The New Circle

[Guest bblackmoor]

Re: The New Circle

 

For anyone who likes Knucklebones' date=' but is unhappy with the EDM and Teleport powers, here's some sample replacements.[/quote']

 

I liked the original, but these replacements are nifty, too.

[zornwil]

Re: The New Circle

 

I won't belabor the point, but on the whole I just don't see a problem with a megascale teleport in an appropriately powered game with reasonable players and GM. PS - to be clear, not an INSURMOUNTABLE problem, anyway, I don't mean there's not risks, and ChuckG highlights those well, but I wouldn't get too excited about it so long as one is aware and the game-play is at an appropriate level.

[Chuckg]

Re: The New Circle

 

I like 'Living Ghost' and 'Buried Alive', BTW.

[Guest WhammeWhamme]

Re: The New Circle

 

Anyway again, to get back on topic, do you all tend to have, particularly in superhero games, a lot of cross-over between mystics and martial artists? I've noted a good bit of that, and I've had some of those myself as noted elsewhere.

 

Also, while there are mystic energy blasters and mystic martial artists, doesn't it seem there's not much overlap between mystics and supers whose chief physical ability is shape-changing, and not many mystic bricks? What do you think/know in your games about how mystic archetypes overlaps with other archetypes?

 

Is there even a mystic archetype, aside from specifically mages?

 

I've noticed something different, actually. I normally get "martial arts = scientific based". Seriously, Mystics seem to shy away from htoh techniques... not cool enough I guess.

Mages tend to be a distinct archetype - ca't think of many hybrids.

 

(shrug)

[Myrmidon]

Re: The New Circle

 

Thanks Kristopher, the MA really isn't the primary focus, its just to represent that if someone gets in close to HTH combat, she can defend herself decently by aborting to Block of course, followed by a kick in the unmentionables if its a guy.

 

As per the UMA for the kung fu style, she's going to know block, kick, and punch manouveres, with the ever handy acrobatics, breakfall, and just because: KS: Chinese Healing.

 

She's not really meant as a stand up fighter (thus the notable lack of defences), but somebody who's a touch more in the background. That and she has a real thug of an ancestor to deal directly with others....

 

As for the whole Tarot angle, just replace it with simuliar super villianous agency you use in your games. She's been wronged, and just like The Bride, she's willing to kill all her enemies to get bloody satisfaction.

 

David

 

I noticed that Black Rose's text mentions Kung Fu, but the character sheet doesn't have any MA listed, just a block of placeholders.

 

Anyway, I'l give both Black Lion and Black Rose a closer look when I get home tonight, but I like what I've seen so far.

[Guest Skaramine]

Re: The New Circle

 

(looks at needless carnage earlier in thread)

hmmm...

guess I won't post that 10,000+ point writeup of "Deus Ex Machina" then...

 

 

puuhhhllleeeaaaassse?

[nexus]

Re: The New Circle

 

Maybe it's to be expected from a thread of mystic characters, but I've noticed a preponderance of curses, infernal pacts, and other dark origins, even for heroes.

 

Sin (the character) has a lot of potential.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, she is a bit dark. She was supposed to be a possible questionable ally for some occult heroes.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The New Circle

 

puuhhhllleeeaaaassse?

 

oh, all right you big baby...it'll be up by Xmas

[Guest Skaramine]

Re: The New Circle

 

oh' date=' all right you big baby...it'll be up by Xmas [/quote']

 

I just need to write the background on my first member of the Quarter.

 

Who's Ben Grimm naturally.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: The New Circle

 

 

I just need to write the background on my first member of the Quarter.

 

Who's Ben Grimm naturally.

Isn't that like asking who's buried in Grant's tomb?

 

HM

[Guest Skaramine]

Re: The New Circle

 

Isn't that like asking who's buried in Grant's tomb?

 

HM

[Lightray]

Already did one member of the Trenchcoat Brigade, so here's another:

 

Valentine

 

Alternate IDs: Johanna Valentine

 

Val Char Cost

10 STR 0

23 DEX 39

23 CON 26

18 BODY 16

23 INT 13

23 EGO 26

30 PRE 20

20 COM 5

 

15 PD 4

15 ED 1

4 SPD 7

10 REC 6

46 END 0

35 STUN 0

 

7" RUN 2

3" SWIM 1

3" LEAP 1

Characteristics Cost: 167

 

Cost Power

30 Lucky Bastard: Luck 6d6

18 Hard To Kill: Combat Luck (9 PD/9 ED)

10 Hard Headed: +10 Mental Defense (15 points total)

10 Got Her Mojo On: Power Defense (10 points)

22 She's Got Brass: Naked Advantage on PRE, Variable Advantage (+1/2 Advantages Limited Group of Advantages (Invisible Power Effects, Sticky, Transdimensional, Variable Special Effects; +3/4) (22 Active Points)

8 Not A Nice Lady: Reputation (A medium-sized group; 14-) +4/+4d6

 

20 What Did That Book Say About This?: Find Weakness 11- (All Attacks) (30 Active Points); Only Affects Mystic Defenses (-1/2)

17 I've Got A Bad Feeling About This: Danger Sense (Function as a Sense, Intuitional, Sensitivity: Out of Combat) 14-

6 Eye For Details: Enhanced Perception (+2 to PER Rolls for All Sense Groups)

11 What's Going On?: Elemental Control, 22-point powers

4 1) What Is This?: Detect Magic 14-, Analyze, Discriminatory, Sense (22 Active Points); Extra Time Full Phase (-1/2), Costs Endurance (Costs END Every Phase; -1/2), Requires A Magic Skill Roll (-1/2)

6 2) That's What I Would Have Done: Retrocognitive Clairsentience (Sight Group) (40 Active Points); Retrocognition Only (-1), No Range (-1/2), Time Modifiers (-1/2), Vague and Unclear (-1/2), Requires A Deduction Skill Roll (-1/2), Gradual Effect (1 Minute; -1/2)

6 3) That's What I Would Do: Precognitive Clairsentience (Sight Group) (40 Active Points); Precognition Only (-1), No Range (-1/2), Time Modifiers (-1/2), Vague and Unclear (-1/2), Requires A Deduction Skill Roll (-1/2), Gradual Effect (1 Minute; -1/2)

 

20 Tricks of the Trade: Variable Power Pool (Magic Pool), 10 base + 10 control cost, Powers Can Be Changed As A Zero-Phase Action (+1) (20 Active Points)

0 1) That's Only An Hour From Here: Teleportation 1", Safe Blind Teleport (+1/4), Megascale (1" = 10,000 km; +1 1/4), Can Be Scaled Down: 1" = 1km (+1/4) (5 Active Points); Gradual Effect (1 Hour; -1 1/4), Must Pass Through Intervening Space (-1/4) Real Cost: 2

0 2) That's Only 20 Minutes Away: Teleportation 2", Safe Blind Teleport (+1/4), Megascale (1" = 100 km; +3/4), Can Be Scaled Down: 1" = 1km (+1/4) (9 Active Points); Gradual Effect (20 Minutes; -1), Must Pass Through Intervening Space (-1/4) Real Cost: 4

0 3) I Can Be There In 5: Teleportation 3", Safe Blind Teleport (+1/4), Megascale (1" = 1 km; +1/4) (9 Active Points); Gradual Effect (5 Minutes; -3/4), Must Pass Through Intervening Space (-1/4) Real Cost: 4

0 4) I Know Just The Guy: Summon 25-point Normal, Expanded Class of Beings (Limited Group; +1/2), Amicable (Loyal; +1/2) (10 Active Points); Arrives Under Own Power (-1/2) Real Cost: 7

0 5) Do You Smell Patchouli?: Detect A Class Of Things 14-, Discriminatory (10 Active Points); Gradual Effect (1 Turn (Post-Segment 12); -1/4) Real Cost: 8

0 6) You Know What I Want: Mind Link (One Specific Mind), Invisible Power Effects (Fully Invisible; +1) (10 Active Points); Costs Endurance (Costs END Every Phase; -1/2) Real Cost: 7

0 7) Not That Tied Up: Extra Limbs , Invisible Power Effects (Fully Invisible; +1) (10 Active Points); Costs Endurance (Costs END Every Phase; -1/2) Real Cost: 7

0 8) Not That Far Away: Stretching 1", Invisible Power Effects (Fully Invisible; +1) (10 Active Points); Cannot Do Damage (-1/2) Real Cost: 7

0 9) Smoking Has Its Uses: Sight Group Images (10 Active Points); OAF - cigarette (-1), Set Effect (cigarette smoke images; -1/2) Real Cost: 4

0 10) I've Got Some Change: Money: Well Off (5 Active Points); Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4) Real Cost: 4

0 11) I'll Hide Behind That!: Entangle 0 1/2d6, 0 DEF, Invisible Power Effects (Fully Invisible; +1) (10 Active Points); Only To Form Barriers (-1) Real Cost: 5

0 12) Find Some Cover!: Tunneling 1" through 1 DEF material, Invisible Power Effects (Fully Invisible; +1) (10 Active Points) Real Cost: 10

 

5 It's A Gun: Killing Attack - Ranged 1d6 (vs. PD), Required Hands (One-Handed; +0) (15 Active Points); OAF (-1), 2 Clips of 6 Charges (-1/2), Beam (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4)

5 It's A Pen: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 0 1/2d6 (plus STR) (vs. PD), Required Hands (One-Handed; +0) (10 Active Points); Increased Endurance Cost (2x END; -1/2), IIF (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4)

3 Mirrorshades: Flash Defense (3 points) (Sight Group)

4 Trenchcoat: Lack Of Weakness (-3) for Normal & Resistant Defenses (6 Active Points); OIF (-1/2)

Powers Cost: 205

 

Cost Martial Arts Maneuver

Dirty Tricks

4 1) +1 HTH Damage Class(es)

4 2) Low Blow: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, +1 DCV, 2 1/2d6 NND

3 3) Tackle: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, -1 DCV, STR +1d6 +v/5 Strike; You Fall, Target Falls; FMove

5 4) Takeaway: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, Grab Weapon, +15 STR to take weapon away

5 5) Pen Stab: 1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +1 DCV, Weapon +5 DC Strike

Gun Tricks

4 1) +1 Ranged Damage Class(es)

3 2) Defensive Gun Shot: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, +2 DCV, Range +0, Strike +1 DC

5 3) Offensive Ranged Disarm: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, -1 DCV, Range +2, Disarm, +15 STR

4 4) Quick Gun Shot: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +0 DCV, Range +0, Strike, +3 DC

Martial Arts Cost: 37

 

Cost Skill

20 +2 Overall

10 +2 with PRE Rolls and Skills

10 Defense Maneuver: I-IV

5 Cramming

5 Magic (Power Skill) (INT-based) 15-

3 Analyze: Magic 14-

3 Breakfall 14-

3 Bribery 15-

3 Bureaucratics 15-

3 Climbing 14-

3 Combat Driving 14-

3 Concealment 14-

3 Conversation 15-

3 Deduction 14-

2 Forgery 14-

2 Gambling 14-

3 Interrogation 15-

3 Lockpicking 14-

3 Paramedics 14-

3 Persuasion 15-

3 Security Systems 14-

3 Shadowing 14-

3 Stealth 14-

3 Streetwise 15-

2 Survival (Urban) 14-

3 Tracking 14-

3 Trading 15-

2 WF: Common Melee Weapons

3 Linguist

1 1) Language: English (imitate dialects; Native)

1 2) Language: German (basic conversation)

1 3) Language: Latin (fluent conversation)

1 4) Language: Greek (fluent conversation)

3 Scholar

2 1) KS: The Occult (INT-based) 14-

2 2) KS: The Occult World (INT-based) 14-

2 3) KS: Magic (INT-based) 14-

2 4) KS: Demonology (INT-based) 14-

Skills Cost: 133

 

Cost Perk

3 Anonymity

3 Well-Connected

11 1) Contact: "Harmless" Demonic Pacts (Contact has been blackmailed by the character, Contact has: useful Skills or resources), Organization Contact (+2) 14-

11 2) Contact: The Occult World (Contact has access to major institutions, Contact has significant Contacts of his own, Contact has: useful Skills or resources), Organization Contact (+2) 8-

5 3) Contact: The Lady In Black (Contact has: very useful Skills or resources, Good relationship with Contact) 12-

5 4) Contact: The New Circle (Contact has: useful Skills or resources), Organization Contact (+2) 8-

3 5) Contact: The Master (Contact has: extremely useful Skills or resources) 8-

3 6) Contact: Nyssa Tarchaniotes (Contact has: useful Skills or resources, Good relationship with Contact) 11-

Perks Cost: 44

 

Cost Talent

1 Environmental Movement (no penalties on/in with keeping cigarette in mouth)

3 Lightsleep

5 Lightning Reflexes: +3 DEX to act first with All Actions

5 Resistance (5 points)

Talents Cost: 14

 

Total Character Cost: 600

 

Pts. Disadvantage

15 Dependent NPC: current doomed boyfriend 8- (Normal; Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID)

10 Dependent NPC: Pet Cat 8- (Normal)

20 Hunted: Cursed With Bad Luck 11- (Mo Pow; Harshly Punish) [Notes: Unluck for Valentine's personal life]

5 Hunted: Results of "Harmless" Demonic Pacts 8- (Less Pow; Mildly Punish; PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find)

10 Hunted: Circle of the Scarlet Moon 8- (As Pow; Harshly Punish)

10 Hunted: DEMON 8- (As Pow; Harshly Punish)

0 Hunted: Trismegistus Council 8- (As Pow; Watching)

15 Psychological Limitation: Hunting "Bad Things" (Common; Strong)

15 Psychological Limitation: Loyal to Friends, Merciless to Enemies (Common; Strong)

10 Psychological Limitation: Code Vs. Killing (Common; Moderate)

10 Psychological Limitation: No Respect For Authority (Common; Moderate)

15 Reputation: Not A Nice Lady 14- (Known Only To A Small Group (Extreme))

15 Social Limitation: Weirdness Magnet (Very Frequently; Minor)

 

Disadvantage Points: 150

Base Points: 300

Experience Required: 150

Total Experience Available: 150

Experience Unspent: 0

 

Background/History: Valentine doesn't talk about her history, much. And the ones who know her history... don't talk about it much. She lived a wastrel youth leading to a dissolute life, and had a knack for being in the wrong place at the right time. She picked up magic almost by accident -- after so many encounters with cultists, demonologists, magicians, and weirdos it was inevitable. Unfortunately, she was never very good at it.

 

Fortunately, she was very good at making people think she was good at it. So, she has survived -- and thrived -- almost on reputation alone. Almost everyone involved in the occult knows of her, and most give her a wide berth. Although she knows the "big players" like the Master and the New Circle, she focuses her attention on the underside of the occult -- the street level forgotten by the big players.

 

Because of this she has often run afoul of the petty schemes of up-and-coming members of the Circle of the Scarlet Moon and DEMON, or even the small daily temptations of Hell. When it all hits the fan, she's willing to call in the big players and turn the whole mess over to them -- or, sometimes, to show them they're not the only ones who can make a difference...

 

Personality/Motivation: Bad things happen in Valentine's life on a regular basis, and she's not happy about it. Usually those bad things have their origin in some occult threat, and so she's devoted to putting an end to them. All of them. She knows how important her work is -- if the "big players" were really doing their job, they would have taken care of the occult things that keep messing up her life.

 

Valentine has an especially bad time keeping boyfriends, not that she's stopped trying. Thankfully, she's been luckier with her cat.

 

Quote: "Nice robes, Sparky. Does your father know you wear a dress in public?"

 

Powers/Tactics: 2d6K Quick Gun Shot [*]

1d6+1K Defensive Gun Shot [*]

2½d6 NND Low Blow [1]

3d6K Pen Stab [3]

 

Campaign Use: Valentine is a good street-level mystic contact for more experienced mystic heroes; she is unlikely to waste her time with "newbies". She is best used as a foil for characters usually interested in more esoteric or cosmic events -- she can remind them that there are real people being affected by the things they deal with.

 

Because of her caustic personality and focus on using her reputation and presence to get what she wants, players may start regarding Valentine as an adversary instead of a foil. Plot seeds can be used to counteract this.

 

Plot seed: Valentine has to step in to protect someone normal who is close to the player characters, while they're dealing with bigger events. When they return, she tells them to deal with the situation ("No, no. Don't thank me."). If the characters find dealing with street-level occult more difficult than they thought, Valentine can have been keeping an eye on things, and step in to help out a little ("No, no. Don't thank me.").

 

Plot seed: The Master still can't figure out if Valentine was one of his more successful students, or one of his more rare failures. Nonetheless, he remains fond of her, and when she needs some help he sends the player characters. While dealing with the lowlife cultists and demon stoolies, they may wonder exactly why the Master likes her.

 

Plot seed: The pretentious occult dabbler Valentine thought was a Morbane-wannabee turns out to be a member of the Trismegistus Council, ineptly turning to the dark side. Oops. She doesn't want to deal with misled agents of the Trismegistus Council and scheming agents of DEMON at the same time -- so she drops the whole mess in the lap of the player characters.

 

Appearance: Slight woman, usually wearing a trenchcoat, mirrorshades, and smoking a cigarette. She speaks with a British accent, although it is difficult to tell exactly from what region. Her favorite expression is a sneer, and she is impatient and insulting when annoyed. Which is often.

[Guest Skaramine]

Re: The New Circle

 

I love Valentine. Great character.

[steriaca]

Re: The New Circle

 

What abilities, powers, and stats are written on that character sheet are not my opinion.

 

What you can do with those abilities, powers, and stats in 5e Revised aren't my opinion either.

 

What you are doing here is the equivalent of writing "2 + 2 = X" on a blackboard, and when I go "X is 4!", you snide back with "That's only your opinion."

 

 

Edit -- I mean, jeez, you couldn't at least give this thing a "Psych Lim: Gentleman's Code Of Honor" to go along with the name? Right there, no more Invisible Intangible Move-Bys Of Doom.

 

Instead, it's only Psych Lim is "Amoral", which means *NOT* doing Invisible Intangible Move-Bys Of Doom would be against its Psych Lims.

 

I hate to get into this argument (and prehaps it was setteled long before my $0.02 came in to the box), but remember, dudes, you can modifie the charater to your heart's content. Nobody realy uses most charaters as writen anyways. And nobody is forceing you to. A few points shaved here by reducing it's invisability, a few points saved there by reducing his flight, and walla...a villian you could start to use, if you need.

[Lightray]

Pleasepleaseplease, do NOT reopen that can of nasty worms. If the argumentativeness isn't over, at least everyone seems to have become adult enough to let it rest, and move on.

 

People helpfully posted characters in an attempt to re-rail the thread, and they're all waiting for adulation.

 

Either that, or they're waiting for Skaramine's oft-teased Quarter...

 

[zornwil]

Re: The New Circle

 

So how about them Mets?

[Kristopher]

Re: The New Circle

 

So how about them Mets?

 

 

What's up with Pedro suddenly slagging on the Sox? If he'd just moved on as a free agent, I'd understand, but why say ugly things about the team that just got him a World Series ring?

[zornwil]

Re: The New Circle

 

What's up with Pedro suddenly slagging on the Sox? If he'd just moved on as a free agent' date=' I'd understand, but why say ugly things about the team that just got him a World Series ring?[/quote']

Good question!

 

At least I assume it is, I actually don't know anything about baseball, it just seemed like the thing to say

[OddHat]

Re: The New Circle

 

I offer my sincere thanks and adulation to all who have posted magic-themed heroes and villains to try to re-rail the thread.

[OddHat]

Re: The New CircleThe Mighty Atom! (Golden Age)

Oppenheimer Adam Oppenheimer Val Char Cost 25 STR 15 23 DEX 39 23 CON 26 15 BODY 10 18 INT 8 14 EGO 8 20 PRE 10 10 COM 0 11/37 PD 0 11/37 ED 0 5 SPD 17 10 REC 0 46 END 0 40 STUN 0
9"	RUN	0
2"	SWIM	0
7"/13"	LEAP	0

Characteristics Cost: 133

Cost	Power	END
6	Quick and Strong: Running +3" (9" total)	1
2	Skilled Athlete: Leaping +2" (7"/13" forward, 3 1/2"/6 1/2" upward)	1
6	You can't slip that by me.: +2 PER with all Sense Groups	0
12	Tough and Lucky: Combat Luck (6 PD/6 ED)
1	Amazing Health: Life Support (Longevity: 200 Years)	0
10	Faith and Will: +5 with Ego Rolls
89	A Lifetime Of Adventure!: Variable Power Pool, 45 base + 44 control cost, Cosmic (+2) (111 Active Points); Limited Class Of Powers Available Limited (Only Super Skills and Martial Arts; -1/2) [Notes: Keep the special effects in mind when choosing powers gained through a Lifetime of Adventure; this is not a Wuxia or Chi power pool. If it is not an ability that an action movie hero might display, or a Super Skill that you would be willing to allow in a Dark Champions campaign, it should not be allowed here. However, the range of powers that is possible within those limits remains vast. If one of the Super Skills listed would cause trouble in your campaign, don't use it.]
0	1) Serpentine!: Desolidification (affected by anything that would bypass Combat Luck) (40 Active Points); Cannot Pass Through Solid Objects (-1/2) Real Cost: 27 [Notes: The Serpentine technique may look strange, but it will allow the user to avoid almost any attack and to escape many bonds.]	4
0	2) It's All In The Reflexes: Missile Deflection (Arrows, Slings, Etc.), Missile Reflection, Reflect At Any Target (40 Active Points) Real Cost: 40	0
0	3) Expert Timing: Hand-To-Hand Attack +9d6 (45 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2), By Default Placed Shot Against Living Target Power loses about a fourth of its effectiveness (-1/4) Real Cost: 26 [Notes: This blow represents expert timing and precise placement; it should not be used with placed shots, as it is already hitting a vital location by default. It does not add to Knockback, and should not be used against objects or individuals without Hit Locations.]	4
0	4) Amazing Throwing Skill: Killing Attack - Ranged 3d6 (45 Active Points); Range Based On Strength (-1/4), IIF (Objects of Opportuity; -1/4) Real Cost: 30 [Notes: Even seemingly harmless objects can be thrown with deadly force and accuracy using this skill.]	4
0	5) Fight Through The Pain: Force Field (18 PD/18 ED), Hardened (+1/4) (45 Active Points); Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Takes 1d6 KA after power is deactivated; -1/2) Real Cost: 30 [Notes: Pure willpower is the key to this trick, tensing muscles to hold bones in place and ignoring the pain even as it tries to consume you. After concentration fades, the pain returns.]	4
0	6) Shaking It Off: Healing Standard Healing 4 1/2d6 (45 Active Points); Self Only (-1/2) Real Cost: 30 [Notes: This ability to shake off the effects of many sorts of injury should not be used to repair the internal damage caused by the use of such powers as In The Zone or Fight Through The Pain.]	4
0	7) Impossible Stealth: Invisibility to Sight and Hearing Groups , Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (37 Active Points); Only When Not Attacking (-1/2) Real Cost: 25	0
0	8) Incredible Insight: Retrocognitive Clairsentience (Sight Group), +2 to PER Roll, Rapid (x10) (45 Active Points); Retrocognition Only (-1) Real Cost: 22 [Notes: This is a form of Sherlock Holmes style Super Detective Work, allowing incredible insights into what happened in a given area in the recent past. If it would interfere with a plotline, apply perception modifiers or simply allow it to fail.]	4
0	9) I've Been In This Situation Before: +7 DEX (21 Active Points); No Figured Characteristics (-1/2) Real Cost: 14 [Notes: A favorite when in combat, this ability represents years of experience against a vast range of foes.]
0	10) Amazing Acrobatic Skill I: Gliding 7", Position Shift, combat acceleration/deceleration (+1/4) (15 Active Points) Real Cost: 15 [Notes: A lifetime of experience has granted Oppenheimer enough skill to leap from an air-plane and still land safely on the ground.]	0
0	11) Amazing Acrobatic Skill II: Leaping +6" (7"/13" forward, 3 1/2"/6 1/2" upward) (Accurate), combat acceleration/deceleration (+1/4) (15 Active Points) Real Cost: 15	1
0	12) I Can Climb Anything: Clinging (normal STR) (10 Active Points) Real Cost: 10	0
0	13) Damn Lucky: Armor (8 PD/8 ED), Hardened (+1/4) (30 Active Points); Restrainable (-1/2), Conditional Power Power does not work in Uncommon Circumstances (Must Be Aware Of Attack; -1/4), Nonpersistent (-1/4) Real Cost: 15 [Notes: This skill is often switched off with I've Been In This Situation Before, depending on what is most needed at a given time.]	0
0	14) Burst of Superhuman Strength: +45 STR (45 Active Points); No Figured Characteristics (-1/2), Instant (-1/2), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Causes 1d6 KA to self; -1/2), Nonpersistent (-1/4), Conditional Power Power does not work in Uncommon Circumstances (Real Strength; -1/4) Real Cost: 15 [Notes: Through use of leverage tricks and deep concentration, a Strongman can accomplish seemingly impossible feats of Strength. However, the price for such an effort is high, and may be paid in torn muscles and snapped tendons. This skill carries the Limit "Real Strength". Real world strong men have snapped thick chains, flipped large cars, pulled trains, and performed amazing feats that looked impossible. This skill should allow all of that, as well as allowing the breaking of holds and escape from bonds. However, it should not allow the strongman to lift aircraft carriers and perform genuinely impossible tasks.]	4
0	15) I Can Spot That Trick: Clairsentience (Sight Group And Detect Magic), Analyze, Discriminatory, Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4) (44 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses about two-thirds of its effectiveness (Only to detect evidence of Magic; -1 1/2) Real Cost: 18 [Notes: Long training has allowed the user of this skill to detect evidence of Magic]	1
0	16) Amazing Ventriliquism!: Hearing Group Images 1" radius, +/-5 to PER Rolls, Invisible Power Effects, Source Only (Fully Invisible; +1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (40 Active Points) Real Cost: 40	0
0	17) In The Zone: Aid SPD 3 1/2d6 (standard effect: 10 points), Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Minute; +1/4) (44 Active Points); Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (1d6 KA after last of SPD fades; -1/2) Real Cost: 29 [Notes: An athlete In The Zone can briefly exceed his body's normal limits, running faster, striking more accurately, pushing harder. Afterwards, the body must pay a price for such exertion.]	0

Powers Cost: 126

Cost	Martial Arts Maneuver
	Boxing and Wrestling
4	1) Block: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort
4	2) Manly Boxing: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +0 DCV, 9d6 Strike
3	3) Hold: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Grab Two Limbs, 45 STR for holding on
4	4) Reversal: var Phase, -1 OCV, -2 DCV, 50 STR to Escape; Grab Two Limbs
4	5) Crush: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, 11d6 Crush, Must Follow Grab
8	6) +2 HTH Damage Class(es)

Martial Arts Cost: 27

Cost	Skill
3	Scholar
1	1) KS: Arcane and Occult Lore (2 Active Points) 11-
1	2) KS: Cults and Secret Societies (2 Active Points) 11-
1	3) KS: Jewish Theology and Philosophy (2 Active Points) 11-
1	4) KS: Mystic World (2 Active Points) 11-
1	5) KS: Strength Training and Nutrition (2 Active Points) 11-
1	6) KS: Superhuman World (2 Active Points) 11-
1	7) KS: Supernatural Creatures (2 Active Points) 11-
1	8) KS: Western Martial Arts (2 Active Points) 11-
12	+4 with Martial Maneuvers
20	+2 Overall
3	Oratory 13-
2	PS: Performer and Strength Coach 11-
2	PS: Small Business Man 11-
3	Linguist
0	1) Language: English (idiomatic; literate) (5 Active Points)
1	2) Language: German (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)
1	3) Language: Hebrew (fluent conversation; literate) (3 Active Points)
1	4) Language: Russian (basic conversation; literate) (2 Active Points)
1	5) Language: Yiddish (completely fluent) (3 Active Points)

Skills Cost: 57

Cost	Perk
5	Money: Well Off [Notes: Income from books, infomercials and merchandise]
2	Reputation: Old-Time Hero, Fitness and Self Help Guru (A medium-sized group) 11-, +2/+2d6

Perks Cost: 7

Val	Disadvantages
10	Reputation: Strange Little Self Help Guru and Old Time Hero, 11-
15	Social Limitation: Public Identity: Adam Oppenheimer (Frequently, Major)
10	Social Limitation: Known Weirdness and Trouble Magnet (Frequently, Minor)
10	Distinctive Features: Short, Extremely Over-Muscled Old Man (Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)
10	Dependent NPC: Various students and people in need of the week 8- (Normal) [Notes: Oppenheimer tends to fall naturally into the position of grandfather, and his many young students and friends often turn to him for help.]
20	Psychological Limitation: Will Not Kill Humans (Common, Total)
15	Psychological Limitation: Devout Reconstructionist Jew (Common, Strong)
15	Psychological Limitation: Protective of the Innocent, Supports hard Luck Cases so long as they seem to be trying (Very Common, Moderate)
15	Psychological Limitation: Endlessly Optimistic and Encouraging (Very Common, Moderate)
15	Hunted: Watched by the Trismegistus Council 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Watching) [Notes: The Council has called on Oppenheimer's help many times over the decades.]
15	Hunted: US Government 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Watching) [Notes: Several factions within the US Government are aware of Oppenheimer's connections to the Mystic World, and have used him as a liason to less law abiding supers.]

Disadvantage Points: 150

---

Cost Summary:Base Points:200Disadvantage Points: 150Total Experience Available: 0Total Character Cost: 350Height: 1.62 mHair: GreyWeight: 100.00 kgEyes: BlueAppearance: Oppenheimer is a short, extremely muscular man with short grey hair and a trimmed grey beard. Facially he appears to be in his early sixties, but his physique is that of an athlete in his prime. In combat, he prefers to wear a black wrestler’s singlet. Out of combat, he prefers a conservative and extremely out of style blue wool suit.Personality: Adam Oppenheimer is wise, experienced, and relentlessly optimistic. The intensity of his personality can be enormously charming or deeply disturbing. He has made and lost fortunes, learned and forgotten esoteric skills, and encountered many of the greatest heroes and villains of the age. He knows that true super-humans have an advantage when facing a merely human foe, yet he has also proven many times that experience counts.Quote:“There is nothing you can not do, so long as you have both faith and will.â€Background: The blood red creature drifted in the air, crimson crown upon its head. It grinned as the chanting of the acolytes neared a fever pitch. The sacrifice, limp upon the Alter, found her throat too raw for wailing.

 

The skylight exploded.

 

A figure dropped amidst the acolytes. Wasting no time, the small man leaped forward, grabbing the sacrifice as he passed and landing lightly across the room. He then bounded up again and fled the way he had come, covering nearly twenty feet in a single extraordinary jump.

 

The blood drenched thing roared its anger. It flew through the air in pursuit, the acolytes forgotten.

 

On the roof the short, stout man put the exhausted girl down, whirling to meet his rising foe. The beast snarled as it hovered against starlight. A lance of crimson light struck from the crown towards the small man, and missed.

 

“You!†The tone of the blood soaked thing was incredulous. “You have no power! No hint of magic! You dare to interfere?!†The beast punctuated this with another burst of blood red light. Again the small man dodged, with the slightest shifting of weight.

 

The small man tumbled forward towards his hovering foe, stopping just before the shattered skylight and lashing out with a powerful, and accurate, uppercut. The blow landed squarely between the thighs of his target.

 

The blood drenched creature tumbled back through the air, landing stunned on the rooftop. The small man leaped forward again and let loose a series of brutal jabs and crosses against his stunned foe. Bones hard as metal deformed, flesh hard as stone gave way. The demon that had been a man passed into unconsciousness. The small man wrenched its crown from its head, and then collapsed, shaking. A few seconds later he returned to the side of the girl, carrying the beast over his shoulder.

 

“Can you walk?â€

 

The girl looked up into the face of her strange rescuer. The man was old, short and ridiculously over muscled. Grey hair and beard framed a broken nose, large blue eyes, and a wide smile showing uneven yellowed teeth. He was covered in blood and bruises. To the girl, at that moment, he was beautiful.

 

“How did you do that?â€

 

The little man grinned widely. “There is nothing in this world you can not do, so long as you have the will.â€

 

In 1920 Aaron Oppenheimer returned home from World War One to Chicago and to his beloved wife, Elsie. Aaron had fought bravely, but bravery was no defense against mustard gas and machine guns. Aaron would never fully recover from his injuries. His only son was born two years later. Named Adam, the boy was small and sickly, born over a month premature. Doctors told the young parents that the child would not survive. They were wrong.

 

Adam grew slowly, and was always small. Harassed and sometimes physically attacked over his size, poverty, and ethnicity, Adam saw athletics as his path to acceptance. He boxed, wrestled, and ran. He begged for work from local Physical Culture clubs to learn how to lift weights, and begged again for work with every passing circus and fair to learn what he could from strongmen and acrobats.

 

When the Great Depression hit the Oppenheimers lost what little they had managed to save, but by that time Adam was already well along his path towards a lifetime’s pursuit of health and fitness. He perfected his own system of weight training and callisthenic exercises, achieving astonishing increases in strength. In his teens Adam was able to make a modest living through bare-knuckles boxing and the earliest form of his Strongman act.

 

Laughter would give way to shock in theaters and circus tents as the little man bent and unbent horse shoes in his bare hands, smashed bricks with his fists, and lifted cart horses with the use of a specially made harness. He would snatch arrows from the air, dodge bullets, and perform astounding acrobatic stunts. It was at this time that Adam made his first contact with the Mystic World.

 

Her name was Hellene Zeidner, but her stage name was Arcana. She and her father, The Amazing Arcanum, hid their power in plain sight, performing stage magic to wow the crowds and using real magic to fight the evils that stalked the night. Adam, then 16, loved her at first sight. Her father was happy to accept Adam’s help both on stage and in his battles with the strange cults that haunted Chicago. In that time Adam began to learn methods that allowed even an ordinary man to face the supernatural and emerge triumphant. He also met and trained with several of the great Mystery Men of the time.

 

The forties saw Adam join the Army, where he was assigned to the European theatre. Despite his great strength and athletic skill, Adam’s size and ethnicity held him back, though he still saw combat. It was a war, and Adam Oppenheimer killed the enemy. His beloved Hellene and her father traveled to Europe as well, hoping to stand against the mystic Evils controlled by the Third Reich. They did not return.

 

Adam was assigned as an interpreter when the war criminals were tried in 1946 at Nuremberg. The men he interviewed were ordinary. They had been soldiers. One, a barber in civilian life, told Adam of rooms in Maidanek where 2000 human beings could be killed at a time. The rooms had steel doors, and peep holes so that the SS could watch as prisoners died.

 

Adam knew that he would never willingly take a human life again.

 

After the war, Adam returned to America and resumed his career both as a strongman and an adventurer. His skills could not match the superhuman abilities of the adventurers that had appeared during the war, but a man can accomplish anything if he has courage, faith and will. He fought mobsters and foreign agents, unrepentant Nazis and strange supernatural monsters, villains of every description. More than once he fought the minions of the Master, a Japanese villain who refused to accept that the war was over. Always, in the background, there was Demon and the Circle of the Scarlet Moon.

 

The new costumed adventurers were all the rage, and the crowds who came to his strongman and stage magic shows began to fade. Adam did not lose hope, nor did he envy his costumed colleagues in the war against crime. Through shrewd marketing and self promotion Adam sold Oppenheimer’s Secrets of Strength and Fitness, Oppenheimer’s Liniment Rub, Oppenheimer’s Atomic Protein Power Powder, and a dozen other products. The years passed, and Adam devoted the profits from his many business ventures to helping those he could.

 

In 1955 Adam traveled to New York in pursuit of a rumor. It was said that a sorceress was battling crime in that city, a sorceress who called herself Arcana. He did not find her. Instead, he found a trap, and a cult lead by a mage of true power. The mage struck Adam down, but Adam did not die.

 

He was found, and healed, by an old Japanese man seeking death. The two spoke. Within a year, the First American Circle was forged.

 

Adam adventured with that circle of young mages for just over two years, but these young men and women loved the shadows, and Adam had always craved the spotlight. His skills sharpened by his time under the Master’s tutelage, Adam returned to show business, adventuring less over the years. From time to time he would join a group of younger heroes and offer advice and training, but through the next decades Adam Oppenheimer became far better known as a strongman and strength training guru than he had ever been as a crime fighter, and that was, he thought, all to the best. Adam never married.

 

One year ago, an old Japanese man entered a small gymnasium and health club in Chicago. He spoke with the club’s owner, an old man who had once been a hero. The two men left together.

Powers/Tactics: Adam Oppenheimer is an absolute master of the strongman’s art, an extraordinary boxer and wrestler, a fine stage magician, and an acrobat in the great tradition of the European circus. Age has barely begun to impede his near-legendary skills. While his magical training has never allowed him to cast true spells, it has allowed him to refine his skills and abilities to a degree to which few humans can begin to aspire. It has also apparently slowed the aging process.

 

Adam will usually move into combat in defensive mode, his Lifetime of Adventure arranged to keep him Damn Lucky, support his Amazing Acrobatic Skills, and guide him with the wisdom that comes from having Been In This Situation Before. Once he is able to assess the situation, he will switch super skills fluidly, and will use Multiple Power Attacks and other tactics to put down single foes as quickly as possible. If Adam is overmatched, he is willing to flee, recover, and return; he will not fight foolishly or make beginner’s mistakes. He will only Fight Through The Pain if facing the most dangerous of foes.

Campaign Use: Oppenheimer makes a good mentor for a team of young heroes, experienced enough to offer valuable advice and instruction, powerful enough to offer significant support, yet not so powerful as to overshadow the other players. He is also well suited to act as a bridge between the world of traditional Supers and Mystic Heroes, and can serve as a model for mystic martial artists. To make him more effective in his role, add as many skills as you feel he needs, and consider giving him some of his favorite Super-Skills outside of his VPP. To make him less powerful, drop the VPP and replace it with skills and Super Skills. He could also use some contacts and other perks.

 

Plot Seed: A beautiful young sorceress appears in the campaign city, dressed in the fashion of the classic stage magician’s assistants of the 1930s. She calls herself Arcana, and claims that her father is trapped in a hellish alternate world. She speaks of someone called Adam Oppenheimer, and seems shocked to learn that he’s still alive. What’s going on?

 

Plot Seed: Swift flying saucer-shaped ships have been attacking Anchorage, Alaska. Anchorage’s own team of heroes has already fallen. A photograph shows that the ships are decorated with swastikas, and analysis of the wreckage of one ship shows a strange mix of alien technology and the technology of the 1940s. There is a hero from World War Two who once published a book claiming that the Nazi’s had these sorts of ships. Perhaps he could help?

If you ever want to read an incredible true story, Google for The Mighty Atom.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: The New Circle

 

What, no bottle cutting technique?

[OddHat]

Re: The New Circle

 

What' date=' no bottle cutting technique? [/quote']

 

Hell, he's got the VPP. So long as his mind and spirit are not going in different directions, he can handle it.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: The New Circle

 

Hell' date=' he's got the VPP. So long as his maind and spirit are not going in different directions, he can handle it. [/quote']

Of course! My mind and my spirit were in different directions!

[Guest Skaramine]

Re: The New Circle

 

And I've given out too much rep in the last 24 hours...

 

Oppenheimer is just too completely freaking awesome.

[Kristopher]

Re: The New Circle

 

Oppenheimer...

 

Awesome, OddHat. I love it.

 

I'm sure I'll have something constructive to add later, but I had to mention how wonderful I think that character concept is.