Plucky Female Reporter

[Steve]

A staple of the comic book genre and frequently romantically involved with one of the heroes (or would like to be). She can be competent and a go-getter who can get herself out of some troubles (Lois Lane or Vicky Vale) or a jaded, frequent kidnapping victim (Roxanne Richie from Megamind).

 

Who is the plucky female reporter in your campaign?

[Rich McGee]

I have a fellow player in one of our games whose secret ID is a plucky female reporter (her heroic ID being a luck-manipulating street fighter vigilante type) but I can't think of any NPC versions.  A different campaign has a rookie police officer who's pretty much doing the whole "in over her head" thing Lois Lane tended towards back in the day, but she's not technically a reporter, of course.   

 

There's a pair of recurring news crews in the campaign I run, which are a mix of male and female and spend as much time competing with each other (they're from different stations) as they do actually filming, but I don't think I'd call any of them plucky.  My players' collective opinion of the whole lot of them as potential romantic interests is Hell, No!  There's also a sleazy tabloid reporter gal who shows up now and then, but she's more of a menace to the PCs' public images than anything else.

Edited January 22 by Rich McGee

[Jkeown]

Poppy McCauley - Pluckiness Defined

Background/History: Poppy McCauley emerged as a star journalist at a young age, quickly becoming America's sweetheart with her tenacious reporting and charismatic presence. Despite her seemingly perpetual bad luck in finding herself in the clutches of villains, she has never let it deter her spirit. Instead, these experiences have provided exclusive insights into the workings of Retropolis's dark underbelly, making her an invaluable asset to both the public and the hero community for her ability to expose the truth behind the chaos. She has been kidnapped a statistically unlikely number of times. She's often lovingly referred to as "America's DNPC." 
Personality/Motivation: Poppy is the epitome of determination and optimism, often seen with a smile that can light up the darkest corners of Container Town, the Port of Retropolis, Prime's Isolation Station, and O'Neil One. Her green eyes shine with an insatiable curiosity, and her investigative nature is driven by a genuine desire to inform and protect the public. She is motivated by a relentless pursuit of truth and a steadfast belief in justice, which often puts her in danger but never sways her commitment.
Quote: "No villain too devious, no lair too dark. The story will be told, and it will be told right. That's the McCauley promise. Don't touch those."
Powers/Tactics: While Poppy possesses no superhuman powers, her wit, resourcefulness, and resilience are her greatest strengths. She has an uncanny ability to land exclusive interviews with the most elusive figures in Meta-Earth and often uses her notoriety and charm to disarm those who underestimate her. Poppy's tactics involve a combination of stealth, persuasion, and a knack for being at the right place at the right time, often yielding scoops that no one else can secure. She pays END when her Luck is active. This is so she can Push her Luck. [I'm so funny....]

Campaign Use: Currently in the clutches of Bishop Bad Ass, Poppy is unaware that her little brother Chet McCauley is an air pirate in the employ of PLUNDER.
Appearance: Poppy McCauley is known for her classic, all-American looks. She has a bright, approachable smile, fiery red hair that she often wears in a professional style, and piercing green eyes that miss no detail. Her attire is always impeccable, favoring smart suits and skirts that serve both her on-camera role and the need for mobility during unexpected fieldwork. Her signature look is completed with a press badge that she wears like a medal of honor, symbolizing her dedication to her craft. She is also fond of carrying handcuff keys, a small blowtorch, a book of matches from the last bar she visited, a Floating Fixed Teleport Location, four candles, Mental Defense torc, Bronsonite underwear, ETHEL Reality Stabilizer, the keys to a storage shed she bought during a promotion on WFBQ, and the Bottled City of Tragus-Telgar. 

 

Find Poppy here: HERO Forum Uploads

Edited January 23 by Jkeown
Header-Thing

[Steve]

Bronsonite underwear?

[Rich McGee]

15 minutes ago, Steve said:

Bronsonite underwear?

Presumably so she doesn't wind up offending Comics Code censors no mater how artistically tattered her outer clothes become.  Might also be resistant to X- and N-Ray vision. 

[BoloOfEarth]

Here's the Media pages for my prior (Boston) campaign.  It includes two plucky female reporters, plus some male reporters (including the son of Jimmy "Gyro Jim" Dugan).

BostonMedia.pdf

[Stanley Teriaca]

I don't know if my evolution off my old character Sunburn (John Roberts) can be considered a plucky reporter. He IS the superhero and mutant expert for SSN after his retirement as a teenage superhero.

[Jkeown]

2 hours ago, Steve said:

Bronsonite underwear?

A girl can never be too careful. 

 

Bronsonite
Used to make light armor, Bronsonite is not easily worked. It can be woven into normal clothing to provide +3 Resistant Defense and +3 PRE. Makes excellent luggage when schlepping around a supersuit. (Jeffery Keown, 2012, Meta-Earth Campaign Guide, p. 101)
 

[Rich McGee]

7 hours ago, Jkeown said:

Bronsonite
Used to make light armor, Bronsonite is not easily worked. It can be woven into normal clothing to provide +3 Resistant Defense and +3 PRE. Makes excellent luggage when schlepping around a supersuit. (Jeffery Keown, 2012, Meta-Earth Campaign Guide, p. 101)

Is Samsonite luggage even a thing any more, or does that ref mean nothing to younger folks?

 

Charles Bronson is way tougher than that long-haired biblical hippy anyway. 

[Steve]

I confess to now being curious about the Meta-Earth Campaign Guide.

[Jkeown]

29 minutes ago, Steve said:

I confess to now being curious about the Meta-Earth Campaign Guide.

It's 118 pages of condensed delusion, raw plagiarism, clarified acting out, and distilled emotional trauma dressed up with Badaboom and Comic Sans. Largely a work in progress, it's a decent guide to Meta-Earth, but also of rather suspect quality. It's no Strike Force, I'll tell ya that. I might dress it up and put it in my OneDrive share.

[Jkeown]

4 hours ago, Rich McGee said:

Is Samsonite luggage even a thing any more, or does that ref mean nothing to younger folks?

 

Charles Bronson is way tougher than that long-haired biblical hippy anyway. 

It's actually made from old reels of Death Wish (1974) spun into fibers and cussed at for 10-12 hours a day for the better part of a month. We try for the whole 12 hours, but Dave gets tired and his throat sore.  The resulting fabric is driven around the seedier parts of Indianapolis in the trunk of a bullet-riddled 1974 Fleetwood before being dropped off a cliff. Then, we cut the patterns and fit the stuff to your hero, but always a bit snug so you get that Charles Bronson too-tight-in-the-crotch facial expression.