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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

    Join Date
    Mar 2012

    Default [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Hello, and welcome to the OOC!

    Here is the IC thread!

    And here is the Side Scenes Thread!

    Spoiler: Opening Pitch
    Show
    It’s 2018, and people are showing up with superpowers. At least, that’s the rumor, with just enough evidence popping up online to make it seem like more than a hoax. Everyone’s waiting for the first real super-hero to appear, and the governments of the world are scrambling to figure out what to do when that happens.

    Unfortunately for the world (and for the small town of Forester’s Bay, Michigan, specifically), the super-villains show up first.

    His name is Watcher, and he comes from the future to prevent a horrible catastrophe. At least, that’s what he claims. He and his Obelisk have erected a massive dome around Forester’s Bay and the surrounding forest and lakeshore; nothing physical can move in or out. With Watcher from the future is the mysterious, sinister Doctor Proxy and their army of robotic minions. Joining them from our time is the chain-controlling crime boss Lockdown; the “forest spirit” with a vindictive streak, Manchineel; and the self-proclaimed Egyptian god of chaos and destruction, Apophis. They call themselves the League of the Future, and they’ve taken over the entire town for purposes of their own.

    You have crossed paths with one or more of these dangerous villains, and the encounter changed you, giving you powers beyond that of normal humans (or perhaps simply awakening powers that already slept within you). With the outside world locked out and the authorities within Forester’s Bay powerless against these threats, you decided that someone needed to stand up against the League and their villainous ways. It may as well be you—well, you and a few others, of course.


    Current Map (or past map, if I'm behind)

    Good Guys

    Floral: (0/10 RP) 1 Bruise, Fatigued.
    Ariadne: (0/10 RP) 1 Bruise.
    Helios: (0/10 RP) Fatigued.
    Nope: (3/10 RP) 1 Bruise.

    Gabriel (7/14 RP): 2 Bruises.

    "Bad" Guys

    Manchineel (3/16): Impaired & Vulnerable (DC 25, +5 Resistance), -2 Regeneration, -3 Effect, -6 Resistance, SE (DC 25 Affliction & Weakens, +5 Resistance), INCAPACITATED!

    Spider-Mantis: INCAPACITATED!
    Raskovnik: Entranced (DC 20).
    Final Vesper: SPLATTERED!

    Group HP: 0.

    Name Player Def Res Init Per Ins HP
    Lily Woods/Floral Quelllian-dyrae 10 10 8 10/15 0/10 0
    Kal Yefantis/Ariadne Abracadangit 10 10 4 0 10 2
    Flint Garret/Helios Dorni 10 10 0 0/15 0 0
    Remy Rames/Nope Ridai 8 12 0 10 10 4

    I'm going to get everything organized here and get the IC ready, but as I prepare I have one question for you all to consider: How do you know each other? Anything from "not at all" to "we've teamed up after being heroes" is completely acceptable!
    Last edited by Zelphas; 2024-04-23 at 06:29 PM.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

    Join Date
    Mar 2012

    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Infodumps:

    Spoiler: The League of the Future
    Show
    A team of five supervillains, led by the charismatic Watcher, who have taken over the modest Midwest city of Forester’s Bay, Michigan. Claiming to be “from the future” (or at least, two of them claim to be so), the League has enclosed the city and portions of the forest around it in a strange dome which allows electronic signals and air through, but no physical objects. Watcher remains mostly sequestered in the “Obelisk”, the towering skyscraper he brought with him from the future, occasionally addressing the public and asking them to “bear with” their struggles for a little longer for the sake of “the future.” The other four villains pursue their own agendas, seemingly unrelated to either the future or each other.

    Watcher
    The obvious leader of the League and the only thing tying the other four villains together, Watcher always appears encased in futuristic, sleek silver armor that covers him from the neck down. His head is uncovered, but his face is strangely unmemorable, in person or on film. He has had the least amount of run-ins with the police and always uses non-lethal weaponry. He claims to be from the future along with Doctor Proxy, and both Lockdown and Manchineel claim that he “gave” them their powers simply by talking to them.

    Real Name: Unknown

    Powers: Super-Empowering, Advanced Futuristic Weaponry, Enhanced Charisma

    Minions: None. Whatever he is working on, he works alone. On the other hand, the other four League villains could be considered his “minions”, though he calls them “friends” instead.

    Goals: Preventing a “bad future” from coming to pass… or so he claims. How his actions are doing this is anyone’s guess.

    Methods: Besides attempting to sway the populace and police to stop attempting to resist and simply bear with their actions until they are complete, unknown.



    Doctor Proxy
    The closest thing to a “second-in-command” that the League of the Future has, Watcher claims that Doctor Proxy traveled to the past with him in order to help prevent the bad future. He claims to trust Doctor Proxy implicitly, and is certain that Doctor Proxy’s actions, though harsh, are completely necessary. For their part, Doctor Proxy has never claimed anything at all; no one has seen the enigmatic second member of the League aside from Watcher, even other League members. What the people of Forester Bay know of as “Doctor Proxy” is a sleek futuristic suit of dark metal, this one with a blank faceplate, that is often piloted by a hapless hypnotized civilian to commit almost random crimes. Doctor Proxy never speaks, never acts in person, and seems to be a complete unknown.

    Real Name: Unknown

    Powers: Advanced Futuristic Weaponry, Telepathy (theorized), Mind-Control, Super-Intelligence (theorized)

    Minions: Doctor Proxy’s suit, which always contains a hypnotized un-powered human and always turns itself into slag when removed. Also, semi-autonomous droids known colloquially as “Proxybots”, which appear in a variety of forms and serve as backup to the suit on occasion.

    Goals: Unknown. Watcher claims their goals are the same.

    Methods: At the moment, Doctor Proxy generally sends out their suit to forcibly collect large amounts of seemingly random materials, such as all of the cut stone from a nearby quarry, the contents of a perfume shop, and the like. They have also assaulted the Forester Bay City Museum of Natural History several times, each time making off with a single item of wildly varying value and size. Finally, the number of missing persons in Forester Bay has steadily increased, and with Doctor Proxy’s methods, they seem like the most likely culprit.

    Possible Empowering Hooks: Perhaps looking at a dismantled Proxybot awakened some latent super-inventing in you, or an attack from one made you realize you were a technopath. Perhaps you were one of Doctor Proxy’s unwitting pawns, and the experience with mind-control subtly altered your brain. Remember, no matter what, Doctor Proxy is one of your Complications if you go this route.



    Lockdown
    The first of the “contemporary” members of the League, Koro Harriot was a small-time thug in the criminal world who worked mostly as muscle, but also had a talent for lockpicking and safecracking. He had drifted into Forester Bay a few months before Watcher arrived. A short talk with the man from the future later, and Harriot emerged with a monstrous ability to control chains, both literal and figurative. Calling himself “Lockdown”, Harriot began subduing and usurping any and all organized crime within the city, using a potent mixture of raw force and the strange ability to place “chains” on a person’s heart for various effects. Lockdown makes no attempt to hide his identity; he dressed in jeans and heavy leathers festooned with thick, mobile chains that cover him from neck to toe, making his already imposing 6’4” height seem nearly monstrous. He has by far the most run-ins with law enforcement out of the League and has shown himself to be a juggernaut using his chains alone, without even factoring in his power over metaphysical bindings and connections.

    Real Name: Koro Harriot

    Powers: Physical Chain Control, Metaphysical Chain Control, Superhuman Endurance, Superhuman Strength

    Minions: The Chain Gang, his own gang of enforcers and thugs that are in a strict hierarchy named after precious metals. Bronze Links are street-level thugs, Silver Links are mid-level bosses and managers, and Gold Links are Lockdown’s direct lieutenants. Most Silver Links and all Gold Links have formed at least one “Padlock” connection with Lockdown, a facet of his power where he somehow “unlocks” blatantly superhuman abilities within the other by “locking” something else away from them—often (but not always), what he “locks” is their ability to lie to him or betray him.

    Goals: Complete control of Forester Bay’s economy through protection rackets, smuggling, and other methods.

    Methods: Intimidation, muggings, burglary, black market dealings, shows of strength… if force is an option, Lockdown will use force. He isn’t incapable of thinking subtly, but his preferred method is to show his power and bulldoze over whatever’s in the way.

    Possible Empowering Hooks: Perhaps you are a former Silver Link, who now regrets what they have done and is trying to fight back using the power Lockdown “unlocked” in you. Perhaps you had a run-in with him somewhere else, and his attempt to control you made something “break free” within you. Remember, Lockdown is a control freak; the fact that you aren’t under his thumb will make him furious, and he will come after you if he finds out who you are.


    Manchineel
    The second “contemporary” League of the Future member, Manchineel is an… interesting case. Appearing as a tall, slender woman with shiny green hair, green eyes, and red-brown bark-like skin, Manchineel claims that she actually was a tree until just recently. When Watcher came, she claims, he sought her out in the forest and spoke to her, bringing her out of her somnolent tree state to help him save the future from the present. Watcher has not refuted these statements. Manchineel claimed the forested areas around Forester Bay and the parks within the city as her own turf, and forcibly forbids any human “tampering” in these areas, from forestry, to gardening, to littering, to even hiking on at least one occasion. Her goals are, in many ways, the most sympathetic of the League, if not for three key concerns: her extreme reaction to any perceived slight, the horrific use of her powers, and the fact that she has begun claiming more and more of the greenery within the city, including private lawns and possibly even houseplants, as her own “protection”.

    Real Name: Unknown

    Powers: Plant Manipulation, Controlled Mutation, Transformation of Organic Matter, Toxin Generation and Control

    Minions: Her Saplings, mobile, semi-intelligent plants that can be found blending in with the underbrush in every place of greenery in Forester Bay. In addition, she has her Menagerie, a collection of mutated flora and fauna that she uses in specific situations. Finally, she has Punishments, beings handcrafted to hand out “payment” for perceived infractions.

    Goals: “Retribution” for mankind’s abuse of nature.

    Methods: Information gathering and karmic retribution. Manchineel delights in creating “appropriate” punishments for crimes, such as a serial litterer being attacked by mobile, flesh-hungry grass, a hunter chased by a mutated deer resembling a Wendigo, etc. So far, she is willing to only frighten or lightly wound first offenders. Her favorite method among people who consistently do “wrong” is to transform them; there are a few trees in the forest with rusty axes beside them, for example.

    Possible Empowering Hooks: Perhaps Manchineel transformed you, but you kept enough of yourself to rejoin humanity and retaliate. Perhaps you were menaced by one of her Punishments, and the mutations transferred over to you through the bites or clawing you received. Perhaps you were exposed to Manchineel’s toxins, and instead of killing you, you were changed. Remember, Manchineel is vengeful; if she feels you’ve escaped your “punishment”, she’ll try to enforce it again.


    Apophis
    The last member of the League of the Future is a bit… strange, even for them. Frank Smith was a mid-level tort lawyer who accepted a position at a firm in Forester Bay shortly before Watcher arrived. Before starting his new job, the (by all accounts) timid, straight-laced lawyer decided to go on a short vacation to Egypt to treat himself. When he returned, he immediately and somewhat spectacularly quit his job; the viral video of his former boss opening his office door to be immediately engulfed in red sand is still available on YouTube. The next day, Watcher and his Obelisk arrived, and three days later Frank Smith walked up to the Obelisk and was brought into the League of the Future. Calling himself Apophis, the former lawyer claims to have been possessed completely by the ancient Egyptian god of chaos. He spends his time appearing seemingly at random in the city, sowing utter chaos in his wake. His actions range from irritating (turning a school parking lot’s tarmac into sand) to dangerous (setting loose venomous snakes in a public hospital) and are incredibly difficult to predict. For some reason, the only thing Apophis insists upon are regular theater performances, which he seems to always attend, though the police haven’t been able to catch him at one yet.

    Real Name: Frank Smith

    Powers: Probability Control, Sand Generation, Snake Venom, Flat-out Magic

    Minions: The Suneaters, an apocalyptic cult that has sprung up around Apophis and aid him in sowing chaos and destruction. Though ‘minions’ may not be the right term; Apophis seems to work entirely alone, and it is extremely difficult to nail down his actions, with the Suneaters occasionally popping up to do their own amount of chaos and violence. There have been scattered reports of him using actual zombies to terrorize random people, but no such “zombie” was ever verified.

    Goals: Complete chaos. He seems to want to upend anything resembling the natural order of things, and he is only restrained by not bothering his fellow League members so far.

    Methods: Many and varied, but they generally start the same way: Apophis shows up somewhere, declares that he is bored, and causes something to happen. Fire, sand, and snakes are often (but not always) involved.

    Possible Empowering Hooks: Perhaps you have been empowered by another ancient Egyptian god who is rising to oppose Apophis. Perhaps the story of him raising the dead is true, and you came back… different from before. Perhaps you accidentally did something to amuse him, and he gave you some strange ability as a result. Remember, amusing or not, the interest of a god of chaos is a dangerous thing.


    Spoiler: Forester's Bay
    Show
    Rough map here.

    A small city on the coast of Lake Michigan, Forester’s Bay is primarily a resort town, though there are a few logging camps and a steel manufacturing plant within the city limits. The main businesses within the city are restaurants, wineries, boat tours, museums, and hotels. Watcher and his Obelisk arrived in midsummer, the midst of tourist season, and the field has trapped thousands of non-residents within the city without a means to return to their homes and lives. Almost miraculously, the city’s infrastructure has been able to survive more-or-less intact in the month since the arrival of the League of the Future, but cracks are certainly beginning to show.

    One of the reasons that Forester’s Bay has been able to continue running as smoothly as it has is due to the improvements made by Watcher. The first thing the invader from the future did was install an enigmatic golden device on the top of the Obelisk. This device seemingly transmits electrical energy to every device within the dome, instantaneously, and without any cost to the devices or the consumers. People within Forester’s Bay don’t even need to plug in their laptops; they are constantly, wirelessly charged. This alleviated concerns about electrical infrastructure collapse, though it also raised concerns about what exactly this electrical signal might be doing. Next, Watcher planted silver rods at strategic locations throughout the city. These rods seem to collect airborne pollution, cleaning the air immensely. Finally, every day, Watcher’s Obelisk produces an enormous quantity of… aggressively tasteless but nutritious grey food matter, which doesn’t seem susceptible to decay. These actions—and the fact that Watcher ventures from his Obelisk to repair infrastructure damage, once again free of charge—help to complicate the reaction of the public to Watcher himself, though they do little for the rest of the League.

    At the moment, Forester’s Bay has mostly hunkered down under the weight of the League above them. The police attempt to keep order, but can do very little against their super-powerful foes and the forces they bring to bear. Locals go about their business, tending to ignore or avoid the problem of the League since they can do nothing about it themselves. Stranded tourists have been relocated to empty houses or remain in hotels, waiting for the dome to fall, careful not to walk too deep into the woods and not to walk down certain streets. Mostly, people are just… waiting for something to happen.

    The Districts of Forester’s Bay
    While there is plenty of mixing and blending between the districts, Forester’s Bay can be sectioned off into five main areas:

    -high-price, high fashion Lakeside;
    -tourist-focused, glitzy Main Drag;
    -old-town, rustic Residential Quarter;
    -work-oriented, practical Industrial Block; and
    -Untouched, brooding Manitou Forest.

    Lakeside is on the northeastern edge of the city, next to Lake Michigan; it blends into the Main Drag at a place called Museum Street. Main Drag is at the center of the town; Forester’s Park marks the borderline between this area and the Residential quarter to the west. The Residential Quarter, occupying the northern and western areas of the city, is insulated from the Industry Block to the south by the stretch of cheap apartment housing known as Steelhome Housing. The Industrial Block is at the south of the city, edging a bit to the east; it and the Main Drag are connected through Pub Alley. Manitou forest surrounds the city to the north, south, and west; the lake is to the east.

    Lakeside: The smallest of the districts, Lakeside is the exclusive home of rich locals and occasional rich tourists. Huge homes interspersed with occasional high-end hotels and the rare boutique or specialty shop line the streets closest to the lakeshore at the northeastern edge of the city. Lakeside is completely insulated by the Main Drag from the Residential Quarter and the Industry Block; it only borders the Main Drag to the west and south, the lake to the east, and Manitou Forest to the north. Those living or vacationing at Lakeside tend to be affluent, aloof, and self-focused; most often, they own one of the larger businesses in town, and they and their children are comfortably set for life. Doctor Proxy (well, their suit) has been seen most often in this district and the Museum Street connected to it.

    --Most Notable Features: Besides Lake Michigan itself, the most notable feature of Lakeside would probably be the brand new Lakeside Heights Hotel, a ten-story structure of fancy suites and lakeshore views that seems far too large for the small city of Forester’s Bay. There’s also the old Serafin Mansion, a beautiful Gothic Revival bit of history that’s carefully maintained by the reclusive owner, Svenja Serafin. Finally, something that’s less of a tourist attraction but more of interest to the locals is the new Forester’s Bay Police Headquarters on the end of Museum Street; since the old headquarters was in the heart of the Residential Quarter, this change caused a fair amount of gossip and friction between the upper and lower class of the city.

    --Most Notable People: Most of the people with money and connections live in Lakeside, but a few of the more notable examples are below.

    • Nigel Clarke, the current mayor of Forester’s Bay, lives in one of the mid-level houses of Lakeside. A large man who is slightly out of shape, Clarke is most well-known for his bright blue eyes, easy politician’s smile, and carrying voice, as well as the terrible black dye job that he’s given his (almost certainly white by now) hair. He was gearing up for re-election in the fall before the League appeared, but seems to have given up on that, focusing instead on keeping things as “normal” as possible even with the League until he is able to leave office… and searching for his missing son, who disappeared a few days after the dome came down.
    • Dean Falkenrath owns both a large portion of Manitou Forest which he rents out regularly to hunters and hikers, and several shipping warehouses in the Industrial Block, making him fairly wealthy even by Lakeside standards. Falkenrath is small and hawklike, with a prominent nose and dark brown eyes under thick eyebrows and shoulder-length brown hair. He has been one of the more critical voices against Mayor Clarke’s handling of the League, and his warehouses are among the most targeted by Lockdown’s Chain Gang.
    • Svenja Serafin has already been mentioned above; the reclusive mansion owner is the closest thing that Forester’s Bay has to an “old money” family, and has never married or had children of her own. Old pictures reveal an unsmiling, tall woman with a high forehead, light grey eyes, and light brown hair peppered with grey; Svenja herself hasn’t been seen by anyone except for her maids (who also give tours of portions of the mansion) in roughly two decades.
    • Selman Rademacher is the current sheriff in Forester’s Bay. A tall man with dark brown skin, eyes, and hair, Sheriff Rademacher is known for being soft-spoken but stubborn and for having followed his father into the FBPD and eventually to the position as sheriff. While he technically lives in the Residential Quarter, most of his time is spent at the new Headquarters in Lakeside, doing anything he can to deal with the League. So far, most of his efforts have been unsuccessful, though he has managed to keep the Chain Gang from openly racketeering and holding meetings, has directed rangers out to save people from Manchineel, and has foiled one attempted theft by Doctor Proxy.

    The Main Drag: The heart and center of Forester’s Bay is undoubtedly the Main Drag; if you’re looking for food, entertainment, or business in the town, this is where you go. Restaurants (expensive and cheap), theaters (movie and live), malls, and businesses all compete for space and visibility within this area, most of them designed to draw in tourists and guests and separate them from their money—while leaving the visitor happy from the experience, of course. Here is where anything that could be called a “skyscraper” can be found (mostly holding small law offices, manufacturing firms, and the like), though no building that was built in Forester’s Bay has yet to break twelve stories in height. The Main Drag is a fairly large district, taking up the center of the town and stretching out to the lake to the south of Lakeside, between it and the Industrial Block. Since it touches every other district, the Main Drag has by far the greatest mix of new and old, rich and poor, refined and down-to-earth. This is clearly marked by the sedate, image-conscious Museum Alley to the east of the district, the comfortable, child-friendly Forester’s Park to the northwest, and the rowdy, dangerous Pub Alley to the south. The Main Drag is the particular playground of Apophis, who pops up without warning just about everywhere.

    --Most Notable Features: There’s something for everyone in the Main Drag, as long as you’re willing to pay. Among the more well-known places is Chaplin Theater, a live theater space that Apophis has strangely attached himself to and forced to continue their season despite everything going on. By all accounts, their shows are very good, especially for community theater. For those who are looking to shop, Deep Forest Mall is a three-story indoor mall that has several outdoor park-like spaces, and so far Manchineel has yet to appear in any of them! If you have a gourmand’s palate, consider booking a table at Farro’s, a five-star restaurant catering mostly to Italian fare—but beware, you’ll need to book at least a week in advance if you truly want a seat!

    Oh, and of course, no one can forget The Obelisk, which appeared in a lot that had just broken ground one month ago and now towers at over four times the height of the tallest buildings in the city. There is nowhere withing Forester’s bay where the Obelisk can’t be seen, and its shadow at its longest measures out the exact radius of the dome that separates the city from the rest of the world.

    --Most Notable People: The Main Drag is where the majority of visitor’s trapped in Forester’s Bay have made their semi-permanent residences, so there is a mixture of old faces and new here among those who are well-known.

    • Jordan Chaplin claims to be related to the renowned movie star, but anyone that looks a little bit into the Chaplin family can immediately disprove this claim. Still, the short, brown haired, grey-eyed theater director is charismatic enough that most people simply take what he says at face value. Chaplin owns and runs Chaplin Theater and is currently preparing for a fall run of The Music Man; he steadfastly refuses to speak about what deal, if any, he has made with the chaotic Apophis.
    • Speaking of the theater, Ayda Pavlovski has caught the attention of several people by stating that she would play a part in the upcoming performance of The Music Man. Pavlovski, a young black-haired woman with bright blue eyes, is moderately famous off-Broadway and was poised to break into Broadway itself soon. She had been vacationing for a week in Forester’s Bay when the Obelisk arrived; her decision to take part in the community theater may be a sign that she thinks the dome will be a permanent fixture, or simply a desire to perform again.
    • Zorion Farro is the head chef of Farro’s, while Vahid Parrish is his partner and the front-end manager. Farro is tall, broad, and pale, with icy blue eyes and hair gone prematurely white, while Parrish is taller, thin, and Arabic, with amber-brown eyes and black hair. Parrish has made it clear that Farro’s has no stance on the League as long as they don’t try to jump the booking line or refuse to pay their bill, while Farro has refused to make a public statement as per usual with him.
    • Luna Riva came to Forester’s Bay the day that the Obelisk appeared; she had just parked her car next to the vacant lot to go sightseeing when the lot was filled and the dome came down. In the month since then, the middle-aged Hispanic woman has managed to launch a new business, Moon River Insurance, by becoming the first person on the scene to specifically and exclusively sell “superhero insurance” to cover damages from the League (and anyone who happens to appear to oppose them). Since the League has done minimal physical damage so far, Riva has been able to capitalize on people’s worry and do very well for herself. She now owns a mid-size building directly across the street from the Obelisk, which she considers to be the perfect location for her business.

    The Residential Quarter: Probably the oldest district in Forester’s Bay, this is where most of the locals who make lower than a six-figure salary live, where the schools are located, and where tourists are usually discouraged from going. Tree-lined streets are populated with small, comfortable houses, the occasional mid-grade apartment complex, and the odd small park or playground. The locals have a complicated relationship with visitors and tourists; most of them depend on tourism for their livelihood, but they are naturally suspicious of all the people wandering into and out of town and prefer to be left alone to their own lives. This feeling has only intensified once the dome came down and the visitors became trapped in there with them. The Residential District takes up almost the entire west section of the town, bordered by Manitou forest to the north and west. the Main Drag is to the east, separated from the Residential Quarter by a long stretch of manicured parkland called Forester’s Park. As you travel southwards, the houses become steadily more run-down and ragged, ending up with the dirt-cheap Steelhome Housing apartments that mark the border between this district and the Industrial Block. Watcher seems to have taken the Residential Quarter as “his” own district in the city; none of the other members of the League have appeared there often, and most of Watcher’s trips from the Obelisk have been to improve the quality of life in the Residential Quarter in some small way. Because of this, the residents here are less antagonistic towards the League than elsewhere, despite the circumstances.

    --Most Notable Features: The Residential Quarter, fitting its name, is mostly residences, but there are still a few places that stick out. School Avenue is a street in the central area of the district, which has James K. Polk Elementary School, Gerald R. Ford Middle School, and Forester High School all down its length, with many of the athletic facilities and outdoor spaces shared between the three schools. Attendance at all three schools is under a thousand total, though if the dome lasts until the school year starts that might change. Also the old police headquarters has been transformed into the Forest Eyes Neighborhood Watch, a group that came together a few days after the Obelisk appeared to patrol the Residential Quarter’s streets after dark and keep an eye out for trouble. So far, there are no more than rumors about vigilantism from the group.

    --Most Notable People: Once again, the Residential Quarter is filled mostly with people trying to go about their daily lives. Still, there are a few notable faces in this district as well.

    • Mary Wu heads up the Forest Eyes Neighborhood Watch, buying the old police headquarters and moving in to the second floor. A lifelong resident of Forester’s Bay, Wu has black hair, brown eyes, and a short, muscular build from a lifetime spent as a wilderness guide and a brief stint as a forest ranger as well. She has made it clear that while the Watch would be happy to work with other district civilian watch societies, their primary concern is the Residential Quarter; every other quarter can deal with their own problems.
    • Karmen Nichols is the fifth-grade History teacher at James K. Polk Elementary. The young, red-haired teacher did not have much of a presence in the town before the Obelisk came, but a chance encounter with Watcher afterwards pushed her into the spotlight for one simple reason: after a short conversation, she managed to have Watcher declare that no one in the league would harm anyone under 14 years of age. Some people are perplexed and angry that the age is not 18, while others are confused that such a declaration needed to be done at all, but Nichols has so far refused to comment.

    The Industrial Block: Before it was a tourist town, Forester’s Bay was a mixture of a logging town and a shipping and manufacturing hub; the Industrial Block is the byproduct of the latter half of that legacy. Consisting mostly of large warehouses, the Industrial block also contains the city’s steel factory, as well as its non-tourist dockyards. Business has slowed considerably since the streamlining of air travel and manufacturing, and any shipping work that could be done was forcibly halted by the dome, leading to a lot of restless workers. The south end of the Industrial block ends abruptly at Manitou Forest, though a few trails lead out from there to the logging camps nearby. To the east is the lake; to the west, the district is bordered partially by the forest and partially by Steelhome Housing, which bleeds into the Residential Quarter. North of the Industrial Block is Pub Alley, a winding series of streets consisting of bars, nightclubs, and pubs that are busier now than ever before. Lockdown has clearly and obviously chosen the Industrial Block as the basis of his operations; his Chain Gang are a felt presence on the streets, and more than a few displaced workers have gravitated to them for money and a job to do.

    --Most Notable Features: The most striking feature of the Industrial Block is the Corwin Steelworks, the steel refining factory at the southeastern edge of the city. Since the dome came down, the factory has steadily run out of work, and now stands silent for the first time in twenty years. The Industrial Block isn’t all warehouses and industry, however; Garage of the Future is a little display space that regularly showcases upcoming new sculptors and engravers… though its name has gotten it some unfortunate attention in the recent month. There is one more “place” that has gotten some attention, though only the Chain Gang know of its physical location. Warehouse 616 doesn’t technically exist; the original builders seem to have accidentally skipped the number in their schematics. Despite this, every member of the Chain Gang calls their main meeting place “Warehouse 616”, and that is where Lockdown has his stronghold.

    --Most Notable People: Aside from Lockdown himself, there are several people in the Industrial Block who are important to the city itself.

    • Linda Corwin is the current owner of Corwin Steelworks, and she is known to be tough on just about everyone she meets. Once the factory shut down, she sent her workers home on three-quarters pay, which was a fairly controversial decision in and of itself. The grey-haired, green-eyed woman has also been public in her derision and dislike of the League, and Lockdown in particular; the fact that he hasn’t meaningfully retaliated yet is something of a surprise to many.
    • Daniel Ninad was once a single dockworker out of many, a face in the crowd of Forester’s Bay. Once the dome came down and work dried up, he began to make a name for himself by organizing the workers and pushing for more concessions and more help from the city government during this time, and in the course of this month he became the de facto face of the Industrial Block Worker’s Union. Accusations of collusion with Lockdown have been leveled against him, as well as arguments that he is throwing the city further into chaos in this trying time; he responds that he's working on “one problem at a time. Getting food on the table and a roof over our heads is the first problem, then we can work on the rest.”
    • Marius Amato is a Silver Link member of the Chain Gang and the person most focused on recruiting new members. He has gained notoriety mostly by trying to get it, offering lavish rewards to those who sign up for the Gang, seeking out reporters and spinning (obviously untrue, but compelling) stories about Lockdown’s humanitarian plans, and showcasing his own superhuman, regenerative capabilities. Outside of Lockdown himself, if you know about the Chain Gang, you know about Marius.

    Manitou Forest: Surrounding the city on every side except for the lake to the east, the Manitou Forest looms dark and forbidding within the dome. Once, there were two main thoroughfares into Forester’s Bay from the west and the south, and several smaller roads and trails passing through Manitou Forest, as well as several logging camps, forest lodges, and campsites. Now, most of the roads have been retaken by unnaturally fast plant growth, the main thoroughfares are pitted and difficult to drive on from invasive roots, and many of the lodges and campsites have been lost entirely into the encroaching wilderness. This is Manchineel’s territory; she haunts the woods along with her Menagerie, and her Saplings travel through it, reporting everything back to their mistress.

    --Most Notable Features: Besides, the brooding ,dark majesty of the woods itself, one outlier in the Manitou Forest is the Rudolph Logging Camp, the only camp of its kind that is still in regular production. Rudolph Logging Camp had a practice of replanting 1-to-1 for the trees it cut down, which explains its small size and possibly why it still remains operational. For more natural wonders in the forest, locals and visitors used to go to see Agnelli’s Bluff, a cliff of bare white rock situated inside a small, gentle depression in the ground that makes the cliff seem much higher than it is anywhere else in the forest. Rock climbers found the sheer face and oddly exaggerated height an interesting challenge. Finally, for some strange reason, the winding road from Forester’s Bay to the infamous Camp Bubble Brook has remained suspiciously untouched by new growth of vegetation. The camp, closed for a year after an incident where half of its campers and counselors simply vanished, is still talked about in Forester’s Bay, though recent events have obviously eclipsed it in the rumor mill. Those few brave souls that went down the road to look report that the camp itself is in pristine condition, with no major new growths there either.

    --Most Notable People: Most of Manitou Forest belongs to Manchineel and her Menagerie, but there are still a few people here and there who can brave its depths.

    • Ntombi Peters is a retired psychologist, a lifelong hiker, a regular volunteer for Yellowstone National Park, and one of the visitors trapped in Forester’s Bay after the dome came down. She’s also the only person so far who’s actually welcomed in Manitou Forest, and has twice managed to talk Manchineel into a milder punishment for “despoilers”. Many people don’t trust her because of her outsider status and seemingly close relationship with Manchineel, but she is cautiously accepted because she is so far the only person who has ever had a conversation with the self-proclaimed forest spirit that didn’t end in involuntary mutation or toxins hanging in the air.
    • Olivia Wade is the foreman for Rudolph Logging Camp. For the first three weeks after the Obelisk appeared, she resisted efforts to lay off any of her workers, but in the last week she was forced to fire one quarter of her staff. The next day, the perimeter between the logging camp and the untamed forest shrunk by roughly one quarter. Since then, she’s been focusing her people on re-planting trees to follow the company policy (and keep Manchineel happy), but her superiors are already putting pressure on her again to begin felling trees once more.
    • Abel is Manchineel’s first “beast” in her Menagerie, an unknown man who has been mutated into some sort of demoniac goat or sheep. He seems to have more autonomy than the rest of Manchineel’s creation, often appearing on his own in parts of the Forest while Manchineel is seen elsewhere. Abel is able to understand speech but seems incapable of it himself, and the reports about him vary wildly; some people say that he is much more merciful than Manchineel and often lets wanderers go, some say that he even helps lead people out of the woods, and yet others say that Abel is a cruel monster and the cause of most woods disappearances. So far, only Abel can tell.

    The World Outside Forester’s Bay
    The best reaction that the world at large can be said as having to the situation taking place in Forester’s Bay is “bewilderment.” Forester’s Bay is a small resort city in northern Michigan; it has no strategic, historic, or cultural significance that anyone can think of. Why was it chosen as the target for Watcher and his plans? The best anyone can come up with is that it has some sort of future significance, but such an idea is impossible to test or verify.

    The outside world’s confusion doesn’t mean that nothing has been done, of course. Several attempts of escalating ferocity were made to bring down the barrier; all failures, so far. The U.S. Government has so far restrained itself from any sort of truly destructive option, due to the severely low probability of success as well as Forester’s Bay’s central location in the U.S. and close proximity to Canada, which creates its own pressures. Hints of superpowered emergence had been appearing roughly three months before Watcher and the Obelisk arrived, and the government has suddenly been forced to take these rumors seriously and consider what to do about them, which further complicates matters. A semi-permanent Army base has been established next to the main highway leading into Forester’s Bay, with all soldiers on high alert for any chance to cross the dome; at the moment, until a new option presents itself or the situation grows desperate, that is all that the U.S. Government is able to do.

    Other world governments have taken notice of this, of course; the Internet still works in Forester’s Bay, and so the League of the Future was worldwide news almost immediately. For the most part, this means that these governments are now aware of the fact that “superpowers” are actually a possibility, and are beginning to think about what that means. Ambassadors to Watcher specifically have come to Michigan attempting to talk with the man from the future, but he has graciously turned every one of them down. “I’m not here for that,” he says at least once in each discussion. After the month, the governments seem to have more-or-less decided that the dome is the problem of the U.S., and have turned to consider what to do about possible superpowers—while keeping a close eye in case there is a sudden change.

    Finally, many in the public outside of Forester’s Bay have begun treating the dome itself as something of a tourist attraction; how often do you see a real, live force-field, after all? Others venture to Forester’s Bay on the random chance that their presence is important to the man from the future. If he chose a tiny city to appear, they seem to reason, why couldn’t he choose a random person too?


    Spoiler: Minions of the League
    Show
    Lockdown
    —Bronze Links: the rank and file of the Chain Gang, people who have gained just a little bit of power by working for Lockdown. They are street thugs, most of them with a basic powerhouse moveset; there may be a few outliers, but they’re well below you in terms of power.

    —Silver Links: specialists in the Chain Gang, in charge of groups of Bronze Links or certain special projects. They have unique powers and abilities, each of them having been “unlocked” through a contract with Lockdown himself. The number of Silver Links is hard to pin down for those outside of the organization, but most people have heard rumors that there are at least seven, with “codenames” based off of the seven deadly sins. These people are at or above your power level.

    —Gold Links: the minibosses of the Chain Gang, beholden only to Lockdown himself. It’s even harder to know how many of these there are. Everyone knows about one by his codename: “Dragon”, because it’s difficult to hide a human-sized orange dragon in a nice custom suit from people. You know there’s at least one more, but beyond that information is scarce. Since they are above the Silver Links, they’re probably stronger, and probably weaker than Lockdown; beyond that, you can’t be sure.


    Manchineel
    —Saplings: Small tree-like creatures with animal-level intelligence and complete devotion to Manchineel. They’re very dangerous to the average person, but you all would be able to handle two or three of them alone without too many problems.

    —Punishments: These vary in form, ability, and power level based upon their assigned tasks. All of them are stronger than the Saplings, though again how much stronger they are varies. Since Manchineel creates them for specific purposes, any that she makes to go against you will probably be stronger than you at base, though not by much.

    —Menagerie: These seem to be extra-strong Punishments of a sort, created by Manchineel for purposes only she understands at the moment. Two have been consistently spotted so far: Abel, the goat-lamb-demon, and an enormous bird-like creature that is constantly patrolling the skies around the rim of the Dome.


    Apophis
    —Suneaters: Crazed humans, some of which have access to magic. These guys are well below you in terms of power, but they make up for it somewhat in the paranoia factor: you see, Suneaters don’t act like crazed cultists all the time. They go about their normal lives (as normal as it gets in Forester’s Bay), with their families, doing their jobs. And then, one day, they put on a red scaled robe, pick up a curved knife, and start trying to summon… things, or who knows what else.

    --??? There have been rumors that some of the Suneaters have been successful in summoning things from somewhere. So far, these things haven’t been caught on camera or verified by a reliable source. Maybe they’re rumors?

    Doctor Proxy
    —4649 and 889 (Helper and Mover): worker robots that seem designed to transport inert goods from one place to another rapidly. Helpers are relatively small, with only small-arms weaponry; Movers are much larger and much more dangerous, though they still are primarily used to move large or heavy items.

    —18782 (Waste): A large-ish spherical robot whose only purpose seems to be to expel large amounts of a paralytic gas in a specified location. These are mainly deployed when Doctor Proxy doesn’t want to be disturbed and to let his robots work. They seem to have weaker defenses than you have since you’ve gotten your powers.

    90 (AKuma): Bizarre metallic sculptures of bears that seem to be used as Doctor Proxy’s scouts and spies. Surprisingly dangerous in straight combat; one of you could probably solo one AKuma, but you probably wouldn’t come out unscathed.

    96 (Snatcher): So far only rumored to exist, the “Snatcher” apparently resembles something like a human skull and nervous system floating in the air and appears only to grab victims which are then placed in the Proxysuit. Very hard to see, its combat capabilities are currently unknown.

    Doctor Proxy seems to be an unparalleled inventor. These are only their “standard” machinery; specialized machines have been seen, and even fought, on occasion.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

    Join Date
    Mar 2012

    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Spoiler: Group Downtimes
    Show
    Lockdown (Infiltrating the Chain Gang) Deception, Intimidation, Persuasion, or Relevant Expertise DC 20 15 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): You managed to convince members of the Chain Gang that your civilian persona is a member as well. You will be notified of any Gang-wide events.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): All of the special suits in the Chain Gang come from the same place; a high-class boutique in Lakeside named MW. The boutique is appointment-only and still somehow booked for the next two months, but maybe you can do a surprise walk-in and find something out? High-End Chain Fashion Act Scene is unlocked.
    Rank 3 (10 successes): You’ve been able to get your name out in the right ears as someone who regrets their deal with Lockdown and wants out. You’ll get advance warning of any groups trying to gather to rebel, but some of those rebels will also know your name. Make a DC 20 Deception check; if you succeed, you gave a fake name to them.
    Rank 4 (15 successes): You’ve been approached by someone in the Chain Gang who wants to know how to join the group trying to escape. Several someones, actually; its just… this one particular group of single people all approaching you alone, they all had similar mannerisms. Is this the enigmatic shapeshifter Envy? Mister Cellophane Act Scene Unlocked.

    Rank 5 (20 successes): ???
    Rank 6 (30 successes): ???
    Rank 7 (40 successes): ???
    Rank 8 (50 successes): ???

    Manchineel (Watching the Forest): Insight, Investigation, Perception, Stealth, or Relevant Expertise DC 20. 51 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): You’ve managed to put together a network of people or systems, or simply some sort of routine that lets you keep track of Manchineel’s Saplings and look for her behavior. If Saplings appear somewhere they’ve never been seen before, you know about it.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): The “Camp Bubble Brook Disaster” is not hard to learn about; half the camp, gone in a night, with no sign of where they went. A long list of missing, both campers and counselors, is still unsolved, and both Manchineel herself and all of her creations seem to fear the place. Maybe there’s something there?
    Rank 3 (10 successes): Abel wears a tattered red scarf that apparently has the name N. Magr—embroidered on the edge. There are only a few people with a last name “Magr-“ in Forester’s Bay. A quick Google search gets you Jennifer Magrethe, in Lakeside; and Zephyr and Talia Magro, in the Residential Quarter.
    Rank 4 (15 successes): The trees in the Manitou Forest are too evenly spaced; it’s subtle, but growing. Manchineel seems to have a compulsive need to impose uniform order upon her creations; thinking back, Raphael is perfectly symmetrical as well, though it wasn't something that jumped out. This seems… unlikely, for a true forest spirit. You've learned about Manchineel's Nature is Perfect (Obsession/Temper) Complication.
    Rank 5 (20 successes): There have been several disappearances in the Manitou Forest since the dome came down. There are only three that occurred before Manchineel and her Menagerie came onto the scene, though: Maura Angelov, a lifelong resident who drove westward out of Forester’s Bay five minutes after the Obelisk appeared; Roberta Tehrani, an Iranian immigrant who had been passing through, and who had reportedly been camping in the woods the night of July 1st; and Cosme Muto, a former resident of Forester’s Bay who had come back to remember Camp Bubble Brook on vacation just before the 1st. Any one of these might be Gabriel, Michael, or Raphael, or perhaps a Punishment.
    Rank 6 (30 successes): Manchineel has run into Doctor Proxy’s robots only once, very early in the chaos. Reportedly, she shredded several Helpers who came too close to the forest in their attempt to raid a small dock, but left abruptly the moment a Waste showed up. Could the poisonous Manchineel actually be highly susceptible to poisons herself? You've learned partially about Manchineel's Poison Person (Power Loss/Weakness) Complication.
    Rank 7 (40 successes): The names of Manchineel’s Menagerie are already suspect, being named after Judeo-Christian angels—all except for Abel, who is named after the second-born son of Adam and Eve. There’s a missing name from this naming convention—Uriel, the most obscure of the archangels, associated with judgment, knowledge, and pitilessness. At least two of these fit with Manchineel. Manchineel is either looking for the proper highly intelligent, powerful, and creative person to create them... or Uriel already exists, hidden somewhere among the people of Forester's Bay. The Act Scene Hidden Angel has been unlocked.
    Rank 8 (50 successes): ): It was a chance look, the culmination of hours of study and research, or maybe just playing a hunch. You found pictures of all of the missing from Camp Bubble Brook, circling back to the strange occurrences in that odd place. You were flipping through the faces, the names, out of curiosity; the people are familiar to you now. most of them faces you saw during your one trip out there, playacting at life and camp activities. You were looking through them again when a news article popped up on your screen, a surprisingly sharp image of Manchineel, spotted near Rudolph Logging Camp. The tilt of the head, the expression, the shape of the eyes… Manchineel is not a forest spirit. Her name is Lucia Urquhart, a lifelong resident of Forester's Bay, a recent Biology major graduate from Michigan State (accepted into their Master's program before her disappearance), and a senior counselor at Camp Bubble Brook, one of those who 'disappeared' that fateful night more than a year ago.


    Apophis (Shadowing the Suneater Cult) Deception, Intimidation, Investigation, Stealth, or Relevant Expertise DC 20 32 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): You’ve managed to work your way further into the Suneater Cult. You have a snazzy new robe and a knife. There seems to be very little organization, but if the Cult is gathering en masse, you’ll know when and where.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): There is not one Suneater Cult, but three; they seem to work together and split almost at random. One group wears yellow scarves covering their mouths under their robes; another group has black blindfolds, which they seem to be able to see through just fine; and the last group has dark green gloves. You must be as mad as they are to know why.
    Rank 3 (10 successes): …Or you just need to go to more meetings. The Yellow Scarves talk about giving glory to “Mr. H”; the Black Blindfolds want to learn from “Mr. Y”; and the Green Gloves revere “Mrs. S” as some sort of mother deity. It's difficult to match this with Egyptian mythology…
    Rank 4 (15 successes): Birds are going missing, especially in the Main Drag. Apophis apparently hates birds. But he fears them, too; he abruptly vanished from a sighting right near the edge of town, moments before Manchineel’s eagle-creature Gabriel flew overhead. Horus and His Spies (Phobia/Hatred) Complication Discovered
    Rank 5 (20 successes): The three factions of the Suneater Cult are trying to bring their respective “patrons” into the world… somehow. They’re missing something, though; with a strong enough ritual (which each of them is trying to set up in various places), they can bring a “shard” of them into the world for a short time, but their “core” is apparently elsewhere. They’re all trying to find these “cores”. If a faction of the Suneater Cult tries to bring a "shard" of their patron into the world, you will be warned about the ritual before it begins.
    Rank 6 (30 successes): Apophis always knows every new movie that came out the day after its release, always has an up-to-date opinion of the show at the Chaplin Theatre, and has never been seen within a mile of the town courthouse. If you need to find him, go to the theatre. If you want to weaken him, get him into court… or somewhere similar. You've learned about Apophis' Bastions of Law (Power Loss/Weakness) Complication.

    Rank 7 (40 successes): ???
    Rank 8 (50 successes): ???

    Doctor Proxy (Watching the Bots) Investigation, Perception, Stealth, or Relevant Expertise DC 25 15 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): You’ve started to figure out how to track Doctor Proxy’s robots. You still can’t quite tell where they’re coming from, but you’ve ruled out the Manitou Forest.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): Doctor Proxy sends out robots for three reasons: 1) AKuma, Helpers, and Wastes to gather raw materials from warehouses (with Movers there occasionally as well); 2) the Proxysuit and Movers to steal something from a museum (roughly once every two weeks or so); and 3) Snatchers sent out to collect a human to put into the Proxysuit, seemingly at random. They haven't varied from these types... so far. When a React Scene involving Doctor Proxy is available, you will know what types of robots to expect in that scene.
    Rank 3 (10 successes): You’ve ruled out the Main Drag as the place where Doctor Proxy’s robots originate.
    Rank 4 (15 successes): The people grabbed by Snatchers (specialized Proxybots who seem only built to capture people) seem to be random at first, but you’ve noticed an interesting trend: Doctor Proxy seems to alternate the presenting gender of the person, and no two Proxysuit victims have had the same age or occupation. It seems that Doctor Proxy is aiming for something unique every time they snatch a person.

    Rank 5 (20 successes): ???
    Rank 6 (30 successes): ???
    Rank 7 (40 successes): ???
    Rank 8 (50 successes): ???

    Hero Work REDUX!: PL, Persuasion, or Investigation DC 15 51 Successes, 16 Used
    Rank 1 (1 success): You’ve begun actively promoting yourselves as heroes and helpers of the city. It’s… probably not a bad idea to have a name for yourselves, though it isn’t necessary for the downtime to continue.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): With everything that’s going on all around you, the police are well aware that they’re in over their head. It may hurt their pride, but they can see the reality of their situation. Unless it is contradicted by Complications or other story factors, police will be neutral to your presence when you encounter them from now on; they’ll do their work and let you do yours.
    Rank 3 (10 successes): With people reaching out to you now that they know you’re here to help, you can sometimes fix problems before they appear. React Scenes will now have a number next to them; this is the number of successes in this Downtime that you need to spend in order to resolve that React Scene without playing through it directly. Downtimes “spent” in this way will not count against milestones in this Downtime, but they cannot be spent more than once to resolve React scenes. Crises cannot be resolved in this way.
    Rank 4 (15 successes): The people reaching out to you are becoming more stable as an information network. An addition to a title for the React Scenes, you will also get a short transcript (2-3 sentences) giving a bit more information on the scene. (Note: the Crisis “Indirect Reprisal” is now unlocked as a possible React Scene in the future).
    Rank 5 (20 successes): With the people you’re helping and who are helping you becoming more knowledgeable and reliable, you can get them to help with the things you are researching as well. The short transcripts will now also appear for Act Scenes that are available.
    Rank 6 (30 successes): You’ve made a name for yourself (whether or not that name is an officially chosen team name) through your actions, and the police have taken notice. The attitude of the police from Rank 2 upgrades from Neutral to Friendly.
    Rank 7 (40 successes): Solving problems before they begin has become so streamlined through this process that it’s almost effortless. Once every two scenes, you can choose to resolve a React Scene without spending any successes from this Downtime.
    Rank 8 (50 successes): Your network knows that miscellaneous Hero Work can only go so far in your current situation; taking down the members of the League is the real work, and they've redoubled their efforts to clear the distractions for you. At any point, you may spend successes in this Downtime to suppress all React Scenes (aside from certain Crises) from occurring. For every 10 Successes spent at a time this way, you will be guaranteed no regular React Scenes for two Scene choices.

    Rank Special (100 Successes): The Act Scene “Why” is unlocked. This Scene can only be unlocked once at least one member of the League of the Future is removed as an active threat. In addition, you must spend 20 Successes to further unlock this scene. For every League member removed beyond the first one, the Success Cost of this Milestone lowers by 10 (so 90 successes at 2 members, 80 successes at 3 members, 70 successes at 4 members). If Watcher is targeted, "Why" will be superseded by that Act Scene.


    Spoiler: Floral Downtimes
    Show
    Relationship Building (Woods Family): Persuasion, Insight, or PL DC 20 10 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): You’ve managed to re-open the conversation between you and your family regarding you being a super-hero. No one’s opinion has changed, but at least they’re willing to talk about it again… well, except for Hannah, but still; progress!
    Rank 2 (5 successes): If any of your family members are in a dangerous situation and/or fighting alongside you, you may interpose for them once per round (on top of any other regular Interposes).
    Rank 3 (10 successes): You’ve always had Andrew wrapped around your little finger since childhood, and you knew he’d be the first one to crack. You get a +5 bonus on Expertise checks you do not have, drawing from Andrew’s eclectic field of general knowledge about almost everything; in addition, Andrew may notify you about League behavior he has noticed in his work with the police (under Hannah’s nose, of course).

    Rank 4 (15 successes): If you are in a situation with police presence, you may spend a Hero Point to declare that Andrew’s influence has made the police friendly towards Floral and her team, turning them into Allied NPCs.
    Rank 5 (20 successes): Your father’s objections to your hero ‘work’ had mostly been legal and experiential; your time working as a hero and the extraordinary situation in Forester’s Bay have finally convinced him of your case. You get a +5 bonus on Investigation checks to discover legal information (missing persons, prior arrests, etc) and Deception checks against convicted criminals. In addition, Ralph Woods can use his connections to get you and a few plus-ones into what passes for Forester’s Bay high society, if necessary.
    Rank 6 (30 successes): When any of your family members are imperiled as part of a Complication, you gain two Hero Points instead of one.
    Rank 7 (40 successes): Your mother has consistently worked to shelter you from the dangers of the world, since childhood. It took a lot to overcome that fear and convince her that what you are doing is both within your power and the right thing to do, but now you’ve managed it. You gain a +5 bonus on all Science-related expertise checks. Also, with your mother’s genius and your own working together, you might be able to reverse Manchineel’s transformations of others—though doing so is an ordeal in its own right.
    Rank 8 (50 successes): Even with the rest of your family on your side, Hannah refuses to change her position… but she’s beginning to crack. Once you reach this Milestone, you can force a direct confrontation with Hannah about your superhero work. The contents of that confrontation, and the benefits out of the result, will be dependent upon the events of the game beforehand. You can choose to have your family with you in this confrontation or confront Hannah alone.

    Growing a New Future: Expertise (Biochemistry, Medicine, or Nature) DC 20. 33 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): You’ve started to see what you can create with your powers for non-combat purposes. Mutation is a dangerous game, but you’re hopeful that something good will come from this.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): First thing to work on: food. By experimenting with the gruel that Watcher dispenses regularly to the public, you have both determined that there aren’t any dangerous chemicals in the food (a good start) and have managed to make the stuff actually tasty. The first Downtime Action you spend on this Downtime each time you are given Downtimes has a -5 penalty, due to the time it takes for you to convert gruel to tastier food. So long as you spend at least one Downtime on this, you have a +5 bonus to all social skills with everyone living in Forester’s Bay that does not live in Lakeside. (This does not apply to Relationship Building (Woods Family)).
    Rank 3 (10 successes): While you’re working on it: Medicine. Penicillin came from mold grown carefully; isn’t there a way to use your powers with that? You’ve developed something you think will work, but now it needs testing. Twice per scene, you may choose to reroll a Healing roll without spending a Hero Point. You must take the results of the second roll, even if it is worse.
    Rank 4 (15 successes): Replacing building material and/or clothing with plant-based alternatives is a slow process, but you’ve got a handy little closed system in Forester’s Bay—with buildings in semi-frequent peril, as well! Once per scene, when an NPC or a building is targeted by an attack, you may spend a Hero Point to declare that the person is wearing (or the building is made of) your plant-based alternative that you’ve slowly managed to get out. This gives them a +5 on that roll; the alternative you’ve made is good at absorbing initial shocks, but brittle… for the moment.
    Rank 5 (20 successes): You’ve managed to make turning the gruel into actual food semi-independent by developing and perfecting a fast-growing plant that feeds off of the gruel and produces the food itself. You no longer take a -5 to the first Downtime used on this Downtime Action, and the +5 bonus to social skills now applies to everyone living in Forester’s Bay.
    Rank 6 (30 successes): Through your tests, you’ve managed to refine your medicine so that it is consistently the better option for most situations. You may now reroll Healing checks as though they were the result of you spending a Hero Point, without spending that Hero Point. In addition, twice when meeting an NPC for the first time, you may declare that this NPC was saved by your medicine, meaning that they are more friendly and helpful to you than they would have normally been.

    Rank 7 (40 successes): From your experimentation, what can be called ‘plant-based’ is truly getting ridiculous now. The +5 bonus to the NPC or building now applies to any further rolls they make that scene. In addition, your limitation on ‘Biochemistry experimenter’ no longer limits what you can make with Inventor.
    Rank 8 (50 successes): You have created a plant that needs minimal care and grows enough food to feed all of Forester’s Bay on a consistent basis, independently of Watcher’s gruel. It’s still dealing with a relatively small number of people, but this is extremely promising. Your +5 bonus to social skills now applies even to people outside of the Dome. In addition, Watcher contacts you, thanks you, and says that he owes you a personal favor.

    Cleaning Up the City: Treatment or Expertise (Architecture and Engineering or Sanitation) DC 15, Expertise (Medicine) DC 20. 20 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): You’ve started working to clean up after super-heroic messes.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): By going to the places that need cleanup, you’ve begun to identify the worst offenders in terms of collateral damage. If you meet an enemy or an NPC with an Accident Complication, you learn that Complication.
    Rank 3 (10 successes): You’re starting to know the city of Forester’s Bay and the surrounding forest better. Whenever you spend a Hero Point to gain Inspiration about a certain location within the Dome, you may also make an Edit Scene related to that location.
    Rank 4 (15 successes): Working this way lets you meet all sorts of people, with all sorts of different knowledge and skills. Once per scene, you may spend a Hero Point to declare that a friendly NPC with the knowledge or a skillset useful to you is nearby and willing to help.
    Rank 5 (20 successes): Other people have taken note of your attempts to help after a battle, and have begun to contact you with information about strange movement from League-affiliated people. You will have one more option to React to at the end of each Downtime session.

    Rank 6 (30 successes): The hero who stops by to help with cleanup and healing wins the hearts of people. Whenever you spend a Hero Point to reroll a Persuasion check against someone living in Forester’s Bay, you can declare that your actions directly helped them or a loved one, improving your role.
    Rank 7 (40 successes): Your network of people giving you information about problems has improved to the point that you can sometimes stop League activity before it starts. When you are given the choice to Act or React, you may choose a third option for the React choices: Prevent, removing that option as a problem and gaining some of the benefits from it as if you reacted to it directly.
    Rank 8 (50 successes): The people who have been inside the Proxysuits have had consistent issues with mental health and readjusting to life, and you’ve been working to see what you can to do help them along with everything else. At long last, you’ve had a breakthrough—of sorts. One person has remembered a few important things about their time under Proxy’s thrall. You now know one of Doctor Proxy’s Complications, and the Act option “Voices and Ringing Bells” is now available.

    Herbicide: Treatment or Expertise (Biochemistry) DC 2028 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): You’ve begun to find ways to easily take yourself out of battle, should the need arise.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): Unfortunately, the flip side of prodding yourself for weaknesses is aggravating weaknesses that you already have. For every five successes you have in this Downtime (Rounded up), you take a -1 to any Resistance checks that target a Weakness or Disability Complication that you have.
    Rank 3 (10 successes): You’ve figured out how to shut yourself down! Sort of. That’s good… right? If you are Compelled or Controlled, you may spend a Hero Point to instead become Incapacitated.
    Rank 4 (15 successes): You’ve figured out how to have others shut you down! If you are Compelled or Controlled, anyone can spend a Hero Point to instead cause you to become Incapacitated. This does not only mean PCs.
    Rank 5 (20 successes): By poking at your own weaknesses, you’ve become more able to notice (and perhaps induce?) the same weaknesses in others. When facing a Plant-based enemy, you can spend a Hero Point to declare that said enemy shares one Weakness of your choice with Floral. (This effect costs three Hero Points for Manchineel.)

    Rank 6 (30 successes): Now that you’ve fully inflamed your own weaknesses, you can work on sealing them up. You no longer take minuses to Resistance checks from this Downtime.
    Rank 7 (40 successes): Rather than completely shutting you down, you’ve managed to give yourself a few more options when you are endangered in battle. Once per Scene, when you are Compelled or Controlled, you or another PC may spend a Hero Point to change that condition into a different second-tier condition, with the same DC to remove.
    Rank 8 (50 successes): Working with your own weaknesses as a newly-made plant and finding them in others has made you more aware of your current condition than ever before. You can now choose to act on “Flora-fauna.”


    Spoiler: Nope Downtimes
    Show
    Relationship Building (Uncle Bruno): Persuasion, Insight, or Expertise (Gaming) DC 1511 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): Your relationship with Bruno improves as you accumulate successes.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): If he is in the scene, you may Interpose for Bruno once per round (on top of normal Interposes if any).
    Rank 3 (10 successes): Critical thinking is a useful skill that Bruno can help you out with, as well as down-to-earth common sense. When you spend a Hero Point to reroll an Investigation check, you may also gain Inspiration regarding whatever it is that you are investigating.

    Rank 4 (15 successes): You may spend your Hero Points on Bruno’s behalf for any defensive purposes.
    Rank 5 (20 successes): If Bruno is imperiled as part of a Complication, you receive two Hero Points instead of one.
    Rank 6 (30 successes): Some of Bruno’s calm, steady practicality has made its way over to Nope, along with his desire to provide safety in a world of chaos. When dealing with human underlings of the League, Nope has a +5 bonus to Interaction skills focused on calming them or convincing them to stop what they’re doing. This bonus can apply to Team Checks.
    Rank 7 (40 successes): Turns out that playing strategy games with your uncle can pay off a bit in analyzing enemies. Once per scene, when you spend a Hero Point to buy off the fatigue of a Power Stunt or Extra Effort, you can also gain Inspiration on the strengths and weaknesses of one of the enemies you are fighting.
    Rank 8 (50 successes): Bruno lets you know that your mother has recently contacted him, asking to ‘talk’. He wants your advice. You can now force a confrontation between you and your mother in a place of your choosing. This can be an ambush, a discussion, or a discussion that turns into an ambush, as you choose. In addition, if you spend a Hero Point, you can add one other high-ranking Suneater Cultist to the confrontation. For two Hero Points, you can instead add Apophis himself into the confrontation.

    Nora, Where’d You Go?: Investigation, Expertise (Ancient History),Expertise (Metaphysics) DC 2522 Success
    Rank 1 (1 success): You’ve begun to look for Nora in earnest.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): Trying to find a place to start looking for Nora means that you have frequented the museums of Forester’s Bay several times recently. The next time Doctor Proxy attacks a museum, you will be able to React to that before the Proxysuit or Proxybots actually enter the building.
    Rank 3 (10 successes): Along with frequenting the museum, you also have talked to several people (or at least listened while they talked). When looking for information about people or areas based in Lakeside or the Main Drag, you may act as though you have the Well-informed Advantage.
    Rank 4 (15 successes): It shouldn’t have taken you this long to consider breaking into Nora’s office to see what she was researching. And it shouldn’t be so strangely difficult to contemplate sneaking past the guards and picking her office lock, with your skills. Something more is going on here. Twice per Scene, you can give yourself a +2 bonus towards Resistance checks against [Mental] effects, as a showcase of your increased mental fortitude in noticing the strangeness.
    Rank 5 (20 successes): You’ve overcome the mental block; you can break into Nora’s office. “Museum Black Box” is now an option that you can Act on at the end of Downtime sessions. You cannot take more Downtimes for this option until you Act on this.

    Rank 6 (30 successes): You’ve found another doorway for Nora, and she has been able to help Nope more directly as a consequence. Choose a District of Forester’s Bay besides Lakeside or the Manitou Forest. When Nope is in either Lakeside or that District, he can spend a Hero Point to declare that he recently visited Nora, and she gave him a 20-PP Invention during that visit. This 20-PP Invention is useful for one Scene only.
    Rank 7 (40 successes): You’ve found more doors! Choose another District; the bonus from the Rank 6 advantage now applies in that District as well.
    Rank 8 (50 successes): There sure are a lot of these doors… The bonus from the Rank 6 advantage now applies to all of Forester’s Bay.
    The Act Scene (for all PCs) The Right Door is unlocked.

    Reputation Building (Fear of the Unknown): Stealth, Intimidation, or Deception DC 15 44 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): Perhaps against your will or despite you, Nope’s reputation as a mysterious bogeyman is beginning to spread.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): The reputation applies to all normal people living in Forester’s Bay. You gain a +5 bonus to Stealth checks to sneak past or around people who have no affiliation to any member of the League, as they simply pretend not to see you and refuse to say anything about it afterwards even if they notice you.
    Rank 3 (10 successes): The reputation applies to all Bronze Links. Your presence can be used as a point of intimidation to stop Bronze Links from engaging in criminal behavior, so long as a Silver Link is not nearby.
    Rank 4 (15 successes): The reputation applies to Manchineel’s Saplings. Out of primal fear, Saplings will ‘forget’ that Nope is present—allowing you to catch Punishments, the Menagerie, and even Manchineel herself by surprise in certain situations.
    Rank 5 (20 successes): The reputation applies to all regular Suneater Cultists. Cultists have begun to regard Nope as a tangential object of worship. Regular cultists will obey one simple one-word order given to them by Nope unless it is overridden by a higher-ranking cultist, Apophis himself, or others with similar power.
    Rank 6 (30 successes): The reputation applies to Doctor Proxy’s robots. Helpers and Wastes will either retreat upon the introduction of Nope into the area, or they will call in at least two AKuma for support.
    Rank 7 (40 successes): The reputation now applies to higher levels of the respective groups of the League. Silver Links will back down unless in groups of two or supported by a Gold Link; most Punishments will ‘forget’ or flee from Nope; and almost all Cultists will obey a one-word order from Nope unless it is contradicted by Apophis himself or others with similar power.

    Rank 8 (50 successes): The reputation applies to the League itself (excluding Watcher). All of them now believe that they have reason to be wary of you, and all of them will react to this in different ways. Take a Hero Point now.


    Spoiler: Ariadne Downtimes
    Show
    Relationship Building (Grandma Dimetria): Persuasion or Insight DC 15; Expertise (Fashion & Garments) DC 20 10 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): Your relationship with Dimetria improves as you accumulate successes.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): If she is in the scene, you may Interpose for Dimetria once per round (on top of normal Interposes if any).
    Rank 3 (10 successes): Dimetria has been selling clothing for longer than you have been alive, and she knows how to make a deal. When you are trying to get something from someone, you can spend a Hero Point to gain Inspiration on what you would need to offer in order to “close the deal” with them.

    Rank 4 (15 successes): You may spend your Hero Points on Dimetria’s behalf for any defensive purposes.
    Rank 5 (20 successes): If Dimetria is imperiled as part of a Complication, you receive two Hero Points instead of one.
    Rank 6 (30 successes): Your new aptitude with thread and your continued interactions with Dimetria means that her business is actually doing fairly well, and she can give you some spending money as a result. You may Heroic Feat the Wealth Benefit for one scene rather than one round, if you wish.
    Rank 7 (40 successes): Ariadne’s power runs in the blood; it was activated by Apophis for you, but it still resides in Dimetria as well, and continued work with you has awoken it in her just a little bit. Once per Scene, you may Edit Scene to say that you have some minor magical device stitched by Dimetria that is useful for the current situation.
    Rank 8 (50 successes): Someone has caught wind of Dimetria’s new power and the upturn in her business, and is paying her a visit. The identity of this person will depend upon the events of the game. Take a Hero Point now.

    Untangling the Mystic Threads: Expertise (General Mythology, Fashion & Garments, or Magic) DC 20 43 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): You have begun delving into the pattern books and Ariadne’s advice in a more systemic way.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): Weaving and threadwork comes from a massive number of cultures around the world; in America, there is a rich tradition in many different Native American cultures regarding thread and weaving. You now can roll Expertise (Native American Mythology) using half of your Expertise Ranks, rounded up.
    Rank 3 (10 successes): Threads are part of Ariadne’s power, but not all of it. She also governs labyrinths and paths. So long as you are in the Residential Quarter or the Main Drag, you can never be lost, and you may spend a Hero Point to Edit scene that something useful is nearby when you are in these areas.
    Rank 4 (15 successes): You’ve managed to get more versatility out of your makeshift threadwork. When you have a Magical Device from Artificer in a scene, you may spend a Hero Point to Power Stunt off of that Device. This Power Stunt lasts for one round, and then the Device disintegrates; you lose access to the Power Stunt and the original Device for the remainder of that Scene.
    Rank 5 (20 successes): Speaking often with Ariadne about her power and philosophy has allowed you to influence her… and her to influence you. Whenever your Relationship Complication with Ariadne is activated, you gain two Hero Points, instead of one.
    Rank 6 (30 successes): Your knowledge of the mythology and culture of threadwork has improved. You may now roll Expertise (Native American Mythology) using full Expertise Ranks, and you have a +2 bonus to all Mythology Expertises when seeking information about cloth, weaving, textiles, and/or thread.
    Rank 7 (40 successes): You now cannot become lost anywhere in Forester’s Bay, and your Edit Scene ability from Milestone 3 applies to all the sections of the city.

    Rank 8 (50 successes): Your Power Stunt off of Magical Devices still only last one round, but they no longer destroy the original Device after their use. In addition, Ariadne says she has more to teach you. You can now choose to Act on “The Binding”.

    Art is Important: Insight, Expertise (Art or Handmade Crafts), or Persuasion DC 10 33 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): Despite the craziness, you’re dedicated to teaching your after-school classes at James K. Polk Elementary School. Art is important for everyone, especially young children!
    Rank 2 (5 successes): Keeping regular classes takes up time, but your dedication to the children has not gone unnoticed. If you do not spend at least 1 Downtime Action on this Downtime from now on, you lose 1 Success in this Downtime. Your civilian guise has a +5 bonus to Social Skills for all people living in Forester’s Bay except for those living in the Main Drag (most of whom do not have children, apparently).
    Rank 3 (10 successes): Constantly teaching the basics of creative work has allowed you to be more creative in your own endeavors. You have more freedom on what sort of Magical Devices you create with your Artificer Advantage.
    Rank 4 (15 successes): Working with young children is a great way to learn how to soothe tempers and broker peace between unreasonable parties. When rolling a Social Skill to defuse tensions between two arguing or warring groups, you may reroll your first roll without spending a Hero Point.
    Rank 5 (20 successes): Ah, parent-teacher conferences; it lets you meet new people, at least. Once per scene, you may spend a Hero Point to declare that the parents of one of your students is nearby with a useful skillset to the current situation.
    Rank 6 (30 successes): You’ve gained enough trust with the school board that, given the absurdity of the current situation, you have more leeway on your schedule. You no longer lose Successes in this Downtime if you do not invest in it. In addition, your civilian guise now has a +5 bonus to Social Skills for all people living in Forester’s Bay.

    Rank 7 (40 successes): Magic—at least magic as you understand it—seems to be tied to creativity. Maybe it’s the charged nature of the town you are in, but a surprising number of your students have begun developing abilities that can only be called “superhuman”. And they want to help! You have 10 students in your class. For every 1 you decide that has developed superhuman powers, you may add 1 point to your Magical Devices. Each student that develops powers is a potential target for several members of the League to recruit, suborn, or otherwise use. You must choose at least 2 students to develop powers.
    Rank 8 (50 successes): The number of superpowered children in your class couldn’t stay hidden forever. You have been approached in your civilian guise by representatives of the government beyond the Dome. They’re curious if you’ve done anything to initiate the growth of powers, and if there’s a way to replicate the process. You may now Act on “Tangled Web”.


    Spoiler: Helios Downtimes
    Show
    Mystical Research: Expertise (Magic), Insight, or Investigation DC 20 32 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): You have begun a systematic study into your own magic and the underpinnings of magic itself.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): People who can use magic have certain aptitudes, and these aptitudes leave marks upon practitioners. These marks are invisible to normal people, but you’ve learned to sense them. When dealing with enemies that use magic, you immediately know their elemental aptitude (fire/water/air/earth/light/dark/life/death).
    Rank 3 (10 successes): You’ve learned enough to know you know very little; there are more rules out there to magic than you currently know, and the only way to find out is via experimentation. Once per Scene, when you Power Stunt off of your Spells Array, you can declare that you’re “trying something new”. If you do so, on your first roll with the new power, roll twice. You must take the results of the second roll, even if it is worse than the first.
    Rank 4 (15 successes): Many stories of magic practitioners have a familiar, an animal (or animal-like) proxy that seems to help with spells and other effects. You can try to summon a familiar of your own. There are three options for this; you can call to a creature nearby and see what arrives for you; you can call to the aether, and see what forms; or… you can try to summon Feo to you. The benefits of a familiar will be determined by your choice.
    Rank 5 (20 successes): You’ve developed your arcane “sense” to the point that you can now read latent aptitude in others. If you spend a Hero Point, you can detect the possible aptitude(s) of characters and NPCs within range of your Mystic Sense; this will give clues as to the person’s PL and powers, even if they are not a magic practitioner, and can help identify possible mages.
    Rank 6 (30 successes): Magic experimentation comes to you much more easily now, and you can even prepare for possible fallout. You now may choose which of the two rolls you will take when you “try something new”, and you have more leeway in what you create with your Ritualist Advantage.

    Rank 7 (40 successes): Your familiar’s benefits (as determined after Milestone 4) increase due to their growing familiarity with you and your growing understanding of magic.
    Rank 8 (50 successes): You have been approached by someone who claims that they can teach you what you are missing, the centerpiece that opens up the world of true magic to you. The identity of this person will depend upon the events of the game. You can now choose to Act on “Apprenticeship”.

    Relationship Building (Sarah Garret): Deception, Persuasion, or Insight DC 20 22 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): Your relationship with Sarah improves as you accumulate successes.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): If she is in the scene, you may Interpose for Sarah once per round (on top of normal Interposes if any).
    Rank 3 (10 successes): You may spend your Hero Points on Sarah’s behalf for any defensive purposes.
    Rank 4 (15 successes): If Sarah is imperiled as part of a Complication, you receive two Hero Points instead of one.
    Rank 5 (20 successes): Sarah trusts you and your intentions enough to tell you the truth about her power. You can now choose to Act on “Chance or Fate?”.

    Rank 6 (30 successes): Sarah’s odd connection with creatures born of chaos offers Flint a fair bit of knowledge about them. When engaged in battle with something classified as a “Chaos Beast”, Flint is made aware of this classification; by spending a Hero Point, he learns their other magical affinities, and any Weakness or Power Loss Complications they may have.
    Rank 7 (40 successes): Working more with this side of Sarah’s power has caused Helios to be recognized as a relative of Sarah, providing various benefits… and a few detriments. When engaged in battle with something classified as a “Chaos Beast”, Flint can spend a Hero Point to declare that said Beast will not attack him; this Hero Point expenditure does not need to be separate from the bonuses gained from Rank 6 of this Downtime.
    Occasionally, a React Scene caused by a Chaos Beast seeking a favor or something else from Flint will be generated. These React Scenes can be Crises.
    Rank 8 (50 successes): Studying with Sarah has revealed a connection between the beasts that treat Sarah as a friend or equal, and greater forces behind them. When engaged in battle with something classified as a “Chaos Lord”, Helios is made aware of this classification; by spending a Hero Point, he learns their other magical affinities, and any Weakness or Power Loss Complications they may have.
    The Act Scene (for all PCs) To Oppose Chaos is unlocked.

    My Brother’s Keeper: Deception, Expertise (Magic), or Insight DC 20 23 Successes
    Rank 1 (1 success): You have begun trying in earnest to bring Dante back from the brink. This will end in tragedy.
    Rank 2 (5 successes): Dante is willing to share with you what he knows about the Suneater Cult and their movements. At the end of every other Downtime session, you will be given the option to React to one extra Scene involving the Suneaters. There is a heightened chance that Nergal will be present at these Scenes.
    Rank 3 (10 successes): Dante’s magical aptitude is Death, especially violent death. Your power is different, but there are related aspects, and magic knowledge is one subject where you and your brother still share an interest. When beginning a Scene, you can declare that Drain Vitality and Mass Drain Vitality have a +2 to either their Attack or Effect. If you do so, Heal/Lifeshell has a -2 to both Attack and Effect.
    Rank 4 (15 successes): Dante knows that neither you nor Sarah are fully devoted to the Suneater Cult like he is, and while he wants you to join him, he also wants to protect you. You have a +5 bonus towards “other” Suneater Cultists while masquerading as one, since Nergal has made it clear that you and Sarah are not to be harassed or face his wrath.
    Rank 5 (20 successes): Dante has moved far enough into the Suneater Cult that he now knows the positions of several powerful members within it, and he will sometimes give away their location to you. When you have a chance to React to a Scene involving the Suneaters, there is a 50% chance that a High Priest of the Suneater Cult will be there; the other 50% of the time, it will be Nergal.

    Rank 6 (30 successes): Dante’s knowledge of the Suneater Cult is extensive at this point, and you can use it to your advantage. When facing Suneaters, you can spend a Hero Point to declare a magical weakness, interpersonal rivalry, or other weakness that you can take advantage of among the members.
    Rank 7 (40 successes): Your brother knows. He hasn’t said anything, but he knows. When you face Nergal, you can choose to say that neither you nor Nergal can inflict more than a Stagger or a second-tier Affliction upon each other. In addition, You can choose to say that Nergal Interposes for an attack that would Incapacitate you; if you do so, you must Interpose for the next attack that strikes at Nergal other than your own.
    Rank 8 (50 successes): It couldn’t stay unspoken forever. You can now choose to Act on “Two Paths, Diverging”. This is the last chance for Dante to be redeemed, but that may be an impossible road. You can choose to confront Dante with Sarah or do so alone.
    Last edited by Zelphas; 2024-03-21 at 05:00 PM.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
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  4. - Top - End - #4
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

    Join Date
    Mar 2012

    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    I'll post this here too, for ease of reference:

    Spoiler: On Downtime Endings
    Show
    At the moment, at the end of every Downtime, you have a choice to make for the next scene; you can either Act on a piece of information you have uncovered or a plan of action you mentioned in-character beforehand, or you can React to something the League and their minions are up to in the same timeframe.

    Take the Initiative: Act

    Scenes that you can Act on general come about as the result of Downtimes from researching the League, or possibly from certain personal Downtimes. Choices that you can Act on will be presented like this:

    Title of Action (League Faction or Character this Action is connected to/Specific Concepts attached)

    Usually (if I can get my creative juices working well enough), the name of the Action will give some hint as to what will happen in that scene. Choices that you can Act on will remain until they are Acted on, barring a major shift in the story; your information remains useful unless circumstances alter significantly.

    Foil Their Plans: React

    At first, you will only have one Scene to React to at the end of each Downtime action; these will be events that the League or their minions are performing, regardless of your actions. Choices that you can React to will be presented almost exactly like Act Scenes:

    Title of Reaction (League Faction or Character this Action is connected to)

    The React scenes will not be as specific as the Act scenes; you don’t know as much about them at first, so they can be a bit of a gamble. React Scenes will only appear once; if they are not Reacted to, the scene will play out as though the PCs aren’t there, for a variety of effects. Especially at first, these scenes will not be devastating in their fallout, so you don’t need to feel pressured to React to them all; the League will do their own thing regardless, and your Act Scenes can more directly interfere with their long-term goals for the most part.

    There are two other quick things in this new mechanic to smooth things out: Lulls and Crises.

    Take a Break: Lull

    Every few Downtime sessions, I will give you nothing to Act on or React to; instead I will declare a Lull. At that time, we’ll focus more on what your characters are doing in their daily lives, during free time, and with family and friends. I’ll ask each of you when a Lull comes for ideas on what you’d like to see your character doing; if nothing comes to mind, then I can come up with something myself. No Reacts will take place during this time, and you’ll get a few more Downtime Actions afterwards, so these will be nice little breathers.

    Do or Die: Crisis

    Rarely, especially at first, a React Scene will have this placed right next to it:

    CRISIS

    When you see this, it means that a member of the League is making a big move, something that will affect a lot of people if it is allowed to happen unobstructed. Just like with any other React Scene, you can choose to skip past a CRISIS and Act on something else instead, but this is my warning that the negative consequences of ignoring a CRISIS Scene will be much larger than a regular React. OF course, because of the large scale of the action, The potential rewards of a CRISIS Scene will be large than a normal React Scene as well. Do with that as you may.


    Act Scenes Unacted-Upon

    High-End Chain Fashion (Lockdown/MW Boutique)
    The high-class boutique is reservation-only for purchases, but they do have a display area in the front to tempt potential customers... and a small, discreet "help wanted" sign posted by the window. Smashing in and demanding answers for their connection to Lockdown may work, but a soft touch could also be fairly effective; either way, you should get some information on how the whole organization works by looking in on whoever does their tailoring.

    Mister Cellophane (Lockdown/Envy)
    It looks like the rumored, faceless shapeshifter known as the Silver Link "Envy" may actually exist... or at the very least, someone who can completely change their physical form is trying to get information about groups trying to leave the Chain Gang (it helps to have a person who can literally smell biology on the team). They might be the leak that keeps allowing the Links to crush any would-be resistance groups against Lockdown, so removing them as a threat may work in your favor.

    Belling the Cat (Manchineel/Michael)
    Michael is Manchineel's bodyguard; the giant cat rarely leaves her side... except to hunt hunters who enter the woods, it seems. With the four of you, it shouldn't be that hard to manufacture a "hunter", and lure the cat into a trap...


    Manchineel
    The first of the League. Will our heroes be victorious, or will Manchineel gain new "sons and daughters" for her Menagerie? Only time will tell.
    Last edited by Zelphas; 2024-03-07 at 11:16 PM.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Quellian-dyrae's Avatar

    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    CA
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Lily Woods AKA Flower Girl Floral



    Hero Points: 0.

    Spoiler: Mechanics
    Show

    Combat

    Defense: +10.
    Resistance: +10.
    Base Attack: +5 (DC 20 Damage, DC 15 Maneuver).
    Powers: +10 (DC 25 Damage, DC 20 Effect).
    Initiative: +8.

    Skills

    Deception: +10. Expertise: +20. Insight: +0. Intimidation: +0. Investigation: +0.
    Mobility: +0. Perception: +10. Persuasion: +10. Stealth: +0. Technology: +0. Treatment: +0.

    Fields of Expertise: Architecture and Engineering, Biochemistry, Culinary, Literature, Local, Medicine, Nature.

    +15 Bonus: Academics, Art, Current Events, Criminal, Dance, Gaming, Law, Law Enforcement, Military, Music, Physics, Popular Culture.

    +10 Bonus: Astronomy, Business, History, Magic, Politics, Sanitation, Streetwise, Tactics.

    Advantages

    All-out Attack, Animal Empathy, Attractive 2, Benefit 6 (Biochemistry Experimenter, Humanoid Plant, Natural Rapport, Proficiency Focus [Biochemistry], Proficiency Specialization [Biochemistry], Thorough Researcher), Connected, Defensive Attack, Equipment 1, Favored Environment (Forest), Favored Foe (Manchineel's Minions), Improved Initiative 2, Inspire, Interpose, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Teamwork.

    Equipment

    Modern Smart Phone with Bluetooth: Cell Phone, Computer, GPS, Commlink {4+1}.
    Alternate Applications: Camera, Audio/Video Recorder, Flashlight.

    Benefits

    Biochemistry Experimenter: This Benefit functions as the Inventor advantage, but using Expertise (Biochemistry) rather than Technology, and only to create inventions of a biological or chemical nature (such as acids, explosives, medicines, serums, mutagens, etc).

    Humanoid Plant: Lily's transformed nature makes her similar to Manchineel's minions, and the floral scent she gives off helps keep them docile or even in some cases allows her to influence them. Her Attractive and Animal Empathy advantages apply against them, and as long as she isn't actively acting against them, they generally treat her as "one of them"; by default they tend to ignore her, and she can substitute Deception for Stealth on attempts to avoid their notice, sneak past them, and so on (but not to ambush them, elude them when they're already after her, etc). This doesn't apply to those that are fully human-level intelligent, or to any Punishments. Obviously, it has no effect on Manchineel herself, and if Manchineel is present in the scene, her minions entirely ignore this Benefit.

    Natural Rapport: You may substitute the lower of Deception or Persuasion for Insight to Evaluate.

    Proficiency Focus: You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Expertise checks made using this proficiency.

    Proficiency Specialization: Your circumstance bonus from Proficiency Focus improves to +5.

    Thorough Researcher: You may substitute Expertise for Investigation for purposes of downtime actions.

    Powers

    Plant Biology: Immunity 11 (Mundane Light, Partial Physiological; Quirk [Physiological Immunity doesn't apply against effects that apply to plant physiologies]), Weakness 10 (-5 Resistance vs. Plant-specific Attacks, -5 Resistance vs. Olfactory Attacks), Feature/Quirk (Lily's Physiological Immunity doesn't apply to hunger, thirst, or suffocation effects; however, she can subsist off of sunlight as well as normal food, and she breathes in "reverse", inhaling carbon dioxide and exhaling oxygen, which can be helpful in some situations of limited air, if other people are present) {0}.

    Rebloom: Immortality 1 (Limited [Not if body is destroyed]) {1}.

    Organs What Organs?: Immunity 2 (Critical Hits) {2}.

    Blooming Staff: Enhanced Flower Power Array 10 (Limited [Only while in direct sunlight]), Benefit 1 (Can Aid and Team Attack with self); Easily Removable {6-3}.

    Flower Power: 50-point Dynamic Array, Feature 1 (Powers in this array are treated as having Variable Descriptor, but only to use descriptors available to other powers in the array) {51+11}.

    Flower Girl: Multiple Effects.

    Transmute Plants: Transform 1 (Vegetable Matter into Vegetable Matter [3/r]; Continuous, Increased Mass 3 [12 lb], Precise, Feature [Can increase Mass rank transformed by increasing Time rank spent]), Feature 1 (Can make cosmetic changes to appearance as a free action) [10].

    Photosynthetic Regeneration: Regeneration 5 [10].

    Olfactory Clarity: Senses 10 (All Olfactory Senses gain Acute, Analytical, Accurate; Radius Smell improves to All Olfactory; Ranged Smell; Sustained) [10].

    Commune With Nature: Comprehend 2 (Plants), Feature 1 (Plants can draw upon her knowledge for purposes of identifying and recognizing things; for example, if she asked a tree if her father passed by recently, the tree would "know" who her father is and be able to accurately answer) [5].

    Scent Processing: Senses 4 (Ranged Olfactory Detect [Emotions, Biology]; Sustained), Feature 1 (Substitute olfactory Perception for Insight to Evaluate during face-to-face interactions) [5].

    Petal Wings: Flight 10 (Wings) [10].

    With Staff - Enhanced Regeneration: Regeneration 5 [10].

    Smell Good At Them Really Hard!: Multiple Effects.

    Scent Intensification: Senses 5 (Smell gains Counters Concealment [Overlapping Scents], Penetrates Concealment [Limited to Around Objects], Extended; Sustained); Enhanced Perception 5 (Limited [Only for Olfactory senses]); Enhanced Deception and Persuasion 5 (Limited [Only against those subject to her Attractive advantage and capable of smelling her pheromones]) [10].

    Overpowering Scent: Affliction 10 (Impaired/Disabled; Limited Degree) [5].

    Overwhelming Scent: Affliction 10 (Vulnerable/Defenseless; Limited Degree) [5].

    Heady Scent: Affliction 10 (Immobilized/Stunned/Incapacitated) [10].

    Pheromone Scent: Affliction 10 (Entranced/Compelled/Controlled; Limited [May only give one command, which cannot force the target to actively work against* their own goals or interests; targets may ignore Entranced in any round they obey the command]) [10].
    *It can still force them to fail to contribute to their goals or interests or to do so inefficiently. For example, she could compel targets to attack a heavily defended opponent over a more vulnerable one, or to refrain from attacking at all, but not to attack their allies.

    Miasmic Scent: Affliction gains Cumulative [10].

    With Staff - Enthralling Scent: Pheromone Scent loses Limit.

    Produce Nectar: Multiple Effects.

    Acidic Nectar: Damage 10 [10].

    Poisonous Nectar: Weaken Resistance 10 [10].

    Drugged Nectar: Weaken Effect Bonus 10 [10].

    Healing Nectar: Healing 10 [20].

    With Staff - Scented Nectar: Affliction gains Concentration [10].

    Biological Chemistry [2 Slots]: Multiple Effects.

    Potent Scents: Affliction gains Penetrating [10].

    Lingering Scents: Affliction gains Secondary Effect [10].

    Tactical Scents: Affliction gains Reaction (Upon taking an Aid action), Limited (Only against targets with a penalty for attack checks), Limited (Requires a move action to Ready Reaction) [10].

    Lingering Acid: Damage gains Secondary Effect (Feature/Quirk [Requires a free action to trigger]) [10].

    Potent Poison: Weaken gains Penetrating [10].

    Lingering Poison: Weaken gains Secondary Effect [10].

    Tactical Poison: Weaken gains Reaction (Upon taking an Aid action), Limited (Only against targets with a Defense penalty), Limited (Requires a move action to Ready Reaction) [10].

    Medicinal Nectar: Healing gains Restorative [10].

    Solar Nectar: Healing gains Persistent [10].

    Utility Nectar: Healing gains Stabilize, Precise, Feature 1 (Functions as having Affects Objects modifier for purposes of living plantlife), Feature 1 (Can extend Affects Objects feature to all vegetable matter if Transmute Plants is active), Feature 1 (If healing nectar is consumed, it is nutritious and satisfies hunger, or can fertilize plants), Healing gains Secondary Effect (Limited [Self Only]) [10].

    With Staff - Concentrated Poison: Weaken becomes +0/+10, gains Perception, Limited (One Degree) [10].

    With Staff - Concentrated Scents: Affliction becomes +0/+10, gains Perception, Limited Degree [10].

    Delivery Modes: Multiple Effects.

    Floral Blood: Enhanced Resistance 5 (Reduced Defense 5) [10].

    Floral Thorn: Array Powers gain Increased Range; Offensive Effects gain Homing, Quirk [Short Range Only] [10].

    Floral Vines: Healing, Affliction, and Weaken gain Shapeable Area, Limited (Full Action) [15].

    Floral Scent: Affliction gains Burst Area, Selective, Sense-dependent (Smell); Affliction gains Burst Area (Limited [Full Action]) [15].

    With Staff - Floral Spray: Damage gains Cone Area [10].

    Calculations

    Defenses 40 + Skills 25 + Advantages: 22 + Powers 68 = 155 PP, PL 10


    Spoiler: Complications
    Show
    Researching a Better World [Motivation - Doing Good]: Even in her relative youth, Lily is a world-class biochemist with tons of academic potential. Her primary goal in life is solving world hunger, though she also works on developing and discovering new medicines for various diseases and ailments. She also has some occasional wild ideas about genetically engineering plants that can be more materially useful, like fast-growing plants, or trees with ultra-hard wood, or sometimes even weirder ideas, although those are more flights of fancy than anything she devotes serious time to.

    While she has devoted her life to helping people, going out and fighting superpowered bad guys isn't really what Lily wants to do with her powers. She's actually super-interested in their applications for assisting her scientific endeavors. But it's kinda hard to get any good, high-quality scientific research done when your town is locked off from the rest of the world and overrun by aforementioned superpowered bad guys, especially when one of them kinda went on the warpath in your lab and changed you and all your coworkers from the [Humanoid] to [Plant] type and will probably come back and do worse if you started up work again. Also they're hurting people. And that's wrong.

    So...Thirsty [Addiction/Weakness]: Lily's powers allow her to meet her dietary needs with mere sunlight. And while she still has to breathe, it can be occasionally convenient that she does it in the reverse of the normal way. But what she lost in need for food and air, she gained twice over in need for water. Lily needs to drink something like three times as much water as a regular person, and if she goes without water for long she'll be more hindered by the lack than most. She may also suffer increased effects from dessication, dehydration, and similar attacks if she fails to resist.

    Bees [Disability/Phobia]: Yes, Lily's about halfway to being an anthropomorphic flower and she is both terrified of and cripplingly allergic to bees. So sad. Having only just acquired her powers, no over-the-top cliched bee-themed enemy has yet stepped forward to be her personal foe, but we all know it's only a matter of time! (Let's be honest Manchineel will probably end up creating one as a Punishment for her at some point.)

    Manchineel [Enemy]: Lily's a world-class biochemist who's trying to solve world hunger, and whatever diseases she can pick off on the way as extra credit. And hey, if she can bring into existence some manner of cool new plants that do useful things along the way, even better. Genetically engineered plantlife is kinda her thing, is what I'm saying. Specifically, genetically engineering plants to better serve as resources for the benefit and welfare of humankind. Let me make this very clear: it is one of Lily's core beliefs that nature, while certainly awesome in its own way, only has meaning and value because it allows humanity to flourish. This isn't to say she doesn't care about nature, or the health of the planet or anything - obviously, if nature is what allows humanity to flourish, it's in humanity's clear best interests to protect that. But it all cycles back to people - without intelligent, sapient life, everything else is superfluous.

    So...yeah.

    Lily got her powers when Manchineel attacked the lab that she worked at, because you know, they conducted genetic experiments on plants and stuff. She didn't kill them or anything, but she "gave them a taste of their own medicine"; they liked splicing random plant DNA into other plants, how would they like having random plant DNA spliced into theirs, huh? Lily and about half a dozen other scientists and lab assistants were transformed into various plant-people. One guy basically became a semi-humanoid mass of random vegetable matter and vines, one woman is more-or-less a dryad now, and so on. Lily was actually originally transformed into an actual full-on anthropomorphic flower; she didn't get her normal appearance back until she figured out how to use her powers to alter plant matter, and painstakingly (and painfully) used them to resculpt herself back to her normal appearance.

    The Name Is Floral [Obsession]: Lily's been underestimated a lot in her life. She's always been the baby of her family, coddled and protected. Despite her genius in her field, more than a few scientists have looked at her as mainly just a pretty face. And now that she has powers, what are they? Mutating into a flower girl. Her big move is smelling really good. No. Bar that. Lily has power now, and she's going to prove it.

    Solar Powered [Power Loss]: Lily's actual combat capabilities require three things to come together. Her basic plant transmutation power is what allows her to create the actual plant materials she uses (and her phytomorphic body provides a convenient source of them). Her world-class knowledge of biochemistry is what allows her to use that capability to produce things like acids and poisons and so on. But the reason she can throw them around with Power Level 10 force is pure shining power straight from the sun! Lily stores excess solar energy, so she doesn't need constant sunlight to power her abilities, but if she goes without it for a few days, her powers may degrade. Likewise, if she is forced to make extensive use of her powers without the opportunity to recharge, they can start to rapidly fade.

    Featherweight [Power Loss]: All of Lily's combat stats fundamentally depend on her powers. Even her base attack and effect bonuses come from having a sort of limited phytokinetic control over her own body and the ability to use her stored solar energy to strike with enhanced strength and speed in short bursts. Her Defense relies on using her limited phytokinesis and perhaps some tactical transmutation to absorb attacks. Her Resistance comes reinforcing her cells with absorbed solar energy, plus the fact that her flesh is about as resilient as wood baseline. And similar things when it comes to different attack modes, like her plant physiology improving her resistance to Physiological attacks, the touch of the supernatural on her giving her the "metaphysical mass" to defend against and resist Mystical attacks, and being able to counter Transformative attacks with her own transmutation powers, etc. If she loses her powers, she's basically reduced to a PL 0 scrub, combat-wise.

    The one exception is her defenses against Mental and Tactical attacks. Lily has a genius intellect, a burning sense of personal pride, and a formidable will. Her mind is capable of taking on whatever attacks get thrown at it, no powers on call.

    The Nose Knows [Power Loss]: Although it's not really part of the main three pillars of her actual heroic power, Lily's sense of smell is a fairly important Required Secondary Power. Its Analytical nature is how she receives sensory feedback on what she's actually doing when she manipulates vegetable matter at a cellular level. If Lily is rendered Olfactorily Unaware, while she can still use her powers just fine, she'll lose a lot of her finesse and precision. This doesn't generally cause her powers to fail outright, especially for more standard functions that she's more comfortable with, but it can cause penalties or cause certain functions to fail or be replaced with something else as she gets the cellular structure importantly wrong, especially when she's doing something highly complex and specific. Of course, the effect is most pronounced when she's using powers that involve manipulating her own scent.

    Plant Scent [Quirk]: Plants use scent as a form of pseudo-communication, and it's no different for Lily. The flowery smell she gives off changes in accordance with her emotions. People who know her may come to recognize the correlation between her scent and her feelings, and even those who don't know her might be able to figure it out. This could penalize Lily's Deception checks or reveal additional information to people using Insight on her, when it comes to getting a sense of her feelings.

    The scent Lily gives off is also quite a bit stronger and clearer than most scents produced by humans. Olfactory senses may be enhanced against her. In particular, a character with an Olfactory Detect (Emotions) sense can share any Senses effects that apply to it with their normal sense of smell, and vice-versa, since her scent carries much more distinctive emotional data (so like, a character with a Ranged Acute Accurate Extended sense of smell and a Ranged Acute Analytical Olfactory Detect [Emotions] would treat both senses as Ranged, Acute, Accurate, Extended, and Analytical against Lily).

    Problems With Authority [Quirk]: Authority figures just kinda rub Lily the wrong way. Gonna be honest there's probably some unresolved familial issues there. Finding school kinda interminable and deadly boring didn't help much either (Lily was always a curious child and loved learning; school was the problem). And if that wasn't enough a few years working in a lab where she was smarter than all her bosses pretty much sealed the deal. Lily's perfectly happy to listen to reasonable argument and follow a well-considered plan. But if someone tries to order her around, her natural instinct is to oppose them out of pure spite.

    Family Ties [Relationship]: Lily's family is fairly close-knit, although she's in some ways the black sheep (or perhaps the better term would be "runt of the litter"). Her father Ralph is a high-powered federal attorney who has put away some of the worst criminals in the country. Her mother Sarah is a traveling doctor and medical genius in her own right who has fought epidemics on five continents. Her older sister Hannah is a police detective and SWAT sniper, and a fairly brilliant investigator in her own right. Her older brother Andrew is a Navy SEAL who is recently returned from his third tour of duty (and since Watcher's arrival has basically been working alongside Hannah to help the Forester's Bay police); he kinda acts like the "dumb muscle" in the family, but he's got an eclectic knowledge base and is extremely clever when it comes to matters of tactics, strategy, and logistics. Her family loves her, and they have tons of respect for her academic and scientific achievements - even by their standards, she is unquestionably and obviously the smartest person in the family, although her mother comes close - but they are rather overprotective of her and even with her new powers, don't really see her as capable of handling dangerous situations.

    "What Are You Gonna Do, Smell Good At Them Really Hard?" [Reputation]: No matter how strongly the answer to that question is YES, WITH GUSTO, the nature of Lily's powers doesn't really help her earn much respect from, well, much of anyone involved in dangerous situations - law enforcement, emergency rescue, budding superheroes, etc. She's more likely to get filed away as a healer, at best sent to support the real combatants, rather than shown respect as a hero in her own right - at least, until she gets a chance to show just how effective her powers can really be. The fact that after her first couple forays into heroics the media immediately codenamed her Flower Girl, and the name has stuck no matter how hard she insists on Floral, is just salt in the wound.

    ...Yeah, It's A New Perfume [Secret]: Manchineel wasn't exactly paying close attention to the half dozen or so scientists and assistants she transformed in her attack on Lily's lab. And, you know, she certainly wouldn't be expecting any of them to still actually look like a human, because oh man did they ever not do that when she got through with them! I mean, boy howdie. But Lily's heard of what happened to people who Manchineel felt had "escaped" their punishments, and she's not keen on becoming a cautionary tale. Besides, she has a family to protect, however much they may think that job is reversed.

    Lily's family knows about her powers, but she otherwise keeps them secret, doing her heroics in the costumed identity of Floral. She hasn't seen (and has been intentionally avoiding) her former coworkers since the attack, but obviously if they saw her they'd have questions. Lily had a generally positive working relationship with them, but she wasn't especially close to any of them, and couldn't be sure they'd be able to keep her secret under pressure (and a couple of them have had some jealousy issues with her before; if they knew she had not only gotten her human appearance back but also snagged some super-cool powers out of the deal while they're still running around as anthropomorphic freaks, it might not take pressure for them to reveal her identity).

    Heart Is An Awesome Power! [Temper]: In case it isn't clear by now, Lily's sick and tired of being treated like some harmless little research assistant. Sure, her powers might not be as cool and flashy as, say, super-strength. Or fire control. Or telekinesis. Or...look it's not exactly a short list is what I'm saying. Nonetheless, she's determined to prove she has what it takes to be a hero, and belittling her powers is a good way to set her off.

    You're Standing In The Way Of Progress [Temper]: Lily takes science...seriously. She's a true believer in science as the driving force behind all of humanity's progress, and the key to unlocking the future. People who willfully propogate ignorance, who refuse to accept hard-won scientific knowledge, and who obstruct scientific progress tend to earn her ire.

    Although to be fair, they don't get it half as bad as the people who explore paths of research that could pave the way to catastrophe, who treat Science as a bludgeon they can wield against those who disagree with them when the actual truth is not yet known, who wield the bureaucracy of modern scientific institutions to obstruct actual progress, and who otherwise misuse science for their own ends.

    The Other Side of Super Senses [Weakness]: Lily's incredibly keen sense of smell is not without its drawbacks. Scent based attacks are often more effective against her, imposing a -5 penalty on her Resistance checks against them, and even overpowering natural scents may hamper her in some way. Note that this Complication comes from a Weakness that is offsetting immunities, so it doesn't actually award Hero Points unless it has effects beyond the baseline -5 Resistance (such as causing her to suffer detrimental effects from an otherwise harmless effect, or additional effects to the ones she receives).

    Plant-based Biology [Weakness]: Lily's biology gives her profound resistance to many ailments that would trouble humans, and even outright immunity to minor ones, but she is not just susceptible, but more susceptible to attacks that are specific to plants, taking a -5 penalty to Resistance against them. This generally means powers that are specifically Limited to Plants (as opposed to merely being capable of affecting plants due to descriptors, Features, or the Affects Objects extra) or have enhanced effects when used on plants. It can also mean things like plant-specific diseases, parasites, toxins, and so on. As above, this Complication is tied to a Weakness offsetting immunities, so it doesn't actually award Hero Points unless it has effects beyond the baseline -5 Resistance.

    Sensitive Wings [Weakness]: Lily's petal wings are quite fragile and very sensitive. Damage to them that be incredibly painful for her. On a lighter (though still potentially detrimental) note, this also means they are incredibly, even debilitatingly, ticklish.


    Spoiler: Power Descriptions
    Show
    All of Lily's powers have the [Biological] origin. Her actual superpowers have either the [Enhancement] or [Gift] Source - Enhancements are beneficial changes to her biology, while Gifts are supernatural effects she can produce directly.

    However, most of her listed powers instead have the [Skill] Source - they are creative applications of her existing powers that require her world-class biochemistry skills to really utilize, without which her base powers are extremely weak*. While this doesn't matter in terms of say power negation type effects - since taking the base powers offline means she can't apply her skills to them regardless - it can matter in the case of power mimicry and similar effects. Unless the mimic can also duplicate mundane skills - or is natively capable of, for all intents and purposes, performing on-the-fly genetic engineering in the heat of the combat - they'd only be able to take her [Enhancement] and [Gift] Source powers.

    *By superhero standards. Really, it's not that Lily doesn't have amazing superpowers, it's that she's superheroically powerful compared to a regular flower rather than a regular human. Seriously, coming at it from the perspective of a flower, Lily's powerset is mind-bogglingly amazing. Autonomous movement! Precision dexterity! Vision and hearing alone are worth 7 PP! Sentience! Sapience! Intelligence, dear God, intelligence! Truly, Lily is the Wonder Woman of flowers.

    Plant Biology [Enhancement] [Plant]: Lily appears human, but fundamentally she no longer really is; from a genetic standpoint she's basically a flower in human form. As a result she's highly resistant to most physiological attacks, unless they work against plantlife. Her new biology also comes with some minor perks, like breathing carbon dioxide.

    She's also photosynthetic, allowing her to subsist on sunlight as well as food. I know, big deal, right? But remember, Lily is to a regular flower as a superhero is to a regular person. She's not just photosynthetic, she's super-photosynthetic! She absorbs sunlight so efficiently and stores it so well that it gives her a minor resistance to [Light] descriptor attacks! Huzzah!

    This may seem unimpressive. And it is. But it's also one of the three pillars of Lily's actual power. Because all that solar energy she's super-efficiently gathering? She stores it in her cells...

    Rebloom [Enhancement] [Plant]: Year after year, plants die and bloom anew. So too with Lily; if she's killed, she'll rebloom and live again in about a month, as long as her body isn't entirely destroyed. If someone buries her in the meantime it'll be extra thematic when she sprouts out of the ground!

    Organs What Organs? [Enhancement] [Plant]: Lily came to realize that a nostalgic sense that her body is supposed to work that way doesn't actually justify the tactical disadvantage that comes from having vital organs that can be disrupted with a well-placed hit. Flowers don't have them and they get along fine. The functions that her organs - even her brain - previously served have been distributed throughout her body. After all, an organ is just a collection of specific cells optimized to do a particular thing, and Lily can just transform whatever cells she likes into the ones she needs whenever she feels like it.

    Blooming Staff [Enhancement] [Device]: Lily's been basically conducting genetic engineering experiments on herself ever since developing her powers. Among other things, she's learned how to modify her cells to tune her powers at a basic level - altering them for better photosynthetic energy acquisition, at the cost of reduced storage. While she doesn't want to pull the trigger on just changing her body's cells in that way entirely, since that storage is important when she's fighting at night or indoors, she produced a staff out of her cells and modified it to have the maximum-energy-gathering bit, while adjusting her own cells for greater and more efficient storage.

    Long story short, this weakened her available output a little bit baseline, but it dramatically improved her overall stamina and now when she both has her staff and is in direct sunlight, she can use significantly stronger powers, since directly channeling the energy as she collects it is notably more efficient than storing it and then using it. And to be fair, there are some tactical advantages to having a weapon in combat...

    Flower Power: You'd think being transformed into a humanoid flower wouldn't really make you a superheroic combatant, and you'd mostly be right. Lily's powers have some minor value, but they are pathetically weak on the superheroic scale, offering some niche utility at best.

    ...But Lily wasn't down with that and happens to be a world-class biochemist, so she basically SCIENCE!d at them until a superhero came out. As one does.

    Flower Girl: Lily's new form offers her some basic powers, and she exploits every last one of them far beyond what they were ever meant to do.

    Commune With Nature [Gift] [Communion]: Lily Woods...can talk to plants! YES! We are off to a rockin' start!

    Olfactory Clarity [Enhancement] [Sensory] [Olfactory]: Plants are capable of detecting scents; Lily, who again, even without any biochemistry would be to a regular flower as a superhero is to a regular human, can thus smell things extremely well. Her olfactory senses are as accurate as human vision, and even more precise. By her standards that's actually shockingly decent!

    Transmute Plants [Gift] [Transmutation]: This is...kinda Lily's big move when it comes to actual powers. She can transform plant matter into different plant matter with a touch. The change is permanent and she has good control of it, but it's very weak - she can transform something like two pounds of plant matter per second. Since her own body is plant matter, she can also use this to quickly make cosmetic changes to her appearance - she can't make herself look like someone else, but she could alter her eye, skin, or hair color (or hair style, for that matter), apply the appearance of makeup or tattoos, clean up, dry off, and so on. It's worth noting that these days all of Lily's clothes are made of plant fibers like cotton and bamboo.

    Now, being able to transmute vegetable matter, even slowly, does have some non-trivial mundane utility. You can buy the cheapest produce in the store and turn it into whatever fruit and veggies you want! But by superheroic standards, it's a pretty dinky power. However, it's by far the most important of Lily's powers, because it lets her manipulate plants on the cellular and genetic level. Remember, her own body is plant matter. Her cells have plant DNA, making them subject to her transmutations. And each and every one of her cells is also storing a superflowerly high volume of solar energy, energy that a skilled biochemist with direct supernatural control over those cells can unlock and utilize as part of the transmutations.

    Pretty much every further power in this array is based on this combo - the stored solar energy provides the raw oomph capable of generating PL 10 effects, the transmutation allows Lily to alter her cells and unlock the energy stored within them, and her knowledge of biochemistry allows her to precisely emulate a wild and wondrous variety of plant matter to create various effects, and design and structure them in a way that can tolerate and utilize the unlocked energy.

    Photosynthetic Regeneration [Skill] [Transmutation]: To be clear, Lily doesn't natively regenerate. This isn't an [Enhancement] or [Gift] source power; she just gathers and stores solar energy far more effectively than a typical plant. But since she knows how cells use energy to grow, divide, and so on, and she has direct cellular control over her own body, she can direct her cells to use the energy to rapidly reproduce, without error or or mutation. This lets her quickly regenerate from injuries.

    Scent Processing [Skill] [Biology]: Plants are sensitive to scents. You know what plants don't have? A brain to actually process sensory data into information. Especially one of the big ol' supercomputers of a brain we humans get. And doubly especially a brain chock full of facts about how the human body works. Lily can analytically detect details about a person's or animal's biology with her sense of smell, both general details like blood type and DNA markers, and specific things like if they're sick, injured, minute changes in say heart rate, sweat production, brain chemistry, and so on. She can use this to get a scent of a person's emotional state as well, based on the physiological changes that the emotions come with. Naturally, this also makes it a good bit easier to read people.

    Petal Wings [Skill] [Cellular Reinforcement]: Four long flower petals, pink at the bottom gradiating out to white, grow from Lily's back. They're surprisingly sensitive to the touch and deucedly annoying to hide under her clothes. She can move them and such, but they're flower petals, so they're too fragile to be used as, like, extra limbs or anything. Even if they weren't, it's not like flower petals have muscles in them, so they're not actually capable of exerting much in the way of force. These are not a useful power, is what I'm saying.

    Until you biologically redesign their cells for structural reinforcement and unlock the stored solar energy in them for power output. Then suddenly they become fairy-style wings capable of propelling you at something like three times the speed of sound.

    Science is fun.

    With Staff - Enhanced Regeneration [Skill] [Transmutation]: Lily can use the extra energy offered by her staff to further speed her regeneration rate.

    Smell Good At Them Really Hard! [Skill] [Sensory] [Olfactory]: Lily constantly gives off a pleasant flowery scent. Most people think it's just her shampoo, soap, or perfume. Really it's just how she smells now. Here's the thing though...scents are fundamentally based on chemicals, compounds, stuff like that. Which Lily can change. And, more importantly, intensify with the solar power stored in her cells. If she needs her cells to suddenly start producing about a million times as many little chemical particles or whatever it is that causes the smell (look, I'm not the world-class biochemist, she is) she pretty much just can.

    Scent Intensification: Lily can augment the cells that she uses to detect scents as well as the cells that produce them. This provides her with even more sensory information, allowing her to easily distinguish overlapping scents, accurately track smells even around corners, and detect scents from ten times further away, as well as, you know, just kinda noticing smells better. She can also very subtly intensify the smells she gives off, including pheromones, which only enhances any social benefits she receives over those who would be attracted to her.

    Overpowering Scent [Physiological] [Suffocation]: Lily can produce scents so intense they are utterly overpowering, irritating the nose, throat, and lungs and making it hard to breathe, severely impairing pretty much anything the target tries to do.

    Overwhelming Scent [Physiological] [Nausea]: Lily can also produce scents that overwhelm the target, leaving them doubled over with hacking coughs or even retching helplessly.

    Heady Scent [Mental] [Sleep]: Lily can produce heady scents that leave the target lethargic and having difficulty thinking quickly. This can cause them to lose their balance so they can't move, totally disrupt their thoughts rendering them unable to act, or just cause them to pass out entirely.

    Pheromone Scent [Mental] [Pheromone]: Most insidiously of all, Lily can intensify the pheromone scents she is capable of producing to far beyond subtle levels. Putting this much power behind these scents can induce a nearly irresistible emotional impulse.

    Miasmic Scent: Lily can produce scents that build and build with repeat generation to overpowering intensity.

    With Staff - Enthralling Scent: With the extra energy offered by her staff, Lily can produce pheromones so powerful that they entirely enthrall the target to her orders.

    Produce Nectar [Skill] [Nectar]: Lily's bodily fluids have been replaced by a faintly golden nectar. Her nectar stores energy even more efficiently than her cells, and naturally Lily takes advantage of this to make it do things nectar was never supposed to do.

    Acidic Nectar [Energy] [Acid]: Some plants are acidic; citric acid is the most obvious example. Now, citric acid isn't nearly acidic enough to actually hurt anyone...but if you transmute the cells to make it more volatile and then add a bunch of extra energy to them...well, that's another story. Lily can turn her nectar into an acid capable of eating through sheet metal.

    Poisonous Nectar [Physiological] [Poison]: Of course, many plants are known to be highly toxic. Lily can produce any plant toxin you can name, and used stored solar energy to make them far more virulent.

    Drugged Nectar [Physiological] [Drug]: And plants are also well known for a variety of mind- and body-altering properties, and even those that aren't naturally might develop them when fermented. From alcohol to pot to mushrooms to more esoteric options, Lily has dozens of ways to get her foes high as a kite.

    Healing Nectar: And of course, many plants have powerful medicinal properties. While Lily can't directly manipulate animal cells with her powers, she can go from a baseline of medicinal plants that can soothe pain and speed healing, reconfigure the cells for more efficiency, pour in the solar energy, and her nectar becomes a powerful regenerative serum that can be applied to wounds to heal them.

    With Staff - Scented Nectar: Lily can also turn her nectar into a sort of perfume or extract that produces one of her intense scents. This isn't generally much more useful than just producing the scent herself, but one of the tricks of Lily's powers is that the cells of her body are all sort of linked to each other by a minor, personal phytokinetic power. Her nectar is still made up of her own cells, as is her staff. So if she gets her nectar onto a target, she can channel the energy of her staff into it, to continuously pump out the chosen scent.

    Biological Chemistry [Skill] [Biology] [Chemistry]: Lily can use her plant manipulation to produce a variety of effects; the base powers above are only the starting point, since the array's Variable Descriptor allows her to fiddle with the specifics, like creating a poison that produces Afflictions, or an acid that weakens Resistance as well as dealing damage, or a hyper-allergenic pollen that impedes a target's actions, etc. But even beyond that, by manipulating the plant cells in various ways, she can produce a broad array of different hampering or hazardous attacks - and these options too are only something of a snapshot of the default descriptors (she could use like Overpowering Scent + Overwhelming Scent + Lingering Scents but shift them to Variable Descriptor [Poison] to create a poison that severely impairs the target's actions and defenses, and potentially weakens them further shortly after the initial delivery, for example).

    Potent Scents/Potent Poison: Lily can put more energy into producing powerful scents, poisons, and drugs that are harder to resist.

    Lingering Scents/Lingering Poison: Lily can produce scents, poisons, and drugs that linger for a time, causing repeat effects to those exposed several seconds later.

    Tactical Scents/Tactical Poison: Lily's mind is her greatest weapon, and now that she's accumulated some combat experience, she's learned how to take advantage of her opponents' vulnerabilities and weaknesses to both hamper them while setting up her allies - or just setting up herself to hinder them more reliably.

    Lingering Acid: Lily can make her acid stickier and stronger, so it continues to eat away at the target over several seconds.

    Medicinal Nectar: Lily can produce a variety of medicinal nectars to treat a wide range of ailments and maladies.

    Solar Nectar: Lily can imbue her healing nectar with even more solar power, so much solar energy that it literally glows, to heal severe injuries faster and cure wounds that lesser healing powers might fail to affect.

    Utility Nectar: Lily can use her healing nectar to stabilize mortal injuries, precisely repair specific damage, cellularly regenerate plantlife, fill in damage to objects made of vegetable matter and then transmute it to a solid repair, and if consumed it proves both tasty and nutritious (by default it tastes kinda like honey and berries, but of course she can alter the taste to emulate a variety of plants...and considering what the plant-based meat industry is doing these days that is even less restrictive than it sounds). She can also use the energy stored in her nectar to fuel her own regenerative abilities, making her curative powers all the more potent on herself.

    With Staff - Concentrated Scents/Concentrated Poison: With the additional energy offered by her staff, Lily can make her scents, poisons, and drugs much more concentrated. This diminishes the maximum effect they can achieve, but makes them much more likely to hamper her foes at least a little.

    Delivery Modes: Lily can also deliver her powers in a variety of ways. Note that due to the Dynamic Choices and Dynamic Stacking features on this array, Lily can use any of the Area options on any effects that have the Area extra available (so, Affliction, Weaken, or Healing, as well as Damage with her staff), can use any of the Area/Selective/Limited combos on any effects that have those modifiers (so, Affliction and Weaken), and can shift applications of Area from one effect to another.

    Floral Blood: Lily's bodily fluids, including her blood, have been replaced by her nectar. That means her nectar is constantly flowing throughout her entire body. She can devote the attention she normally dedicates to her personal phytokinesis to using the energy in her blood to heal injuries and ailments literally as fast as she receives them! This reactive healing effectively makes her much more resistant to all forms of attack, at the cost of having less focus on her personal phytokinesis, making her less able to actively avoid attacks entirely.

    Floral Thorn [Physical] [Piercing]: Lily's power is more about manipulating than controlling plants, but she has a limited amount of phytokinetic control over her own body. Including plant materials produced from it. Such as razor sharp thorns grown from her fingernails, as a random example. These can deal direct physical damage, or carry her various other effects. Her autophytokinesis is sufficient to direct a thorn that misses back around to take a second shot.

    Floral Vines: Lily can elongate the cells in her body or staff into vines to deliver various concoctions to multiple targets at a distance.

    Floral Scent [Sensory] [Olfactory]: Lily can produce scents strong enough to affect everyone in a 30' radius around her. She can modulate the scents to be blocked by particular pheromones, allowing her to selectively avoid affecting targets she doesn't wish to affect.

    With Staff - Floral Spray: Lily can use the additional energy in her staff to produce a greater volume of acid, spraying it out in a 60' long cone.


    Spoiler: Description
    Show
    Lily is sparsely over five feet tall with a slim build. She has pale green eyes, light blond hair that hangs past her shoulders, and her shoulders are almost constantly covered with dandruff. She is twenty-three years old. She typically wears light, loose clothes, preferring soft fabrics that won't irritate her wings when she tucks them in her shirt. She always gives off a sweet, flowery smell. When appearing as Floral, she dresses in a sleek though not quite form-fitting kinda leotard-like green outfit. It covers pretty much everything except her arms and shoulders, and she wears a skirt over it consisting of of several dangling pieces of white fabric that looked kinda like oversized lily petals. No cape, but her wings are fully visible in costume. Her insignia - a yellow stylized sun symbol with pink flower petals alternating between the triangular "rays" going around it, so it looks like the sun was the flower's pollen - is displayed prominently on the center of her chest. And to top it all off, a wide-brimmed white hat from which dangles an identity-concealing "veil" of flowers.
    Last edited by Quellian-dyrae; 2024-04-13 at 12:15 PM.
    A role playing game is three things. It is an interactive story, a game of chance, and a process in critical thinking.

    If brevity is the soul of wit, I'm witty like a vampire!

    World of Aranth
    M&M 3e Character Guide

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Quellian-dyrae's Avatar

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Spoiler: Backstory
    Show
    Lily has had a fondness for science ever since childhood. While everyone in her family is highly intelligent, she was a prodigy from a young age, and had a particular gift in science in general and chemistry in particular. She might have shot through school like a dart, but the thing was, her mother had also been something of a prodigy as a child, and her own parents had pushed her extremely hard to excel as a result. While this undeniably paid dividends (she became a medical doctor at age twenty-one), looking back on it she felt it had largely cost her her childhood. She didn't want that for her own daughter, so she held Lily back from advancing as fast as she could, only letting her skip one grade in elementary school and a second in middle school.

    If Lily's honest, there's a part of her that to this day doesn't forgive her mother for that.

    Unfortunately Sarah Woods had both overcorrected from her own parents' mistakes, and underestimated just how far ahead her daughter really was. Lily trudged through school in abject boredom, only to get home and absolutely devour any books and websites she could find on the topics of her interest, science in particular (and in fairness, at home her mom often taught her about scientific and medical topics, was always happy to get her new and higher level textbooks to read and so on; her parents always enthusiastically supported Lily's drive to learn, they just didn't want to push her to advance too far too fast). To Lily, school wasn't where she went to get an education - it was an obstruction to it, a place where she had to sit and listen to lectures on topics she already knew, regurgitate the answers the teachers wanted, and let the hours drain uselessly away with no knowledge gained.

    She still got perfect grades, mind, partly because she was so far ahead that she practically couldn't help but do so, and partly out of sheer spite, treating every test and assignment as just one more way to say, "There is nothing that this grade level or the next three above it can do to present even the slightest hint of a challenge to me." Her parents were always thrilled to see her perfect report cards and evidently never got the hint, or at least so it seemed to her.

    Finally, when she was eleven years old and mid-way through her freshman year of high school (which was just a nightmare), Lily's patience with the educational system broke. She demanded to be allowed to go further, to stop wasting her time on classes that taught her nothing among students two years older than her who couldn't even keep up the other end of an intelligent conversation and teachers that she had to correct at least once a week. Literally quivering with indignant fury, she told her parents that if they didn't get out of her way, she would read every legal book on her father's bookcase, become a better lawyer than him, and sue them for emancipation. And she would win.

    Coming from an eleven year old it was a kinda adorable threat, but no less serious for all that. And let it not be said that Sarah Woods couldn't learn from her mistakes.

    Literally three months later, Lily was taking college level courses. Two years after that, graduate level. She had earned a PhD in biology by the time she was eighteen, and another in chemistry by twenty. Even her parents were shocked.

    Lily went into work at a lab at the Forester's Bay Community College, occasionally teaching some biology and chemistry courses there. It wasn't a prestigious job considering her talents, but the lab was in her home town and doing interesting work on the genetic engineering of plants, and in Lily's book interesting work trumped prestige any day of the week. It also had interesting implications for agriculture, offering possibilities for improving crop yields, making edible plants more resistant to disease, and allowing them to last longer with less need for preservatives. When Lily was seven years old she had been asked what she wanted to do when she grew up and had promptly replied "end world hunger". Considering matters from an adult perspective, she found that she could not come up with any compelling reasons to change that.

    Unfortunately, the job didn't live up to Lily's vision of it. She was hired on as a "junior researcher", which in practice meant she was rated just barely above the research assistants who were all basically just grad students. There were two senior researchers running the lab. The first, Nate Clifford, was a prestigious scientist who knew his game and did good work, but was also super arrogant, mildly chauvinistic, and tended to both underestimate and largely dismiss her skills and intelligence, often assigning her to less significant tasks. The second, Kimmie Leung, was much more cognizant of the value Lily brought to the team, encouraging her ideas and theories, and even mentoring her a bit. The problem was that she was largely too busy with things like writing grant proposals, getting articles published into prestigious journals, and playing academic politics to actually, you know, spend too much time doing actually important science.

    So, not what she had hoped. Still, she put up with it, and work did get done. Over time, Lily got a bit better at finagling things so that the incentives of doing the actual work aligned better with the incentives of academia. And she also got enough chances to prove herself that even Dr. Clifford had to start developing some respect for her skills as a scientist (also she got better at delegating the more menial tasks he assigned her to the assistants, which helped a lot). The lab started growing more productive, and some real progress was made. They were starting to think a major breakthrough was in sight within just another year or two, very plausibly a Nobel-worthy one.

    And then the Watcher came to Forester's Bay.

    And shortly after that, Manchineel came to their lab. The plant-controller had learned of their work, subjecting poor, helpless plants and trees that were entirely innocent of any wrongdoing to their strange scientific experiments, trying to pervert the natural order for their own gain, subvert the flora of the world to the parasitic needs of humanity. She told them they would see how it felt, to have their DNA randomly spliced and altered with that of other plants. One by one, she transformed them, turning them into vaguely human-like plant creatures. There was nothing any of them could do to stop her.

    Lily was transformed into an anthropomorphic flower. Like, stamen for a body, roots for legs, leaves for arms, petals and pollen for a head, and all that. Nature's vengeance achieved, Manchineel left the scientists to live out their new lives.

    Obviously, the lab closed down. Lily despaired. Her family supported her as best they could, but she didn't know what she could do, how she could possibly live a normal life as some sort of freakish flower-monster. She might have given up entirely.

    Except three nights after her transformation, when her mother brought her dinner (Lily had basically shut herself into her old room at her parents' house and refused to leave) she kinda wanted broccoli instead of carrots...and the carrot on her fork turned into a piece of broccoli.

    Apparently, some of Manchineel's transformative powers had rubbed off on her.

    Lily was a scientist, so of course, the very next thing she did was start experimenting. If she had powers of her own...maybe she could do something. Maybe she could fight back! Ever since the Future League had arrived, her sister Hannah's job had grown exponentially more dangerous. The police were doing what they good - her brother Andrew had even offered his assistance, bringing his tactical and military skills to the table - but they were simply outmatched by the superpowered criminals, only able to blunt the damage they did.

    What Forester's Bay needed was superheroes!

    But it turned out Lily's new superpowers included the ability to transform about two pounds of vegetable matter per second into other forms of vegetable matter, a much sharper sense of smell, the ability to photosynthesize really well, the power to talk to plants, and literally nothing else.

    A superhero, she was not.

    Or she wouldn't have been, had she been practically everybody else. But after that spark of hope had come back into her heart, Lily wasn't willing to give it up so easily. Her body was vegetable matter now. Her powers were precise down to the cellular level, and her nose was keener than the best electron microscope back in the lab at the college. And according to her experiments and calculations, she was absorbing a phenomenal amount of solar energy. She had to be storing it in her cells. Which she could transform with her powers. If she could just use that...!

    It took her almost a week of testing and practice and theorizing, trial and error, but Lily started getting the hang of her powers. It was genetic engineering, is what it was. Cellular alteration. But far faster and more precise that anything they could do in the lab. And with orders of magnitude more energy available in the process. Plants were capable of a stunning variety of helpful, harmful, and hampering effects; she learned how to produce them. Deadly poisons, regenerative serums, debilitating drugs, allergenic pollen, medicinal salves, razor-sharp thorns, nauseating scents...

    ...A variant on citric acid so powerful it ate a hole in her bedroom floor, the couch beneath it, the living room floor beneath that, the concrete foundation under the house, and about six feet into the earth below that.

    ...A pheromone so intense that when her brother let her test it on him, she found him unthinkingly obeying her every command.

    Backed up by Lily's biochemistry knowledge, plus a nice heaping helping of pure solar energy, it turned out her powers were kinda terrifying.

    Which was exactly what she needed.

    The final step was her own body. She had found that using the plant matter that made it up as the basis for her transmutations had some significant advantages. Her power worked by touch, but since it was part of her body, she was technically "touching" it even if say she shot it at an enemy as a thorny dart, or spread a bunch of flower petals around that she wanted to transform into something dangerous all at once, or something. It took her several painful hours over the course of three days, but she managed to sculpt her body back into her normal human shape, more-or-less (she still had flower petals crowing from her back; they were so sensitive that every time she tried to transform them gone it just hurt too much and her concentration broke).

    So she had her normal form back, she had a combat capable slate of powers diabolical twisted uses for otherwise pathetically weak powers, and with a brief shopping spree for some 100% plant fiber clothes and a bit of artistic transmutation later she even had a costume. Next time her siblings stopped by their parents house, she came out of her room, fully costumed, and announced to her family that she was ready to help her siblings and the police in their fight against the villainous Future League as the superhero Floral!

    When as an eleven year old, Lily had spoken with conviction about her desire to move forward faster academically despite her parents concerns, they had taken her words to heart, understood her position, and agreed to allow her to set whatever pace for herself she wanted.

    This time wasn't like that.

    Her father thought it was way too risky, completely outside of her experience, not her job at all. Her mother was already terrified enough for Hannah and Andrew and told her not to even consider it. Andrew tried to spin it as like, "Don't worry about us, we've got this" and so on, but he made it pretty obvious he didn't think she was anything like combat-capable, and he might have also made the mistake of saying "It's our job to protect you" out loud.

    Hannah gave it to her worst. By the end of things the discussion had devolved into a screaming match between the two of them, and finally Lily stormed out of the house, furious.

    But she wasn't willing to give up. If her siblings didn't want her help, fine. She was the one with superpowers. She'd protect her hometown herself, if that was what it took!

    For the past couple of weeks, Lily has been doing just that, as best she can. In some ways, it was thrilling. She took down half a dozen of Lockdown's Bronze Links when they tried to mug a guy on the street, disabled a Suneater who was trying to animate a golem from the sandbox at a local playground, pheromone-controlled a...random thief who actually didn't have anything to do with the Future League at all but had been burgling the wrong house at the wrong time to turn himself into the police, and used her acid to melt a few of Dr. Proxy's Helper bots to slag when they tried to rob two teacups from a small china shop for reasons nobody has been able to determine.

    In other ways...well, let's just say the media and public started by immediately ignoring her introducing herself as Floral in favor of naming her Flower Girl, and things went downhill from there. Lily had been aiming to give Floral a kinda "badass warrior scientist" aesthetic, but most of the stories around her seemed to center on her rather cutesy powers. The thing was, to outside appearances, Lily in combat was mainly about...producing strong smells that debilitated her enemies, or splashing them with poisonous or drugged nectar, or covering them with pollen. She had...kinda shied away from, you know, melting any giant gaping holes into anybody with her acid, and such, aside from the Proxybots and nobody but the shop's owner had actually seen that fight (it had been a slow day at the china shop, business was down due to supply chain issues). And obviously she wasn't going around throwing fire or dispensing a superpowered beatdown with her fists or telekinetically chucking cars at people or stuff. And her enemies hadn't...exactly been significant foes (the mage...miiiight have in fact been an apprentice who wasn't actually very good at magic. Like, I'm not saying he could only cast three low-level spells per day or anything, but I am saying that after casting his third spell he had swapped to a handgun, so...) It wasn't that her reception wasn't generally positive. People liked Floral well enough. But more in a "Aw look, the little flower girl is trying to help. She's adorable. Can we keep her?" sort of way than in a "There's a new hero in town!" sort of way. Also the police seemed to be trying with varying levels of gentleness to convince her that she was technically a civilian and should leave this sort of thing to them, which Lily was sure was her siblings' faults.

    So...that was annoying.

    But it didn't actually change the need, so Lily's keeping at it, doing what she can to protect and maybe one day free her city from the league of villains that have taken it over.


    Spoiler: Lily Scent/Emotions Reference
    Show
    Calm: Lilies.
    Rage: Fresh baked bread.
    Love: Roses.
    Hate: Lemons.
    Hope: Daisies.
    Fear: Honey.
    Joy: Poppies.
    Pain: Cinnamon.
    Faith: Jasmine.
    Doubt: Mint.
    Pride: Sunflowers.
    Shame: Maple syrup.


    EDIT: As far as knowing each other, I'm cool with it, although I'm not coming up with much as far as ideas for it.

    Flint's relatively new to town so while I definitely see lots of potential for interesting interactions between he and Lily (although oddly enough I could also see Lily relating to Sara pretty well; she can commiserate with the whole "baby sister with overprotective older siblings" thing) I imagine they don't know each other. Not impossible that Floral and Helios could have crossed paths in their heroic activities, but my sense is given Floral's "Did things just heroic enough to make the wrong name for herself" and Helios's "Has access to the Suneater's plans and reliably shows up to foil them" they probably wouldn't have ended up crossing paths much.

    Lily and Kel I could imagine crossing paths some, although my understanding is Kel is also somewhat new to town, albeit not as new as Flint. They both have jobs somewhere in academia (actually I thought I had Lily doing some teaching on the side, but going back through her backstory I didn't see it, so I might just be thinking of a previous incarnation of her, so that's less of a possible connection than I thought). At the very least I imagine part of Lily's shopping spree to restart her wardrobe from scratch using 100% plant fiber clothing probably brought her to Dimetria's store at least a few times, because that's the sort of thing that amuses me.

    Lily and Remy are at least both Forester's Bay natives (if I didn't fail my reading comprehension check, anyway), but they don't seem to have really moved in the same circles or have all that much in common. So they could totally know each other randomly for some reason, but an actual connection doesn't spring out to me.
    Last edited by Quellian-dyrae; 2022-03-16 at 08:38 PM.
    A role playing game is three things. It is an interactive story, a game of chance, and a process in critical thinking.

    If brevity is the soul of wit, I'm witty like a vampire!

    World of Aranth
    M&M 3e Character Guide

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Dorni's Avatar

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    Jul 2005

    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Flint Garret AKA Helios


    Mechanics

    Spoiler: Power Descriptions
    Show
    Heroic Form - Flint transforms himself into Helios, a muscular man wearing a deep red and gold-trip chestpiece with matching vambraces and greaves. Flint uses this form when engaging in heroics to hide his real identity.

    Mystic Sense - Flint is attuned to the mystic and is able to sense nearby magical energies and disturbances. Most cult members that gain magical powers from the induction ritual also awaken a mystic sense, with the sensitivity of their mystic sense proportional to their magical aptitude. The Suneaters sometimes call this their 'Third Eye'.

    Spells - All spells have the [magical] descriptor.

    Sunbeam - This spell fires several fiery bolts that can burn and ignite their target

    Solar Flare - This spell conjures a blindingly intense burst of flame that can blind or disorient those within. Flint is able to control the flames to limit the size of the firestorm and to part the flames to limit who is affected.

    Combust - Rather than causing a thermal imbalance and manifesting it as flames or heat beams, this spell channels heat energy directly into the target causing it to burst into flames.

    Heal - The Suneaters are big on Necromantic magic that manipulates life energy to raise and control the dead, but Flint has found another use for it. This spell supplements a subject's natural life energy and accelerating the healing process to rapidly repair wounds and restore a subject to health.

    Drain Vitality - Similar in principle to his Heal spell, Flint can instead drain a target's life energy. The target experiences this as a wave of drowsiness and exhaustion. Although this spell could be lethal if applied too heavily, in practice a target will simply pass out from exhaustion long before the spell is life-threatening.

    Mass Drain Vitality - This version of the Drain Vitality spell is less potent than the original but spreads the effect over a wider area, allowing Flint to incapacitate groups of foes at once.

    Crossing The Sky - This 'spell' is really a collection of spells that manipulate air. Flint can 'harden' the air and move it as a form of telekinesis. Another use is to channel more power into his Flight spell to reach higher speeds. He can bend light around himself in a small area to become invisible and finally he can 'muffle' the air around him to silence any sound he may give off.


    Spoiler: Complications
    Show
    I Could Do So Much [Motivation - Doing Good] - Flint has magic. Actual. Magic. True, he’s still working out the means and mechanics of how to manipulate the arcane, but still. Actual. Magic. There’s so much he could do, so many problems he could solve. How can he sit back and do nothing when he could be doing so much to make the world a better place? Unfortunately, he can’t do much of anything for the world right now with this Dome trapping everyone and supervillains running about. And even more fundamentally, what they’re doing is wrong. They need to be stopped.

    How Can I Do Any Less [Motivation - Responsibility]. Flint works in a hospital. Sure, it's in accounting and not as a medical professional, but he still sees his coworkers on the hospital floor every day - people doing their best to save lives, carry out life-saving research and better the world. He’s always been in silent awe at the hearts some of them have. Still, heart alone doesn’t keep the hospital operating. Someone has to crunch the numbers and process the paperwork. Flint did what he could from the accounting department to support those people rather than pinching pennies. It was his way of supporting their work. Now that he has superpowers, he remembers those good people - and that there are many good people doing the best they can for the greater good that deserve protecting.

    Heroic Alter-Ego [Identity, Secret] - The Suneaters don’t keep the closest watch over their own membership. They’re an apocalyptic doomsday cult inspired by a god of chaos - order and regimentation isn’t exactly their thing, or at least not outside their inner core. Still, even with that low bar they’d certainly recognize one of their back-benchers if they showed up to derail the cult’s plans. So Flint worked out how to alter his appearance for when he goes out to act like a superhero. Flint takes on a conjured heroic form when he engages in superheroics - a muscular man wearing a deep red and gold-trim chestpiece, with matching vambraces and grieves with a flowing cape.

    Yep, Definitely a Hero [Identity, Secret] - While Flint’s identity as Helios protects his identity from the Suneaters, he’s also come to insist on using it whenever he’s in contact with others in Forester’s Bay who would resist the League. Although unwilling, Flint is still a member of the Suneaters. He worries that rather than believe him that he’s an unwilling member and a spy, they might think he’s a plant by the Suneaters to lure out other heroes and attack him.

    Hide Your Power Level [Secret] - Flint and his friends underwent an (impromptu) ceremony, the knowledge of which was supposedly gifted directly to the Suneaters’ High Priest by Apophis himself - to awaken their powers. While Flint commands a powerful affinity for magic, around the cult he pretends to have only a minor affinity for necromantic magic in the form of healing. After all, if they think the maximum extent of his ability is barely closing a scrape or a minor cut, there’s no way they’ll pay that much attention to him and he can just kinda fade into the background. And for the moment they don’t pay much attention, but if he were to slip and the cult learned his true power they’d immediately place him under higher scrutiny, demand he take a bigger role in the cult’s evil plans, or maybe even realize his connection to Helios.

    Unwilling Cultist [Secret] - Flint was on vacation with his family in Forester’s Bay when the dome trapped everyone. Flint’s group managed to get by for a time, until they got caught up in a Suneater attack. Amid the chaos and the fire and the screams, Flint’s party was trapped by the Suneaters. Surrounded by cultists, he thought they were going to die until Dante fell to his knees and begged to join the cult. Seeing as they were, again, surrounded by evil cultists, Flint and Sara quickly followed suit. They were allowed to live - and inducted into the cult. Although they're sickened by death and destruction that the Suneaters cause, Flint and Sara find themselves forced to play their parts to keep up the appearance lest the cultists turn on them. This can mean they sometimes need to find creative means to dodge taking part in the cult’s plans and crimes.

    Can’t Leave Him Behind [Motivation - Loyalty] - Although Flint and Sara try to remain nameless back benchers, Dante has fully embraced it and now some among the cult recognize their faces as being Dante’s crew. Fleeing would also mean abandoning Dante to sink deeper into the thrall of the Suneaters, and Flint hasn't given up on his brother just yet. He's family, and you don't leave family behind.

    Apophis [Enemy] - While he wants to stop the League of the Future, Helios has particularly targeted Aphopis and the Suneaters. On top of that, Helios named himself for a sun god and publicly claims to be empowered by the same in a kind of mirror of Apophis. Safe to say he’s drawn Apophis’ interest, which might just be more dangerous than being hated.

    The Suneaters [Enemy] - Helios bears a particular hatred towards the Suneaters. The feeling is mutual as Helios regularly shows up to wreck their plans and be a thorn in their sides.

    Does This Come With A Manual? [Quirk, Temptation] - Flint’s magical powers are incredibly versatile and he could command a huge swath of phenomena and be a great force for good… with years of study and practice. Unfortunately he’s had his magic for less than a month and it didn’t come with an instruction manual. While he has made strides in mastering his powers he’s still very much a novice of the arcane. This limits Flint’s ability to cook up new spells on the fly. When attempting to use a Power Stunt to create an impromptu spell, Flint needs to succeed on an Expertise (Magic) check with a DC as though it were a Ritual.

    Hunger to Learn [Obsession] - If Flint were to explain his powers, he’s an Int caster. His magic is based on runic manipulation of magical forces, which requires knowledge and study to maximize. Flint is hungry for knowledge and trying to master his magic, and sure, Flint is smart, but he isn’t a genius intellect. He is frustrated by his (to his mind) slow progress. What Flint really needs is a teacher, or failing that a guidebook. Unfortunately, the only places he’s aware that have that kind of knowledge are Apophis and the Suneaters themselves. While he hates the Suneaters they're still the best source of mystic knowledge to help him master his powers. It has helped him some that Dante loves to recount the things he’s been learning from the High Priest in the hopes that they’ll help his ‘struggling older brother’. Still, he’s been trying to discreetly gather books on the arcane and will jump at any opportunity to gain a source of magical insight.

    Feo [Responsibility, Quirk] - Ok, Flint is a cat person. He has a pet cat named Feo, who he left at home for the few days he was going to be on vacation and then the dome happened and he misses her and is privately terrified that she was trapped in his house. Although there’s nothing he can do for Feo from inside the dome, he still has a soft spot for animals and tries to protect them from the crossfire of superhero battles.

    Packed Light - Flint was trapped in Forester's Bay unexpectedly while on vacation. While he does have his hotel room, he doesn't really have a place to call his own. He also packed expecting to be gone for only a long weekend. While this generally isn't a problem as he's been able to buy most necessities from local stores, that isn't the same as having a place of his own with all of his own stuff. Flint cannot assume access to items unless he can find them in a local store.


    Relationships

    Dante Garret [Relationship, Enemy] - Ho boy, where to start with this one. Dante is Flint’s brother with Flint being a few years older than Dante. Growing up they fought like only brothers do - which is to say they alternated between incredibly close-knit and bouts of driving each other insane. Now they’re just close-knit, although Dante does struggle with feeling like he was in his older brother’s shadow.

    When they were trapped by the Suneaters, Dante opted to join them. After the induction ceremony Dante discovered a strong affinity for death magic. The High Priest took him under his wing, tutoring him, and his power blossomed. In terms of power he’s one of the stronger adherents in the cult and rapidly rising through the ranks.

    In fact, since Helios showed up Dante has amassed a string of successes fighting off the hero. Unbeknownst to Dante, this isn’t only due to his own prowess. Dante is roughly equal in power to Flint - strong enough that while Flint could defeat him, he would have to go all out to do it. Flint fears that in cutting loose he’d seriously hurt Dante, which he refuses to do because he hasn’t yet given up on convincing Dante to leave the Suneaters. Any time Helios would Incapacitate Dante, Dante is instead Stunned for a dramatically appropriate length of time (but not more than a few rounds) while he recovers from the attack. If Dante would be at risk of death from another source, Helios must make an effort to save him.

    Dante is aware that Flint and Sara are less than enthusiastic about the Suneaters, but they’re still family. He cares for them and is willing to do minor things to help Flint, such as covering for them when they avoid participating in the cults' more dastardly activities, provided that he doesn’t suspect Flint is actively working against the cult. In addition, just as Flint tries to convince Dante to leave the cult, Dante is still trying to convince Flint and Sara to see things his way and embrace it.

    Spoiler: ”Why Dante joined the Suneaters”
    Show
    The Suneaters are an apocalyptic doomsday cult bent on spreading death and destruction. Why would anyone willingly join them?

    Well, Dante did everything he was supposed to. He kept out of trouble, did ok in school, and went to college where he met Aiesha. Sparks flew and they were inseparable. Aiesha was fun loving, hard working, and had big plans for the things she wanted to do and places she was going to see. The whole family loved her, Flint included, and she became a close member of their friend group and practically another member of the family.

    In their final year Aiesha was hospitalized with a rare disease. She was forced to drop out of school. Dante stuck with her, going so far to drop out of school to get a job and support her. It was a grueling year but Aiesha made a full recovery. She and Dante got happily married. Things were rough, but they were hoping to get their lives back on track. They had a few months before they learned her recovery had been less than full - her disease was back. This time it claimed her.

    Dante was devastated, alone, and facing down a mountain of debt. His job let him go during his bereavement, citing some excuse. He ended up working two crummy jobs to make ends meet. Flint and the rest of the family did what they could to help him, but any time he accepted family charity it hurt to feel more and more like he was the family failure. And so he struggled, grinding it out. That was in fact part of the reason for the trip to Forester’s Bay - Flint and Sara invited him for a long weekend vacation to show him their support and a good time.

    And then he encountered the Suneaters. It clicked in his mind. He’d done everything right - everything. For years he did all the things he was supposed to do. And what did he have to show for it? Nothing. He had no respect and was alone with a mountain of debt and multiple crummy jobs that he hated. Help wasn’t coming. The system was rigged against normal people like him, and those in power were only looking out for themselves. It couldn’t be salvaged - the system needed to be burned down. But it was more than that - he hit the jackpot when the High Priest woke his powers, he discovered he had a powerful affinity for necromancy. Thanks to them, he had power now. The cult welcomed and respected him! If he gained enough power he could even bring back Aiesha! It didn’t hurt that his magic greatly overshadowed his elder brother’s. Why would he turn away from the cult and go back to angry customers screaming at him all day and debt collectors harassing him?


    Spoiler: ”A further note on Dante”
    Show
    Convincing Dante to leave the Suneaters will be nigh impossible. Just as Flint has a character arc set up about growing into his powers and heroics, Dante is set up to have an arc growing into his villainy as a personal nemesis for Flint.

    I fully expect that at some point the house-of-cards that is Flint's current situation will come crashing down. Its only a question of what comes first - Flint and Sara giving up on Dante and leaving the cult, Dante learning Flint's true identity, another Suneater learning Flint's identity, or the Suneaters simply thinking Flint is a spy and turning on him.

    Perhaps ironically, Dante can actually be trusted to keep Helios’ true identity a secret should he ever learn it. Dante is smart enough to realize that if he were to out his brother, in addition to his own standing in the Suneaters taking a hit, the Suneaters would be willing to strike at Flint’s family and friends to draw him out - people who are largely also Dante’s family and friends. That isn’t to say it's impossible (and right now most of them are protected by the simple fact of currently being back home outside the dome), but even evil has standards and going after his own family to get at Flint would be a bridge too far for Dante. For now. Who knows if he wouldn’t be willing to cross that line in the future.


    Sara Garret [Relationship] - The youngest of the Garret siblings, Sara has the toned build of an acrobat or dancer. She’s strong willed and not afraid to stand up for herself, which she’s had to be to survive having two older brothers both trying to look out for her. She shares Flint’s revulsion toward the Suneaters, but also has enough of a survival instinct to keep her head down until they can either figure something out or pull Dante out of the cult. Unfortunately for her, while her newfound powers aren’t nearly as strong as Dante’s, they’re unique enough that they drew the cult’s attention.

    Sara awakened an aptitude for Probability magic. Her abilities can’t rewrite reality or make the impossible happen, when things are hanging in the balance she can tip it. The High Priest has assured her that if she develops her abilities she could follow threads of possibility until she can Prophecy.

    Unbeknownst to either Dante or Flint, Sara is also hiding the full extent of her abilities. GM chooses in secret:
    • Cat affinity - Sara can draw upon a cat’s essence to increase her agility. She can also transform into a cat, allowing her to go unnoticed. She uses this form to spy, hide, or just plain escape for a few hours to explore the city as a feline.
    • Prophecy - Sara has downplayed her own gifts and already has the ability to invoke prophecy. She can go into a trance and see fragmented glimpses of future (and possible future) events. Although she can try to direct the visions toward the results of particular courses of action, she doesn’t have solid control over what she sees.
    • Other - Sara has some other mystic affinity of the GM’s choice. Have fun!


    Spoiler: Backstory
    Show
    Flint’s childhood was more or less unremarkable. He stayed out of trouble and did pretty well in school without too much effort. He played sports without any intention of ever turning pro and got into a good college. That isn’t to say he was a drifter - from a young age he was always very inquisitive - just that like most kids he was never sure what he wanted to be.

    Which is another way of saying that no child dreams of growing up to be an accountant, but when you follow what you’re good at - numbers, puzzles, and being level-headed - eventually it just made sense to Flint as a career path. Flint ultimately landed an accounting job in the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. It was not inspiring work, but it supported him well and came to see it as his way of making the amazing things the doctors did on the floor possible.

    Flint has one sibling - a younger brother Dante - and they fought like only siblings do. They alternated between being incredibly close-knit and bouts of driving each other insane. Now that they’re adults they’ve settled into being close, keeping frequent contact with each other. They have an annual tradition to meet up for vacation with just the three of them. This year’s trip was to Forester’s Bay, which was when the Dome came down.

    At first they were just as confused as everyone else. Trapped under the dome and unable to leave, they hunkered down in their hotel rooms. They made it almost a week before trouble found them.

    They were walking through the main drag when they got caught up in a Suneater attack. One minute they minding their own business when suddenly in march a bunch of weirdos in red scaly robes and carrying hooked knives. Comical first impressions aside, the scene quickly devolved into fire and chaos. Flint’s party found themselves trapped and surrounded by cultists. They were convinced the cultists were going to kill them until Dante fell to his knees and begged to join the cult. Seeing as they were, again, surrounded by cultists, Flint and Sara followed suit. They were allowed to live and were inducted into the cult.

    Back in one of the cults’ lairs, they underwent an induction ceremony, the knowledge of which the High Priest claimed had been gifted to him by Apophis himself, which would ‘open their third eye’ and awaken their potential. Whether or not that was true, the ceremony itself was several minutes of agony. When it ended, the High Priest welcomed the Garret siblings into the Suneaters.

    Since that time, it's been a nonstop struggle. While has embraced being a Suneater, Flint and Sara have done their best to keep up appearances as loyal members lest the cultists turn on them. They’ve both done their best to hide their abilities and ‘blend into the crowd’ as nameless backbenchers where they can avoid taking part in the cult’s crimes. This has worked out better for Flint than for Sara, for though Sara lacks anything like the raw power that Dante commands, her aptitude for probability magic has drawn some interest from senior cult members hoping she’ll advance to the point of being able to peer into the future and Prophecy.

    Still, Flint hasn’t been able to simply hide in the back and watch while the Suneaters spread chaos and destruction. Someone had to stop them. Flint set about training his magic in secret, experimenting on his own and making use of any bits of mystical knowledge he’s been able to obtain from the cult or his brother. He created a spell to hide his identity by changing his form into something more fitting for a Hero - and something that would be sure to anger the Suneaters. He picked a likeness of the sun god Helios. It wasn’t Egyptian, but it seemed prudent to him that if he chose the likeness of Ra that the cult’s connection to Aphophis would let them realize that his likeness was a fraud too soon.

    And boy did he anger the cult. As a back bencher he was still aware of the cult’s activities - and somehow Helios always seems to show up to battle them.
    Last edited by Dorni; 2023-06-12 at 06:35 PM.
    With your every step, these grand adventures shall grow more distant and faint. And there may come a day when you forget the faces and voices of those you have met along the way. On that day, I bid you remember this... That no matter how far your journey may take you, you stand where you stand by virtue of the road you walked to get there.

  8. - Top - End - #8
    Titan in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Remy Rames aka Nope

    Downtime note: Inconspicuous counts as Deception for the villain downtimes.
    Used fake name Alex Vickers in Lockdown downtime as false identity


    Spoiler: Mechanics
    Show
    Defenses (44pp)
    Defense 8, Resistance 12

    Skills (33pp)
    Expertise 15, Insight 10, Investigation 10, Perception 10, Stealth 20, Technology 1
    Fields of Expertise: Criminal, Culinary, Current Events, Depth Psychology, Gaming, Law, Law Enforcement, Local, "Magic", Metaphysics, Photography, Pop Culture, Security Systems, Sociology, Streetwise

    Advantages (12pp)
    Benefit 4 (Cipher 2, Covert Entry [Stealth for Technology for security], Inconspicuous [Stealth for Deception for bluffing]), Hide in Plain Sight, Instant Up, Interpose, Move-by Action, Prone Fighting, Teamwork
    Equipment 2: Modern Smartphone (5ep), security tools (1ep), semi-professional photography equipment (1ep), night-vision goggles (1ep), laptop (2ep)

    Powers (66pp)
    Remove Identity: Feature 1 (Unrecognizable; assume mantle of Nope and is unrecognizable as Remy) {1}

    Remove Acceleration: Flight 1 (Quirk 0 [Levitate, move along surfaces, or maintain existing velocity within speed limit]) {2}

    Rote Removal: 24-point Array {24+4}
    Personal Relative Distance: Teleport 7 (0.5mi; Accurate, Precise, Subtle 2).

    Travel Time: Teleport 13 (30 miles; Change Direction/Velocity, Feature 1 [treat teleport as normal movement], Increased Mass 6 (3200lbs), Subtle, Turnabout, Limited [must be physically able to move along a path to the target]).

    Recovery Time: Regeneration 10 (Persistent [4 ranks]).

    Presence: Concealment 10 (all senses; Affects Others [2 ranks; normal vision], Precise), Enhanced Stealth 4 (Limited [hiding only]).

    Second Guessing: Enhanced Focus Removal Array 24.

    Focus Removal: 30-point Array {30+5}
    Hit Points: Damage 10 (+5/+5; Ranged) Linked Weaken Resistance 10 (+5/+5).
    With Second Guessing removed: Add Improved Critical 4, Linked Affliction 10 (+5/+5; Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless/Incapacitated; Extra Condition).

    Hit Points, Mass: Damage 10 (+5/+5; Shapeable Area 2 [Limited [6"x6"x240' bendable line]], Penetrating).
    With Second Guessing removed: Add Improved Critical 4, Multiattack, Ranged.

    Harm: Healing 10 (Persistent).
    With Second Guessing removed: Add Affects Objects, Ranged (3 ranks, 250'), Restorative, Stabilize.

    Crux: Nullify 10 (+5/+5; counters Technological; Broad, Concentration).
    With Second Guessing removed: Add Diverse 2 (can choose to counter Magical or Psionic effects instead of Technological), Effortless, Precise, Simultaneous, Subtle.

    Momentary Agitation: Affliction 10 (+5/+5; Entranced/Compelled; Extra Condition, Limited [can only induce calm non-aggression, no direct control], Cumulative, Ranged).
    With Second Guessing removed: Add Improved Critical 4, Burst Area, Selective.

    Placeholder: Variable 4 (Removal).
    With Second Guessing removed: Add 2 ranks, Improved Action 2 (free).

    Spoiler: Complications
    Show
    With Horrible Power Comes Trying To Not Mess Up [Motivation - Responsibility/Doing Good/Self-Worth]
    Remy is absolutely terrified of the power he now has, made worse by the situation he is in, and how few other people can do something about it. Things are weird at best, horrible at worst, he has power now, he's gotta do something against the extremely ludicrously powerful League. There're just... no excuses now, no matter how he feels about it. Hopefully, he can change things for the better, help the many people trapped in the dome and such. If things go really well, he might actually get the sense he isn't superfluous.

    You Don't Know What You Are Doing, Stop! [Enemy - Doctor Proxy]
    Remy's power of Removal was caused when he was put into the Proxy Suit. But whether through some hidden "quality" of Remy or just the most unlikeliest of random events, the mind control had trouble subduing Remy's mind and pushed him ever deeper, until he plunged into some sort of mental realm Remy now dubs the collective unconscious, because that is a term he has heard in fiction and he doesn't know any better way to describe that nightmare realm he can only remember in bits and pieces. Next thing he knows, he wields a horrible fundamental power rife for all sorts of abuse and awful applications of unknown magnitude. The Doctor, frightening as he is, needs to be stopped from causing this ever again. Or worse, from trying to do this on purpose! He has no idea what he might unleash on the world! Ideally, Remy is entirely unpowered at some point if somehow he actually manages to succeed! Meanwhile, Doctor Proxy may well be investigating what happened. And why his Proxy Suit suddenly blipped out of existence (literally!) for a few seconds.

    O Sister, Where Art Thou? [Relationship/Enemy?]
    Nora disappeared a few days after the dome came to be, saying she "found something" in the museum where she and Mom worked at. Remy went to check, but then Doctor Proxy happened. Since then, there haven't really been many traces. Nora was a researcher at the museum, and given Mom dealt with Egyptian history, maybe this "something" is somehow Apophis-related, leading to the disappearance? But maybe she was working on something else? Also why was Doctor Proxy even there (and snatched Remy)? Was Mom involved in the disappearance somehow? Remy could swear he sometimes perceives something in the "glitches" his powers cause, and sometimes in nearby tech acting up, like a voice or words or signals. But that may or may not be wishful thinking. Either way, Remy has a feeling he will sooner or later step on some villain's toes while searching. Especially since he might eventually find a way around whatever surveillance Doctor Proxy might have on that mysterious museum backroom.

    Supercharged Family Drama [Enemy]
    So, Remy's mom Donna suddenly, with no prior warning, turned out to be an Apophis cultist of the actively sacrificing and magic-using kind. His dad Ty got fed up, quit his job, and joined Lockdown, making it to Silver Link. Remy is not exactly on speaking terms with either of them anymore, and thankfully, they both seem to have better things to do than to come after Remy or his uncle Bruno (or to look for their missing daughter... or do they?) for one reason or another. But there is no telling when or why that may change.

    Good Guy Uncle Bruno [Relationship]
    Uncle Bruno is a quirky freelance web dev guy, with a passion for cooking and various tabletop game hobbies. After the dome appeared, he tried his best to look after his niece and nephew and keep things relatively sane (for them and himself, given what also went down with his sister and her ex-husband going all villain all of a sudden). He knows his share of people, just trying to look out for people, make it through whatever this League is trying to do. Nora disappearing and Remy having a Doctor Proxy run-in and then developing weird superpowers, followed by him trying to help people more directly has him worried, but, well, he can either spend all his time worrying, or he can try to support. So he does the latter. Not heading into the fray, mind you, he might have won a fist fight or two at some point, but let's not get crazy. But there is something to be said for being a safe haven for a kid trying to make things right in a crazy town.

    Annihilate Anything [Accident]
    Did I mention that Remy is terrified of his power? I shall do so again! He is terrified of it! Removal does just what it says on the tin, it is a fundamental power that removes/erases whatever it is pointed at. And if you mess up, very bad things can happen, because it does not come with a Quality of Life Power like, say, Restoration. Some things might come back from being erased, whether they are generated again by their sources, or brought back by however the world works, but some things are just gone. Forever. And it is not limited to physical things. He can erase relative distance. Personal time. Current emotions. But whatever he does, Remy has to be damned sure he is doing it right, because mistakes might be very costly indeed. That is also why he has refused to try to augment himself like, say, erasing his need to sleep. He may succeed. He may also accidentally lobotomize himself. Using his powers to try and stop a villain involves very much avoiding just erasing them from existence.

    Nopody [Identity/Quirk]
    People remember Nope, but Remy just slips everyone's mind. Remy has gotten very used to reintroducing himself when meeting someone again. People remembering him when he removes his identity is just baffling to him, and a bit infuriating, but at the same time, he does his best to keep that negative on the inside, since he doesn't think it's other people's fault if everyone has trouble remembering him.

    Could You Not? [Honor]
    So like most people (hopefully, though he is growing increasingly pessimistic about that, at least in this country), Remy is not particularly fond of violence. Since he now has insane existence-erasing powers, yes, he would quite like to talk things out instead, even if he is not even remotely convincing in most cases, thank you very much. Or otherwise circumvent using the invisible nightmare cannon.

    The Introvert Cinnamon Roll, Destroyer of Worlds [Quirk]
    You know what Remy likes? Being nice. It's pretty great. There's the real power fantasy. Getting along with people, which is hard enough for someone who has to burn mental resources for social interaction. You know what that doesn't synergize with? Bad guys maybe considering to take indistinct weirdo with the "removal powers" (whatever those are supposed to be) seriously.

    What Lurks Below [Phobia]
    Remy has made contact with the collective unconscious (quote unquote) once. The experience still haunts him, even if it is mostly buried in his subconscious now. Many questions remain. What actually is that place? Why did it cause Remy to have this power? ...Does anything live there? ...Might that place reach out to him at some point, rather than him being pushed down into it?

    ...Are There Others? [Enemy?/Relationship?/Responsibility?/Rivalry???]
    Luckily, what happened to Remy was a one time freak accident. Right? ...Right? I mean, no one would want more people being dipped into that incomprehensible realm and develop other fundamental powers! Especially not people with a distinct lack of morals, a tenuous grasp on sanity, an untethered creativity, or all three at once! Surely that would never happen! That's preposterous! Just like someone gaining control over the collective unconscious! Ridiculous! Now stop thinking about it!
    P.S.: Would be especially ridiculous and unlikely if one of Remy's old bullies ends up as one of those, especially since everyone involved is in that awkward trying to move on phase of mostly trying to ignore what went down years ago and maybe/maybe not perhaps carrying a bit of weight on that conscience about that.

    Spoiler: Power Descriptions
    Show
    The Power of Removal
    Gained from contact with the "collective unconscious" (name pending, but Remy is not exactly researching the matter), Removal does just that. Remove. Sometimes temporarily. Sometimes permanently. And with no Restoration quality of life failsafe or other safety net sort of thing. It just carves something from existence and whether it comes back depends entirely on whether it is generated by something that still exists, or the nebulous mechanics of the world poor, mortal Remy is not privy to. Thus, Remy has to have a very good idea what he is trying to remove, whether knowing the exact physical thing he is trying to remove, or being able to clearly conceptualize/visualize something. If he messes up, the consequences could be dire, especially since there is, as of yet, no real known limit to what can be removed. Remy's biggest strength and greatest drawback in that regard are his set of morals and generally trying to be very careful with what he is trying to do. Erasing personal time is about the most daring thing he has done. And he has no intention of ever trying to see whether he could remove universal time. Or natural laws, even on a small scale. Or worse.

    Remove Identity
    Remy becomes unrecognizable as, well, Remy. He is just an indistinct figure now, the details never really sticking in one's mind, because, well, an identity can't be identified if there is no identity to be identified. This is Nope, as Remy called that. He also calls his powers that on sheer principle, but that is beside the point. At least it allows him to do more... superheroic things without screaming his identity to the world. Since Nope is the only thing like it, however, it somehow manages to be remembered as Nope especially because of that. Remy is at a loss on that matter.

    Remove Acceleration
    Remy can cancel out many sorts of movement inflicted upon him, like, say, gravity, or the forward momentum of being on/in a vehicle. He can attempt to maintain momentum he has (to a certain relatively low limit). However, he cannot freely fly. Remember, he can remove things, not add. Thus he can hover up or down in the air, walk along surfaces, or keep moving in the direction he was going in at a point of a jump. But if he can't somehow accelerate his body in the air (outside of gravity) by pushing off something or being blown somewhere or whatnot, he is not going anywhere. Remy has been very sure to never try to untether himself from the planet entirely. As in, from the planet's movement through the universe. That sounds like it would end badly immediately.


    Rote Removal
    These are methods for things Remy can remove he has managed to practice to a point where he can relatively reliably use them without too much effort (relatively speaking; see the dangers and care outlined above). These are, for whatever reason, "easy" enough for this sort of thing, allowing Remy to have sort of a "background process" (as he sometimes calls it) for these powers, while he can use his focus on the more difficult applications. Remember, multitasking is a thing. Multifocus is not.

    Personal Relative Distance
    Remy picks a point in space and removes the relative distance between him and it. Not the actual distance. There is not suddenly a hole in space, thank goodness. He can check in a very small fraction of time whether he can actually transfer to a place by sending very tiny parts of him (usually a teeny bit of a hair or something like that) ahead and feeling for the sensation that the destination rejects that or not. Rejection meaning it landed in something solid. If the location is safe, his current position and state is simply instantly transfered there. If he is moving in some way, he is still moving that way there, he is still facing the same way, still in the same pose and whatnot. Remy once experienced having part of him land in a wall, he has trained hard to make sure that never happens again.

    Travel Time
    Remy moves along a path while erasing his personal time doing so, thus appearing (mostly) instantly at his destination, possibly with breaks in between if he needs to do something. This allows him to cross much farther distances than his previous power and at much less immediate risk, but he still needs a physical path (and, occasionally, means) to move where he wants to. A small upside is that in "zero time", physics behave weirdly, because all normal acceleration is effectively halted, and what he moves in zero time does not accelerate things once they come out of it, so he is able to move some amount of mass he can still erase time for around he couldn't normally (whether that is people or objects). There is little sign of his passage outside of his movement before and after zero time. Needless to say, Remy concentrates hard to keep the removal to personal time, and only the exact timeframe necessary.

    Recovery Time
    Like Travel Time, but focused on a more specific thing. Namely, his own wound recovery. The emergence of his power made him more durable in general (which may or may not be "tiny" instinctive or automatic applications of Removal in regards to energy directed at him, Remy has no means of checking this) and recover better, but after some very, very careful experimentation after he got messed up during his initial forays into superhero work, he managed to remove at least part of the time needed to recover from injury. It is not a cure-all, sadly, some conditions eluding him so far, but he takes what he can get. Better than to accidentally erase his ability to recover from wounds.

    Presence
    While people had a hard time noticing Remy even before his power came to be, this is the actually supernatural kind. He removes the concept of him being there (well, mostly). Since he still exists, his presence returns once he stops maintaining this, as it is a consequence of him being there (unremarkable as it may be). He can still be touched, and people will still notice that (in most cases), but Remy has decided against trying to remove his corporeality.

    Second Guessing
    A lot of Remy's mental processing power and concentration is required to make his main powers work as they should. With it comes checking and re-checking his assumptions, conceptualizations/visualizations, knowledge, intent etc. This is hampering to a degree, more than is often needed. If he really needs to achieve his absolute best, he stops himself from doing any of his other rote methods, and temporarily removes his constant second guessing, allowing him to go through the necessary processes and then just do it. A little worrying after the fact for him, because he needs to make sure he doesn't make himself careless, but it gets better results.


    Focus Removal
    The big applications of the Removal power, and the ones really requiring a great deal of effort. Most of these notably remove something from something other than Remy, which makes quite the difference in how it is done, and what care needs to be taken, not to mention what Remy is even aware of. Repeated and/or extended use of these is pretty stressful, and it is not uncommon to see him starting to sweat or shake after a time, physically, mentally, and/or emotionally exhausting him if he really pushes himself. Most of the time when he uses his powers, there is a distinct sense of... something missing, like something akin to the uncanny valley or just noticing the absence of something one can't put their finger on. It might be a visual distortion, light or shadow being reduced around Remy and/or the target, sound cutting out for just a split second, physics misbehaving, glitches like that. All side effects of Remy having decent, but not perfect control over his power.

    Hit Points
    Yes, clearly the world does not run on actual hit points (and neither does M&M). But this is conceptual shorthand for Remy, to reduce an enemy's ability to avoid harm and/or fight, usually ending in unconsciousness (or disabling/dismantling mechanical things). This is, usually, much preferable to trying to, say, remove the opponents themselves, parts of them, or the bonds of their body or the like (though robots get less of a pass for the latter). Mental gymnastics and a clear intent are needed to do this, but that is the cost of trying to not be horrible. As a side effect, this does allow for some occasionally useful things against objects. Remy has been able to just... kind of push open a solid container wall by removing the connections between molecules and the material's integrity, which made it fold like paper.

    Hit Points, Mass
    As above, but to a lesser degree, but against more things, as you may have guessed. The lessened effect is necessary, as Remy has only so much mental bandwidth, and now has to adjust his power's effects on many different entities. He found it easiest to follow a mental trajectory and thus order of targets instead of trying to just go through whatever is in some radius.

    Harm
    Remy conceptualizes injury and other negative conditions as something added to a base, namely the healthy individual, and removes what was added. Mental gymnastics once again being required, in this case perhaps more high stakes than him trying to do damage. Remarkably powerful when done right, but requiring a lot of precision and concentration. Remy wants to remove, say, a wound in an arm and leave behind the state of how it should be, not carve a hole into the arm. Note that he can remove known conditions from people. He is no better than the average person at noticing something is wrong.

    Crux
    Specifically made to deal with the robotic minions of Doctor Proxy. Remy does not remotely have the technological know-how or genius to understand technology on a level to instantly pinpoint and exploit flaws. But given he knows his way around exploiting security flaws, he can often find shortcuts, whether that is removing the mobility of an important joint, power sent to the critical system, or undoing a certain connection. Bafflingly for Remy, this use of his powers seems to be always temporary (unless the target wrecks itself during the usage). Well, almost always. He may or may not have destroyed a phone or computer or three at some point on accident.

    Momentary Agitation
    Remy takes a deep breath and removes current feelings of agitation, like aggression, fear, intense sadness and the like. "Current" being the keyword, to avoid doing any lasting damage. Remy doesn't feel that good about this, what with messing with people's heads and emotions, but it has managed to calm a panicked crowd or band of troublemakers down when that became really necessary. He has so far refused to explore what else could be done mentally similar to this method.

    Placeholder
    No, that is the final name of this power. It is literally a placeholder, because this power encompasses every single other possible application of the Removal power. This is easily the most taxing and the most terrifying power for Remy, because the vast design space contains many, many things he vehemently refuses to even consider. Usually, what effects he produces with this are less potent than his other main applications, which is due to him having been able to practice the latter. Every now and then used for very situational powers, but always quickly mentally put away once done.

    Spoiler: Backstory
    Show
    Well, let's cut to the chase: Obelisk showed up, dome appeared, museum curator mom Donna turned out to be a cultist, disgruntled security man dad Ty became a Silver Link 'cause he had enough of how things worked before and getting pushed around, no idea where his elder sister Nora disappeared to after she sent her brother a cryptic message that she found something at the museum she started working at a few months ago, uncle Bruno is trying to hold down the fort best he can with all the chaos happening, and Remy had a run-in with the Proxy Suit and since then has the power to just erase things.

    So that's where we're at. Practically a normal Tuesday.

    Before all that, nothing too special. Parents divorced but at least not on bad terms, Nora starting as a researcher at mom's work, Remy not really knowing what to do yet with his life. School career was kinda whatever, results were alright, mostly flew under the radar, never really left an impression. Almost but not really got around getting bullied at one point or another, and it seems the points where it happened really wanted to make up for lost time. Never dated, not sure if that will ever happen, or if he actually even wants that to happen. So combined with being an inherent introvert not really liking the country he was born in, Remy was pretty aimless. Got into lockpicking as a way to keep his mind and hands occupied, which then developed into a general interest for security systems and procedures (physical and digital) when he visited his parents' workplaces, with the unfortunate side effect of eventually noticing how many crucial things of the world are basically held together by duct tape, prayers, and a small rug having been placed on top so nobody notices. Remy may or may not have also gotten into various places in town where he was not supposed to be, not because he wanted to do nefarious things, but just exploring, maybe taking a snapshot or two. Sometimes some gaming with the few IRL or online friends he has, cooking with Uncle Bruno, making a bit of money with jobs where he was practically invisible (though honestly, selling and editing photos was starting to become a more reliable source of income).

    Then boom, Obelisk. Watcher and his four evil friends. Dome. General chaos. Villain minions being generally unpleasant to actively dangerous. It was a weird day when he received a message from his dad that he finally found something worthwhile to do, along with a selfie of him in Silver Link get-up. Then walking home, only to see a bunch of potentially murderous weirdos in red robes dragging people out of the apartment building, and recognizing his mom as one of the cultists through the viewfinder of his camera. Quick texting his sister, then a call (!) to decide that maybe, maaaybe they should stay at Uncle Bruno's place for a while. Some days later, Nora doesn't come home. Uncle Bruno worried, asking a few people if they saw her, until Remy decided to follow the weird message Nora had last sent. So he went to the museum, let himself in (he knew the security systems pretty well; also the staff being terrible with passwords and -codes, or applying patches when they should be), went to the department he had visited his sister a few times, usually to bring something she forgot. Noticing a backroom door ajar, going to check.

    Next thing he knew, he was in the Proxy Suit, staring into unblinking eyes on a screen right in front of his face. Mind struggling to keep it together, but something pushing on it to finally submit with every greater force. And I guess eventually, the push was hard enough to slam Remy right through whatever is the lower boundary of the subconscious, and right into a mindbending... place. Empty nothingness, but also vast and populated with who knows what, all at once, everywhere. Before Remy's mind could shatter into an imaginary number of pieces, he and the Proxy Suit blipped out of existence for a few seconds. Next thing he knows, Remy is falling down onto the top of an 18-wheeler, and trying to go back home with a mind still trying to piece itself back together while surrounded by what feels like a new infinite nothingness. Weird things happen. A chain-link fence just... disappearing when it's in the way. Skipping distance, somehow, or at least not remembering crossing a street or two he should have. Running into one of the small-time droids of Doctor Proxy and in a small fit of panic, the thing seemed to just stop working and partially dismantle itself. Along with a hole appearing in the street.

    Since then, Remy has been trying to understand his newfound, really very very terrifying powers of just... removing things. And how there was no real handholding or safeguards. He has been doing his best not to worry Uncle Bruno, but Remy is a terrible liar, so he knows. Bruno would really prefer it if Remy stayed out of trouble, but Remy, on top of his many failings, was also cursed with a set of morals making it increasingly uncomfortable to do nothing but keep his head down now that he actually can do something worthwhile. And eventually, his conscience won out, as harrowing as that may turn out to be. Given the terrible extent of what he calls a "fundamental power" (it seems appropriate to him, at least), first encounters with trying to help were rocky, given it was deemed very important not to accidentally make people disappear (or parts of people), so combined with lack of any combat training or experience, there was a lot of scraping by with what little mental capacity he had left outside of controlling his powers. Thankfully, he could "remove" his identity (it would come back, with the going theory being that it comes back because Remy himself is still a thing) to avoid basically pointing a giant neon arrow at Uncle Bruno's apartment. On the other hand, people started to recognize "Nope" (as he called his "hero" form) more than they ever did Remy. Let's be real here, Remy is not a gloryhound, at all, he doesn't like the spotlight, but it has been notoriously difficult to have people even remember his name, and now the no identity form gets recognized? What?

    So yeah, this is where Remy is at. Trying to just help people. Try and find Nora. Stop Doctor Proxy from doing... whatever he did to Remy, because Remy thinks that it could happen again, and no one needs more people with removal powers or other potentially horrible things like creation stapled onto a madman. Keep tabs on mom and dad. Keep Uncle Bruno safe (and supplied). No real idea how to really go about it all or how to deal with the hilariously dangerous League of the Future (!!!) (actual superpowers and time travel, what the heck). But someone's gotta do it.


    The feeling when writing the character was like pulling teeth, had zero confidence, and get picked. So uh, hey people! I'm here, somehow! I will need to look at the other characters tomorrow because I generally stopped doing that during recruitment because that inevitably drives me insane with somehow trying to fill a niche. Oh, and spend those last few floating pp in the arrays, because I insisted on a weird number of pp for the smaller array, because I wanted those single pp extras, dangnabbit!
    Last edited by Ridai; 2022-11-29 at 01:29 PM. Reason: removed an old Downtime note

  9. - Top - End - #9
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Imp

    Join Date
    Jul 2020

    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Kalliopi "Kal" Yefantis -- Ariadne

    Spoiler: Mechanics
    Show

    Combat {40 points}

    Defense: +10.
    Resistance: +10.
    Attack Bonus: +5.
    Effect Bonus: +5.
    Initiative: +4.

    Skills {20 points}

    Deception: +0. Expertise: +20. Insight: +10. Intimidation: +10. Investigation: +0.
    Mobility: +0. Perception: +0. Persuasion: +0. Stealth: +0. Technology: +0. Treatment: +0.

    Fields of Expertise: Egyptian Mythology, Fashion & Garments, General Mythology, Greek Culture, Greek Mythology, Handmade Crafts, Language (Ancient Egyptian), Language (Ancient Greek), Magic.

    Advantages {11 points}

    Accurate Attack, All-out Attack, Artificer, Defensive Attack, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative 1, Instant Up, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Ritualist, Takedown

    Equipment

    Smartphone

    Powers {79 points}

    Thread Combat: 50-point Array + 5. {55 points}

    Thread Lash: Damage Effect 10; Ranged, Quirk (Short Range Only), Multiattack, Homing, Penetrating, Secondary Effect. {50}With Dual Needle Weaving: Add Cloud Area, Selective.
    Snaring Strands: Affliction Effect 10 (Immobile and Vulnerable/Stunned and Defenseless); Extra Condition, Limited Degree, Ranged, Progressive, Secondary Effect. {50}With Dual Needle Weaving: Add Cloud Area, Selective.
    Silken Shields: Deflect Effect 10; Cloud Area, Selective. Linked to Create 10; Selective, Reduced Range [Close]. {50} With Dual Needle Weaving: Add Secondary Effect (Deflect), Increased Duration, Continuous (Create).
    Seizing Strings: Strength Effect 10; Perception, Ranged, Extra Condition. {50} With Dual Needle Weaving: Add Cloud Area, Selective.
    Twines that Bind: Weaken Effect 10; Perception, Ranged, Secondary Effect. [SUB]With Dual Needle Weaving: Add Cloud Area, Selective.{50}
    Suturing String: Healing 10 (Restorative, Area [Shapable], Secondary Effect 6, Triggered 4) {50}

    Threadwork Conjurations: 20-point Array + 5. {25 points}

    Thread Flight: Flight Effect 10; Platform. Linked to Movement Effect (Safe Fall); Affects Self & Others, Burst Area, Ranged. {20}
    Defensive Thread: Impervious Toughness 10. Linked to Immunity 10 (Inhalant Gas/Vapor-Based Effects). {20}
    Threadwork Sense: Remote Sensing 10 (Vision; Concentration, Limited [Contiguous Open Space]), Senses 15 (Accurate Radius Ranged Mental Sense, Counters All Forms of Visual Concealment, Vision Counters Illusion, Ranged Detect [Magic], Direction Sense, Tracking). {20}
    Dual Needle Weaving: Enhanced Thread Combat (Thread Combat Powers gain new properties) {20}
    Enhanced Thread Combat: (Limited [Required Movement]), Thread Combat gains Linked Strength 10 (Ranged, Limited [Launch]) {20}
    Thread Cantrips: Variable 3 (Can employ minor tricks & effects; see Power Descriptions for specific examples); Quirk (Max 5 Effect Ranks) {20}

    Voice Distortion: Feature 1. (Distorts voice to be unrecognizable) {1 point}

    Morphic Garments: Feature 1. (Quick Change) {1 point}

    Calculations

    Defenses 40 + Skills 20 + Advantages 11 + Powers 81 = 153 PP, PL 10


    Spoiler: Complications
    Show

    A Safer World For Children [Motivation] -- After spending a great deal of time teaching the after-school craft classes at the local elementary school, Kal feels connected to the children and will suffer any burden to ensure their safety and healthy development, up to and including foiling the League of the Future. Of course, Kal will save any civilian on general principle (though she might hesitate for a second on the richer ones, see: Backstory), but she'll especially go out of her way to protect children as she knows a great many of the local schoolchildren by name. She's heard of the so-called deal to not hurt anyone under the age of 14, but she also trusts the League as far as she can throw them.

    Needle & Thread [Power Loss] -- In order to manipulate her threads, Kal must hold a sewing needle in at least one hand, and her other hand must be unhindered (or also holding a sewing needle of its own). With greater training and study, Kal feels as though it might be possible to perform minor tricks empty-handed, but for now, she relies on a needle to focus and guide her energies.

    All Magical [Power Loss] -- Almost all of Kal's powers and abilities hinge on being able to weave her magic threads. In areas or dimensions where magic is nullified or ineffective, Kal is effectively powerless.

    Never Had Much [Quirk] -- Kal's childhood, adolescence, and even her present are all marked by financial insecurity. She was never in abject poverty, but at the same time, her family could never afford stereotypical middle-class things like vacations, eating out, nice gifts for the holidays, and so on. As a result, she has a knee-jerk snarkiness that emerges whenever she believes someone is being wasteful with their money. Unsurprisingly, she also has a difficult time being sympathetic when someone complains about having to cut X or Y thing from their life for budget reasons. She doesn't resent anyone for having more money than her, but in her mind, being thrifty with your resources is a very logical decision that shouldn't require any hemming or hawing. Incidentally, this issue also ties into her subsequent Complication.

    Gotta Keep The Lights On [Quirk] -- What with this awful turn of events regarding the League of the Future, Dimetria's business is doing even more poorly than usual. The disappearance of big gala events like dances and weddings means less customers; there's still the occasional alteration or custom job, but the cash flow isn't what it was. This puts some unfortunate financial strain on Kal's hero operations -- she might have to take a day off from crimefighting to help Dimetria with a particular job, or to spend all day on the phone haggling with customer service agents for another bill extension.

    Apophis [Enemy] -- Apophis, aside from putting her in the hospital, tidily symbolizes everything that Kal is against. He uses the power gifted to him to stir up trouble, terrify and intimidate civilians, and generally pursue his own selfish ends. In her guise as Ariadne, Kal is his philosophical opposite, wielding her powers to right wrongs, help the people of the city, and protect those who cannot protect themselves.

    Additionally, Kal feels an odd sort of responsibility in stopping Apophis. Others may be able to fight the other members of the League of the Future, but if Apophis truly is the avatar of a god as he claims to be, then it would stand to reason that only someone else similarly blessed with mythic power could stand up to him, so if Kal can't do the job, perhaps no one else can.

    Grandma Dimetria [Relationship] -- Kal loves her grandmother more than anything (despite Dimetria's constant protestations that Kal doesn't eat enough), and would sacrifice anything to keep her safe.

    Ariadne [Relationship] -- The magically preserved memory of Ariadne, sealed inside of Kal's DNA, acts as both a teacher figure and a personification of the thread itself, regulating Kal's flow of magical energy and preventing her from drawing on too much power at once. With a flair for poetic language, her manner of phrasing leaks into Kal's words whenever Kal assumes the guise of Ariadne, lending a sort of ancient and dramatic (and occasionally stuffy) quality to Kal's speech. While Kal's and Ariadne's goals align most of the time, Kal can't ignore how Ariadne seems to care very little for the welfare of badguys that stand in Kal's way, sometimes to the point of being decidedly un-heroic. To complicate things even further, Ariadne's ability to regulate the thread and reflavor Kal's speech raises the ominous question -- when Kal is manipulating the thread, who's really in control? Kal, or Ariadne?

    Strings Attached [Relationship/Responsibility] -- As Kal grows in reputation, she improvises a bit of thread magic to give certain citizens a direct line to her, in case they're in need of superheroic assistance. Undoubtedly a selfless gesture, but one she should use sparingly, or else it might eat into her already limited reserves of time.
    Current Contacts: The Magro Family

    Secret Identity [Secret] -- For safety reasons, Kal is keeping her identity a secret, though once this awful citywide imprisonment has passed, she's thinking of letting the world know if there was a chance it could get her into fashion school.

    Artist [Obsession] -- Kal is a fashion designer first and foremost, and everything else in her life comes second. When she isn't troubled by customers at the shop, being hounded by her grandmother, or patrolling the streets as Ariadne, she spends most of her free time thinking up designs in her head, or sketching them out on paper. She is immensely talented and intensely creative, but talent alone hasn't done her any favors in paying for fashion school. While protecting the weak and helping people always comes first, she would have a hard time fighting crime on the same day as a fashion job fair that might get her foot in a door somewhere.

    Flammable [Weakness] -- Even though the threads she conjures are magical in nature, they share many of the same weaknesses as their more mundane cousins. Her thread doesn't disintegrate instantly in fire, but once lit, it typically doesn't take very long to burn away to nothing. Of course, she can summon more thread right away, but this creates problems when something that she needs to manipulate or move is actively aflame.

    Shear Forces [Weakness] -- While her thread can deflect most hacking weapons like axes or swords without too much difficulty (due to the imprecise application of the slicing force), precisely applied shearing or cutting pressure (like chainsaws or buzzsaws) can slice through her threads without too much effort.



    Spoiler: Power Descriptions
    Show

    All of Kal's powers have the [Magical] and [Fabric] descriptors, as a result of them being channeled using magic power and relying on mystical thread.

    Red Thread of Ariadne: The source of virtually all of Kal's powers is the mythical Red Thread from the Theseus story, which led him through the labyrinth to the Minotaur. The thread always appears from nowhere and fades back into nothingness on the other side, as though the thread's mooring points are either invisible, or perhaps exist in another dimension. If a line of the thread is severed, burned, or otherwise destroyed, it vanishes just as quickly as it appeared, without leaving a trace.

    Patterns: As opposed to casting magic spells, Kal moves her needle with specific gestures and movements, which translate into various effects of the thread. She learns more patterns by studying the eldritch pattern books in her grandmother's shop, inherited from her ancestors. The directions in these books appear alien to anyone else, like bizarre needlework stitches in nigh-incomprehensible permutations or dimensions -- some of the stitches are even in non-Euclidean geometries -- but with diligent study and practice, Kal can decipher them to unlock more functionality of the thread. She can also improvise a pattern of her own, to create a single-use object with a pre-programmed thread effect (Artificer), or whip up a customized pattern that can manipulate thread in unorthodox or unconventional ways (Ritualist).

    Ariadne: Aside from using her as her heroic namesake, Kal also happens to have a magically preserved memory of the sorceress Ariadne, dwelling in her soul. Ariadne is a helpful guide when it comes to using the thread, and commands an impressive wealth of information regarding magic in general -- but her brand of uncompromising vigilantism doesn't always agree with Kal's more merciful tendencies. See Complications: Ariadne for more info.

    Threadwork Combat: With a little creativity and a whole lot of practice, Kal has learned how to use her signature thread as a deadly weapon, capable of slashing and snaring opponents, while simultaneously protecting herself with woven barriers and other tricks.

    Thread Lash [Slashing]: Kal projects a line of thread at an opponent, then sends a ripple along it, with enough force to shatter glass, ceramics, and small objects, and enough sharpness to carve a stinging razor cut into whoever's on the receiving end. Also has the ability to zigzag, to hit targets that may have evaded the initial strike.

    Snaring Strands: With some quick figure-eights of her needle, Kal conjures a dense, messy snarl of thread around an unfortunate enemy, who finds themselves unable to move as a result. The ensnaring threads have a spiderweb-like effect; hapless targets often find themselves even more tangled up, the more that they struggle or squirm.

    Silken Shields: While Kal can deflect lighter attacks with a single gesture (see Defensive Thread), she can also weave up large, disc-shaped patterns and designs in midair to block more substantial forms of attack, which unravel back into nothing as soon as the assault has subsided. Kal is capable of summoning these defenses around allies as well, for situations when the whole team is under heavy fire. Additionally, Kal can manipulate the thread to form simple, albeit crude, shapes and objects. These objects aren't terribly strong or durable, but they're useful for making things like temporary bridges, ramps, or stairways for others traversing dangerous terrain or unsteady footing.

    Seizing String: By crisscrossing threads on a single point, Kal can lift up objects (and people!) with little effort, and place them somewhere else that she chooses. Useful for extracting civilians from dangerous areas, and conversely, also handy for suspending badguys in the air like grisly marionettes until they fold and tell you the location of the hideout. Truly, a versatile tool.

    Threadwork Abilities: Aside from the thread's deadlier combat applications, it also has a number of more benign uses, as well!

    Thread Flight: By rapidly connecting her cloak to threads in midair and then severing them, Kal can soar through the air at impressive speed. To keep herself warm while she flies, she keeps her cloak wrapped around her like a shroud, which lends a sort of eerie, ghostlike floatiness to her aerial movements. (Note: it's not a proper platform a la hoverboards, but a well-placed attack can knock her off of her threads, so it's effectively a platform for Power Flaw purposes.) If she's attacked out of the air, her thread can form a wide, circular array beneath her, providing a soft cushion for her landing. She can also conjure this design for others, ideal for evacuation purposes when civilians are escaping a burning building or a villain attack.

    Defensive Thread: All it takes is a tiny flick of Kal's needle, and incoming attacks are directed away from her via quick crisscrossings of thread. While particularly vicious or powerful assaults are too strong for this, it's an effective defense against lighter or weaker forms of attack, like punches and kicks, knives and bats, and small-arms fire. Also comes with a woven mouth filter for noxious gases and dangerous vapors.

    Threadwork Sense [Sensory]: With focus and concentration, Kal can project a network of intangible, mystical threads in every direction, giving her the ability to remotely view any area within the network's range, as well as detect magical goings-on or phenomena, and see through visual illusions and trickery. Even though the threads comprising this network are effectively incorporeal, they have difficulty winding through solid matter, so she can't see into sealed-off rooms or areas. Additionally, via her threadwork sense, Kal can never get lost, especially in labyrinthine areas, like winding tunnels, sewer passageways, hedge mazes, and similarly confusing constructions.

    Dual Needle Weaving: By weaving with both hands simultaneously, Kal can ramp up her thread attacks to strike at multiple enemies at once.

    Thread Cantrips: Kal can improvise a number of small and harmless effects by way of simple patterns, that she uses to practice her powers, amuse herself, or for minor conveniences like closing the fridge door from another room. Some examples:

    Magic Mending: With a stitch here and there, Kal can magically mend cloth objects that have been damaged or torn.

    Thread Grasp: When she's not using the thread to lift up large objects, rubble, or badguys, she can use a tiny amount of thread to grab the landline phone from another room or open and close doors. This can't exert much force, but it's nice for fine manipulation or just grabbing keys off of a table before she leaves.

    Thread Shapes: Owing to her skill as a designer, Kal can weave up any small shape or image that she can visualize, and by way of pulling the threads, animate the image to perform simple movements. Examples might include a butterfly flapping its wings, a palm-sized three-dimensional portrait of a person's head, or floating words, symbols, or geometric patterns. These images are always very clearly made out of red thread, so they can't function as illusions with any kind of verisimiltude.

    Voice Distortion: By converging several layers of thread over her mouth and then vibrating the threads in time with her speech, Kal can generate an impressively eerie distortion effect, causing her voice to sound like a chorus of ghostly voices, speaking simultaneously. Great for unnerving badguys, and for disguising her voice to preserve her secret identity.

    Morphic Garments: Befitting a user of magical thread, Kal can conjure an entire article of clothing or outfit in a matter of moments. Since this ability is limited to garments only, it's not terribly useful for situations where the guards already know what she looks like, but it's handy for any infiltration mission where blending in means wearing the right uniform.



    Spoiler: Description
    Show

    Kalliopi Yefantis is a tall, lanky, bronze-skinned woman, with long tresses of dark curly hair and intensely dark-green eyes. In her day-to-day life, she doesn't wear anything much more glamorous than T-shirts, jeans, and hoodies, but when she goes out with friends, as you might expect from an aspiring fashion designer, she dresses to the nines with elaborate patterned blouses and handmade pants of her own design.

    While fighting crime as Ariadne, her main garment is a dark red peplos, a traditional ancient Greek robe, with a dark red himation over it, essentially a hooded cloak. Both her robe and cloak are fringed with gold trim, matching her gold mask, which is devoid of any features save the eyeholes (think Vega's mask from Street Fighter). Since her cloak is effectively a construct made of the magic thread, she can have it unravel instantly with a flick of her needle, if necessary to escape someone's grip.

    In the midst of a fight, she always holds one of her trademark sewing needles in her left hand, flicking and darting to conjure threads as she requires them. She keeps some thread wound around the fingers of her right hand in a cat's-cradle-esque, star-shaped string figure, gesturing with it to focus and direct her threads with greater precision than the needle by itself affords.



    Spoiler: Backstory
    Show

    Before she became the thread-weaving wonder known as Ariadne, Kalliopi "Kal" Yefantis was a fairly normal young woman, twenty-six years old, who was watching her life pass her by and was unsure on how to stop it. From as early as age nine, her singular passion was clothes and clothing design -- her Greek immigrant parents initially chalked it up to "young girls enjoying dress-up," but after she dragged them to fabric stores to stock up on materials, their jaws dropped as she sewed actual, wearable garments, only following instructions from craft books.

    Kal's passion only grew stronger as she went through middle and high school; she routinely made prom dresses for friends, altered clothes for relatives if they didn't fit right, and constantly developed her own designs. As high school came to a close, she applied to all of the top fashion schools, certain that her portfolio was enough to get her in. And as it turned out, it was.

    But due to a complication of her parents' immigration status, she didn't qualify for financial aid, nor did she qualify for grants or scholarships. It was almost worse than being outright rejected -- if she wasn't good enough, at least she could work on improving, but finding absurd sums of money wasn't going to be so easy.

    As a sort of compromise, her parents suggested that she stay with her grandmother Dimetria in Forester's Bay, Michigan, where she owned her own small tailoring business. She could work there and earn some money while learning all about traditional clothes from Dimetria. Kal had always loved her grandmother since she could talk shop with her, but helping out at a tailor's wasn't how she imagined her life after school, not to mention Forester's Bay was a bit of a nowhere town. Still, after some gentle coaxing, she decided maybe a gap year wouldn't be so bad.

    After moving in with her grandmother in the Residential Quarter, Kal took to the work diligently, and spent most of her nights staying in and reading something from Dimetria's enormous library of antique portfolios. She could grasp all of them fairly easily, except for some odd ones that were off by themselves on their own shelf, underneath some antique Greek masks hanging on the wall. They depicted strange patterns and bizarre stitches, that couldn't feasibly work on virtually any clothing. When she asked her grandmother about them, Dimetria just said she inherited them from her own grandmother, and couldn't make much sense of them either.

    As time passed, a gap year became a gap chapter of Kal's life, as she tried in vain to get her designs noticed on social media while scrounging up money. She quickly learned the painful lesson that "exposure" wasn't terribly helpful -- many a well-to-do socialite from Lakeside saw her designs hanging in the shop, asked if they could borrow one for an event, and then nothing would come of it. Kal developed a healthy distrust for the town's upper class, as well as a callous bitterness that they could probably send their kids to whatever school they wanted, while she had to toil endlessly to afford an education that she felt like she deserved. There was at least one thing that brought her some joy: teaching after-school craft classes at the James K. Polk Elementary School.

    Children were non-judgmental and easy to talk to, not to mention they loved her classes. While she wasn't teaching them fashion, she got to show them how to make origami cranes, paper lanterns, and a hundred other fun little activities. She started to wonder if maybe a career in teaching instead was worth looking into, but all of that changed the day Apophis showed up.

    During the fateful incident when he turned the school's parking lot tarmac into sand, there was a little girl standing behind him, one of the students from Kal's craft class who was waiting for her parents. Not knowing exactly what Apophis was planning, Kal saw the golden radiance flow from his palms to the tarmac, and acted without thinking. She sprinted behind him, and hoisted the little girl up into the air, keeping her off of the tarmac as it morphed beneath her into sand. Kal gently put the little girl back down on the grass, away from the sand, and told her to run away as fast as she could, instructions which the little girl had no trouble following. As Apophis finished his magic, he turned and noticed Kal standing behind him, scowling. She hissed that he should pick on someone his own size, to which Apophis responded with an enthusiastic "Capital idea." He held his palm out towards Kal, and shot a pulse of light at her that knocked her off her feet, as time slowed down to standing still.

    As Kal awoke, she found herself in a dark, cold passageway, and as she navigated its serpentine path with multiple intersections, she realized she was in a maze. Even though it was constructed to be confusing, she knew exactly which turn to take each time, as though she'd solved this maze before.

    After what felt like hours, she found herself in a small, dimly lit room, with a middle-aged woman working at a loom, clad in traditional ancient Greek robes, colored red. When the woman saw Kal enter, she smiled and stopped her work so she could give Kal a big hug, and said that her name was Ariadne, and she's waited so long to meet her. Kal asked where they were, and Ariadne responded that they were in the place between her soul and her DNA, where echoes of ancestors and past lives dwell. She took Kal by the hands, and told her that moving forward, she would always be there for her, if Kal needed someone to talk to or to make sense of things. She also explained that they didn't have much time, so she needed to see her finger for a moment. Kal stuck her finger out, and Ariadne quickly pricked it with a needle. As Kal yelped in pain, she saw not blood drip out of her fingertip, but tiny red threads.

    Suddenly, her vision swam, as her world became a swirl of red string.

    Kal woke up in the hospital, with her grandmother sitting there beside her, frantic with concern. After getting her to calm down, she discovered that she had been unconscious for almost a day, and the doctors were beginning to get nervous. She passed a battery of tests, and was allowed to leave the following day.

    Once she was back home and settled in, she began to notice a series of odd happenings. For starters, she had developed a nervous tic where she wanted a sewing needle in her hand at all times, even if she wasn't actively working on clothes. Kal also felt like she was forgetting things -- she would want her coffee mug, and then it would suddenly be in her hand. She must be forgetting she picked it up, right? What other possible explanation could there be?

    Irate and irritable after a day of annoying customers, she decided for the heck of it to try rereading her grandmother's old pattern books, the inherited ones that didn't make any sense. As she eyed one such pattern on the page, she thoughtlessly traced it in the air with her needle. A line of red thread shot through the middle of the living room, shattering a lamp.

    After getting over her shock, she inspected the red thread. Both ends of it mysteriously trailed off into nothingness, as though it was moored in another world. No matter how much she pushed or pulled, the thread was rigid and refused to budge. She tried tracing the pattern once more, and the thread instantly vanished.

    Ariadne's voice whispered in her mind, telling her that the trick is to spool some thread around her other hand, or else it would be impossible to aim. Kal wound some thread around her empty fingers, in a sort of cat's-cradle-type arrangement, and discovered she could direct the red thread with greater precision, at a specific point or target. In her mind's voice, she whispered 'Thank you,' but the Ariadne's presence had already vanished. Kal spent the remainder of the evening combing the pattern books for more techniques.

    The following week saw more and more violence inspired by the League of the Future, including an attempted robbery of the tailoring shop. Kal watched in horror from the back room as her grandmother took the bills from the register, urged on by the goons with guns.

    Lines of red suddenly tore through the store, cleanly knocking the guns out of the robbers' hands. The robbers all looked dumbfounded at each other, until their dispatcher emerged from the back, clad in ceremonial red robes and wearing a mask of gold. Before they could mock the strange woman for her unusual dress, she held up her sewing needle and traced feverishly into the air.

    Spirals of red thread picked them all up at once, and handily deposited them outside, in a heap. Without warning, Ariadne's voice returned to Kal's mind, with a tone much less warmer than before: These men would do you harm. A lesson in humility is in order.

    As the goons slowly rose to their feet, zigzagging lines of red sped past them, puncturing nearby mailboxes and garbage cans with ease. Reading the room with expert agility, the entire group of them fled in a hurry, while Dimetria stared bug-eyed at the woman in red.

    With another flick of her needle, the hood of her cloak unraveled, and she took off the mask to reveal that it was in fact her granddaughter Kal who saved her. After reprimanding Kal for doing something so dangerous, Dimetria asked what she was doing in that outfit.

    Kal explained everything to her about Ariadne, the strange thread, and the old pattern books, which her grandmother listened to with a sort of wry skepticism. After hearing her out, Dimetria muttered something under her breath, and went into the basement to retrieve a number of old wicker baskets.

    Each basket was filled with old pattern books, and when Kal opened them, she discovered they were full of the mysterious arcane patterns, which somehow guided the thread.

    Time to study up, her grandmother said.

    Last edited by Abracadangit; 2023-02-18 at 10:25 PM.

  10. - Top - End - #10
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Imp

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    I'm going to springboard off of what Quellian said, and play the "Kal Works In Retail So She Has A Vague Knowledge of Lots of Townspeople" card. With Flint, it stands to reason that Dimetria has a lot of hospital visits for elderly care stuff, but since Flint is more of a back-office employee, I don't know Kal would get any face time with him. Though as an accountant, maybe he's needed to get a suit altered every now and again.

    Lily hanging around the shop makes sense, and I could see Dimetria telling Kal in Greek (while Lily's standing there) something like "Why don't you make friends with this one, she's loaded!!" (Ever the politician, Dimetria.)

    Working on Remy -- when it comes to me, I'll edit this post.

  11. - Top - End - #11
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Good to see everyone!

    Look at the first post; the IC thread is up!
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

  12. - Top - End - #12
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    Dorni's Avatar

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Regarding how the characters have met, Flint is an out-of-towner who got trapped here which doesn't lend itself well to having known the other characters as Flint. I think I prefer that Flint hasn't met any of the other PCs as Flint as it plays into his house-of-cards identity juggling. I'm on board for having crossed paths with the other PCs as Helios though. Helios is a particular foe of the Suneaters but he'll also fight the other villains when they show up. I could see Floral and Helios having crossed paths that way. I don't think that Kal or Nope has done much of the way of hero'ing yet though?
    With your every step, these grand adventures shall grow more distant and faint. And there may come a day when you forget the faces and voices of those you have met along the way. On that day, I bid you remember this... That no matter how far your journey may take you, you stand where you stand by virtue of the road you walked to get there.

  13. - Top - End - #13
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    Quellian-dyrae's Avatar

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Makes sense. So I'll operate on the assumption that Lily knows Kal and Floral knows Helios at least in passing.
    A role playing game is three things. It is an interactive story, a game of chance, and a process in critical thinking.

    If brevity is the soul of wit, I'm witty like a vampire!

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    M&M 3e Character Guide

  14. - Top - End - #14
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Imp

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Quote Originally Posted by Dorni View Post
    Regarding how the characters have met, Flint is an out-of-towner who got trapped here which doesn't lend itself well to having known the other characters as Flint. I think I prefer that Flint hasn't met any of the other PCs as Flint as it plays into his house-of-cards identity juggling. I'm on board for having crossed paths with the other PCs as Helios though. Helios is a particular foe of the Suneaters but he'll also fight the other villains when they show up. I could see Floral and Helios having crossed paths that way. I don't think that Kal or Nope has done much of the way of hero'ing yet though?
    This is correct -- Kal's relatively new on the hero scene, it might even be fair to say that she's more of a costumed vigilante than a proper hero, at this stage. After reading your character more carefully, I realized he was an out-of-towner, which puts the kibosh on the hospital angle. Sorry for missing that the first time!

    Quote Originally Posted by Quellian-dyrae View Post
    Makes sense. So I'll operate on the assumption that Lily knows Kal and Floral knows Helios at least in passing.
    Sounds good -- I'll work off of that assumption, as well.

  15. - Top - End - #15
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Dorni's Avatar

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Since I've become too used to mythweavers dice roller code, here's another go.

    Helperbot 1: Routine 20
    Helperbot 2: Routine 20
    Helperbot 3: Routine 20
    Sapling: Routine 20
    Bronze Link: Routine 20
    Reanimated: [dice]roll1d20+10[/dice]
    Last edited by Dorni; 2022-02-16 at 01:11 AM.
    With your every step, these grand adventures shall grow more distant and faint. And there may come a day when you forget the faces and voices of those you have met along the way. On that day, I bid you remember this... That no matter how far your journey may take you, you stand where you stand by virtue of the road you walked to get there.

  16. - Top - End - #16
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Dorni's Avatar

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Reanimated: (1d20+10)[25]
    With your every step, these grand adventures shall grow more distant and faint. And there may come a day when you forget the faces and voices of those you have met along the way. On that day, I bid you remember this... That no matter how far your journey may take you, you stand where you stand by virtue of the road you walked to get there.

  17. - Top - End - #17
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    I'm going to say that four Bronze Links and three Saplings are hit by Heady Floral Scent. The Reanimated and the Helpers don't breathe, and so are immune to the scent.

    Bronze Links:
    Defense 1 (DC 20): (1d20+8)[9] Fail
    Resistance 1 (DC 20): (1d20+4)[10] INCAPACITATED!

    Defense 2 (DC 20): (1d20+8)[24] Resists
    Resistance 2 (DC 20): (1d20+4)[24] Wasted nat 20

    Defense 3 (DC 20): (1d20+8)[15] Fail
    Resistance 3 (DC 20): (1d20+4)[21] Resists

    Defense 4 (DC 20): (1d20+8)[22] Resists
    Resistance 4 (DC 20): (1d20+4)[13]

    Saplings:
    Defense 1 (DC 20): (1d20+9)[22] Resists
    Resistance 1 (DC 20): (1d20+5)[10]

    Defense 2 (DC 20): (1d20+9)[24] Resists
    Resistance 2 (DC 20): (1d20+5)[18]

    Defense 3 (DC 20): (1d20+9)[29] Resists
    Resistance 3 (DC 20): (1d20+5)[17]

    Helpers:
    Resistance 1 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[8]

    Resistance 2 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[14]

    Resistance 3 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[12]

    Resistance 4 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[9]

    Resistance 5 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[19]

    Resistance 6 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[17]
    All INCAPACITATED!
    Last edited by Zelphas; 2022-02-16 at 01:22 AM.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

  18. - Top - End - #18
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Sapling Resistance (DC 25/20): (1d20+5)[10] INCAPACITATED!

    Bronze Link Resistance (DC 25/20): (1d20+4)[12] INCAPACITATED!

    Reanimated Resistance (DC 25/20): (1d20+12)[18] 1 Bruise & Dazed, Vulnerable
    Last edited by Zelphas; 2022-02-16 at 01:27 AM.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

  19. - Top - End - #19
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    a 17 just misses Boaris, sadly.

    Sapling Resistance (DC 20): (1d20+5)[19] Just fails. INCAPACITATED!
    Last edited by Zelphas; 2022-02-16 at 01:14 PM.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

  20. - Top - End - #20
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Well okay then.

    Helpers:
    Resistance 1 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[19]

    Resistance 2 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[15]

    Resistance 3 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[21]

    Resistance 4 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[22]

    Bronze Links:
    Resistance 1 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[10]

    Resistance 2 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[15]

    Resistance 3 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[5]

    Resistance 4 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[10]

    Resistance 5 (DC 25): (1d20+4)[5]

    Saplings:
    Resistance 1 (DC 25): (1d20+5)[23]

    Resistance 2 (DC 25): (1d20+5)[19]

    Resistance 3 (DC 25): (1d20+5)[22]


    GOOD GRIEF. ALL INCAPACITATED!

    Wrath Resistance (DC 25): (1d20+7)[12] Rerolling; Nope gets 1 HP.

    Boaris is missed.

    Reanimated Resistance (DC 30): (1d20+10)[29] 1 Bruise.
    Last edited by Zelphas; 2022-02-16 at 09:55 PM.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

  21. - Top - End - #21
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Wrath Resistance Redux (DC 25): (1d10+17)[27] Crit chance: (1d2)[1] No crit; Resists.
    Last edited by Zelphas; 2022-02-16 at 09:55 PM.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

  22. - Top - End - #22
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    New post up!

    Nope... I'm sorry.

    First: give me a Resistance check DC 37!/27 vs Damage and Impaired & Vulnerable/Disabled & Defenseless.

    Then, Give me a Defense DC 20 to negate, Resistance DC 20 vs. Entranced/Compelled/Controlled (Limited to Only Run Away from the Reanimated) and Weaken Defense.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

  23. - Top - End - #23
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    Ridai's Avatar

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    This is amazing. The true Nope Experience.

    Resistance DC 37/27 (1d20+12)[15] That's a reroll. Just wanted to hold an extra Hero Point for a moment.

    Defense DC 20 (1d20+3)[19] Got hit.
    Resistance DC 20 (1d20+12)[30] Should be 1 lower, but resist
    Last edited by Ridai; 2022-02-16 at 10:49 PM.

  24. - Top - End - #24
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    Ridai's Avatar

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    And here is the reroll vs DC 37/27 (1d10+21)[31]. Crit: (1d2)[1] No crit. Bruised, dazed.
    Last edited by Ridai; 2022-02-16 at 10:49 PM.

  25. - Top - End - #25
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Oh, I forgot:

    Boaris Resistance to remove Impaired (DC 20): (1d20+10)[24] Yes

    Reanimated Resistance to remove Vulnerable (DC 20): (1d20+9)[18] No
    Last edited by Zelphas; 2022-02-16 at 10:50 PM.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

  26. - Top - End - #26
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Wrath Resistance (DC 20): (1d20+7)[26] Resists
    Last edited by Zelphas; 2022-02-17 at 08:53 AM.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

  27. - Top - End - #27
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Spoiler: The Mummy's Ancient Egyptian
    Show
    Through the mutterings and wails of the two mummies (now one), you've deciphered three main threads:

    --General moaning and bewailing their lot, to be dragged from death back into a mockery of life and sent after the living;

    --Foul curses at the "false gods" they've found themselves surrounded with (this seems to be the strongest theme); and

    --muttered apologies to the living nearby for disturbing them with their presence... though this last one has dropped off considerably once the most recent mummy was set on fire.

    It seems like the mummies are not here by their own will; they're being compelled by someone or something else to rise up and attack.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

  28. - Top - End - #28
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Boaris Resistance (DC 20): (1d20+11)[12] Well alrighty then. Defenseless and Immobile!
    Last edited by Zelphas; 2022-02-17 at 11:53 AM.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

  29. - Top - End - #29
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    Ridai's Avatar

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Good ol' accidentally using Myth-weavers syntax

    Attack rolls:
    Boaris (1d20+15)[19]
    Reanimated (1d20+15)[25]
    Wrath (1d20+15)[33] Crit!
    Last edited by Ridai; 2022-02-17 at 09:38 PM.

  30. - Top - End - #30
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: [M&M 3e] Defying the Future OOC

    Boaris Resistance (DC 30): (1d20+11)[28] 1 Bruise

    Reanimated Resistance (DC 30): (1d20+9)[19] 1 Bruise & Staggered

    Wrath Resistance (DC 30): (1d20+7)[9] INCAPACITATED!
    Last edited by Zelphas; 2022-02-17 at 10:01 PM.
    Originally Posted by Xefas:
    "I need the Goblins in phalanx arrangement. Sky Blotters in the back! Swissles? Assume the Swizzle Stick Formation! We're going in!"
    What Pokemon am I?
    Spoiler
    Show

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