers named Nancy, and an American soldier named Drake) turned to stopping the British Library Special Operations division from their own brainwashing and world domination scheme. Maggie played a pivotal role throughout, providing protection for her sister and allies, and transport via her giant paper dragon. After fighting soldiers, robots, a phenomenally powerful paper master, monsters from H.G. Wells novels come to life, and Nenene’s temper, they won. Maggie has a crush on Nenene and is fiercely devoted to her sisters. Before this new adventure begins, she lives in Tokyo with Nenene and her sisters, although at the moment all of them are traveling and she is housesitting at Nenene’s apartment. The stupidly long version that basically summarizes R.O.D the TV:
R.O.D the TV trailer Warning: The following massively spoils R.O.D the TV. Maggie comes from a world--in the year 2006--where the sun never set on the British Empire until 2001. Even in its weakened state, after a disaster, Britain and China are the world’s strongest superpowers. The U.S. still exists as a separate power (though easily manipulated by Britain); history is not too dissimilar, although events in the 21st century especially diverge (9/11 never happened). The source of Britain’s and China’s strength is the influence of two ancient, immortal beings, known respectively as the Gentleman and Grandmother. People with superpowers exist but are extraordinarily rare, and although genetic manipulation can increase the number of powered individuals; in either case most powered people tend to get recruited--or created--by Britain and China. Maggie’s memories have been altered, so she lives with the uncertainty that not all of the past she knows is her own, but this is what she recalls and can logically conclude is likely true (This is a mix of canon and things I’ve deemed reasonable to fill in gaps canon does not provide). Maggie grew up in a working class district in Hong Kong, an only child: quiet, introspective, and a fan of romance novels and action movies. Her parents died in an accident at work when she was a teen, and, being an extremely bright young woman, her plight caught the attention of the Chinese publishing and communications powerhouse Dokusensha, who recruited her into what was publicly recognized as a training and education program for promising youth. But Dokusensha was not just a publishing and comms corporation. It was the front for a far more expansive organization, known in earlier decades—and centuries—as the Howling Reader’s Guild, who, under the leadership of Grandmother, took it upon themselves to be the largest archive—and controllers—of information in the world, including secret and forbidden information. Which is to say, Dokusensha worked in espionage and superscience, not just publishing books. Knowledge is power, and Dokusensha was in truth one of the most powerful entities in the world. Dokusensha was rivaled only by the British Library in the United Kingdom, which likewise was merely a front for a powerful intelligence agency run by the Gentleman: the British Library Special Operations Division. Maggie only learned the bare minimum about Dokusensha’s true nature; under the circumstances, she had little choice to agree to work for them as an agent regardless. What Maggie remembers is that she had a natural psychic connection to books that Dokusensha trained her to transform into an art known as paper mastery. Paper masters can animate and harden paper to create powerful weapons, shields, and origami tools and minions. But as her power grew, she also suffered an insatiable mania for reading that overrode any rational ability to handle a lot of daily tasks. She also had a natural depressive nature that made her a less than ideal agent. What Maggie knows, having learned it more recently, is she wasn’t always a paper master, but rather, Dokusensha genetically altered her to become a paper master and altered her memory using advanced hypnosis techniques. Her bibliomania and some of her depressed and anxious tendencies are a result of their experiments on her. Disappointed in the flaws she displayed, they released her to freelance status rather than keep her as a full time agent—she could do as she would, so long as she agreed to take on jobs from them on occasion. Freeing her to freelance status also of course gave Dokusensha plausible deniability should the results of her actions be undesirable. Maggie was not the only “failed experiment” from Dokusensha. Theorizing that social bonds might help stabilize their test subjects, Dokusensha manipulated circumstances so that Maggie “accidentally” ran into fellow paper masters Michelle Cheung—a little older than Maggie—and Anita King, who was about 10 years old. The hope was they would bond and this would help them master both their own abilities and manage their manias better. This plan worked: despite being three very different people, the three paper masters quickly developed a rapport and agreed to “adopt” one another. Michelle and Maggie knew the other had been trained by Dokusensha and did freelance work for them. They agreed to work together as private investigators and bodyguards to use their skills when Dokusensha had no work for them: the Three Sisters Detective Agency, also known as the Paper Sisters. Maggie was the support and defense; she had the best memory for facts; and she was the shyest. Michelle was the leader and ranged support; as ebullient as Maggie was depressive, she handled dealing with people and developing field strategy. Anita was the close combat expert; hot tempered but also far more practical than the other two, Anita tended to rein in the other two when the more difficult sides of their natures got the better of them. Michelle, like Maggie, had severe bibliomania. Anita had the opposite; despite also being a paper master, she was repulsed by books. As they learned much later, the British Library, not Dokusensha, created Anita as a test tube child, using the the DNA of several of the Library’s most powerful agents. When the British Library’s infamous/famous “Agent Paper”—a supremely powerful, naturally talented paper master—rebelled against her bosses and nearly destroyed the institution, Dokusensha took advantage of the chaos, kidnapped Anita, and stole the genetic material from which she was made. They later used that material to splice it into test subjects, including Maggie and Michelle, as well as a fearsomely powerful man named Sonny "the Recycler" Wong. Anita’s revulsion toward books and fear of fire both stemmed from Agent Paper’s attack on the Library; the trauma was so strong, Dokusensha was unable to completely wipe it from Anita’s mind. The Paper Sisters worked together for a few years, always living hand to mouth, as Michelle and Maggie inevitably spent most of their income on books. When not working for Dokusensha, they did smaller jobs, such as finding someone’s lost diary, finding missing persons, or performing translation work. One fateful day, about three years after the sisters met, Dokusensha hired them for, ostensibly, work for “their front of house”: a famous author from Japan, Nenene Sumiregawa, was coming to Hong Kong for a book signing. Ostensibly, her editor hired the Paper Sisters as her local guides, but they volunteered to serve as her bodyguards when a crazed author bombed her hotel room. Maggie and Michelle were over the moon to meet one of their favorite authors, and she did need their help: a crazed rival of Nenene’s threatened the signing with another bomb, and the Paper Sisters saved the day with their paper mastery. After Nenene got on the flight home, Michelle realized, based on the rival’s manifesto, he had an accomplice. Using Maggie’s dragon familiar to chase Nenene’s plane, the sisters again saved her life in a dramatic airborne rescue. Nenene was mystified by their abilities, not because she had never seen paper masters, but because she had: when she was younger, she befriended a substitute teacher named Yomiko Readman. Also a paper master, Yomiko had also protected Nenene from kidnappers and crooks who were keen to harm a child prodigy novelist. In fact, Yomiko was—although none of them knew it at the time—the same Agent Paper who caused the British Library to burn, and that’s why she had disappeared. All Nenene knew was Yomiko was missing, and she’d had a nasty case of writer’s block ever since. Nenene was intrigued by the sisters, though being a salty recluse, refused to admit it openly. Seeing the sisters inspire something in Nenene, however, Nenene’s editor Lee Linho hired the Sisters to stay as Nenene’s bodyguards, hoping they would both protect her and help her get over her writer’s block. As the sisters were, frankly, chaos incarnate, this resulted in ample shenanigans that drove Nenene crazy, though the four grew closer over time. Maggie, being quiet and shy, tended to be a target for teasing by Nenene, and the girl had a bit of a crush on her favorite author. The Paper Sisters got other work while they were in Japan as well: the secret branch of Dokusensha was on the hunt for several rare books, originally from the British Library and now in the hands of “private collectors” (actually British Library agents). Many of them were in Japan or otherwise where the Sisters and Nenene happened to be traveling, so Dokusensha hired them to obtain the books. Of course, the fact that the Sisters always got this work in a way that either coincided with someplace Nenene was going or when Nenene was busy was not coincidence at all. Dokusensha once again had manipulated the Sisters into forging a bond with someone. The editor Lee didn't just want Nenene to overcome her writer’s block so she’d write a new bestseller. Dokusensha wanted to capture the special books and, once she was newly inspired, Nenene. The plan was to brainwash her with these books and then force her to write a book they could use to brainwash the world, because yes, she was that good of a writer. Dokusensha revealed this plot after the Sisters returned to Hong Kong with Nenene for another book promotion. They attacked the Paper Sisters with hydraulic water guns and dragged Nenene away. Linho was last to leave, tossing money at the Paper Sisters for a job well done. Furious, the Paper Sisters decided to throw their lot in with Nenene. Dokusensha had written them off as barely competent, expendable freelancers, which was a mistake: the three spent the money they had on extra paper ammunition and successfully assaulted Dokusensha headquarters in Hong Kong to rescue Nenene. During the infiltration, The Recycler attacked the three sisters. While his offensive capabilities massively outmatched the three of them—and he was a murderous psychopath to boot—Maggie agreed to stay behind to delay him while Michelle and Anita focused on finding Nenene. Though terrified, she faced him down without hesitation, using her defensive capabilities and creative use of her paper golems to hold him off. Meanwhile, as the Sisters attacked, British Library infiltrators used the chaos to blow up the facility. Maggie escaped, using her bat golem to fly her to safety, while the overly offense-focused Wong fell into a massive pool of ink. He tried to grab her foot to save himself, but only managed to get her shoe which slid off her foot. She grinned as she flew away. The Paper Sisters rescued Nenene and fled, but were forced to go on the lam, because they were blamed for the explosions at Dokusensha, which in turn had caused a huge chunk of Hong Kong Island to sink. The British Library at long last had their revenge on Dokusensha for the genetic material they had stolen from them five years ago, and in turn, the British Library stole the special books, which they collectively referred to as the Gentleman Books. The double onslaught between the British Library agents and the Three Sisters rendered Dokusensha--at least for a few years--no longer a threat. While on the run, the Paper Sisters and Nenene followed a clue to another strange book they hoped might help them. They not only found the book, they found the ex-British Library agent protecting it: Yomiko Readman herself. Hiding amid the archival stacks at the Japanese Diet Library, Yomiko lived in self-exile alongside her friend Nancy Makuhari, an oddly childlike woman (due to prior injury), who had a phasing ability. Unfortunately, while Dokusensha was no longer a threat, the British Library now hunted them all down: Yomiko did indeed have one of the last Gentleman books, and her former boss Joe “Joker” Carpenter had his own plans for global brainwashing domination by using them. All escaped together, and what ensued was a complex story of cat and mouse as the Library got the books and tried to enact their plan to brainwash the world. Like Dokusensha, the British Library also needed to kidnap Nenene to use her as an authorial messenger of the Gentleman's Word. For the purposes of this biography, the relevant part is at one point, everyone split up, and Maggie and Nenene ended up paired off to hide. Mr. Joker’s assistant Wendy Earhart tricked Maggie into turning Nenene over to her; Wendy made Maggie believe Anita was in danger--the only person Maggie would have considered betraying Nenene for. This, of course, Nenene deduced instantly, and turned herself over to the British Library without a fight, knowing that would leave Maggie free to find Anita. Wendy left Maggie with files that revealed the truth about her and her sisters’ origins. Wendy believed this would be adequate to demoralize Maggie and prevent her from being a problem for the British Library in the future. She was wrong. Despite her distress, Maggie resolved that she had to rescue Nenene, and returning home to gather supplies, she found Michelle and Anita. Anita herself had evaded capture after all. All three, one way or another, had learned that they’d been manipulated into being sisters together. But, they reasoned, they could now choose, free of manipulation, to remain sisters. Turning tragedy to triumph, the women rallied, flew to London in Maggie's dragon, joined up with Yomiko and her fellow rebel agents, and infiltrated the British Library to stop their plot (which also involved a kid named Junior I haven’t even gotten a chance to mention yet. It’s a complex story. Believe it or not, remarkably well told, but complex). Maggie got to give a rare, dramatic speech about why she didn’t want to be brainwashed because she already had been before and it didn’t fix anything, and Anita nearly died but didn’t. Another very long story short, the Paper Sisters saved the f&$~ing day. Amen. The Paper Sisters and their allies moved on to take care of one another. As of about six months later, Michelle stayed for a time at Yomiko’s house in the countryside to take care of Junior, while Maggie looked after Anita who was going to school in Tokyo and taking care of Nenene’s apartment while Nenene traveled with Yomiko and Nancy. When Anita’s friend Hisa invited her to go on vacation with her family, Nenene was still traveling, and Michelle was still in the country, Maggie found herself alone in Tokyo. And that is when she got sucked into an entirely new world… =Personality=
But her daily social anxiety belies a seeming fearlessness in dangerous circumstances. Fiercely loyal and protective, she does not hesitate to face danger—or jump in front of it to protect others. While she usually relies on her powerful reinforced paper creations to take the damage for her, if she is without paper or an effect is preventing her powers from working, she will use her body as a shield for those she has committed to protecting. She also can speak up for herself when forced to, either when she is alone and has no one else to speak up, or when facing a provocative-enough enemy. While normally kind and honorable, Maggie grew up in a cold and difficult world and possesses a pragmatic mercenary streak which comes out when survival necessitates it. She will never abandon her sisters—or anyone to whom she is loyal—if she can, but if doing so would be fruitless or get everyone killed, she will do the practical thing and devise a plan to make a rescue later. Like most paper masters, Maggie is afflicted with severe bibliomania and nearly any amount of money that ends up in her hands goes toward buying books, often over even food or rent. Maggie loves books of all kinds, but particularly action and romance. Her favorite author is Earnest Hemingway. She also likes Hong Kong action movies and names animals after various directors and actors. =Appearance=
|