Thanks for your words of encouragement, Rigel and TheWaskally.
So... here's what I've got so far.
Stats (reworked):
F Good 10
A Excellent 20
S Typical 6
E Remarkable 30
R Remarkable 30
I Excellent 20
P Good 10
Health 66
Karma 60
Powers
Macro Power: Controlling weak/strong atomic forces Rm 30
Related powers:
Disruption Rm 30
Catalytic Control Ex 20
Ionization Ex 20
Telereformation Gd 10
Talents
Chemistry
Physics
Vignette:
"I saw your eyes, mutie!"
Richard "Val" Valentine pretended not to hear, and just shoved his hands in his pockets while fighting the urge to shove his sunglasses closer to his face. That would only give him away that he'd heard them.
"Hey! No mutants on this block! I'm talkin' to you!"
Ignoring them wasn't working. They were following, Val could tell, and drawing unwanted attention. Other people on the street were quickly finding other places to be.
Val looked up ahead and saw a couple like-minded individuals heading his way, making continuing straight an unwise decision. Turning around, similarly, wouldn't work. Noticing he was about to pass by an empty basketball court surrounded by a chain-link fence, he ducked through there, hoping to cut across to the next street over.
"Oh, no you don't! That court's for humans only! Now you really going to pay!"
It's not like I'm being given much of a choice, Val thought as he broke into a jog to cross the courts quickly. His heart sank when he saw the opposite gate chained and locked.
Val spun to see his pursuers now inside the basketball courts, circling around him. He moved to his left, hoping to get around them but it became obvious they weren't going to let him pass. He moved to one of the basketball poles, putting his back against it as he was surrounded. "I don't want any trouble."
The ringleader scoffed. "You muties bring nothing but trouble. You and your freak powers... this is a human only neighborhood. What're doing here anyway?"
Nothing, just getting turned down for admission to Northwestern, Val thought, but knew better to voice it. "Passing through. You'll never see me again."
"Damn right, but we'll need you to send a message to the rest of you mutie freaks." The leader kept Val's attention while two of the others came in from either side and grabbed his hands. They pulled his arms behind the basketball pole, giving the leader free reign to snatch the sunglasses off his face.
The group cackled when Val's glowing eyes were revealed. "I knew it! Damn mutant freak!" he said as he tossed the shades to the ground and stomped on them. Val struggled, but didn't have the strength to break the grip of the two men holding his arms.
"Glowing eyes. Damn. What's your powers? Got X-ray vision? You checking me out? Or you readin' my thoughts? Read this!" His eyes narrowed and his face scrunched up.
Thank goodness, no, Val thought.
"Heh," the leader chuckled as he was apparently proud of whatever image he formed in his head. "You better not have any freaky eye beams like that one guy."
"No, I got nothing. I'm just a freak, like you said. Let me go, please. I get it, humans only."Gotta give them a chance.
The laughter from his assailants told him everything. Val was in for a lot of pain, if he survived.
I control molecular forces, he imagined himself telling them while he gripped the metal he was pressed up against. The surface rust spots grew as the metal oxidized rapidly under his influence. I can speed up chemical reactions. Before the leader could throw his first punch, there was a loud screech of protesting metal as the basketball pole, backboard and hoop suddenly collapsed. One of the two men didn't react fast enough and it landed on him, pinning him to the ground.
"What the f&@&?!?" the leader shouted as he stepped back, amazed at the wildly improbable happenstance. He lifted his shirt and pulled a small automatic handgun. "What'd you do?!?" he yelled as he pointed the gun at Val.
I can also slow chemical reactions down, like what goes on in a bullet cartridge. The hammer fell on the bullet's primer, but instead of a small but powerful explosion within the casing, the gunpowder sputtered. The bullet was expelled, but at a fraction of the speed and without the force necessary to eject the spent shell. The gun was jammed.
The two standing assailants stared dumfounded at the gun. Val took that moment to run, sprinting at the chainlink fence. He lept and started climbing over it. And I can excite the electrons in most materials creating a static electric charge, he thought as he reached the top and threw a leg over the side. He jumped down just as the pair reached the fence. The moment they touched the metal of the chain link fence, a loud pop sounded and the smell of ozone filled the air as they were blasted back into the court.
Val paused to make sure they were still breathing, then turned and ran.
Well, I hit an incredibly solid writer's block trying to come up with some backstory for either Tempest or Valence.
I was reminded why I never really liked Mutant origins, since they just sort of... happen. It's the Harry Potter syndrome, of a "normal" person being thrust into a new and strange world of fantastical powers. Very wish fulfillment but I'm afraid I'm past that in my life right now.
So... I thought I wanted someone normal, but who manifested a mutant power and get pulled away into the strange world of Krakoa and mutant politics, but I'm struggling to develop the normal person. They're just... too normal.
Best I could come up with for Valence is a school science nerd who loves chemistry and is scarily good at it, and then manifests glowing eyes as the sign that they're a mutant. Bigotry keeps them from getting accepted into the science major at the university they want to join because of their mutant gene, until a Krakoan delegation shows up and takes them to the new mutant nation.
It feels very weak-sauce and I'm not happy with it at all. So... I don't know what to do at this point.
If you look at pages 5 and 6 of the Judge's Handbook, there's a whole listing of the various FASERIP ranks and examples of various heroes who would have abilities at that rank. Like, Spider-Man has Incredible Strength and Amazing Agility, while Thor and Hulk have Unearthly Strength; Reed Richards has Amazing Reason, and so on.
It's a source of benchmarks for considering what sort of ranks your character should have.
So, Terevalis, can I ask what your thoughts are for the "theme" of this game? I imagine it's going to go one of two ways, so I'm curious which way you think it's going to be more like:
1. The characters are part of the newest-formed X team, going out on missions as assigned to them by the old guard. Probably globe-trotting, using the various Krakoan gateways to venture forth and act on behalf of downtrodden mutants everywhere. In this game, the inherent weirdness of Krakoa and the mutant nation is sort of "back seat."
2. The characters are newly-arrived on Krakoa, trying to adjust to a nearly alien landscape and the fact that everyone around them has powers. They might form a team and go out on missions, but that takes a backseat to the otherworldliness of Krakoa and their mutant countrymen/women.
The reason I ask, is that Tempest would get along great in number 1. His very existence is already wrapped up in X-weirdness and doesn't know anything else.
Valence, on the other hand, is a character I'm envisioning as being appropriate for number 2. Grew up in a normal town, to normal parents, and got invited to join the mutant nation quite recently. So there's going to be an adjustment period that I think would be a lot of fun to explore.
How is everyone doing in terms of creation and origin stories?
I'm still bouncing around ideas in my head. I'm reluctant to go with the Storm-clone character because it hews too close to Thunderer's power set. So I'm trying to brainstorm another character.
One more time, using the UPB:
Powers:1d100 ⇒ 898 powers!!! Yeesh!
1 Power Class:1d100 ⇒ 47 Matter Control
2 Power Class:1d100 ⇒ 13 Energy Control
3 Power Class:1d100 ⇒ 73 Physical Enhancement
4 Power Class:1d100 ⇒ 100 Travel
5 Power Class:1d100 ⇒ 34 Lifeform Control
6 Power Class:1d100 ⇒ 51 Matter Conversion
7 Power Class:1d100 ⇒ 54 Matter Creation
8 Power Class:1d100 ⇒ 26 Fighting
Lot of control powers. Let's see if I just choose those.
Matter Control:1d100 ⇒ 32 -- Disruption
Energy Control:1d100 ⇒ 15 -- Coldshaping Catalytic Control
Lifeform Control:1d100 ⇒ 55 -- Mind Control (doesn't fit)
Matter Conversion:1d100 ⇒ 79 -- Ionization
Matter Creation:1d100 ⇒ 14 -- Elemental Creation
(And since I rolled it, Travel is just too nice to have)
Travel:1d100 ⇒ 27 -- Hyper digging Telereformation
Okay, with that batch of craziness, I think something's starting to take shape. The character's hero name is Valence, with the general Macro-mutant power of controlling the bonds between matter at an atomic level.
Power Stunts/powers already demonstrated:
Disruption 1d100 ⇒ 75 Rm 30 -- being able to break down the bonds between matter, and generally reducing material to dust or sand.
Catalytic Control 1d100 ⇒ 31 Gd 10 -- being able to slow down or speed up chemical reactions.
Ionization 1d100 ⇒ 31 Gd 10 -- Charging matter with energy
Telereformation 1d100 ⇒ 21 Gd 10 -- The big trick, actually breaking their body down and rebuilding it someplace else.
============================
Terevalis, what are your thoughts? If you like the idea of the Storm-clone and don't mind him and Thunderer being similar in power types, I'm still interested in going forward with Tempest.
However, I think Valence has potential powers-wise. I'll come up with a different backstory -- obviously. Let me know which one you think will work with the game you have in mind.
I've been thinking on the random mutant I rolled up -- weather-based powers and flight, so very similar to Storm.
So, I'm wondering, why should Wolverine be the only* mutant who gets the clone treatment?
Perhaps way back when Storm was captured and regressed to childhood (see Uncanny X-Men #248), or when she was captured and re-aged in Genosha (see Uncanny X-Men #270), a sample of her DNA was taken and spirited away to a cloning facility.
Enter Tempest, a weather-controlling mutant who was created as Weapon S (Or Weapon O? For Ororo?) because really, why create another being with claws when you can create something that controls the freaking weather?
Anyway, I'm also seriously thinking of doing the X-23 thing and gender-swapping the clone from the original. Maybe call him Ro.
*I'm fully aware that other mutants have been cloned, but Wolvie is the absolute poster child.
Sorry, didn't catch that post about limiting ranks to Rm.
Leveling up is generally slow in classic Marvel (especially since Karma is also spent for improving rolls). Are you planning to impose the "cresting" cost of jumping from one rank to the next?
I've got several characters I've made over the years. So in part it depends on the overall power level of the game, since everyone else rolling randomly could set this at varying levels. I could come in with, for example, Tenfold, who can generate ten copies of himself each with the strength to lift ten tons (Incredible strength) and be way overpowered, or Clearwing, a girl with butterfly wings, and be below the curve.
So, you know what? I'm intrigued to see what the dice rolls up.
Random mutant:
Step 1: Determine what kind of being the hero is and how he got his powers.
General Origins
Mutant (fixed)
Step 2: Assign ranks and rank numbers to the hero's abilities. Fighting:1d100 ⇒ 29 Good (10)
Agility:1d100 ⇒ 95 Incredible (40)
Strength:1d100 ⇒ 31 Good (10)
Endurance:1d100 ⇒ 53 Excellent (20)
Reason:1d100 ⇒ 20 Typical (7)
Intuition:1d100 ⇒ 39 Good (10)
Psyche:1d100 ⇒ 98 Amazing (50)
Step 3: Determine the hero's variable abilities.
Health 80
Karma 67
Resource:1d100 ⇒ 12 Typical
Popularity ?
Step 4: Determine the hero's powers. Powers Available:1d100 ⇒ 75
Power 1:1d100 ⇒ 19 Matter Control - Water
Power Rank:1d100 ⇒ 8 Poor (4)
Power 2:1d100 ⇒ 20 Matter Control - Weather
Power Rank:1d100 ⇒ 78 Incredible (40)
Power 3:1d100 ⇒ 16 16's not on the table. Gonna say Movement since I've already got two Matter Controls already. Flight
Power Rank:1d100 ⇒ 97 Amazing (50)
Power 4:1d100 ⇒ 59 Distance Attacks - Energy Generation
Power Rank:1d100 ⇒ 60 Remarkable (30)
Step 5: Determine the hero's talents. Talents available:1d100 ⇒ 22 Talent 1:1d100 ⇒ 94 - First Aid
Talent 2:1d100 ⇒ 23 - Acrobatics
Seems like this is a pretty good start to a character -- a weather-controlling flier who can chuck lightning bolts at foes. It all makes a lot of sense, though I'm not sure where the crazy-high Psyche comes from, but it's nice to have. I think I'll go with this.
Siphon only spent 23 ranks on skills. They have one more rank to allocate.
It seems the intent behind your powers is that you can only copy the abilities of someone that is currently under the affect of your affliction. I suppose I could see that being worth the limited trait. The updated sheet looks good from what I can tell.
Thanks, I'll give myself another skill rank.
My original idea was for her to keep the powers for a day or two -- really for the length the plot demands, since Siphon was created in a much more rules-lite system. But your statement makes me think it's going to be much shorter than that.
GM, what are your thoughts on the duration of her Mimic ability? I'd like for there to be a chance she could still contribute in a fight against robot drones and other stuff she can't drain using previously stolen powers, because otherwise she'd be pretty useless.
(Or in the alternative, the limitation of not affecting robots or people in power armor being enough to lower the price enough to pay for an extension of the duration of Mimic.)
I suppose Rank 11 is a bit too high for PL 6 (and only leaves me 2 points left for anything else).
What's the max for something like this?
By the way, I can't seem to get HeroLab to stop stacking the two ranks for the linked effects. Even when I switched the Weaken link to Affliction, I'm still getting the rank of Mimic adding to the rank of Affliction.
@Malinor: Thanks for looking it over. I mainly rely on HeroLab and push points up and down until it gives me the green light. The linked Weaken came out that way, but I get what you mean.
Truth be told, I'm not 100% sure that my concept of her powers can really be replicated in this particular system. I might brainstorm to try to think of another character concept unless the GM likes the dynamic Siphon would bring to the game -- that of someone forced into a life of villainy due to awful parents and an unfortunate power set, and now trying to do good in the aftermath of Doomsday.
She's a power/vitality stealer in the same vein as Rogue except that she has control over whether or not she drains someone. Also, she *has* to drain people as a means of sustenance because she can't eat otherwise.
She's also a reformed villain.
Backstory:
The world sympathizes with a sick child, the Tepes discovered after Valerie was diagnosed with a rare disease that attacked her cellular mitochondria. When the disease confounded local doctors several years ago, Martin and Sonja Tepe resorted to crowd funding to raise money and awareness for their plight. They quickly became enamored of the attention and moderate celebrity, appearing on local talk shows and becoming the topic of various fluff pieces in the media. Valerie became more of an exhibit than a daughter to her parents.
Yet all the donations, fundraisers, and awareness campaigns could not actually cure her, and her health deteriorated. Martin and Sonja became more desperate, taking her anywhere someone would offer up a little bit of fame with an unusual diagnosis. But eventually interest in Valerie's condition waned as the quacks and pseudo-scientific hucksters piled up.
When Valerie turned fourteen and it became evident that she would not see her fifteenth, Dr. Sange arrived out of nowhere, offering a mysterious treatment that would save Valerie's life. He offered no fame, no publicity, only a chance at her continued living. The Tepes had, ultimately, no choice but to accept.
Valerie endured strange treatments, chemical baths, mysterious injections, and esoteric radiation treatments. It was a long, arduous process for her, full of strange sensations, discomfort, and pain.
When the treatment finally finished, Dr. Sange returned her to her parents, yet she appeared no better. She was gaunt, weak, and anemic, just as before the treatments. Yet, when they invited a childhood friend over for a visit, the moment she touched her, Valerie became instantly better, though Theresa became ill and sickly.
Dr. Sange appeared extremely pleased at this turn of events. Even though Valerie's sudden health began to wane after a few hours, Theresa took weeks to recover. The Tepes were outraged; they couldn't take any fame from Vanessa's unusual recovery if she could only gain vitality by stealing it from others.
When Valerie's parents attempted to confront Dr. Sange, he responded by presenting them a bill for the staggering costs of the treatment. He also quietly demonstrated that he had the resources to ensure that either they paid, or would suffer. It was then that he offered them a means to repay him. After some deliberation, Martin and Sonja Tepe agreed.
* * *
"It's going to be so easy," her mother told her reassuringly. "All you have to do is go with these people to the police station. You touch a few of the police officers, and you'll feel better. They'll go to sleep, and that way, these nice men will be able to recover some property that the police accidentally took. No one will be hurt, and you'll feel so much better." Valerie nodded dutifully as the car door closed. When the vehicle pulled away, she watched her mother and father hugging each other through the window. Then she turned and looked at the men in the car with her. All had been instructed not to touch her skin, so they looked at her uneasily.
Her mother was right. It had been easy, and she felt so much better afterward. She was dropped off by herself near the police station, giving her time to be found by an officer taking a smoke break. Her sickly complexion immediately got his attention and she was brought inside. Then she began to drain the life force from the cops, one by one. By the time she had absorbed half the night shift, she felt great. The men who dropped her off showed up and emptied the place of drugs, guns and other bits of vital evidence, and Valerie felt well for a whole week.
Dr. Sange came back several times, offering additional debt forgiveness if Valerie would assist various associates of his in the collection of this or that. Valerie would sate herself on security guards, bank employees, computer security chiefs, and others to access restricted areas.
The Tepes prospered. Their debts fully paid, they reaped untold profits by hiring out their daughter to whomever needed her special abilities. They moved from their moderate home in the suburbs to a grand estate in the hills. Living in the lap of luxury, Valerie's parents forced out any remorse for her wrongful acts, continuing to broker her villainous activities for their own profit.
After a little over a year of these clandestine activities, Valerie, going by the code-name of Siphon, went up against her first super-powered individual.
She was brought on to help raid a cargo ship and obtain some black-market weaponry being smuggled in from Santo Elto on behalf of the mysterious Mr. Cane. She was in the process of absorbing the ship's captain when a costumed do-gooder arrived on scene. In a burst of blue energy, the Azure Avenger appeared, sending the mercenaries scattering. Somehow aware of the smuggled shipment of outlaw hi-tech weapons, he effortlessly knocked around Mr. Cane's goons to keep the shipment out of villainous hands. However, not expecting to see such a young girl with these thugs, Azure didn't react in time to keep Valerie from touching him.
She siphoned off his blue-spectrum powers, incapacitating him and gaining a rudimentary control over Azure's light. Mr. Cane was able to recover most of the weapons, and Valerie sank the ship with the Azure Avenger aboard using his own energy beams. (He got better.)
Suddenly, Siphon was in the big leagues. Her asking price tripled, and that price quadrupled in the days after she had siphoned off one hero's power or another. Any time there was the fear of a super-powered do-gooder who might snoop around, Valerie was called in.
This went on for another year. Valerie was seventeen, and a criminal through and through, thanks to her parents' upbringing and the steady reinforcement by such notable underworld figures as Mr. Cane, Lovelace, and Dr. Cutler. She rarely felt weak, having a near endless supply of people to drain and the occasional superhero.
After Doomsday, everything changed. Villains no longer needed to hire her when there were no more heroes. She had a blow-out with her parents, who were terrible with money and had blown through her earnings. She walked out on them, and with guilt eating away at her for her earlier life as a villainous mercenary.
She still had to drain people to live. But maybe she could put her power to use against the villains she used to work for, and make up for some of the harm she had caused. And then perhaps, maybe, she could be called a hero.
Crunch:
I'm not very good at character creation with this system, so hopefully I did all right. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Powers
Mimic: Variable 7 (Life Force, Metahuman, Mutant, Psionic, Psychic, Sensory, Skill, Talent, Telekinetic); Increased Duration: continuous [1 extra rank], Limited to mimicking living beings; Stacks with Weaken
Linked
Weaken: 4+7 [Stacking ranks: +7], Affects: Strength, Stamina, Powers; Resisted by Fortitude DC 21; Grab-based, Penetrating 8, Limited to Living beings.
I think I've got this right, but I'm open to suggestions on making this better/more viable. Basically, she grabs someone, Mimics their powers and abilities while simultaneously weakening them.
Titan... check.
Massively destructive energy beam... check.
Assaulting a city from the water... check.
Desperate group of heroes completely outclassed... check.
One-shot use item that might be the key to defeating it... check.
How about: Emi-na Amun
Archetype: Egyptian(-ish) sorceress. Main power - Sand control. Maybe has a pet asp that she talks to, if allowed.
Body type: Nymph
Costume: Um, kind of like this? Day job: Exile from Imhotopia, a few degrees east (longitudinally) of Utopia, her ship was blown off-course from its intended destination and crashed on Southtopia. Forced to make a living making sand art and hoping to scrape enough money together for passage to Utopia.
I'm thinking that I'm a little light on Astrid's backstory -- raised to be a Red Mantis from birth. It is, essentially, all she's done and has known in light of the circumstances of her conception.
So here's a little vignette to give you a sense of my writing and style, and shed some light on what Astrid is like.
Proving ground:
Astrid crept along the back of the warehouse, staying within the deep shadows behind the bolts of cloth stacked high to the ceiling. She was excited, but tried to keep her mind from dwelling on the fact that she was on her first solo assignment and would soon have her first assassination under her belt. She couldn't afford to be sloppy; it would only be her first if she succeeded.
She had slipped into the warehouse earlier that day, when the man standing guard had stepped away, likely for a bathroom break. Her target, the textile guildsman who owned the warehouse, evidently didn't want to go to the expense of doubling up on his guards. Greed can be costly, she thinks to herself with a smile.
The textile guild had called for the removal of Harlan Grimes for breaking of some guild rules or something. Horning in on another textile merchant's turf, or undercutting the costs set in order to make a bit more profit. Astrid didn't care what his crime really was, all that she cared about was that the Red Mantis had been hired to end his life.
There was another guard patrolling the floor of the warehouse, and she had to keep moving between the stacked pallets to avoid being spotted. Her dark red-and-black leather armor blended nicely with the shadows, and she moved slowly and cautiously while waiting for Grimes to get within reach of her blades. She decided to risk climbing one of the stacks of pallets in order to get off the floor. Thankfully, the bolts of cloth absorbed sound pretty well and she was able to get to the top of the stacks without detection.
Her intel told her that Grimes usually would walk through his warehouse at least once per day, so she needed to wait for that to happen. From her new vantage point, she could see the door to the offices attached to the warehouse. Her target would be there, but she could afford to wait until he came to her.
Wait she did, as the light through the windows tracked across the floor and stacks of cloth, signifying the passing of time. This was the hardest part -- the part her masters and trainers back on Mediogalti Island had warned her incessantly -- keeping one's mind focused and alert while hours passed.
It was all good in theory, but extraordinarily difficult in practice. She ran through her exercises, visualizing the kill in detail and slowly flexing her muscles so she didn't tighten up. Soon.
But as the hours passed, Astrid succumbed to a rookie mistake -- second-guessing her current ambush spot. While she had a decent location, she noticed a spot poised over a much better-traveled path in the warehouse. She decided to clamber over the stacks of pallets to reach it, rather than dropping down to the floor and climb up again.
She was just about there when she disturbed a pile of bolts of cloth stacked precariously at the top of the pallets. Before any of the heavy material falls, she catches it. But its weight was far too much for her to pull back up into a secure position. She found herself straining hard against gravity, lest the bolts of cloth fall and alert everyone in the warehouse to her presence.
Before she's able to figure out a solution, she hears the voice of Grimes starting his round. Her muscles straining, she craned her neck to get a glimpse of the guildsman. He was coming her way, but she couldn't get into position to strike without letting go.
An idea struck her, though it's laced with disappointment. Looks like my blades won't be quenched today, she thought, but ultimately it didn't matter how the Red Mantis' targets die, just that they do.
With a mental prayer to Achaekek, she waited until he's below the heavy bolts of cloth she's straining to keep from falling and then let go. She didn't stick around after the panicked scream is cut off by an echoing crash. She moved along the tops of the pallets to stay hidden, though she took a quick glance back at the scene of Harlan Grimes being quickly suffocated by his own product. His work crew rushed to his aide, but they were all too late.
The ritual was completed.
As Astrid slipped out of the warehouse and into the evening air, she allowed herself a satisfied smile. Time to go see Master Brin. I'm sure he'll have plenty of things to say about my performance, but the man's dead. He can't have a problem with that.
I've got an idea for a Red Mantis Assassin character who would be allied with House Thrune. Achaekek the Mantis God is LE, so this should work nicely. The players' guide also mentions RMAs as being an option.
I would go with Slayer and eventually work towards taking the Red Mantis Assassin prestige class.
Quick backstory:
Astrid Tith'kali was born to be a Red Mantis Assassin. Her mother conceived her during a mission -- killing the target (her father) in the act of copulation. Children conceived by this method (think of how mantises actually mate) are considered especially holy and blessed by He Who Walks in Blood.
Astrid was raised on Mediogalti Island, learning the ways of the Red Mantis assassins and becoming thoroughly indoctrinated in following Achaekek.
The Red Mantis have a long-standing contract with House Thrune, and regularly send assassins to Cheliax to do the crown's bidding. When Astrid came of age, she was sent to test herself by working for the diabolists of House Thrune.
Personality:
Strangely enough, Astrid is rather cheerful. Though she's a cold-blooded assassin when the time comes to strike, when she's not on the job she's jovial and friendly. "Nowhere is it written that we're not allowed to smile behind our masks," she is fond of saying.
Campaign trait would probably be a reskinned Scion of the Nine Circles or Thrune Informant.
That's a lot of possibilities -- which call for very different characters, depending on the setting!
I can try to scale back Whippoorwill to PL 10 if we're doing the classic campaign. I've got a couple other characters that would work for the superschool idea, and I'll have to think about what might work for a washed-up hero game.
Stalwart here. I'm looking at playing a Shakalta -- a dual minded energy being. I like the concept of the alien, but I'm required to multiclass which will be tricky to pull off and be useful to the party at higher levels. I'm thinking Envoy+something else.
Hey, all! I'm the GM in the other recruitment thread that unwittingly generated the interest in you all starting another Masks game. Which is cool! I'm also playing in the co-GM game that Blue Symbiote linked to.
Now, I have in no way the inclination to DM another Masks game. But, I have an idea for a Doomed that's been rattling around in my head for some time. So if there's room for a sixth? Seventh? However, please don't let me bump someone else out of the game. I've got a couple Masks games going strong, so I'd rather someone else get the chance to play.
The Doomed:
An ordinary teen is tricked by an evil collector of magical trinkets into freeing a genie from a lamp -- therefore becoming the new genie. He is now bound to the lamp and doomed to become a servant obeying the whims of whoever owns the lamp. But his powers are incomplete and still developing, so he has a measure of free will, but the more he uses his powers, the more he learns and closer he comes to being a full genie. His doom is the reality that at some point he'll come fully into that power and become utterly subservient to the lamp's owner -- someone that the collector fully intends to become.
Nemesis: The curio collector (maybe backed up by the freed genie)
Sanctuary: The lamp itself
I had run a good chunk of the Kingmaker AP years ago, so I used that as a framework for my headcannon of the Council's backstory.
Kage, I can't recall what I ruled. I think a fairly high-level evil spell would be pretty hard to find in and around Emeraldvale. I'll dive into the archive a bit later to see if I had decided something different.
I'm very hesitant, only because I feel that I've already exceeded my limit for pbp games. There's a couple games I'm in that are getting short shrift already. I'd hate to hit a breaking point.
Don't write me out just yet, but don't count on me either.
I've had some bad tabletop game experiences, and almost all of them were based in Faerun. It's left a very bad impression on me (though I'm aware it wasn't necessarily the setting's fault, but still). I have to vote a hard no to FR.
I'm also quite serious about banning the slumber hex, I hate that thing.
Here's my issue with the Slumber Hex. I could kit out a raging barbarian or bloodrager or other high-damage output melee character (Hello, Zoli!) and be able to drop a major enemy in one round, before it gets to act.
No one bats an eye at that.
But if a witch Slumbers an enemy, sending it to sleep so it can be cdg'd, that's broken. An enemy that cannot be an elf, half-elf, undead, dragon, vermin, ooze, construct, plant, or otherwise immune to sleep or mind-affecting effects.
Not really, except that if the GM(s) has some issues with the Divine playbook being reskinned to a fallen angel (albeit a reluctant one), then my main fallback will be the Changeling.
Given that my preference between the two concepts are so neck-and-neck that only things like time of day, ambient humidity or phase of the moon would tip one more than the other...
I'll have to go with the Fury/Fallen angel only because I've actually done the write-ups on their "species". Also, looking at the Playbook, I think I can make the Divine work with not a whole lot of tweaking. Mainly, the 'holy' tags on the weapons might need to be removed or made to be evil or unholy.
That being said, the dryad is still a very, very close second.
As time wore on, the Furies' number dwindled. The beings that flocked to the original idea grew tainted by their misguided actions, and humanity ultimately showed no sign of being cowed into behaving better. Therefore, as they waged war with not only humanity, but also certain demonic forces that defended their corrupted targets, and the original angelic hosts of which they had once been a part, they grew fewer and fewer.
The original three beings that conceived the idea and still adhered to their mission decided to employ the demonic means of perpetuating themselves. Forbidden rituals brought vengeance-obsessed humans into their fold, empowering them with the same nature as the original three.
The use of the demonic rituals forever tainted the Furies with evil, and connected them more with such power so that they could be held at bay with the same sort of rituals and talismans that worked on demons. But they saw that as a necessary sacrifice to continue their work to enforce obedience upon humanity by the point of the sword or the threat of retribution.
The three original Furies each had a particular crime they despised the most.
Alecto – Punisher of moral crimes
Megaera – Punisher of infidelity, oath breakers, and theft
Tisiphone – Punisher of murderers
Their children follow the same obsessions. The Furies have thus divided into three subgroups, each named after their originator, and defined by the type of crime that incenses them the most.
(I've got some ideas for some faerie courts and factions if the dryad is selected, but I just don't think I'll be able to get anything up before the selection date.)
Since I notice there's been a lot of creative examples that apply to the submissions, I thought I'd try that.
The Furies:
In the eternal war between the forces of good and evil, there have been a lot of twists and turns throughout the ages. Several millennia ago, a contingent of angelic beings, frustrated by the innumerable failures and lapses of mankind, took it upon themselves to correct those deficiencies through the use of fear. If they could not appeal to humanity's better natures, they would keep them in line with the fear of retribution.
Taking inspiration from the atrocities humans would inflict on each other in the name of justice, these angelic beings began a crusade of their own. Rather than hunting down evil doers and the monsters that prey upon the innocent, they fell upon the fallen and the disgraced. If they set an example of those who professed goodness and faltered, the later generations would be more inclined to remain true, they reasoned.
This did not come to pass, however. Their actions tainted their own angelic nature. Worse, humanity did not become any better at resisting temptation. And in their frustration, these beings ultimately gave over themselves to the very evil that they had been trying to steer humans away from.
Now known as the Furies, these tainted beings -- a mix of angelic and demonic -- still continue their crusade by sowing fear and dealing retribution against those they believe have failed in some way to adhere to the path of good.
Okay, yeah! County-sized area is perfectly reasonable. The way I figure it, the area that I can freely move is defined by plot. Any time you want to ratchet up tension, I might have to act under pressure if I start to stray a little too far.
For short road trips by the others, maybe I'll be the guy (gal) in the chair. And maybe there'll be magic spells and such that could give me a longer rope (with corresponding countdown for added drama).
JonGarrett:
I realized the Changeling playbook has some moves and features that play up the mystery of what the character really is.
Especially if there's ever a need for the game to switch settings (like the Angel spinoff to LA, for example), maybe there could be an ongoing mystery that Maggie isn't just a dryad.
So that's what I want to explore, as the game progresses and evolves (and assuming I'm selected -- ;P ). She starts out a dryad, but there's clues that she's something more. And that's the kicker. She was in disguise/hiding/exile/faerie witness protection or in some other way made to appear to be just a simple dryad to make sure she was overlooked by whatever forces or entities that have some vested interest in her.
So, the girl who thought she was human, finds out she's really a dryad, but then finds out she's something beyond even that... What do you think?
I have to say, I'm getting more enamored of the dryad Changeling idea. I think it should work (but only if we don't do a lot of travel).
Here's a Creative Example tied to that concept:
The Magistrate, an American chestnut tree easily over 350 years old, is a landmark near the middle of the town (assuming the game's main setting is somewhere in the northeast. Otherwise, it's likely some other tree native to the region). Somehow mysteriously spared of the chestnut fungal blight, it stands tall and proud in a park behind the town hall and the community library. The Magistrate has long been a fixture of the town, including a participant of some of its most sordid past events. Criminals have been hanged from its branches, as well as a few innocents during the nation's more shameful eras. During the economic downturn during the 1970s and '80s, the park had been left to decay, and numerous other trees and brush grew up around the Magistrate, and for a time the stately tree was forgotten for a time.
That changed in the early 2000s, when an economic boom of the town and a resurgent interest in the town's history led a group of conservationists to explore the overgrown park and discover the Magistrate still alive and flourishing behind the brush. A civic effort to restore the park was started, and the community rallied around the Magistrate, though they also chose to keep some of the other trees that had grown up around it.
The Magistrate was the source of local gossip again roughly fifteen years ago, when an infant child was found nestled in its hoary roots by some park goers. No one was able to find the mother, so the baby girl was eventually adopted by the leaders of the town historical society, Everette and Lily Donohue. The baby was called Maggie, after the tree in which she was found.
Okay, after some thought and letting my imagination run, I've come up with two major concepts.
The first is based on that first vignette I posted -- a normal person changed into something not human.
Specifically, I want to make sure I'm well clear of the fairly tropey succubus/temptress demon. Instead, I'd like to make her a fury -- more like a fallen angel of the wrathful variety. Therefore, I think either the Monstrous or perhaps a reskinned Divine would be the best playbook for that. But I could probably make the Changling work for it as well.
The Changeling Playbook gave me another idea, however. This one is pretty dependent upon the setting being fairly static -- where all the action takes place in a single town like Sunnydale or Chicago, and less of a road-trip Supernatural/Mystery Machine romp across the country. The reason is that this idea is that the adopted/orphan character is actually a dryad and is linked to a large tree somewhere in town. Thus, she's bound to the area and can't stray very far or else she starts to get weaker the longer she's away.
Creative Example:
The coolest place in town is called the Covenant -- a record store-slash-coffee house that has a large back room with a stage for small, indie bands that play over the weekends. The baristas are surly and emo, but they make the best java and their music tastes are simply better than yours. Startup bands across the tri-state area are desperate to get good enough for a chance at a gig, or for one of the staff to recommend their album.
McHappilee's Doughnuts -- 24-hour donut shop that makes everything in the store fresh. A popular hangout in the mornings for students, cops, and harried adults in need of coffee and a morning sugar rush. The other time the shop is busy is at 2 a.m., when they put their bags of day-olds up for sale for a single buck to clear space for the fresh ones.
As I said in the interest check thread, I'm very interested.
I was a fan of Buffy/Angel when it was on, and love the Dresden books as well, so I'm pretty well versed in the Urban Fantasy genre.
My concept, as posted earlier, is a Changeling or Monstrous -- specifically a normal human who has become something different. Something inhuman. What's more, they're no longer subject to the rules of humanity, and now have to deal with the very different constraints and laws of their new reality -- very much like
Dresden Files spoiler:
Molly Carpenter.
However, rather than going the route that Jim Butcher did with <spoiler>, I'm thinking demon/devilkind.
Vignette:
She didn't know how she got here. Everything had been so unreal ever since... it happened. Jessica had been trapped in a waking nightmare and this was just the latest.
"Behold, fiendish one! I have summoned thee to do my bidding!" she hears in some sort of strange language that she understands somehow. She peers into the gloom and can make out robed figures surrounding her illuminated by the ruddy candlelight. Diabolic symbols decorate the floor and walls and dance in the fire's light.
"As payment for your service, I present to you this offering: the death of a holy priest who has forsaken his vows! Once you claim his soul he will forever be beyond redemption!" The central robed figure raises a ceremonial dagger over a helpless figure. Panic seizes her; and though her mind still whirls in confusion, she recognizes what's about to happen.
"No, wait! Stop!" she cries out, holding out her hand and trying to interpose herself between the dagger and the victim. Something holds her in place, yet her voice causes the villain to pause. "Don't!" she pleads.
There is confusion in the cultist's voice. "This one is deserving of punishment! He has forsaken his vows, and left his place of prayer to indulge in the sins of the flesh." The robed figure gestures at the weeping man below. Jessica looks about in horror; they were about to kill this man in front of her. Everyone was looking at her and giving her perplexed looks from beneath their hoods. "I offer this sacrifice for your service! For the service of six hundred and sixty-six days, you shall have his soul! Do we have an accord?"
She felt something tug in her, a desire to accept. Some instinct within her knew that this would be a binding, unbreakable contract on her end. Something worse within her greatly desired the soul, which would give her knowledge and power. But she recoiled from the bargain and turned to flee. Jessica found she could go no more than a step away from the proffered sacrifice, her back hitting something as solid as a wall. She shakes her head in fear. "No!"
"You will do my bidding!" shouts the leader, outraged.
"I believe the lady said no," comes a voice from outside the circle. Suddenly, the basement is filled with sound of drawn steel, shouts, and screams. Jessica tries to run, but again she is trapped. Strangely, there was nothing holding her, no ropes or chains or glass, but it felt as if the air itself was a solid wall all around her. She looks down at her feet and sees an inscribed circle, inlaid with silver and etched with strange runes.
In a few seconds, the fighting is nearly over. The leader of the robed figures, clutching his side, limps to her. "Save us! Slay the interlopers! My soul and more if you just--" his plea is cut off by a solid clout to the head, causing the leader to collapse on the bound and thankfully still living man on the altar. Jessica can do nothing else but look on, horrified.
The newcomers, victorious, begin leading away the cultists and systematically dismantling the diabolic imagery decorating the dank chamber. Most of them give Jessica and the circle surrounding her a wide berth. Only one steps forward and truly looks at her. His wizened face is one of intense curiosity. Someone asks him out of the gloom, "You're going to banish her, right, Professor? I wouldn't deal with it."
Instead, the professor scratches his chin, and studies Jessica's terrified face. "Why didn't she take the bargain, I wonder?" he mutters as he begins to turn away.
"Wait! Please!" Jessica calls out, hammering on the invisible wall. "Can you help me? I don't know where I am. I don't know what's going on, but I'm not what you think I am! I'm a human!" she cries.
Scoffs and cries of incredulous laughter come from the newcomers. The older human also looks doubtful as he turns back around. He points to the symbols at her feet. "Do you know what those mean?" he asks calmly.
Jessica shakes her head.
"They form a circle of protection. Against evil creatures."
Jessica's lower lip begins trembling. "But I'm not evil," she says in a small voice.
"If you are a mere human, then you should have no trouble stepping across that threshold." The professor turns to walk away.
Jessica throws herself against the barrier, which stops her just as effectively as before. "Wait! No, this isn't right! I wasn't always like this! I don't know what happened; I was captured, experimented on! Please!" she cries out desperately.
The professor turns back around, regarding her curiously. One of the others asks, "You're not actually beginning to believe her, are you, Prof?"
The older man looks at the speaker for a moment, then back to Jessica. After a long pause, he murmurs to himself, "She didn't accept the deal."
One of the professor's companions steps close and grabs his arm. "It's too great a risk. It's for the best that you banish this thing back to Hell."
At that suggestion, Jessica broke down in abject terror. She collapsed in wracking sobs, helpless behind the magical barrier. However, the professor turned back to her and drew his foot across the circle. He reached out and took her hand, inviting her to step free.
Edit: So, apparently the Changeling is an adopted monster raised as a human and is now dealing with the fact that they were never human in the first place. Now the name of the Playbook makes so much more sense. I can run with that, though some of the Playbook moves have me thinking in some fun directions besides what I had in the vignette. I'll think on this some more.
Very interested! I've played a lot of Masks, the Powered by the Apocalypse teen superhero game, and this looks like a lot of fun.
I'm very interested in seeing the Changeling playbook, since I'm interested in playing someone who was human, but now they're not. I see that the Monstrous allows for that sort of origin, but I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of submissions for that Playbook, so I'd like to see what the Changeling does with the concept.
Edit: Wow, I waited all evening for the official recruitment, but when I finally break down and post here, up pops the real thread!
All right, then. And yes, I think Sabby/Attica would be a great herald for Cladissa. The question is, what would she look like? Two-headed dragon? Sabby-headed naga snake? Big mass and tangle of eyes?
