Deathstroke Try outs

[Hermit]

Deathstroke Tryouts

"Relax, bro, it's going to work this time, I mean, who protects Minneapolis?" Frost told his brother.

"Even this city has superheroes," Requiem snarled, "And after that incident in Vegas…"

"Yeah, half the 'supervillains' who showed up where in drag, the other were Elvis impersonators," Frost exaggerated, but not by much, "Then the Saints come up and kick all their asses and we barely escape. You know, we should put those guys on 'the List'."

'The List' was getting pretty long over the years, and Requiem would love nothing better than to make each and every person on it pay, but right now? He'd settle for four or five members to finally help he and his brother restore Deathstroke to its former glory, or better!  They had had an uncharacteristic bit of luck of late. About a week ago, the two had been walking in street clothes with hoodies  trying to figure out how to get supervillains to show up for membership. Hotel fees and transportation could be a bear, and as Frost pointed out, they really should have some brewskis nearby.

 

That's when Foxbat, of all people, had landed near them, handed them a duffle bag, and said "You look like honest faces. Here, hold onto this. It's all part of my…dare I say it, Master Plan." And fled. Shortly there after some superheroine using very unlady like language flew overhead looking for the nutbar. Inside the duffle bag? One Million dollars! Unmarked.

Requiem knew what he had to do. Before his brother could lose it at a card game or on floozies, Requiem made two investments. One to pay for his membership drive? The other? Well, that one was a gamble too.  He had gotten mystical help to make sure this time, this time the recruitment well. The thing was a cube, six sides and all. Odd Runes on it that said stuff that made no sense, like Def, Ocv, and one side that had the letters COM crossed out. The mystic he had brought it from told him it would give him advise from 'those beyond' in making his selection.

 

Could have been bunk, but the mystic had a good rep for being relatively honest, and Requiem figured it couldn't hurt.

"Hey, there are some hot chicks out there," Frost said noticing the crowd of applicants that had gathered (Most lured by free room and board for the week), "Let's get one of those."

 

"We're assembling Deathstroke, not a Harem," Requiem snorted, "We're going for whoever will work best with us, and this time? I even have an edge. Now, be cool, and follow me," the leader of the team of two moved out to greet the others.

 

"I'm always cool," Frost muttered, and slipped out with him.

 

"Okay, if I can have your attention?" Requiem said, "You're here because you know there's strength in numbers. And whatever else you might have heard about Deathstroke, we once held the power of destruction on a city wide scale in our hands. What you've been sent to show here is just a taste of  what we'll be earning through our crimes."

 

"How did you get the money anyway?" One guy asked.

 

"Talent, planning, dedication, and perseverance," Requiem lied smoothly, not about to mention that a lunatic had handed it in their laps, "Now, we need a strong guy…"

 

"Hey" One female voice spoke up.

 

"Or Girl," he corrected.

 

"Hey!" Another female voice.

 

"Or woman" he corrected trying not to roll his eyes.

 

"Ahem," came a nebously gendered voice.

 

"God, I miss the 20^th century," Frost muttered.

 

Requiem ignored that ahem. This was a villain gathering, damn it, not a college campus, and went on, "Someone tough, strong, or to put in common terms-  a Brick.  Now, we run into a lot of so called 'heroes' who are way beyond bullet proof either thanks to ultra tough skin, forcefields, or whatever. So we also want someone with unusual attacks. Be it mystical, mental, or some kind of life draining thing- barring that, maybe something that slows folks down. Lastly, we'd like someone with a bit of mobility, someone who can keep up with all those damn speedsters and kung fu types. So I've sectioned you off into different niches, and using this mystic cube which will give me the wisdom of those beyond the invisible wall" He held up the cube, "I will then select."

 

"Where did you get the cube?" One guy asked.

 

"A creepy mystic guy with a solid rep," Requiem said.

 

"The one in Toledo?"

 

"No, Des Moines"

 

"Oh, he is good, I hear," One other applicant opined.

 

"So glad you approve, so, get into your group, step forward, and let's hear your pitch on who you are and why you deserve to be part of what will be the greatest supervillain team ever."

 

OOC: That's right. It's a poll. Each candidate for each group. You may break the fourth wall and 'advise' Requiem of who he should take by casting your vote. There will be what is said and what Requiem notices, and there will be spoilers of hidden problems Requiem doesn't know about. Note, there nothing saying those beyond the wall have to HELP them. Suggest who you want to suggest to mess them up if you prefer that to aiding them. 

 

Please read the next three sections and see which ones you like as you play the helpful or not so helpful adviser from beyond

[Hermit]

The Bricks!

The first one to come up was a woman with purple skin with dark hair, she towered roughly nearly eight-foot tall, and wore a green and black one piece.  The Lavender beauty's bare feet stomped as she explained herself.

 

"Me Am Ogress! Ogress strong! Ogress tough! Ogress prove to other villains she not merely feminine derivative of masculine counterpart! Rar!" She bellowed.

Requiem blinked at that last one, "Yeah, we've met Ogre, the guy thinks we're bullies, so if you have any loyalty-" He was dubious.

"Ogress not hate bullies. Ogress want BE Bully! Ogress show Agency by terrorizing others with superior physicality!"

 

"I can't tell if she's stupid or just smart but with bad grammar," Requiem muttered to Frost.

 

Frost was looking her over, "She fills out the suit nice, and if she's nearly as tough as Ogre, well, no denying she's got muscle. And she likes pushing people around, so that's fun."

"Something to consider," Requiem said, "We heard about the pounding you gave Sapphire Centurion in  Topeka. Nice work."

 

"Ogress say thank you to future team leader, Ogress promise not to resent patriarchal implications of chain of command if Ogress shown respect." Then the big woman stepped back to let the next applicant forward.

 

 

Ogress was once Joyce Newton, a meek and mild-mannered college student who was on the fourth year of her degree in liberal arts (She didn't intend that, she's just always been very indecisive) and driven along by various peers who urged her to learn how to be her own woman (And ignoring the irony that they were pretty much trying to bully her into independence). A member of more groups than she ever wanted to be a part of, she hid from the latest seminar by slipping into a science lab. Unbeknownst to her, a blood sample of Ogre was on loan to the lab, but improperly stored. The sample dripped through a crack, got mixed into a package of non dairy creamer near a microwave, and when Joyce added that to her decaff to wait out her 'friends', she began the process over the next few days turned her into Ogress! Ogress is as decisive and impulsive as Joyce was timid! She now acts on whims, leaps before she looks, and can be hard to sway from a chosen course. That said, she's damn tough and strong. Use Ogre's sheet but take away the senses and one combat skill level and replace it with One level of striking appearance, and buy Intelligence back up and then some on an activation roll and give her several familiarity level skills to show her formerly shifting directions in life. Replace the complications with such things as "Impulsive " and "Stubborn once her mind is made up" and possibly "Demands respect for her own Agency, but isn't too keen on YOURS."

 

The next applicant was definitely an Asian Guy who looked about what, five foot two? The man wore a costume of blue and brown, the brown mostly in the leggings but jutting up in a triangular pattern on his torso.

 

Frost raised a brow, "Dude, we're not calling for the martial artists yet."

 

Requiem shot his brother a look, and then said "Phou Bia, right?"

 

"Right," The man said, "You want a brick? I'm your guy. The toughest roughest Laotian American you'll ever meet."

 

"So, your family is from Le Ocean?" Frost blinked, "You don't look French."

 

"Laos, it's a land locked country in Asia?" Phou Bia said a bit testily, "It's part of my heritage. To honor it, I take the name of one of its mountains. Also suits my power."

 

And then the little man began to grow, and grow until he hit the ceiling of the meeting area, "The bigger I get, the stronger I get! You want muscle? Here is is, several tons of it."

 

"Your strength and durability tied to your growth?" Requiem inquired.

 

"Yeah so?" The man said.

 

"Could make you kind of vulnerable in tight spaces is all, but it's something to consider, thanks," Requiem said, "Why did you turn to crime?"

 

"Communism," Phou Bia said.

 

"I thought so-what?" Requiem blinked. Whatever he thought the guy was going to say,  that wasn't it.

 

"Communists. I hate communism. America? Now that's the land of opportunity. And Crime is the ultimate Randian dream! I'm a go getter, a self starter, and I hope to show people in America and Laos what a dedicated financially ambitious like myself can do. You could say I'm in it for the money, but it's more than that, I need to show folks that greed, greed is good. That –"

 

"Stop, I think I've seen this movie," Frost said.

 

"Okay, so thanks for that," Requiem said.

 

Phou Bia (Real Name Sam Phrathong) fancies himself a Champion of Capitalism, albeit a lawless version! Greedy, sure. But more than that, he plans to dedicate his criminal existence to embarrassing Communist Regimes everywhere. The fact he is doing this by working with Deathstroke to rob from individuals and corporations as well as government agencies either doesn't bother him or doesn't matter. Still, he'll go out of his way to rob Ambassadors or interests from communist countries. His real dream is to go to Laos (Which he really doesn't know as much about as he should), conquer it, and rule it in what he will call a Randian Democracy! For his stats, I suggest borrowing heavily from Donner (Thunder) In Darren Watt's Golden Age Champions but replace the skills to reflect a knack for oratory, certainly literary tastes and perhaps drop a few skills to turn the defenses in the costume focus free. If you really want to make him obnoxious, scrap enough points for a

  power so at mx growth his voice booms his speeches for everyone to hear whether they like it or not.

 

The next applicant looked to be all robot. In intimidating black metal, with a single sensor plate  that would be almost cyclopean if not for it's more rectangular shape, it was equal in height to Ogress but fair bulkier with knobs and rivet like designs.

 

"I am Omni-Droid," The Figure boomed, "A fully sentient and sapient robot warrior. I wish to experience what you organics refer to as 'the thrill'. Battles with superhumans seem a most logical way to test my capacity and energize my sensory relays. I bear no organics no particular ill will, nor do  I desire to be one. I merely wish 'a piece of the action'. I am strong, durable, and I have the power of flight, high tech senses, and my enhanced proto-tronic brain is amazing. I calculate with me by your side, Deathstroke will have a 51.6% efficiency increase."

 

"Dude, what if Mechanon takes over it's brain?" Frost said worriedly.

"You think Mechanon needs to take over Omni-Droid to be a threat to us?" Requiem looked to his brother. "We're good, but come on. I wonder.." He spoke up "You are technology, are you any good with it?"

 

"I am versed and can hack," Omni-Droid answered after a time.

"We'll let you know," Requiem said, and moved onto the next group.

 

Omini-Droid (Notice the hyphen in hopes of keeping any Mouse related company from suing?) is not a robot at all. Inside the suit is a techie named Josephine Banks. 'Jo' ended up wearing the power armor as part of a bargain to have her father's criminal record erased. She herself was arrested

 after she was caught trying to alter federal records. She believes her father is innocent. She made the mistake of trying to hack a PRIMUS data base, got caught, and would have been put in jail herself if not for a black ops PRIMUS intel agent noticing that she was actually really good at video games, and simulations. He offered her a chance to go undercover on his behalf, learn what she could of Deathstroke and their plans, and then report in directly to him monthly. The Omni-Droid is a repurposed armor from a supervillain who is in stronghold. So now Jo is going undercover. Unfortunately for her? Agent Black died three days ago in a horrible Zamboni accident, and there is no record of this operation! At the end of the month, she's going to find herself in a very tricky position of either going full supervillain, ending up on the run in her secret ID as she herself is missing from prison, or turning to heroes for help.  She wasn't lying about loving the thrill of the fight. She's actually got Thrillseeker as a psych complication. A Gamer Girl extraordinaire, her skills have translated well to the suit. Beyond the "Standard Brick" it has such things as certain mental talents, many special senses, and recording and communication devices. Can she resist her anger at an unjust justice system and her own adrenaline junkie nature combined to try to give law and order one more chance? And if she does will law and order give her a chance? And if she gets caught spying on Deathstroke she may not live to make the choice!

 

 

[Hermit]

The Unusual Approach

The Exotics were up next, for want of a better term, and the first to come forward had both brothers raising their eyebrows. She looked bi racial, perhaps half Japanese half anglo, and while it was hard to tell her age, it couldn't be much above eighteen. Her hair was in fantastic rainbow spray, a true mane of it that went down her back like a pony tail of chromatic shine. And there was glitter, so much glitter. On her sailor girl type outfit and skirt, on her skin, and hovering about her. A sparkling design of a pony rampant was on her lower torso.

 

"Hi! I'm Glitter Pony!" She said "Tada!"

 

"What the –" Frost started to say.

 

"Is this a joke?" Requiem frowned.

 

"No, I'm really a supervillain," She pulled out an envelope and handed it to Requiem. Cautiously he turned it upside down, letting some glitter fall out, then opened it up. The recommendation was from the villain he had invited, but it appeared the man had declined and sent Glitter Pony in his place with a note that she was unorthodox, but might be just what they needed for versality. She had been of great help on a caper.

 

"Okay, besides glitter? What do you do?" He asked her.

"Well," She gave a whirling spin and glitter went everywhere.

"I can't see" more than one voice cried out.

"So bright, so colorful, so so girly" Another.

"Okay so," Requiem waited until he could see again "A temporary blinding attack, that's useful. What else?"

 

"My Glitter glue ! Clumps and clumps and they get weighed down" Glitter Pony gestured at a trash can and it was embedded in a large wad of sparkly shiny rainbow gunk, "See?"

 

"I see. And anything else? Do you fly?"

 

"Yes! Trailing my glitter, and I can also use my glitter attack to make folks clumsy, or just knock them out!" Glitter Girl smiled, "I'm like a vampire. It's okay for them to sparkle now."

 

"No," Someone from the other applicants, Requiem couldn't tell who, muttered, "It's not, and it never was."

"Flashes and tangles and drains, oh my! " Glitter Pony began to skip, "Flashes and tangles and drains oh my! Flashes and tangles and-"

"We get it," Requiem said. No denying the usefulness of this one, but damn she was annoying. Hard call.

Fortunately, there were others to see.

 

 

TV Executive Brian Parkman is in hell. That hell comes in the form of everything he detests. He wanted mature edgy stuff on television, not the syrupy sweet weird junk that overgrown kids in the shape of adults went to conventions for. When demand for Mystical Pony Friend toys went down, he used that as an excuse to shuffle the schedule around, eventually guarantying its demise along with several insipid 'magic girl' anime side shows. Petitions were ignored, calls refused. And he rewrote history as if the demand for it was just a couple of freaks in a basement calling Pony-heads deviants who stayed with their mother. Exactly which god he insulted, he wasn't sure. Was it Loki? Coyote? Some Japanese deity he hadn't even heard of? All he knew is he had the guy in the 'funny suit' insulted and thrown out of his office by security, only to see his security guards turned into rabbits, then the being turned on him, smiled, and cursed him good! Now, he's the weaker part of a multiform to the world's least dignified supervillainess! Just the mention of the word 'glitter' or 'pony' can change him back into Glitter Pony! And while ridiculous, she's versatile with glitter powers that do indeed include flashes, entangles and drains of STUN , DEX and CVs. Only powerful magical attacks have a chance of changing her back to him. While Frost will be freaked out , Requiem might decide she's just too useful to keep around to ever let Parkman have his old life back.

 

The next potential was a fellow who couldn't be more different. He wore the classic black cloak with cowl combo so favored by mystics, and there were silver designs of occult nature along the trim of those and the vest under it and a pair of black slacks to match. In one hand, he held a bottle of booze, and while most of his face was hidden, his grey streaked goatee was in need of a trim, "I am Doc Reprobate, mystic types always call themselves Doctor right?" He grinned clearly on a buzz.

 

"Well, 'Doc'," Frost said, "How often do you plan to self-medicate?" Others had had beers, but looked like the Doc had bought his own.

Requiem didn't bother to chastise his brother this time, he had a point. They didn't need someone drunk during a caper.

 

"I can handle Spirits worse than this," The man assured, "I've dealt with magic so black it'd make your wand shrivel if you knew about it. Now? I'm looking for some more standard mundane evil, ye olde fashioned crimes. I hear you guys are the ones wanting to make it happen," Doc said, "Now, you'll want to know what I do? I'll tell you. I can open up gates through hell's back yard to help whisk us away. I can send surges of torment into the mind that no bulletproof skin will help. I can control the weak willed. I can blast foes with mystic fire, and I can make brave men know fear. And I know  the occult. It took a large bite of me when I was young, but I bite back plenty. Magic and me, we know each others' flavors," Doc broke into a laugh.

 

Requiem let loose a whistle and held out the cube, "so you know what this does?"

"Ah, get that thing away from me," Doc snapped, "you really think that cube is- nevermind. Yeah, they can see hear everything we're doing, sniffing right into our souls. Well, don't say I didn't warn em" Doc took a swig.

 

 

The man now going by the name Doc Reprobate used to be a morbane for Demon (And you can use the write up on page 193 of Champions Universe 6

^th Edition for a guide). He knew the higher ups were insane, but he had no idea how much so until Luthor Black's failed attempt. Reprobate had already lost his soul, but until that night, it had not sunk into him how close to the abyss he was dancing not just with himself but the world. Convinced there is no redemption for him, he has tried to gain back some of his humanity through more mundane evils. Wine, women and song! And if he should go out sending a few heroes to their heavenly rewards early, well, the white hat wearing bastards should thank him, though murder isn't his goal anymore. After a life time of pursuit of power without checking the tab, a few simple bank robberies as a standard 'supervillain' sounds like the best retirement he can hope for. As you can see from that write up, he's got points to play with. For those who want this guy to actually have a chance for some limited redemption, maybe the vulnerabilities and susceptibilities can be bought down, if not entirely off. Or just replace them with psych complications like 'Lives for today" or  'despairing hedonist' . Perhaps the youthful confidence of the others in Deathstroke will reignite this bitter self loathing warlock

 

"Right," Requiem wasn't sure how blitzed the wizard was, but backed away to look a the last of the exotic types.

"Name's Cat's eye" Said the young man, who didn't look much older than Glitter Pony. His own costume was a leather jacket over a T-shirt with a cat's eye design on it, matching leather pants, and a pair of shades.

 

Young Millennials, Requiem sighed, It was like they didn't even try anymore, "I heard of you, mentalist right?"

"Why Cat's eye? Why not Mindstorm or Scatte-" Frost stopped himself before blurting out that name.

"I don't know, man, you tell me," the young man took off his shades and the odd golden eyes that did indeed have a feline cast to them looked on.

"Oh, I get it then," Frost finished lamely.

 

Requiem considered him, the kid seemed stable, "Okay, what's your story?"

"Mom got knocked up by some Mandaarian or something like that," Cat's Eye shrugged, "I can mentally zap, control folks, read thoughts, but when I'm done they almost always realize what I did so I can't be as sneaky as I like. Figure if I join up with some fellow villains they can run interference for me. Of course, I hear you got your last mentalist killed so…"

 

Requiem's jaw set and he got nose to nose with the mentalist, "Be.Very.Careful. Some heroes screwed things up, and our team died. Yeah, but they don't mention half of what happened in the news so don't assume for a moment Frost or I bear all the blame on that one. Now, in case we run into robots, or superheroes with 'strong will' and there are a lot those, you got anything else?"

 

Cat's Eye looked him over then "My suit's reinforced and I uhm.. borrowed a gun," He pulled back his jacket to show a carbine blaster.

"Wait, is that a Primus officer's gun??" Frost noticed the make and model, then broke out laughing "Okay, punk kid maybe worth something."

"We'll see," Requiem fought a smile. The Speedsters and Nimble Types were up.

 

 

Cat's Eye, aka Austin Fletcher, is one angry young man. His eyes were the source of mockery and ridicule for as long as he could recall, and for the longest time, the powers he could have used to protect himself weren't there yet. Now that they are, well, Austin plans to get a little of his own back. He wants payback on a society that treated him like a mutie freak (When actually he is a half alien freak, thank you very much), a mother that kept moving him so the government couldn’t' get him (Funny bit, the government agency in this case was not sinister and would have helped both a great deal as a diplomatic gesture until the Mandaarians returned) and resented HIM for those moves, and a father that knocked his mom up and bailed as some kind of interstellar deadbeat. Somebody owes him, and he figures becoming a supervillain his way to collect. Ironically enough, except for this collassal chip on his shoulder, he might just be one of the more less troubled candidates. Of course, Deathstroke won't be a great influence on the boy but it's not like any supehreroes are stepping up to show him the light

 

[Hermit]

The Nimbles (Speedsters and Martial artists and so on)

 

The last group had been restless, in retrospect, maybe saving the quick movers for last was a mistake. Patience wasn't a virtue among their set.

 

"Why, hello there," was a purr as a woman suddenly was in front of him. It was Haste, he'd heard of her, and despite his protests to his brother about this not being a gathering of a harem, he had to admit, any man would be tempted. Whether she was the prettiest woman in the lot or not, Haste sure knew how to use what she had. Now how she kept what she had from flying out as she ran past the speed of sound was a mystery to him. The cleavage window was cut of her skin tight black costume to resemble a kind of Winged H. The shorts and boots showed her legs off to great effect, and the touches of red helped off set the black. Of course, the crimson on her costume wasn't nearly as glorious as her hair which had a ringlet effect (did it straighten when she hit certain speeds he wondered?).

 

"Hi, Haste. Cutting in line?" He asked.

 

"Bored," she confessed, "Why don't you save yourself the time and send the other two home? Then vote for your brick and 'other'. You know I'm your girl."

"Uh huh," Requiem was overconfident, but he wasn't stupid, "Honestly Haste, you'd be a shoo in probably, but I'm not crazy about what I hear about some of the enemies you've made? ARGENT?"

 

"Please, I paid them off months ago, that's why I need a team up. Snatch and run works well for me, but I need bigger scores," A wink, "And more fun."

"The others get their turn too, Haste," Requiem told her. Manipulative, but damn her powers would be so useful, and free Frost up so he wouldn't have to the one to track fleeing enemies down all the time. He had to think about it.

 

Haste aka Holly WInslow, did indeed tick off ARGENT, and now her sister, one of the few people on the planet she cares about, is being threatened. ARGENT is hitting her up for regular payments, and they want her to see if she can get her hands on what designs Requiem might have squirrelled away from Doctor Draconis. Of course, she worries that anything Requiem knew he's long since forgotten and he has no copies, and the pressure is on.

  For Haste's character sheet, just borrow something akin to Kinetik's sheet in Champion's Complete swap Intelligence and PRE around and replace her skills with a Social focus such as Charm and the like with some larceny related skills on top of that.

 

"And you are?" He said to the next applicant. The fellow looked tall and well muscled, his costume resembled something out of a wrestling program with bare chest with many tattoos from torso to arms, a tightly shorn head with a domino mask and a part of athletic shorts with a large buckled belt and combat boots.

 

"Name's Cheap-Shot," the guy grinned, "Got it from a superhero. Pretty sure he meant it as an insult, but I liked it. I'm a strong guy with an edge"

Requiem raised a brow, "You're in the nimble category how?"

 

And with that, Cheap-Shot shrunk to roughly six inches tall but instead of being below, now hovered in the air, "Because I like to hit them when they don't know I'm coming, and I'm shrunk down like this.  It gives me an edge. They have a hard time hitting me, but I can slap them around all day. You can always use another Brick, right? Well, here is yours truly."

 

Requiem nodded, "Handy, and you're just as tough shrunk down like that as you are when full grown?"

"Sure, as hell am," Cheap-Shot said.

 

 

Reginald "Reggie"

  Dupree  was always a bit of a weasel, never above  cheating to win. Why would physical fights be any different? He used to mug people from alleyways without much warning. One day, he got an offer to help with a kidnapping some scientist for a would be master villain. The scientist was as smart as advertised and managed to free himself long enough to send word out to a superhero team. The heroes broke in just as Reggie was reclaiming the egghead, when the device the scientist was hoping to use went a bit wild and nearly killed them both. If it hadn't been for that force field the superheroine laid down, both would have been. Instead, the energies mutated each with the powers of greater strength and toughness, flight, and shrinking. The Professor would become Doctor Impact! DuPree would take the hero appointed name 'Cheap-shot' as his own. The two are regular sparring partners, and Reg is hoping that Deathstroke will help even the odds against heroes that have been hassling him, and get rid of Doctor Impact especially. Cheap-Shot has high strength, high defenses, flight, and, of course, shrinking. Psych complications includes "Prefers to fight dirty or cheat". At this time, few realize that Cheap-Shot has gotten himself hunted regularly by Doctor Impact and the rest of his superhero team.

 

The last applicant was a guy in some sort of bronze monkey mask and Kung fu style outfit carrying a staff with bronze ends, "And you go by Mad Monkey?" Requiem wasn't crazy about the name or the motif, what was so scary about monkeys?

 

"No, I go by my shadow, my shadow goes by Mad Monkey," The martial artist grinned and then flipped himself upon the staff, his bare toes somehow holding him in place as he somehow balanced perfectly, "Very hard to hit me. My shadow claims I desert it."

 

"And how did you get your training?"  Requiem inquired. Martial artists were a mixed bag. For every legit threat out there at the Green Dragon level, there was some putz wanna be who could be overwhelmed by a coordinated girl scout troop.

 

"I watch lots of old Jackie Chan movies," Monkey grinned.

 

"Can you break concrete blocks with your bare fists?" Frost said, impatient.

"No, I can break concrete blocks with my monkey fists though. Bear fists are for bears," Mad Monkey answered "Mostly, I am nimble. I evade, I dodge, dip, dive, duck, and dodge. And I taunt foes. You wish a decoy? I will be as annoying as if I were banging two brass cymbals together. Dangerous things, Symbols, they can mean so much."

 

"Greeaat," Frost said, not sold.

 

Requiem was considering it though. He'd seen footage of this making well trained PRIMUS units look like Keystone cops.

 

 

Monkey See, Monkey

  do. Mad Monkey's power is the classic 'eidetic reflexes' bit, much like Marvel's Taskmaster. One option is to give him a wide swath of Martial art maneuvers, Agility Skills, Missile Deflection, and combat skill levels. Have the skill levels with a -1/4 Limitation that he must study his opponent, or you could give him a VPP for it all and bend the rules, but he should have a naturally high DCV as that's kind of his thing. The other thing is, well, Jojo is not human. He is an actual elevated monkey from Beast Mountain made to appear very human but under that mask is a face with strong simian features. He hides in plain sight because he doesn't want 'Uncle Silverback' to track him down. Does he have a tail? Well, he sometimes refers to his staff as his Monkey tail, but as for one attached to him? He's not telling. JoJo wants the good life and his reliance on second hand stories of superhero supervillain fights and distorted media has him rather naïve on exactly how ugly it can get. He might have an attack of conscience if anyone dies and try to escape or betray the group if it comes to that.  

 

"Lots to think over," Requiem said, and pulled out the cube. With this, their luck might turn around. It would see things he didn't see and he muttered, "Advise me." And hoped to hell the numbers that scrolled along the surface symbols would make sense.

 

 

 

[Enforcer84]

Ogress for amusing. Cat's-Eye for regular villainy. Haste for double agent plot.

 

(though I thought hard of Omni-Warrior for slightly different double-agent-possible-redemption plot)

[Hermit]

1 hour ago, Enforcer84 said:

Ogress for amusing. Cat's-Eye for regular villainy. Haste for double agent plot.

 

(though I thought hard of Omni-Warrior for slightly different double-agent-possible-redemption plot)

 

Fuel for the magic cube!

Thank you!

[steriaca]

My picks, Ogress, cause we need more female bricks, Glitter Pony, because there is no My Little Pony homage in Champions and while we don't need one per say...why not, and Mad Monkey cause I like the power idea and to have a Taskmaster homage.

[wcw43921]

I went with Phou Bia, Cat's Eye and Mad Monkey.  I figure those three are the closest in mindset and personality to Requiem and Frost.  Familiarity may breed contempt, but it also breeds comfort and sympathy, in the sense that given a choice, most people will go with someone or something that reminds them of that which they are already familiar, rather than something completely new.

 

And given their experience with Scatterbrain, I don't think they would choose a woman for the team.  That's okay--they can form their own group.

 

Hope that helps.

[Hermit]

33 minutes ago, steriaca said:

My picks, Ogress, cause we need more female bricks, Glitter Pony, because there is no My Little Pony homage in Champions and while we don't need one per say...why not, and Mad Monkey cause I like the power idea and to have a Taskmaster homage.

 

Huh. There is no My Little Pony homage in the CU is there? We should have a thread for that sometime to encourage folks. Though is the world really ready for the evil mastermind "Professor Brony!"?

[Hermit]

27 minutes ago, wcw43921 said:

I went with Phou Bia, Cat's Eye and Mad Monkey.  I figure those three are the closest in mindset and personality to Requiem and Frost.  Familiarity may breed contempt, but it also breeds comfort and sympathy, in the sense that given a choice, most people will go with someone or something that reminds them of that which they are already familiar, rather than something completely new.

 

And given their experience with Scatterbrain, I don't think they would choose a woman for the team.  That's okay--they can form their own group.

 

Hope that helps.

 

It certainly does. I'm very grateful for feedback and opinions.

 

 

[steriaca]

1 hour ago, Hermit said:

 

Huh. There is no My Little Pony homage in the CU is there? We should have a thread for that sometime to encourage folks. Though is the world really ready for the evil mastermind "Professor Brony!"?

I don't think any non-MLP world is ready for Professor Brony.

[death tribble]

Glitter Pony sounds like something Dr. Nymax! would have done to someone.

[DShomshak]

Not gonna vote, but I enjoy the characters. Thank you.

 

De4an Shomshak

[Hermit]

56 minutes ago, DShomshak said:

Not gonna vote, but I enjoy the characters. Thank you.

 

De4an Shomshak

 

Well, then both darn and you're welcome

[Ninja-Bear]

I’ll vote and explain when I get the chance. I wanted to say right now though- great writing. I enjoyed. I too miss the 20th century ?

[Hermit]

6 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

I’ll vote and explain when I get the chance. I wanted to say right now though- great writing. I enjoyed. I too miss the 20th century ?

 

Thanks, looking forward to the input 

[death tribble]

Did anyone else think of DC's Deathstroke first when reading the thread title ?

[Enforcer84]

No. He's imminently forgettable.

[Cassandra]

Clearly it has to be Foxbat.

[winterhawk]

On 12/15/2017 at 10:31 AM, Hermit said:

 

"Even this city has superheroes," Requiem snarled, "And after that incident in Vegas…"

"Yeah, half the 'supervillains' who showed up where in drag, the other were Elvis impersonators," Frost exaggerated, but not by much, "Then the Saints come up and kick all their asses and we barely escape. You know, we should put those guys on 'the List'."

 

 

Requiem shuddered, recalling the Gaze's taunts echoing telepathically in his head.  Frost recalled the shapely figure of Jazz with the hint of a smile, before remembering she planted a half dozen kicks on him in the blink of an eye.

 

OOC: Little in joke for you.  Thanks for the mention 

 

Quote

Please read the next three sections and see which ones you like as you play the helpful or not so helpful adviser from beyond

 

Don't mind if I do 

 

On 12/15/2017 at 10:37 AM, Hermit said:

 

"Lots to think over," Requiem said, and pulled out the cube. With this, their luck might turn around. It would see things he didn't see and he muttered, "Advise me." And hoped to hell the numbers that scrolled along the surface symbols would make sense.

 

 

Frost elbowed his brother.  "Aren't there some magic words or something?"

 

"Oh, yes.  Right.  Um...HARLICK...LONG...ALLSTON!"

 

The numbers on the cube swirled and flashed...strange concepts filled Requiem's conscious...strange terms such as Character Points...Complications and Disadvantages being the same, yet different...and some strange math called figured characteristics which were either ideal or obsolete.  The swirl of numbers and concepts came to an abrupt halt in Requiem's head, giving him a clear picture of the strange object's 'advice'.

 

"This is telling me Omni-Droid, Doc Reprobate and Cheap-Shot", announced Requiem.

****

Ogress, Glitter Pony! and Mad Monkey all recognized each other as they arrived at the abandoned dairy products processing plant on the outskirts of town.

 

The warehouse area in the factory was lit by a single overhead light, casting a circle over a desk, the high backed chair behind it facing away from the villains.  It swiveled clockwise towards them, revealing the mastermind behind their summons dramatically.

 

Foxbat sat behind the desk, replete with a monocle and white cat upon his lap, albeit one desperately trying to escape his grasp.  He still attempted to stroke it despite the hissing and clawing.

 

"Thank you for...ow...showing up...ow, stop it...I hope you like cheese, or should I say a cheese-like-food-substance.  For I intend to cover the Earth's surface with it!"

 

OOC: Thanks for the good memories...and the one's that haunt me involving Foxbat. 

[Nothere]

The mystic powers beyond the veil will speak soon. They are currently arguing. Do they wish to save Deathstroke headaches and steer them towards Phou Bia, Doc Reprobate, and Cheap shot or laugh at the foolish mortals and steer them towards Omni-droid, Glitter pony, and Haste? To be cruel or kind? Answer cloudy try again later.

[Ninja-Bear]

Ok I voted by reading the descriptions and not any spoilers. (I’ll go back later and read them). 

 

Phou Bia-Though growth can be a problem, I felt him looking normal would help get him into places for crimes where the other two would be harder.

 

Glitter Pony!-Distracted  by the annoying! Plus being so girly and young looking it might make the heroes harder to hit her.

 

Haste-typically I go with martial artists all the time. But as juvenile as it sounds, I’ll go with Frost on this one.

[DShomshak]

Incidentally, speaking of Glitter Pony!, in my Millennium Universe one of the US government's covert super-agents calls herself Princess Sparklepony. Her power is a Death Touch. Always On. Her name is pure bitterness, but are you going to argue with her? Leech is another member (as in CU, but the result of alien genetic experiments and still sapient), and *he* counts his blessings when he thinks of Princess Sparklepony.

 

Dean Shomshak

[DasBroot]

Omni-droid - despite my personal fondness of 'big dumb bricks' it sounds like the team has had hard enough times without taking on an (obvious) liability like Ogress at this time.  Phou is just too limited indoors - he should work at slotting Density Increase into a multi-power along side Growth ... so if he doesn't have room to get bigger he can at least get heavier.  Bonus points if he makes the slots variable/not-fixed so he can mix and match based on his environment (25 points on Growth, 35 on density increase in a warehouse. 60 points in growth in a street fight. 60 points in DI in a hallway, if the floor can take it...)

 

Cat's Eye is probably the most reasonable selection for the second  - but I went Glitter Pony because psychic heroes are more common than heroes who can deal with truly weird attacks.  Hopefully she is smart enough and reliable enough to release in a general distracting direction.

 

For the third I went Haste because she is faster than Cheap Shot or Mad Monkey - which fills a stronger tactical niche.  Also, Mad Monkey annoyed me.  I actually play a near carbon copy of Cheap Shot, though (named Pulk - Pocket Hulk, which he took as a name first until getting a cease and desist letter from The Mouse Above All), and it is a lot of fun - so he nearly took the vote.  Had he been a brick choice he would have been a shoe-in for me.

 

I don't think Deathstroke is going to be happy long term with my choices though thanks to the spoiler sections.  Better luck next time, guys.

[mrinku]

Ogress is too much like my own beloved Big Girl to go past  

Big Girl disagrees: "Bah!!! Puny Ogress just cheap knock off!!! Meet Big Girl behind Rose's Diner and find out why Big Girl is Mightiest!!!" 

 

Glitter Pony all the way! The other two just didn't inspire. Sparkle!

 

Mad Monkey. Not quite Sun Wukong, but reading the spoilers he may have the Monkey King as a Watched, which would be very interesting in itself. The nature of Monkey is... irrepressible!