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Sounds good, I expect to post a new version soon. I'm going to keep the regeneration on the base form only -- as I've written up the character, when a form dies, it dies, and I have to write up a new form to replace it. The GM has a couple of options at that point: he could either have that new form show up as an NPC in the game so that my character could absorb it, or else my character would need to spend a few uninterrupted days in base form to evolve it on his own. Either could make a reasonable plot point for an adventure. I wouldn't expect that I would lose the points for the form, since I didn't buy Independent on it, and since I could just spend a couple XP to double the number of forms anyway. The character has a built-in rationale for his ability to gain more forms so it seems silly to ignore it, but I do want there to be consequences from a role-playing POV if a form dies.That said, there will be a couple powers that propagate across all forms, and increase the point gap between this char's sub-forms and the specialists.EDIT: Here's the skinny, minus the background. Any comments? Does this look more in line for a normal power-level char? Given the skills, power defense, and mental defense that must be bought for each form, and starting from a 300-pt. base, I expect each subform will have between 200 and 225 points to work with to formulate their archetype. Equinox Val Char Cost 10 10 10 10 30 20 20 10 2 2 3 4 20 20 STR DEX CON BODY INT EGO PRE COM PD ED SPD REC END STUN 0 0 0 0 20 20 10 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 Cost Powers and Talents END 25 25 5 25 36 120 20 Mental Defense (24 Total), Hardened (+1/4), Required for all forms (-0) 20 Power Defense, Hardened (+1/4), Required for all forms (-0) LS: Immortal Regenerate: Healing, 1 BODY/Turn, including limbs+resurrect, 0 END Cost (+1/2), Persistent (+1/2), Extra Time (1 Turn, -1 1/4), Self Only (-1/2). Note: Incineration prevents Resurrection. Evolve Form: Multiform, 8x300-pt. Forms, plus Instant Change (80 AP), Reversion (AsPow, only when at or below -10 BODY, -0), 3 Recoverable Charges (recovers 1 charge/5 min, -3/4), Side Effect (Minor: 20 AP [1d6 Drain, Affects x2: INT/EGO (+1/2), Recover 5 AP per 5 min (+1/2)], Always occurs, -1/2), Evolve Power: 80-pt. Variable Power Pool, Any SFX (+0) Cost Skills and Perks 54 Skills/Perks, TBD (INT-based skills and Perks are required for all forms) 200+ Disadvantages 150 TBD OCV:3 DCV:3 ECV:7 Phases:4, 8, 12 Costs Char 60 Powers 290 Total 350 Disads 150 Base 200

Well they are in good shape, which might mean they have 13-15 STR and 3 PD. I doubt any more than that on average, though there will of course be exceptions. I'd still say 10 BODY, ball players aren't really any harder to kill with a bullet than anyone else. Hero distinguishes killing vs. non-killing physical attacks based mostly on whether it's with a blunt or sharp instrument. Someone who can lift a semi can probably do a killing attack with his fists too, but in Hero it's still a normal damage attack. Moreover, Rubber-boy with non-resistant physical damage reduction ought to be able to absorb the KE of the baseball, so it works within the game construct as well. A 1400MPH baseball doing 10-12d6 Normal damage seems reasonable to me.

Sounds like some good suggestions. The one thing I don't quite agree with is the no power frameworks in other forms concept. Not giving benefit for limitations that don't really limit is definitely the right thing to do, but not allowing power frameworks to tie together a number of powers with related special effects sounds like it's going a bit too far. Playing 9 200- or 250-point characters rather than a 350-point character, you're giving up quite a few points in any given form. But if you then make each of those forms buy enough defenses and movement powers to just survive in a setting where most characters have a 100+ point advantage AND access to power frameworks to multiply that advantage, they probably won't have enough left to do much of anything. Unless you want each form in the multiform to be as unidimensional as some villains are, I suspect that the multiform character will need access to power frameworks in his alternate forms to be able to compete at all. The whole point of this guy is supposed to be versatility, not just in his ability to assume different forms, but that each different form is also more-or-less self-sufficient. For instance, each of the heroes he absorbed at the beginning of his backstory would have had their own movement powers, their own defense powers, and so forth, so there will naturally be a significant amount of overlap between forms. I could have a character with a multiform like this have one form be the movement form, another form be an invulnerable tank, and so forth, but that's pretty unidimensional and doesn't fit the character concept. It doesn't seem right that the base form itself would be the only way in which he was versatile, and the best way to promote versatility in the subordinate forms would be to allow power frameworks in them.

Great, thanks for the comments! You're right that it probably wouldn't be fair to other players if this character constantly overshadowed them in a normal power level game, and certainly he isn't powerful enough to compete in a cosmic level game. I'd like to keep the paired VPP/multiform concept, but if he's going to be a jack of all trades, he shouldn't be able to beat any of the other players in their specialties (at least most of the time.) You're also correct that stuff like power armour isn't too limiting if you can just change to another form that doesn't need power armour. If the multiform were more limited (say you could only change once an hour), then power armour might be worth a restrainable (-1/4) limitation, otherwise it's just a special effect. Perks that cross over from form to form would have to be bought for all forms; that's already part of the multiform rules. I think I could rework him/tone him down without too much difficulty. Some other changes might be in order while I'm at it; I'm not really sure about the whole muliform amnesia thing anyway as it seems like it might be too contrived and awkward. As it stands, the character is too powerful and perhaps not quite flexible enough with the multiform for a real jack of all trades character.

Here's a partial definition of a PC I was thinking of building. I don't think there's anything wrong per se with the concept and AFAIK the char is built according to the rules, but it definitely has some stop-sign potential. Most especially, besides potentially having to take game time to map out a substantial VPP, if the player is allowed unfettered access to the base form in a non-combat environment (i.e. most of the time) he can throw a wrench in any scenario in an eyeblink. I've tried to keep that pretty much reigned in with the multiform restrictions and the bit about consulting the GM before using this form; as I mention in the background, use of this form should under most circumstances be considered a plot device. The base form is Equinox's ace in the hole; it should be nearly impossible for any enemy to discover its existence or how to deal with it, but by the same token, the circumstances under which the player would actually get to use it should be rare and under GM supervision only. Still, I'm wondering what some of you might think if this char showed up at your campaign. Equinox Val Char Cost 10 10 10 10 30 30 30 10 2 2 3 4 20 20 STR DEX CON BODY INT EGO PRE COM PD ED SPD REC END STUN 0 0 0 0 20 40 20 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 Cost Powers and Talents END 25 5 25 45 40 120 Regenerate: Healing: Regenerate 1 BODY/Turn, including limbs+resurrect, 0 END Cost (+1/2), Persistent (+1/2), Extra Time (1 Turn, -1 1/4), Self Only (-1/2). Note: Incineration prevents Resurrection. LS: Immortality 20 Power Defense, Hardened (+1/4) Patternsift: Danger Sense: Passive Sense, Any Danger, General Area, Discriminatory, +3 to PER roll (18-) Evolve Form: Multiform, 8x350-pt. Forms, plus Instant Change (90 AP), Reversion (AsPow, only when at or below -10 BODY, -0), 1 Recoverable Charge (recovers in 1 min, -1 1/4) Evolve Power: 80-pt. Variable Power Pool, Any SFX (+0), 1 Turn to change powers (-0) 200+ Disadvantages 150 TBD OCV:3 DCV:3 ECV:10 Phases:4, 8, 12 Costs Char 90 Powers 260 Total 350 Disads 150 Base 200 Equinox (Avatar form)-------Height: 6'Weight: 100 kg Hair: Jet Black, straight, shoulder-length Eyes: No iris or pupil, swirls of colour that constantly shiftSkin/Features: Looks like a cross between Caucasian and Oriental Appearance: Unremarkable physically other than his eyes. Equinox is dressed in a floor-length white robe and so usually looks like he just got out of the shower.Personality: TBDQuote: TBDPowers/Tactics: As an Avatar of Change, Equinox has the power to evolve new abilities very quickly -- within a matter of seconds, rather than millenia. Evolving entirely new forms is also within his abilities, though this normally takes considerably longer, on the order of a few days. Having a template to work from (as in the case with the hero team whose identities he absorbed) makes this easier and quicker, but it is not required. Under most circumstances, the Lords of Change abstained from direct revelations of their power to their worshippers; in Equinox, this outlook translates into a preference to use his alternative forms to interact with the world, rather than his true form. Equinox is only a Lesser Avatar, which means that once he has changed forms, he requires a certain amount of time to realign his power matrix before he can transform again. Additionally, if Equinox's BODY is reduced to -10 while in an alternate form, then that form's template in Equinox's power matrix is destabilized, and that form "dies," at least until such time as Equinox can recreate or replace it. A Lesser Avatar of Change doesn't normally retain all the knowledge necessary for the normal functioning of each of its forms in its memory simultaneously. Instead, each form only has access to the knowledge and memories that are pertinent to that form, while the master Avatar persona remains buried deeply in the alternate form's subconscious, observing. While Equinox has the knowledge of all of his alternate forms, they know nothing of him; each knows that they are part of a multiform being, and sometimes the identites of some of the other forms, but none know of the existence of the master form. For Equinox to impart completely new knowledge and memories to an alternate form is similar to recreating the persona, and requires a major effort taking hours or even days. However, Equinox is able to prompt his alternate forms in a limited fashion, as a sort of vague feeling of wanting to perform some particular action. For example, if Equinox feels the need to switch to his base form, for instance to evolve a new form or use one of his other abilities, he will usually implant a suggestion in his current alternate form to seek privacy. Or, if Equinox wants to switch from one alternate form to another, and there is some critical information the new form needs, Equinox may suggest his current form write a short note on the subject before Equinox triggers the change.Equinox has one other gift, which is to read the flow of events, looking for slight perturbations in the way things unfold. When a ball bounces to the left instead of to the right, or a drop of rain lands down someone's neck instead of on their hat, most people brush these small events off as random chance or label it chaos theory in action, and never notice the ripple effect that progresses through these minor events when some more significant change takes place. Equinox is able to perceive the patterns of minor events as they occur, notice when a significant change causes a cascade of minor alterations to spread outwards, and correlate from that pattern what the nature of the significant change was -- especially if the significant change involves some threat to him or his surroundings.Equinox in his base form is not particularily well-suited for combat, as he's physically unimpressive and he takes a significant amount of time to evolve new powers. If he does sense that danger is at hand, his preferred response is to transform into a suitable alternate form to deal with the problem. If that option is not available for whatever reason, he will withdraw if feasible using Teleport or if necessary an Extra-Dimensional shift. If he must stand his ground, he will usually Summon assistance rather than trying to fight directly. Campaign Use: Equinox in his base form will rarely appear in a campaign, as he will usually stick with one alternative form or another rather than switching to his base form. This makes him more of a plot device than anything else; as such, the PC should consult with the GM before switching to his base form.Background: Millenia ago, god-like beings both fair and fell walked the Earth and battled against one another. Among these were the Lords of Change, a pantheon of benevolent but sometimes mischevous deities. The Lords of Change were among the first to recognize that the eventual conclusion of those battles would be the destruction of the Earth; as a result they departed for other dimensions, taking their more powerful servants with them. They did, however, leave some of their lesser servants behind, well-concealed and in stasis, in case they should want to return one day.Equinox is a Lesser Avatar of Change which has been in stasis for almost the entirety of the last 90 millenia. In 1971, a mystic supervillainess by the name of TBD-01 accidentally stumbled across the gate leading to the starchamber where Equinox was entombed, and was able to activate it. Once inside, TBD-01 was unable to determine the purpose of the starchamber, but sensed it held great power, and so sought to drain it for her own use. A trio of superheroes caught wind of TBD-01's ambitions and were able to arrive in time to intervene. However, meddling with forces one doesn't understand is rarely advisable; attempting to drain the stasis field without understanding the safety restraints placed upon it proved to be a catastrophic mistake on the part of the villainess. The stasis field imploded, mortally wounding the villainess and each of the heroes, but simultaneously slowing their bodily functions to a fraction of their normal pace. In the center of the conflagration, a column of brilliant, coruscating light slowly coalesced into a human-like form with eyes seemingly composed of that same coruscating light. Remainder TBD, outline follows:- Equinox absorbs the four forms over the course of about an hour apiece. He realizes that there are still destructive forces at work in the world, and in the absence of his masters, decides to do something about them.- Over the next 30 years, Equinox adds new forms as occasion arises. Currently he has a total of 8 forms stored in his matrix. Alternate forms: TBD-01 (mystic), Quicksilver (speedster), TBD-03 (power-armour), TBD-04 (mentalist), others?

Re: Fastball Say a normal fastball goes about 75mph and does about 2d6-4d6 normal damage when it hits. After all, most normals with a PD of 2 are going to take some STUN damage (bruises), may get knocked out if hit in the head, and if they are unlucky suffer a broken bone. One way to find out how much a 1400 MPH fastball would be to use the doubling rule (e.g. lift STR doubles for each +5 STR) and say each doubling of velocity is +1D6 of damage. So, by that logic, a 1200 MPH fastball would be 75x2x2x2x2, so 6d6 to 8d6 damage -- probably normal damage, since baseballs aren't sharp. That damage would also be applied as a move-through on the fastball, so assuming it was a normal baseball it would probably be toast. Your ball player could probably take a ranged martial art to represent his accuracy with throwing the ball as well, though the maneuvers would probably focus more on +OCV than on +DCV, and you might want to add an advantage to make it boostable by STR. Alternatively you could look at the STR chart and see what STR you'd need to throw a ball at that speed (translate 1400 MPH to a number of hexes per phase, and find out how much STR is needed to throw an object that takes -25 STR to lift that far) and then use that STR level as the basis for the number of dice in the attack. I'd still call it normal damage that would destroy a normal baseball, though.

Thanks! A link to Glaive, who more-or-less fits the criteria (she has more than 60AP in defensive powers if you include the missile deflect in the multipower, but is otherwise good to go). http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=117515#post117515

Here's the link to Glaive... http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=117515#post117515

Great, thanks. You're right that I might have to make some adjustments to fit them in my game, but they're certainly a good place to start from!

Note: added background to Glaive, above.

Good concept. Wouldn't a "any mirror" focus be an IIF, since it's very easy to get a new mirror? Of course, I'd also add "fragile" to the focus, which would balance it out.

Actually the character was originally male, but I changed the sex when I noticed a lack of female characters on the Enforcer's page. I added a link there to point to her here. Her revised concept owes more to Terry Goodkind's Mord-Sith than anything else. Although, it's quite possible that the Mord-Sith themselves have a bit of the valkyrie in them...

Next challenge: A 200-pt. energy projector, making significant use of Images

If you find that that character concept just doesn't work well for his character, or he can't build the character he wants with the number of points available, there's always the option of posession. You can do a lot if you are willing to take time and use the cumulative advantage. Check out Zardoz on the following link to see how efficient you can make things. http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6160&perpage=50&pagenumber=3 Your ghost character could purchase multiform and have 2 forms: one for while he's a disembodied ghost, and one for while he's posessing someone. The ghost form would have desolid always on and so forth as described above, and a low-level cumulative mind control suitable for controlling a human host (which most of the time would just be a normal person.) Once the human is mind-controlled, you could use the multiform power to switch into a corporeal form, with the special effect of posessing the person you just mind controlled. The multiform would of course have reversion on it, so that if the host was knocked out/killed, the ghost would automatically revert to desolid form. Of course, you'd probably want higher STUN on the ghost form, so that he could go posess another body in relatively short order if that happened...

Glaive (Elaine Uldenst of Borellia) Val Char Cost 15 14 18 13 13 11 10 10 5 4 3 7 36 30 STR DEX CON BODY INT EGO PRE COM PD ED SPD REC END STUN 5 12 16 6 3 2 0 0 2 0 6 0 0 0 Cost Powers and Talents END 6 2 31 4 4 16 15 1 1 1 1 1 12 4 11 1 1 1 1 10 Combat Luck: +3 rPD/rED, Hardened (+1/4), Luck-Based (-1/2), Non-persistent (-1/4) +1" Running (7" Total) Soul of the Spearmaiden: Focus (IAF, personal, breakable, fragile, self-repairing (1 day), -3/4) 1. Characteristics: +6 DEX, +8 PRE, +2 SPD, +15 STUN 2. Mental Defense: +7 (9 Total) 3. Presence Defense: +12 PRE, only vs. PRE attacks (-1) 4. Skills: Martial Arts - Borellian Spearmaiden (28 AP of skills) Glaive of the Defender: Multipower, 31 AP Reserve, Focus (OAF, personal, unbreakable, -1) 1.(u) Slash: 1 1/2d6 HKA (2 1/2d6 w/STR), 1/2 END Cost (+1/4), Reduced Penetration (-1/4) 2.(u) Impale: 2d6 HKA (3d6 w/STR) 3.(u) Reverse: 5d6 HA (8d6 w/STR), 1/2 END Cost (+1/4), HA Lim (-1/2) 4.(u) Throw: 1d6+1 HKA (2d6+1 w/STR), Ranged (+1/2) 5.(u) Deflect: Missile Deflection III (bullets & shrapnel), Not vs. Heavy Missiles (-1/4), plus +8 w/ Missle Deflect (OCV+19-AOCV) Armour: +6 rPD, +6 rED (OIF: Blood-red Leather Armour) Cape: Lack of Weakness: -3, for Normal & Resistant defenses, plus LS: Intense Cold (OAF: Fur Cape) Boots of Springing & Striding: Multipower, 20 AP Reserve, Focus (OIF, universal, unbreakable, -1/2), 1 Continuous Recoverable Fuel Charge (1 min, recover charge: rest 1 min, -1/4) 1.(u) Quick Stride: +10" Running (17" Total) 2.(u) Long Stride: +5" Running (12" Total), x8 NCM 3.(u) Quick Spring: +20" Leaping (23" Total) 4.(u) Long Spring: +10" Leaping (13" Total), x8 NCM Horn of the Guardian: Summon, 8x100-pt. Spearmaiden Shades (35 AP), Amicable (Friendly, +1/4), Focus (OAF, unbreakable, personal, -1), 3 Charges (per day, use END, -1 3/4), Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2) 1 1 3 1 3 4 Soul of the Spearmaiden Skills OCV DCV Effect Martial Arts: Borellian Spearmaiden 1. Strike/Throw: Martial Strike 2. Block: Martial Block 3. Disarm: Martial Disarm 4. Hook: Martial Throw Weapon Elements: Unarmed, Staves, Spears/Polearms, Thrown Spears CSL: +1 w/ HTH combat Defense Maneuver II (No back shot, No multiple attacker bonus) +0 +2 -1 +0 +2 +2 +1 +1 STR or Weapon, +2 DC Block, Abort Disarm, +10 STR STR or Weapon, +v/5 DC Cost Skills and Perks Roll 1 1 1 2 0 2 3 1 2 3 2 1 1 3 1 Icewalk: No penalties from slippery or poor footing Acrobatics Breakfall KS: Spearmaiden Style Language: Borellian (native) Language: English (Fluent conversation) Healing (Paramedics) Power: Spear tricks (DEX-based) PS: Bodyguard Stealth Survival: Arctic Teamwork Transport Familiarity: Motorcycle Weapon Familiarity: Staves, Spears/Polearms, Thrown Spears Unspent 8- 8- 11- 12- 8- 11- 12-/13- 11- 8- 8- 100+ Disadvantages 20 0 5 5 15 15 10 15 15 Normal Characteristic Maxima DNPC: Harpoon (AsPow, 8-) Distinctive Features: Temporal Signature (Not Concealable, Noticed, Unusual Senses Only) Distinctive Features: Always in hero ID (Easily Concealed, Noticed, Common Senses) Hunted by Slug (MoPow, 8-, Imprison) Watched by Temporal Police (MoPow, NCI, Easily Found, 8-, Watched) Psych Lim: Honourable (Common, Moderate) Psych Lim: Overconfidence/Underconfidence (Very Common, Moderate) Social Lim: Unfamiliar with Modern Societal Conventions/Technology (Very Frequent, Minor) OCV:5 DCV:5 ECV:4 Phases:4, 8, 12 Costs Char 52 Powers 148 Total 200 Disads 100 Base 100 Height: 5' 8" || Weight: 100kg || Hair: Blond, Single Waist-length Braid || Eyes: Blue || Skin: Caucasian Appearance: Glaive is a reasonably good-looking young woman, with classically Nordic features, but her typically impassive and forbidding facial expression tend to make her less appealing. She always wears her form-fitting blood-red leather armour and leather boots, with her horn at her side, and usually has her cape and spear close at hand. She also wears a small crystalline bird-shaped pendant over her armour. Her preferred weapon is a double-bladed glaive; each end has a crescent-shaped blade, sharpened on the inward edge and blunt on the outward side, culminating in a broad spear point for thrusting. In combat it handles much like a quarterstaff for the most part, and it is aerodynamically shaped and balanced for throwing with a spiral cast.Personality: Glaive is very business-like under normal circumstances, and doesn't let anything get in her way of doing what she thinks is best for the welfare of her client. This includes ignoring her client's orders if necessary, though she does recognize that her clients may know more about some types of threats than she does. Glaive is quite casual about inflicting pain or injury, since there is no taboo about use of lethal force in her native culture, and in fact will pretend to enjoy it if she thinks it will give her an advantage; this is part of her way of deterring would-be attackers. Normally, Glaive is quite confident in her ability to handle most would-be assailants, but if events prove otherwise or she's obviously well out of her league to start with, she's quick to recognize the realities of the situation. However, if deprived of her pendant for whatever reason, much of her confidence evaporates; she reverts to being "trainee Elaine," and needs a bit of coaching/coaxing to get through hazardous situations. Normally she is not very interested in romantic interludes and will typically rebuff potential suitors in no uncertain terms. However, there is a certain romantic tension between herself and Harpoon; despite their verbal sparring, they do share a certain comradely bond, which may some day mature into genuine affection. Quote: "And just where do you think you're going?"Powers/Tactics: Glaive rarely initiates an attack, but if trouble looks to be brewing she will hold an action for a block, throw, or missle deflect. If someone starts a fight, though, she has no qualms about finishing it. She will usually stick with her Slash attack, using a Strike or Hook maneuver, unless she has reason to do otherwise. If outnumbered, or obviously outclassed, she will instead use her Horn to summon assistance. The Horn will summon up to 8 Shades, whose bodies are magically coalesced from shadows, governed by spirits of deceased Spearmaidens. (Guidelines: STR 15, DEX 14, SPD 3, with MA skills and a HKA similar to Glaive's.)Campaign Use: Glaive comes from a society where women fighters are traditionally defensively-oriented and male fighters are traditionally offensively-oriented. As a heroine, it would not be much of a stretch for her to translate her protectiveness for an individual to protectiveness for society in general. Otherwise, she's most likely to wind up as a mercenary bodyguard, protecting whoever she is hired to protect, regardless of what she thinks of them. Harpoon is a Borellian man who has also been yanked forward in time and has a similar background, skillset, and powers to Glaive, though he trades in some of her movement and summon abilities for a multiform; he can change into a seal, a seahawk, and possibly other forms. If the GM doesn't want to have him in the campaign, the disadvantage can be easily removed as it's worth 0 points. In order to use Glaive as a DNPC for a more powerful super, remove the DNPC disadvantage and change her comradeship with Harpoon to comradeship with the PC in question. If Slug is not present in the campaign world, any magic-using villain interested in trying to use Glaive to channel power from the past would be a suitable replacement.Background: Background: Elaine grew up in Jarviksholm, a fair-sized town in the province of Astoria, situated at the outskirts of a huge and dense boreal forest that covered the bulk of the province. Youngest in a family of 8 children, Elaine grew up with tales of combat and valor singing in her blood, as her family had a long tradition of prowess as warriors. Most of the men were hunters of one stripe or another, while the Sisterhood of the Spear counted her family as one of the oldest and most prestigious of its Astorian members. Elaine had plenty of role models to follow, as her grandmother, mother, and more than one older sister were all members of that elite fighting organization.When Elaine came of age, she naturally joined the ranks of the initiates into the Sisterhood. She soon realized that the training would be even more gruelling than she had anticipated, and her family history began to weigh on her. She felt tremendous pressure to live up to the high standards her siblings and ancestors had set for themselves, and much of the time she felt inadequate to the task. She knew she had done as well as or better than most of her trainee colleagues in their courses of instruction in the healing arts, and the time spent on the hunt with her older brothers had certainly left her much better at quiet movement than they. But, when it came to what she perceived as the meat and bones of the matter -- combat -- she felt hopelessly behind. She could run farther and take a blow better than many of them, but that was little comfort when she routinely found herself on the floor or in an armlock.In point of fact, Elaine was actually doing passably well in her training; she was by no means exceptionally gifted, but it was clear to her instructors that, given time, she would come to be quite a capable young woman. Still, no matter how often this was impressed upon her, or how often her mother approved of the progress she had made, the message didn't seem to sink in. Her instructors realized that this problem was one that Elaine could and eventually would cure on her own, given time, so they resolved to do nothing about it but simply wait for Elaine to come to the same realization on her own. Ultimately, though, events conspired to rob her of that opportunity.One afternoon, Elaine was surprised when her instructors informed her that classes would end early that day, on account of a meeting of the Sisterhood. Such meetings were normally held outside of regular class hours, so this was a matter of some note. Even more disturbing, when Elaine arrived home, neither her mother nor father were present, and she wound up eating a dinner prepared by an older sister and going to bed even more puzzled as to the strange goings on. The next morning when Elaine awoke, her mother told her that her grandmother, Elaine's elderly great-grandmother, who lived in Fierenhavn, on the other side of the forest near the southern border of Astoria, was quite ill, and had requested that the youngest member of the family come to visit her. Elaine's mother asked her to go, but warned her that no-one could be spared to escort her on the trip; if she stayed on the main road she ought to be safe, but said she would understand if the trip was too long for her to go unaccompanied. Elaine was a bit nervous about the long journey ahead, but agreed to go nonetheless. Elaine had met the elderly matriarch a number of times previously at family reunions and had always liked her, so Elaine felt obligated to provide what comfort she could, especially when specifically requested.Fortunately, the trip to Fierenhavn was long but uneventful. When she arrived, however, things started getting a bit more unusual once again. When Elaine arrived at her great-grandmother Aliza's house, and was greeted by her great-grandmother Aliza, a bright-eyed old woman of about Elaine's size with silvery hair and a jewel-bright crystal pendant of a bird about her neck, the old woman appeared quite spry and not at all ill. Moreover, she had another visitor, a young man not more than three or four years her elder, who she assumed was another relative, probably a second or third cousin of hers she didn't know. After a few moments exchanging pleasantries with Aliza and the young man, who turned out to be named Dreval and who seemed quite taciturn, Aliza revealed the real reason for inviting the pair of them to her house. She told them that she believed something evil was lairing southeast of the town in unclaimed land on the other side of the Astorian border, and she wanted them to root it out. Outwardly, Elaine tried to remain calm, while inwardly she panicked, and most of the rest of Aliza's explanation went in one ear and out the other. All too soon, it seemed, Dreval was nodding in acceptance, and went outside to prepare for the journey, while Elaine remained frozen to her chair, too numb to move. Aliza seemed to recognize her plight. "You think this is too much for you, don't you?" she said, smiling gently. "After all, this is a job some fully trained Sisters would think twice about accepting, fighting an evil magician, and here you are, not even finished your training. How can I possibly ask you to go?" "Well, I can't go myself, that much is plain. Though I may not look it, I really am quite ill; I am just well-practiced at hiding the signs. Besides which, though I was once quite the adventurer in my youth, I'm far too old for this sort of thing now. So, I must use proxies like yourself and young Dreval here.""But why you, and not, say, your mother, or one of your sisters who has completed her training, or one of my many other descendents and colleagues? Any of those would seem to be more suitable choices, at least on the surface. And yet, none of them would be suitable to receive the gift I am about to offer you. Please, come with me."Aliza led Elaine into a back room, where a rack held a set of blood-red leather armour, the hallmark of a full-fledged Spearmaiden, as well as a double-bladed spear and various other accoutrements. All looked to be in perfect condition. As Elaine looked closer to appreciate the craftsmanship, Aliza spoke again. "It is a tradition among the Sisterhood that upon the completion of a new Sister's training, an elder member of her clan should provide suitable fighting gear for her descendent. It seems to me that this time, you will have need of this gift a little earlier than normal. This was once my own fighting gear. It is now yours." As Elaine whirled to stare at her in shock, feeling that she had more to live up to than ever, Aliza smiled once more. "Don't look so surprised. This armour and weaponry are serviceable, to be sure, but not out of the ordinary for any experienced Sister; in fact, I believe your mother has quite a bit better equipment herself, and I expect that in time your sisters will acquire armament at least equal to my own. The least I can do is set you out on this mission with decent gear." As Elaine nodded mutely, Aliza continued. "I think you'll find, however, that this last gift will be, for you, the most precious." And with that, Aliza unclasped the crystal bird-pendant and placed it around Elaine's neck. Elaine's puzzled look begged for further explanation, but Aliza merely smiled cryptically and indicated that she should put on the armour. The next few days of travel passed in a blur as a still-dazed Elaine tried to sort out why she was 20 leagues away from the closest outpost of civilization, travelling with a man she barely knew, on a mission to confront an evil she knew practically nothing about and which terrified her, and not safely back on the road home to her family. On the morning of the fifth day, however, when she awoke, she immediately realized that something had changed. For one thing, she knew that Aliza had died during the night. For another, her gear seemed much more intimately familiar to her than it had before. She hadn't previously known that her gear was enchanted, but now she knew exactly what the properties of the boots that she wore were, how to sound the horn at her side to trigger its power, and how to command the spear she carried so that it could fly swifter and farther than she could have ever thrown it unaided, and yet still return to her hand instantly once it had hit its target, or so that it could deflect even the quickest projectile with a simple flick of the wrist. Finally, she seemed to sense a presence in her mind she hadn't felt before, a youthful, confident, female presence -- the presence of her great-grandmother as she had been, 50 years ago, full of adventurous spirit and ready to tackle anything. That spirit overlaid her own, helping her take in, analyze, and react to her environment quicker and with more skill than ever before, and giving her the confidence she needed to tackle the challenge that lay ahead. She now understood Aliza's cryptic comment concerning how valuable the crystal pendant would prove to be. That morning Elaine broke camp first and set off, following the river as they had been doing, and taking the lead for the first time. Dreval could not help but notice the change, but said nothing. At midday they left the river and headed for a hilly crag, atop which a set of standing stones were dimly visible in the distance. They arrived just as the sun was about to set and the moon rise; unfortunately, however, the only viable approach to the hill was from the east, so as they crested the hill they had no choice but to look into the glare of the setting sun for their quarry. He had been waiting for them.Dreval was quickly assaulted by a brace of skeletal warriors the corrupt priest had summoned, and Elaine barely had time to wind her horn and summon her own spirit allies before she too was swept into the fray. A desperate battle ensued as Elaine and Dreval fought to get to the priest, while the priest stood on the altar at the center of the standing stones and threw elemental blasts of dark magic at them, knocking them away if they got too close. Ultimately the pair realized that the priest was protecting a lens that he had emplaced on the altar, and, knocking the last skeletal warriors aside, they charged the altar, jumping up on it with the priest just as the moon peeked above the horizon and its light brushed the lens. The priest shouted shrilly, seemingly in pain, and then suddenly everything went black.Elaine and Dreval woke some indeterminate amount of time later. The priest was nowhere in sight. Nor, for that matter, were the altar, the standing stones, the hill, or for that matter the surrounding countryside. Instead they were in some kind of forest composed of stone and metal structures. Only one thing was certain: they weren't in Astoria any more.Fast-forward two months. Elaine, now known as Glaive, understands a bit more about the most commonplace artifacts of this strange world she finds herself in. She finds it hard to credit that she's travelled tens of thousands of years into the future, but all the evidence she's been able to uncover points in that direction. As a means of making her way in this new society, she decided to stick with what she knows and become a protector -- a bodyguard. She's been fortunate enough to land a couple of small-time bodyguarding jobs, but her unfamiliarity with the local cultural norms has been causing her grief, and she's lost more than one job for being too uncompromising or just too "weird" for her clients. Still, she feels she's learned some useful lessons in how to approach matters in this society, and continues to try to land bigger and better clients. She still maintains contact with Dreval, who now calls himself Harpoon; he's opened up a bit more with her since they have both become stranded in an alien world. Elaine and Dreval feel it's important to keep tabs on one another, as each is the only one likely to really understand what the other is going through.Meanwhile, elsewhere, an Elder Worm by the name of The Slug has uncovered evidence pointing to the arrival of two new supers in the city, from another era. He concludes that it is possible that one or both of them has the ability to open a rift to an earlier time, perhaps as far back as the age of the Elder Worm. Failing that, perhaps they know of an object of power that might have survived the ages and be waiting, buried somewhere in a relic collection or an archaeological dig, for him to uncover. One plane ticket later, the pair have a new enemy, one they know nothing about...

Hmm, it's a bit of a tough call for me, as I don't get much opportunity to actually play anymore. I like to design efficient characters, regardless of the game system, and I have played characters that under the right circumstances can be over-powered... but character concept is paramount, and internal gameworld consistency is important too. My favourite character was a D&D character that I ported over from a Vampire: the Masquerade game for a Ravenloft (quasi-horror) campaign. Most of the time, she was useless -- don't ever let her near you with a first aid kit -- but under the right circumstances, she would frenzy and turn into a killing machine. Most combats she would sit out 3/4 of the fight, trying to stay out of combat, until one or two foolish mobs cornered her, and got shredded for their efforts in about 2 seconds flat. When I'm designing Hero characters, character concept and efficient design are still the primary considerations. I'm not into powergaming in the sense of liking high-powered characters or crisis-style plotlines, but I do like to have characters that are both well-rounded and relatively powerful for the amount of points available. I also like a campaign to have limits enforced to ensure that certain expectations about the game can be validly held, and to help prevent overly abusive rules manipulations from occurring. I guess I would say I'm about 40% Narrativist, 40% Simulationist, and 20% Gamist. Or maybe 45% Narrativist, 30% Simulationist, and 25% Gamist. Something like that, anyway.

It's certainly a possibility. I'd have to work on it some to polish it up, and figure out exactly what Slug would think he could accomplish through hunting my character, but it has potential. I seem to recall a bit about the character from 3rd Ed. but it's very hazy. If you can post his current incarnation, it might be helpful. I might need to tweak him for a street-level game, though, as IIRC he was pretty 4-colour in 3rd edition.

Well, you have the right idea, though I wasn't really thinking of having the hunter meet the character in the past. More like, I was thinking of having the character being hunted by someone who wants to use the character in a ritual attempt to channel power or draw followers/resources (e.g. through a gate) from the past to the present. I don't want a hunter that would be interested in building a powerbase in the past or attempting to alter history, however. Whether such an attempt is even possible is an open question -- it could be an attempt that's doomed to failure, and the hunter in question doesn't know it. I DON'T want someone like Takofanes who could probably pull something off like that in his sleep without reference to my character. Since my character is for a 200-pt street supers type of game, even a 350 point hunter is a good deal more powerful, and most likely a criminal mastermind in this setting. Unfortunately I'm hampered by the fact that I don't actually own any of these sourcebooks so I don't really know if there's anyone appropriate, or if so what they can do. For instance, I don't know anything about the Crowns of Krim. However, since I plan on posting the character here, it would be more useful for others to be able to use this character without having to make up her hunter, and that's why I was hoping for something from a sourcebook. Even if I just know what the Crowns of Krim are & what kinds of powers they provide, or what evil deities a priest might worship in the Valdorian age (a priest of Edom?) and what powers they have, might be helpful as a tie-in.

I was looking for a villain that I could use as a hunter for one of my characters. I could always make one up but I thought maybe there's someone in the existing background material who might suit. I am looking for someone suitable for a superheroic setting (350 points max) who is either: (a) A villain from the Turakian or Valdorian age, most likely with magical powers, or, ( A low-medium power villain with time-travel powers whose powerbase is nevertheless in the present (max 350 pts) If there's something suitable in the source material it might be nice to use that, otherwise as I said I'll just make something up.

The last challenge still applies, no?

Most combat maneuvers can be used either at range or in HTH combat, so you can use any combat maneuver that makes sense according to the special effects of your power. You don't have to buy a special EB in order to use the Disarm maneuver, just use your regular EB with the Disarm maneuver. That's straight from FREd.

Funny, I did check there. It seems to support what I said above. To quote:

Ok, thanx. I tend to view them as separate deals, given that animals aren't necessarily (or even usually) feral, and that villains often have similar psych limitations to feral (e.g. cold-blooded killer) without having restrictions on their level of mentality. The animal mentality indicates that Warg has little consideration for things that humans might consider important while he's in Warg form, including whatever his current mission is supposed to be, protecting teammates, keeping out of trouble, etc. -- he's only interested in (a) protecting himself, ( hunting for food, and © being left alone, in that order. The Feral limitation indicates how easily he is provoked and how aggressive he is. A regular wolf (without the feral limitation) would seek to avoid contact with humans and would most likely just beat it if confronted (unless cornered or otherwise forced to fight.) Warg, on the other hand, would hold his ground, snarl, and lunge if the offending party didn't back off within a few seconds. Still, I included extra limitations with the view that some GMs might quibble about how many points each limitation ought to be worth, so it should all come out in the wash, regardless. Hmm. Looking at the Multiform examples in FREd, and at the description of the power, all seems in order. It does say that the base points are the same, but doesn't say anything about the disadvantages having the same maximums -- it just says the disadvantages must balance out the costs. Certainly the examples of the 400 point dinosaur form for the 350 point hero or the 300-point wolfman/225 point wolf for the 150-point hero wouldn't fit with a restriction such as you've described. I would tend to think that having to come up with enough disadvantages to make up the difference from the base cost would be a sufficient limitation most of the time. That 300-point wolfman is going to need 225 points of disads to balance out, which could be challenging to do in the first place and fairly crippling in the second (certainly if the GM makes appropriate use of them.) Possible, if you have something in mind run it past me and I'll ok it. It shouldn't be too hard to come up with something, though I'd prefer you add background rather than edit existing background. Again, as he stands, if you're hiring him, it's because you want his smell -- you want something done in a particularily disgusting/degrading way, or you want something to get noticed. He's VERY good at being a distraction.

Aargh! I looked up some more in FREd, and found a section I didn't see earlier detailing what you described. This seems to contradict some of the stuff in the FAQ. Bleh. In particular: I like the rules I came up with above based on this FAQ item (and others therein) better. EDIT: I found the following in FREd p. 272: A character who has a Power Advantage on a HA (or other Normal Damage attack to which his STR is added) does not also have to buy that Advantage for his STR if the character only uses his STR up to the unmodified active point value of the HA, of if the unmodified points value of the HA exceeds his STR. So, it appears that according to the rules, we now have this: If I have a 5d6 Double KB HA, 5-25 STR will add +1d6 to +5d6 to the HA (Double KB) but if I want to add 30 STR to the HA, it loses the advantage and becomes a 11d6 normal attack.

Double KB is a +3/4 advantage. To make it simpler, I'll use double AP instead, for a +1 advantage. I'm pretty sure the way the rules are written, it works as follows: Suppose I have a 4d6 Double AP HA. Each DC is worth 5 AP and is worth 1/2d6 of double AP damage (FREd 269). It has 8 base DC, so the most it can normally be added to is up to 16 DC (8d6 Double AP.) - If I have 10 STR, I can make it a 5d6 Double AP HA. - If I have 15 STR, I can still only make it a 5 1/2d6 Double AP HA. - If I have 13 STR, I can still make it only a 5 1/2d6 since there's no such thing as 1/2 a DC (see the rules FAQ.) - If I have 40 STR, I can make it a 8d6 Double AP HA. - If I have 60 STR, and am in a superheroic game (better be!) I can make it a 10d6 HA, but I will lose the double AP advantage. (See the FAQ -- the same applies in reverse for using a combat maneuver that adds damage with STR bought with an advantage.) I can check FREd when I get home but I am pretty sure you do NOT get +1 DC per 5 STR with an advantaged attack, nor can you endlessly pump a cheap advantaged attack with STR to get a moderately powerful advantaged attack. To use the 5d6 Double Knockback HA example, each DC is still 5 points, but the number of DC you will need to boost your attack an extra D6 will stagger. You will need 8.75 AP to boost your attack by 1 die, or 4.375 to boost it by half a die. Accordingly, the bonus will stagger according to the value of the number of AP you add as follows: 5 STR = 1 DC, 5/8.75 = 0.57 = +1/2d6 (Double KB) 10 STR = 2 DC, 10/8.75 = 1.15 = +1d6 (Double KB) 15 STR = 3 DC, 15/8.75 = 1.71 = +1 1/2d6 (Double KB) 20 STR = 4 DC, 20/8.75 = 2.28 = +2 1/2d6 (Double KB) etc 35 STR = 7 DC, 35/8.75 = 4 = +4d6 (Double KB) EDIT: Checked the rules, and made a couple minor corrections.