Chuckg

Design Notes -- Perceptive people might notice that some of the skills that the Baron's writeup implies he has don't actually exist on his character sheet. That was deliberate... it's to represent about 50 years' worth of skill decay, as he has quite literally sat on his butt and done nothing active for all that time, even if he has been enjoying himself. You'll also note that the vampiric weaknesses are at a lower severity than usual... he can actually still *keep moving* with a stake in his heart, for one thing, as opposed to dying instantly. This is meant to represent just how damn tough he is... he is one of the eldest surviving European vampires on the planet, and while no amount of age or power or will can overcome his vampiric weaknesses entirely, he can resist them better than almost anyone else. Personality -- You've probably got a good sense of it already from the writeup above, but in a nutshell -- he's the most iron-hard sonofabitch you ever met. The trials and tribulations of centuries have taken what was already a strong-willed man and made him nigh-unbreakable, with a willpower second to none. This unquenchable drive is tempered only by a strong sense of honor, and a strict dedication to the ideal that the greater are supposed to protect the lesser, not to dominate or harvest them. In another timeline, in another version, the Baron von Darien could be a most hideously dangerous individual. As is, he's merely very very very dangerous. Think 'Victor von vampire' and you're getting close, although he's long since gotten over being too full of himself. Spending eleven centuries as one of the immortal damned because of a devil's bargain that you made willingly is more than enough to teach you that you are not infallible.

Note -- the Baron was one of the several characters I originally created for the campaign that I'm running Starguard in, before we recruited another player to be team martial artist and I chose to switch roles. So he hasn't actually been used in play yet, and several parts of his backstory are still TBD. The aforementioned Horus-Re, another PC who's playing the immortal champion of the Valdorian sun god who slept in stasis and periodically arose in eras of great need all throughout history (think Nuada of the Silver Hand meets Hercules: The Legendary Journeys), figures briefly into this. History: Long ago, in the Dark Ages, shortly before the death of the great wyrm Blundiskrig (see 5e VIPER sourcebook) at the hands of the great hero Horus-Re (hey, they left it unspecified in canon, so we fitted it in), lived a young mercenary named Aral. When Horus-Re rode to face insurmountable odds at the hands of the great wyrm and the savage barbarian hordes, this young man and his group of sell-swords were the only ones who had the courage to ride with him. The gods reward the daring. The great wyrm was slain, the barbarian alliance broken. And while the great hero Horus-Re was wounded unto death by the vengeance of Nama, and had to sleep the great sleep for generations, his mortal companions were richly rewarded for their bravery. Gaining a title and a barony, the new Baron von Darien settled down to enjoy the fruits of his labors, meet and marry a good woman, and father a son. All seemed well. Until the incessant baronial wars of Dark Ages Germany claimed all that he treasured -- his lands, his liegemen, and his family. For while Aral was a swordsman like few others, and a clever and courageous man, he was still only mortal. The bereft Baron von Darien set out to attain his vengeance against those who had wronged him, by fair means or foul. And he almost succeeded... had almost killed every so-called "noble" on his list... save the last one. For the next-to-last one had dealt him a mortal wound. But Aral von Darien's struggle vs. hopeless odds had caught the attention of more than mortals. The vampiress Erika, a weak and flighty thing considered a player of no consequence among the machinations of the immortals, sought herself a bodyguard. And who better than a man of such talents... such driving obsession... such utter lack of anything left to live for... and in such dire need of strength beyond strength? Aral von Darien's reputation for never breaking a sworn oath served him well that black night, as his sire bound him to his word -- servitude and protection for her, in return for the Dark Embrace and the opportunity to finish his vengeance for him. Despairing and dying, he made the devil's bargain. Only after he killed the last man who had wronged him did the Baron von Darien fully realize into what a world of the damned he had chosen to walk. Yet he was bound by his word, and would not break it. For two centuries he loyally guarded and served his sire, until her own foolishness and pride landed her headlong in a situation that even her loyal protector could not save her from. Fortunately for him, the offended elder held no animus for von Darien, realizing accurately that von Darien had liked her even less than he did. By this point, von Darien had accumulated a significant amount of respect in the courts of the vampires in his own right. None of his fellow vampires knew how much he hated their kind, or how much connection to humanity he had almost lost yet found again. And he didn't tell them. Rather than launch a quixotic war as a vampire who hunted vampires, he instead drove himself to stand out even more in their society. He explained his limiting his feeding habits to the non-lethal methods as simple prudence, a means by which to evade or divert possible vampire hunters. He removed vampires he considered too exceedingly dangerous to mortals not by openly denouncing them for their depraved habits, but by finding excuses to quarrel with them inside the conventions of vampire society, and then making those quarrels effectively and thoroughly lethal. In only several centuries more he was a respected elder among his kind, feared for his skill at arms and his strength, and reputed for his merciless temper and bloody thoroughness at the games of vendetta. None of his fellow kind knew his *true* motives. As a mortal lawkeeper could not hope to be everywhere and stop every crime, the Baron did not torment himself over his failure to stop every vampier or every feeding. He slew as many of his more dangerous fellows as he could, warned off or persuaded from killing mortals as many of his less dangerous fellows as he could, and that was that. Shortly after, in the late medieval period, the Baron -- by now a highly respected elder -- formulated and then promulgated what he called the Strictures, a code of behavior rigidly limiting vampire depredations and feeding upon the mortals. Selling this to his fellow elders as a necessary means of self-protection vs. the Inquisition, he actually got many of them to agree that it was prudent policy. And so for the first time in millennia, undead society bound itself with strict law and custom that facilitated secret cohabitation with mortals, not outright sack and exploitation of them. And the Baron von Darien, founder of the Strictures, was one of the most respected and prestigious members of this new society. (Late during this period was the first encounter between the Baron and agents of the Trismegistus Council. A very secret, and at very-arms-length relationship would grow from that encounter.) At the beginning of the 20th century, what had for some time been suspected was at last confirmed -- the Baron von Darien had done what he had done for the sake of mortals, not for vampires. Even the most cunning and strong-willed of deceivers cannot deceive his fellows indefinitely, and the Strictures were torn down and made no more, and the Baron von Darien declared anathema. But by this point, he had already done his work... vampires had limited themselves for too long, and by now elders were too few in number. They had missed their chance to become the secret masters of the new industrialized world. Hunted for decades, the Baron survived by very slim margins... margins made much more survivable by his discover of the Ring of Vlaakith, ancient Atlantean artifact that allowed vampires to walk among humans, even in broad daylight, and utterly concealed their undead natures... Survived until Captain Patriot and der Sturmvogel revealed themselves to the world. At which point the Baron began to relax. A new age of power was dawning, and if he could survive but a few decades longer, the vampire threat to humanity would be forever vanquished. Faking his death to his fellow kindred in the Blitz, the Baron created a new identity, deeper cover than any masquerade he had ever before done, as Lucian deVries, WWII French refugee and millionaire industrialist. Later on, he would continue that mask as his "son", Alan deVries. Several magical spells of misdirection and disguise, purchased at great cost from the Council, completed this deception. And for those decades he lay very low, and did... nothing. Nothing at all. Even when he could act, he dared not, for to reveal his continued existence would result in a resumption of the blood hunt. And so he bided his time... until his old, old friend, the immortal Champion Of The Sun, returned to the world of the living at last. Only this time he was not merely an immortal champion, but a full-fledged demigod, one of Earth's mightiest heroes... the last divine spark of the Valdorian sun god having been given to his last worshipper, as the slow neglect of centuries finally extinquished his divinity. And with the return of this reminder of his mortal past, of the simple days of glory and honor he had enjoyed, of the time he used to walk in the Sun for real before he damned himself to the Darkness, the Baron eventually came to realize that it was time for him to stop hiding.

Character Sheet -- Baron von Darien Name Baron Aral von Darien (super alias to be determined), aka "Alan DeVries" Player Charles Glasgow STR 40 DEX 35 CON 30 BODY 20 INT 23 EGO 45 PRE 25 COM 18 PD 12 ED 12 SPD 7 REC 10 END 30 STUN 50 OCV 12 DCV 12 ECV 15 Phases: 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12 Total Defenses: 30 PD (18 rPD) (6 rPD Hardened) 30 ED (18 rED) (6 rED Hardened) Powers: 60 Multipower - Vampiric Powers (60 pt reserve) 3 u Vampiric Hypnosis I: 12d6 Mind Control, Must Maintain Eye Contact (-1) 3 u Vampiric Hypnosis II: 6d6 Mind Control, Cumulative x4 (+1), Must Maintain Eye Contact (-1) 1 u Inhuman Stealth: Invisibility vs. Sight Group, 0 END (+1/2), Requires Stealth Roll (-1/2), Only in Shadows/Darkness (-1/2) 1 u Inhuman Stealth: Invisibility vs. Hearing Group, 0 END (+1/2), Requires Stealth Roll (-1/2) 1 u Climbing Down the Tower: Clinging, Cannot Resist Knockback (-1/4) 1 u Baring The Fangs: +25 PRE, Only for fear/intimidation (-1/2), Requires revealing vampire nature (-1/2) 4 u Body Of Mist: Desolidification (not vs. magic), 0 END (+1/2), Can't Pass Through Solid Objects (-1/2) 1 u Body Of Mist: Flight (6"), 0 END (+1/2), Linked to Desolidification (-1/4) 4 u Steel-Hard Fists: 2d6 HKA (4d6 w/ STR), 0 END (+1/2) 2 u Vampiric Bite: 1d6 HKA (2d6 w/ STR), 0 END (+1/2), Continuous (+1), Must Follow Grab (-1/2) 3 u The Dark Embrace: 1d6 Major Transform (human corpse into vampire), NND (only vs. human recently dead of blood loss) (+1), Does BODY (+1), 0 END (+1/2), No Range (-1/2) 2 Martial Arts - Kampfringen and Savate (use art barehanded, w/ blades and clubs) 4 Block +2/+2 Block, Abort 4 Disarm -1/+1 STR 60 Disarm 3 Grapple -1/-1 Grab Two Limbs; STR 60 4 Martial Strike +0/+2 12d6 Strike 5 Offensive Strike -2/+1 14d6 Strike 3 Takedown +1/+1 10d6 Strike; Target Falls 8 +2 DCs w/ Martial Arts 50 Undead Being: Total Life Support w/ Immortality 24 Undead Being: Armor (12 PD/12 ED), Not vs. Holy, Fire, or being staked in the heart (-1/2) 28 Vampiric Regeneration: 1 BODY/Turn Regeneration, Can Heal Limbs, Resurrection (not vs. burning or decapitation), 0 END Persistent (+1), Extra Time (1 Turn) (-1), Self Only (-1/2) 6 Vampiric Speed: +3" Running (9" total) 20 Tireless: 0 END on 40 STR 9 Tireless: 0 END on 9" Running 5 Darkvision: Nightvision 5 Animal-Like Senses: Discriminatory Smell 12 Animal-Like Senses: +4 w/ all PER rolls 6 The Ring of Vlaakith: Armor (0 PD/12 ED), Only vs. Sunlight (-1), Independent (-2), IIF Ring (-1/4) 20 +2 Overall Levels Talents/Perks: 12 Combat Luck (6 rPD/6 rED) 3 Absolute Time Sense 2 Deep Cover: (Alan DeVries) 5 Eidetic Memory 15 Wealth: Filthy Rich Agility Skills: 3 Breakfall, 16- 3 Combat Driving, 16- 2 PS: Pianist, 16- 3 Riding, 16- 3 Stealth, 16- 3 Teamwork, 16- Intellect Skills: 1 AK: Europe, 11- 2 AK: United States, 14- 1 AK: World, 11- 3 Deduction, 14- 3 Disguise, 14- 3 Gambling, 14- 1 KS: Ancient History, 11- 2 KS: Arcane and Occult Lore, 14- 1 KS: Asian History, 11- 1 KS: Business Management , 11- 2 KS: Classical Literature, 14- 2 KS: Classical Music, 14- 1 KS: Economics, 11- 2 KS: European History, 14- 1 KS: Kampfringen, 11- 1 KS: Law, 11- 2 KS: Military Strategy, 14- 1 KS: Philosophy 11- 1 KS: Political Science, 11- 2 KS: Psychology, 14- 1 KS: Religion, 11- 1 KS: Savate, 11- 1 KS: Science Fiction, 11- 1 KS: Sociology, 11- 1 KS: The Business/Finance World, 11- 1 KS: The Martial World, 11- 2 KS: The Mystic World, 14- 1 KS: The Superhuman World, 11- 2 KS: US History, 14- 2 KS: Vampires, 14- 2 KS: World History, 14- 2 PS: Chess, 14- 2 PS: Investor, 14- 1 PS: Public Relations, 11- 3 Shadowing, 14- 3 Tactics, 14- 3 Tracking, 14- Interaction Skills: 3 Acting, 14- 3 Bribery, 14- 3 Conversation, 14- 3 High Society, 14- 3 Interrogation, 14- 3 Oratory, 14- 3 Persuasion, 14- 3 Seduction, 14- 3 Streetwise, 14- 3 Trading, 14- Background Skills: 12 Scholar, Jack-Of-All-Trades, Linguist, Well-Travelled 12 Language: English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Spanish, (all completely fluent) 0 Language: Russian (native) 0 TF: Small Motorized Ground Vehicles, Motorcycles, Equines 4 WF: Common Melee, Small Arms Disadvantages 5 Dark Secret: Vampire 5 Dependency: Human blood (1/day) (incompetence, weakness, addiction) 15 Distinctive Features: Vampiric Traits (easily concealable, extreme reaction)* 15 Psych Lim: Cannot Enter A Private Residence Without An Invitation (Common, Total) 15 Psych Lim: Noblesse Oblige (Common, Strong) 20 Psych Lim: Protective of Innocents (Common, Total) 20 Psych Lim: Will Never Break An Oath (Common, Total) 15 Secret Identity (Alan DeVries / Baron von Darien) 15 Susceptibility: Being Staked In the Heart (1d6 BODY/Phase, Uncommon) 15 Susceptibility: Direct Sunlight (1d6 BODY/Phase, Uncommon)* 10 Watched: Trismegistus Council, 8- (More Pow, NCI) * - The Ring of Vlaakith counteracts both these disadvantages when worn, hence the lowered frequency of occurrence. Normally, they would be 'not concealable' and/or 'very common'. 600 Base + 150 Disadvantages = 750 total

History -- As those who were carefully reading the Disadvantages list already know, Helene can't remember who the hell she is. And while I have already written most of her history, and most of my fellow players already know big chunks of it, the gradual revelation of the mystery of her past and origin is still going to be a surprise for *somebody*, dammit, even if it's just the audience. What Helene does remember is, obviously, her first name. (Her last name is gone.) She remembers awakening in Millennium City about a week before the game starts. She remembers that she had no documents, no ID, no anything. She remembers finding a job as a waitress in a greasy spoon in one of the less well-off parts of Millennium City, a place where they paid in cash and didn't ask for a Social Security Number. She remembers that she doesn't need to sleep very much and can skip a meal or two, thus helping her get by on the little that she's making. (Actually, with Total Life Support she doesn't need to sleep or eat *at all*, but she's yet to find that out.) Over the course of the past several days Helene has gradually come to figure out that she's not entirely normal -- she can see in the dark (subliminal use of her Cosmic Awareness) , and occasionally she can look at people who are total strangers and feel as if she knows them inside and out (her No Conscious Control extra-sensory slot). And being very late for work one morning and in a huge rush is how she discovered that she could fly. Further experimentation has revealed to her that she has some type of energy manipulation powers, but she hasn't yet even begun to realize just how much power she truly has. What The Heck Is Going On? -- OK, while it's going to be revealed gradually in-play, a basic not-too-much-spoiler outline will be given... What's going on is that a short while ago, a cosmically-powered servitor of [CLASSIFIED] fell to Earth, exhausted and near-death after a life-and-death struggle with an exceptionally powerful extra-dimensional horror. This entity possessed a very small fraction of the Power Cosmic, or it's Champions game-universe equivalent, and used it in the service of good. Unable to defend itself, it was captured and dissected by the mega-villain [CLASSIFIED], who was attempting to drain the entity's power for its own evil uses. Nearby, in another section of the lab, lay several other test subjects for other projects... among them a young woman named Helene Richer(*), who had been kidnapped quite recently from her home in Canada. What followed next proved the folly of messing around with beings of vast but unknown power when you don't know exactly what you're doing. The villain's research facility, along with everything else in the blast radius, vanished in an explosion measured in the dozens of kilotons. UNTIL and DoD investigation teams dispatched to the site found no evidence, no traces, no clues leading to what or who had done this. The only survivor of that explosion had flown dazedly away over an hour before. Addendum -- in the first two sessions, the team sorta-kinda formed... we all showed up individually to respond to a sighting of Firewing at Millenium City Hall. While the team-to-be's resident 'Superman' figure, Horus-Re, agreed to duel Firewing one-on-one high over the skies of the city (so as to move the fight to 10,000 feet of altitude and far away from the buildings and innocent bystanders), the rest of us noticed that the Ultimates were using the whole thing as a diversion to sneak towards City Hall. *cue pounding of Ultimates* Starguard first chose to not just use her powers to covertly observe and radio the MARS unit for help but to actually intervene when the first responding MARS officer (a PC with superhuman dexterity, martial arts skills, and about 150 points worth of MARS Foci weapons) got dropped by an extremely lucky hit from Thunderbolt, and needed saving before he became street pizza. After that, it was just fate. Appearance -- As already mentioned above, too perfectly damn cute for words. Outside of that... blonde, blue-eyed, athletically petite figure but not overly skinny, a little under five and a half feet, occasionally glows with blazing white aura. (The costume, when she gets one, is going to be a white bodystocking that goes all the way up to the neck, and has a dark blue stripe running down the left side, with a stylized blue star interrupting it just below her left collarbone. Subconsciously, she'll be duplicating a costume she drew for a 3rd-grade art project in elementary school long ago, thus leaving a potential clue to her ID... buried in a box full of crayon drawings in her parents' closet.) Edit -- ah yes, forgot to mention her age. She's 18. Personality -- Helene is somebody who /has/ to exist in a comic book, because she's too darn nice for real life. Intelligent but sheltered, she is one of those people who manages to balance looking on the sunny side of everything against not being oblivious to reality. Sadness, she's capable of... despair, she's not. Next to her compassion, her strongest trait is a highly developed sense of responsibility -- if she says she'll do something, she'll get it done or die trying. And if she has the power to change something, she'll try to be very careful that she's not doing the wrong thing with it. At the start of the game she's also very lonely, and not a little uncertain -- after all, she's got no family, no friends, hasn't been living in the friendliest part of town, and her origin trauma has vaporized most of her memories. If (i.e. -- when) she does find someone to fill the role of surrogate family, she might start off being a bit overly clingy or unwilling to contradict him/them. Team Role -- I pretty much fill the 'Sorceress' role now, although I started off as the Flyign Energy Blaster. She's also filling the Innocent Young Heroine slot, and when she grows some more self-assurance she should move quite naturally into the Voice Of Conscience role. Helene can also potentially grow to do almost anything with her Power Pool -- provided that she first figures out that she can. Right now, she's only very dimly becoming aware that she's not just a metahuman energy manipulator, but some (unknown) type of powerful magical being... or possibly the host for one... She's also got a Mysterious Past for the team to investigate, as well as a Mystery Hunted (the villain whose laboratory accident killed the original Power Cosmic wielder and transfigured Helene) that even the player doesn't know who the hell it is -- the DM's going to surprise me with it in the game. Theme Song -- If you still haven't got a mental image of Starguard, then this should be a big help... players of the "Lunar: Silver Star Story" console RPG already know this one. http://www.lunareb.com/sounds/lunarsssc/LunasBoatSong.mp3

Starguard -- Character sheet Name Starguard (aka "Helene") Player Charles Glasgow STR 10 DEX 30 CON 30 BODY 30 INT 15 EGO 20 PRE 25 COM 20 PD 10 ED 10 SPD 6 REC 10 END 50 STUN 50 OCV - 10 DCV - 10 ECV - 7 Phases: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 Total Defenses: 30 rPD (10 rPD Hardened) 30 rED (10 rED Hardened) Power Defense (10 pts) Powers: The Power Cosmic: 208 - Variable Power Pool, 80 base + 128 control cost; Cosmic (+2), 0 END (+1/2), Line Of Sight (+1/2), Limited By Conception (-1/4) 37 - Elemental Control - Cosmic Energy Powers (75 pt powers) 38 - 25" Flight, 0 END (+1/2) 38 - Force Field (20 PD/20 ED), Protects Carried, 0 END (+1/2) Cosmic-Powered Form: 62 - Life Support: Total (including Longevity: Immortality), Inherent (+1/4) 5 - Hardened (+1/4) w/ 10 PD/10 ED 12 - Damage Resistance (10 PD/ED), Hardened (+1/4) 12 - Regeneration (1 BODY/Turn), Can Heal Limbs, 0 END Persistent (+1), Extra Time (1 Turn) (-1), Self Only (-1/2) Basic Cosmic Awareness: 37 - Sense Energy (INT Roll) (no Sense Group), Discriminatory, Analyze, Ranged, Targeting Spiritual Awareness: 9 - Sense Souls (INT Roll) (no Sense Group), Discriminatory, Analyze, Ranged, No Conscious Control (-2) Linguistic Comprehension: 20 - Universal Translator, 12- 20 - +2 Overall Levels Talents/Perks: 3 - Anonymity 3 - Bump Of Direction 5 - Eidetic Memory 3 - Perfect Pitch Intellect Skills: 3 - Deduction, 12- Interaction Skills: 3 - Persuasion, 14- Background Skills: 6 - Scholar, Jack-of-all-Trades 4 - PS: Cooking, 14- 3 - PS: Singing, 13- 0 - PS: Waitress, 11- 4 - Languages: French (native), English (idiomatic native) -1 - No TF: Small Ground Vehicles Disadvantages 15 - Distinctive Features: Cute and innocent-looking (conc w/ effort, prejudice) 20 - Hunted: Mystery Hunted, 8- (more pow, NCI, enslave) 15 - Phys Lim: Amnesia 20 - Psych Lim: Code vs. Killing (Common, Total) 10 - Psych Lim: Desperate For Acceptance (Uncommon, Moderate) 20 - Psych Lim: Novice Hero (Very Common, Strong) 20 - Psych Lim: Takes Her Responsibilities Seriously (Very Common, Strong) 0 - Social Lim: No ID (Occasionally, minor) 25 - Susceptibility: 3d6 Drain/Phase vs. Cosmic Powers if deprived of ambient cosmic energy (uncommon) 5 - Watched: Mystery Watched, 8- (more pow, easy to find) 600 Base + 150 Disadvantages = 750 Total

I've done enough talking about them in other threads, and so for anybody who cares, I'm going to post their character sheets and writeups. For anybody who doesn't care, my apologies for the waste of bandwidth -- I've only been here a month or so, I'm not fully up on the etiquette of posting your characters. Since I do my characters in my own Excel spreadsheet, and not the Heromaker software, I'm not sure if these will format right. Note -- two of these characters were built for a 750-point campaign, only one of them is a 350-pointer. ("A 750 point campaign?", you might ask? Yup. A 750 point campaign. The purpose of this campaign is to role-play the Champions U equivalent of the Avengers or the JLA... Earth's Mightiest Heroes, a role usually left to NPCs. Upside of this job -- lots of points, lots of power, lots of epic storylines. Downside of this job -- if you can't get it done then the world is hosed, because the buck stops on *your* team HQ's conference table. The campaign's only on its second session, so we're still seeing how it goes.) First up -- Starguard.

To answer what I didn't earlier, getting caught up in my enthusiasm for Elseworlds as it were... For my heroic versions of characters to go down a darker path... Starguard -- it's just not happening. Belldandy is easier to morally corrupt than this kid. (Which isn't to say that a plotline can't be written where Starguard is *tricked* into doing the wrong thing, but the thing is, the instant she finds that out she'll move Heaven and Earth -- literally -- to make up for what she's done. Making her *knowingly* serve the Dark is about as close to impossible as anything ever gets.) Dr. Pain -- easy. He's a pretty good guy now, but he is street-smart and a former pro wrestler. Have his heroic efforts met with enough ingratitude, shaft him over legally enough, and he can eventually become bitter enough to consider joining the bad guys' team... at which point, cue the 'Kevin Armstrong career path' that I outlined above. Baron von Darien -- can possibly become frustrated enough with the shortsightedness and stupidity of mortals to believe that they actually need more than just a fair chance to set themselves straight -- they need a wiser, stronger figure to set them straight *for* them. At which point the Supreme Serpent had really better watch his back, because the Baron would much rather take over an existing organization with compatible purposes than go to all the efforts of making his own, especially since they'd inevitably come into conflict anyway. And for that matter, Nama might very well accept such a happening, because the Baron's more than competent enough for the job, and somewhat less egomaniacally prone to overreach than the current occupant. Edit -- and correction to my post above. In a timeline where the Baron is already evil by the 19th century, forget him being a European villain mastermind... Nama would have tapped him for the original Council Of Thirty.

Starguard -- would have to have an entirely different early life (i.e. -- an amoral little bitca from the wrong side of town instead of a nice young woman from a good family situation) and a different origin (merged with the dying essence of a demon prince, not a cosmic entity of Good). And with that kind of origin, well, and you thought Dark Seraph was bad... The worst part is, Starguard is *not* stupid -- she's actually a borderline genius -- merely naive and unexperienced. So while Dark Starguard would starts out as 'Hummingbird with a clear-cut case of sociopathy and the Power Cosmic', she will *rapidly* improve in dangerousness. I foresee a strong Rivalry with Dark Seraph and the Crowns of Krim, and an alliance of convenience with either DEMON or Takofanes. (When you have Dark Seraph as a Professional Rival, even people with 80-point Cosmic Power Pools need backup.) Dr. Pain -- hell, Dr. Pain *was* originally a villain in his original Ninja Hero writeup, I merely changed his backstory to that of a decent guy whose 'pro wrestling heel' career was merely a stage persona, and gave him 350-point brick powers. If we keep the same origin story, he still has to quit wrestling -- his first power manifestation was too public to be concealable. Bitter and angry over losing his career, he'd definitely go supervillain. However, since he's not stupid, and has the painful examples of many low-end bricks to learn from (especially Bulldozer's), he'd definitely not go the 'Grog Smash Puny Armored Car!' route. Instead, he'd go join VIPER... a 60 STR brick with an MBA (OK, so I improved Dr. Pain's IQ a little too) and public relations experience should find many job opportunities as either a Nest Leader or a Dragon Branch sub-commander. Baron von Darien -- seeing as how he's an 1100-year-old vampire elder, the timeline where the Baron is a *good* guy is the low-probability event. An evil Baron von Darien would be pretty much Baron de'Lear from 'The Mutant File', only more subtle... the secret Illuminated ruler of much of Europe, and probably the guy who actually created Eurostar by using his vampiric hypnosis to very, very subtly drive Danar Nicole insane and plant little suggestions in his brain... and then keep whispering... Edit -- damn, I realized I'd have to find some way to keep Mentalla from noticing. Well, the simplest way is merely to bring her on board with the scheme... it's not like she *wouldn't* go for such a thing, and with a 45 EGO the Baron can actually hope to deal with Mentalla as a respected equal, not a 'mortal plaything'.

My own interpretation of the 10-point CAK is that whenever you have a choice between shoot and don't shoot, you pick don't shoot... but if the situation simply doesn't give you any choices, then you'll reluctantly shoot. You'll feel pretty bad about it afterwards, but you'll still shoot. This maps pretty well over to the use-of-force ideal for the more responsible cops. So they won't all have a 10-point CAK, but many can have it. (I don't consider it to be covered under the Watched because every cop has that Watched, whether they're clean or dirty. Watched means that if you do it, you do it knowing that you're taking your chances on getting caught... if doesn't necessarily mean that you have any qualms against doing it.)

Granted, in the campaign Starguard is currently in, the breakout is the idea she'd come up with (she's got 'Novice Heroine' as a Psych Lim). The team's leader, Horus-Re (who's pretty much our campaign world's equivalent of Superman) would most likely simply walk straight into the Oval Office and politely request an appointment... and between his 45 PRE and his +6/+6d6 Reputation as "Earth's Mightiest Hero", he'd get one. (Horus is also the resident team member in charge of tempering Starguard's innocent enthusiasm.)

Well, none of the characters I have would shut down the prison to save the guy, but all of them would try to save the guy: Not to set him free, natch, but to keep him safe until his guilt or innocence could be confirmed. Starguard -- she's got an 80-point Cosmic Power Pool. (And in the campaign I'm currently in, she's got 4-5 friends who are Avengers-class metahumans, with some bordering on JLA class.) If she can't figure out a way to save this guy without having to crash the entire prison, she's just not trying. Of course, she *is* a character in a 750-point campaign where the characters are *supposed* to be the CU's equivalent of the JLA... Dr. Pain -- is a 350-point brick. He's a 350-point *celebrity* brick, however, and he'd be lobbying the governor's mansion with everything he had, and bringing a crowd with him. If necessary, he'd spent a few millions of his own cash through his agent to hire PR firms and rent-a-mobs. If that fails, he'll get a ticket to the execution (actually, he'll already have arranged for a ticket before he started his PR blitz), and then crash through the viewing window and rip apart the electric chair. Baron von Darien -- in the Baron's POV, if he can't figure out a way to get this guy sprung without having to do it the unsubtle way, he's just not trying. Then again, he is pretty much Batman with fangs...

You know, in 5e VIPER this would usually lead to Black Harlequin being found with sixteen holes in his body about the size of the beams left by a VB-A4 "Jackhammer" blaster rifle. Addendum -- as you well know.

Vigilante? All three of my characters are sanctioned, even if the Baron sanctioned himself using somebody else's birth certificate and a listed powerset that kinda forgot to mention the word "vampire" anywhere.

Well, posession of a gun is legal where *I* live, mostly. It's just that taking a gun off a mugger is a) theft of evidence and a good way of getting yourself a 'cold piece' -- i.e., a gun whose serial # cannot be traced to you. There are various reasons for going out of your way to collect a cold piece, and 99% of them involve the future intent to do something nasty with it. Re: my character reactions above -- Starguard doesn't know any of this, but she's also innocent enough to honestly believe that the guy was on his way to the police station to do the right thing. Dr. Pain *is* street-smart enough to know this, hence his reaction. And the Baron is, as I've said in other threads, a guy who makes Batman look like Billy Batson.

Not all of my characters are the 'patrolling' type, but we'll jus assume that they happened to be passing by this place anyway. Starguard -- 'Wow, you're pretty good! I'm glad you didn't get hurt. And if you want, I can fly that gun down to the police evidence room for you so you don't have to walk all that way.' Dr. Pain -- 'Dude, that was pretty chill. And I can understand if you don't want the hassle of filling out a police report... I do the same thing myself sometimes. But we both know there's no righteous use for a piece of cold iron, so can you please just hand it over and I'll see it gets disposed of right? Thanks man.' n.b. -- Both Starguard and Dr. Pain can bounce artillery fire, much less gunfire, so just walking straight up and asking isn't taking any risk at all, for them. Baron von Darien (thinking to himself) -- 'Mmm, he's fairly good..' *makes his Analyze Style roll based on the fight he saw to see if he can get some ID on the unknown that way. Assuming that no obviously 'bad-guy' results like 'Takara-Shinja clan' or 'VIPER melee combat specialist' show up on the radar, we continue with internal monologue as follows...* 'However, hanging onto that gun and the attitude in taking it betrays either criminal or vigilante purposes. I'd better follow along and see if this is the civilian ID of any hostile metahuman I already know, or a new player in town.' *assumes mist form, surreptitously follows unknown person to wherever he's going* Of course, if any obviously 'bad-guy' results showed up on Analyze Style, then Baron von Darien just bamfs down onto in front of him, demands the return of the weapon 'or else', and then opens up a can full of the 'or else' as soon as the guy shows any clear hostility. Elder vampires don't worry too much about guns or martial arts either.

Before he became the Flash, Jay Garrick was a grad student in chemistry. Barry Allen was one of the seniormost forensic scientists for the local police department. So yes, both of them were quite intelligent and educated even prior to becoming the Flash.

Comments: Well done, but shouldn't that be +3 DCV, not +10 Lightning Reflexes? And the Telepathy Only vs. Animals is a -0 limitation in 5e... you just define the Telepathy working against the 'Animal' class of minds by default, instead of the 'Humanoid' class. Not to mention that there's a new Talent in Fantasy Hero for this, but as I don't have my FH with me at present, can somebody else post it?

Second thought: Then again, since we know that the US Army in the Champions U is higher-tech than the real-world military, to the point where light and medium powered armor is starting to be used in company- or battalion-sized troop tests, it's entirely possible that the new M2A1 "Schwarzkopf" Main Battle Tank has hover generators of its own (reverse-engineered from captured VIPER gear), a primitive force field generator to back up its honkin' huge layers of Questonite/Chobham sandwich armor, and a 12d6 Penetrating RKA 60mm Gauss cannon. (And costs $40 million per tank. )

Yes, the 8d6 and 10d6 RKA are very high, but those are *crew-served miniature artillery pieces*. VIPER isn't going to be dragging those to every superfight... they'll only show if a) VIPER expects /really/ hardened targets and they've got enough time to drag over and set up a 200+ lb. tripod-mounted lump of metal with a big hole in the front. OTOH, I think the sourcebook missed a bet -- since we know that VIPER can miniaturize a 10d6 RKA railgun enough that it fits into a tripod-mounted weapon that two men can lift, the same railgun should've been mounted in the turrets of at least /some/ of their main battle tanks. Granted, the laser makes more sense in a 'never runs outta ammo' kinda way, but the VIPER hovertank should have had a "-B variant" that's armed with the railgun instead of the anti-personnel laser... that's the one that's intended to go toe-to-toe with the M1A2 Abrams, and not superheroes or UNTIL APCs.

Baron von Darien -- walk away from the people and let them die. He knows about the dangers of changing the past, and is detached enough to do it. It would still be a decision that pained him... he's nowhere near *that* far beyond human sentiments... but the Baron has not survived eleven centuries as a master vampire without learning how to have his head reign superior to his passions. As for the arch enemy? 99% of the Baron's reasons for *not* permanently disposing of enemies are purely pragmatic ones. There's no way he's going to pass up a chance to err, bury his problem, when he's 65+ million years away from such social impediments as police forensics, homicide detectives, and state penal codes. Of course, since his arch enemy is either (the Baron's been fully designed but not used in play yet) a dark sorceror, another master vampire like the Baron, or Black Paladin, this particular rumble in the jungle bids fair to go on quite a while. Starguard -- suggest to her arch-enemy that they temporarily team up and try to get home. And with her Cosmic Power Pool, that will take about as long as it takes for her arch-enemy to figure out that all he needs to do to get home is point out to her that her link to the Unified Field and Cosmic Awareness might potentially let her open a time gate. (Which, since her arch-enemy is either Doctor Destroyer, Takofanes the Undying, Mechanon, or Teleios(*), will take them about two seconds of thought, seeing as how they're all genius-plus intellects... and two of these guys can do time travel themselves anyway. Granted, only Teleios really has any incentive to *accept* a truce... the rest will be in 'crush the gnat and then go home under their own power' mode, or 'I'd rather stay here and rust than ever cooperate with a filthy organic' mode.) Edit -- AAMOF, it just occurred to me that putting Mechanon in Earth's prehistoric past will make Mechanon the happiest little psychotic robot that ever just realized it had a *GOLDEN* opportunity to prevent homo sapiens from ever evolving. Good thing Starguard has the Power Cosmic... (*) Starguard has a Mystery Hunted, and the DM hasn't told me which one it is yet. The four I listed are the four most likely suspects. If they're still around by the time they discover the people, she'll fight off the dinosaurs and save the tribe. She knows about the danger of changing history, and will feel horribly bad about taking such a risk, but... she just can't stand back and let people get killed. She. Just. Can't. Do. It. Given that she's an 18-year-old high schooler with the Power Cosmic, she'll almost definitely wind up being worshipped as the tribal goddess. Dr. Pain -- while Starguard would suggest a truce with her arch-enemy for purely idealistic reasons, Dr. Pain would do so for practical ones... only a fool holds a pro wrestling match in a burning house, and all that. Then again, *his* arch-enemy is much smaller scale... Boa Constrictor. (Alternatively, Bulldozer.) He'd also ponder about the ramifications of saving the tribe, but then he'd go 'What the hey, this far back I'm probably not gonna change history too much anyway, 'cause they'll just get wiped out the next generation. But not *this* generation!'... and he'd flex his pecs and start doing the Rock Bottom on some tyrannosaurs. He'd of course be accepted as a legendary gods-touched warrior hero... bricks do *very* well in primitive tribal cultures. And while he's no genius, he can show them basic things like fire, boiling the water before you drink it, and the concept of the saw, the axe, the knife, the etc. Addendum -- realized I forgot to do the wilderness survival question. Seeing as how the Baron and Starguard both have Total Life Support, they don't *need* survival skills. Dr. Pain, OTOH, is going only off of what he can remember from that Boy Scout's Manual he used to sorta kinda read when he was 15, and never made it past Tenderfoot anyway. Then again, with a CON 40, he'll be surviving eating the wrong plants and animals on pure endurance until he meets the natives, at which point they can teach him the wonders of TL0 nutrition at the same time he teaches them the wonders of primitive hand tools and modern sanitation, along with each others' language. Heck, Boa Contrictor might end up not being a villain here, because although his original appearance would horrify the tribesmen, after he fought the monsters to defend them alongside Dr. Pain, he might very well find acceptance. Addendum -- source of the Gilgamesh and Enkidu legend? Of course not, way way too far back. But maybe racial memory...?

Desolid, Only For Passing Through Locked Doors/Windows and Security Beams?

Yes, but by that point, you've tripped off the base's "Sense Tunnelling, Ranged, Targeting, Discriminatory, +ungodly Telescopic", and the entire hero team is waiting for you... ... I mean, who builds an underground base and /doesn't/ put in a seismograph network? Failing that, just pay the big points for Unobtainium walls, and watch the tunnellers cuss when they run into 24 DEF Hardened Affects Teleporters Affects Desolid.

IIRC, you can't Tunnel through Force Walls or Force Fields.

> The implications of a Malvan winning might be disturbing, to > say the least. Good Lord. It might reverse the curse of the Elder Worm that's kept the Malvans locked in decadence! Of course, it might be a restriction that the Death Dragon's defeat only counts if it is at the hands of a citizen of Earth... which means Firewing would have to "go native" here in order to compete. OTOH, it still lets Ironclad in, as he *has* accepted permanent residency here IIRC.

Well, in my case: The reason Baron von Darien wouldn't freak is because a) as an 1100-year-old master vampire, he simply wouldn't *believe* it and he's got an EGO of 45. Victor von Doom-class willpower. The reason Starguard wouldn't freak... well, actually, she would. But she's had a nagging doubt as to whether or not she's human *anyway*, seeing as how she can't remember a damn thing about her past, so it wouldn't be quite as totally traumatic as it would be for Zl'f.