SKJAM!

Re: Create a Hero Theme Team! Hunters don't get the respect they once did. That's why, when asked, N'taka Umbulu lists his occupation as "zoologist." And indeed, his doctorate *is* in zoology. But his true love is hunting. He's studied techniques from around the world (and even managed to talk to a few alien hunters), and learned all about animals, monsters and various sentient species so that he can track, chase, trap and capture just about anything he has a mind to. N'taka doesn't kill except for food or to protect others; he enjoys the chase more than ending life. Besides, bringing it back alive is usually more of an achievement. He's skilled with a wide variety of hunting weapons and traps, and carries several kinds of ammunition for emergencies.

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Benjamin Franklin "Benny" Vang hasn't chosen a new name for himself yet. Up until a few weeks ago, he was a fairly standard bully who relied on physical size, viciousness and hurtful language to push weaker kids around, while slinking away from people who could actually take him on. Then his mutant power to control fibers kicked in. Being new to the power, he hasn't learned a lot of tricks yet. So far he's learned untying shoelaces, tying shoelaces together, skirt flipping and pantsing. This has given him access to a wider variety of victims, and as he starts to grasp the implications of his powers, Benny will become considerably more dangerous. ETA: 1111 posts!

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! And... that's six. Your choice of next theme?

Re: Create a Hero Theme Team! Martha Chorostowski was something of a rebel when she was young. Always arguing with her parents and their outdated views, defying authority figures, hanging out with the progressive crowd. In the late 1960s, Martha (going by Mattie at the time) was one of several protestors who broke into her college's High Energy Physics Lab to break up a cosmic ray gun they'd heard was being developed for the military. The experimental prototype exploded, and somehow the cosmic radiation (and perhaps the cocktail of drugs she was on) reacted with Martha's body to give her sonic powers. Martha (under the codename Freebird) joined a group of young heroes called the Radicals, and adventured with them for a few years. But eventually she graduated from college, had to find a job to support herself, and started meeting men whose lives didn't revolve around politics. The Radicals broke up, and Freebird moved on to a more standard hero group for a while. She met a nice plumber, and they got married. Before Martha knew it, she was raising three boys. Freebird was mostly retired during those years, but still got called upon every few months for emergency superheroics or to take a monitor duty shift during the busy season. It was towards the end of this period that Martha met Blue Streak and they became friends. As the boys grew up, Martha started becoming more active again. But even though she's well-preserved for her age (looks forty, tops), Freebird noticed she was getting slower and her eyesight poorer. She chose to retire entirely from superheroing, and do various civilian volunteer jobs instead. Her sons are grown now, and Mr. Chorostowski passed away a couple of years ago, so Martha had plenty of time to help charities and progressive causes. But then the villains cast their spell. Martha watched aghast as the male heroes and policemen of the city ignored crime and injustice right in front of their eyes. When Blue Streak came by to talk her into signing up for the Sisterhood, Freebird returned to duty once again. Okay, I do have another concept that would work with this group, but if someone else wants final member, go on and post.

Re: Title Tag Returns! My Kingdom for a Horse! For this scenario, either a PC or DNPC must own a horse. It can be anything from the hero's winged unicorn mount to the comedy relief sidekick's spavined nag, but there must be a horse with some sentiment attached to it. The King of Zydacon, a small but extremely prosperous nation, wants that horse. Why, he won't say, but he wants it so badly he's literally willing to cede his throne to the horse's owner in order to get it. And if for some reason the owner refuses that generous offer, the king will just have to resort to having his personal bodyguard (very scary supermercenary) come and take the horse by force! What's up with that? Title List: 1) The Ring of Dragon's Flame 2) Cell Hell 3) Destruga's Got Talent!

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Sam likes to think of himself as the leader of the Predators, something the other members put up with most of the time. After all, it's an American gang, and what could be more American than the national bird, the Bald Eagle? Truth be told, though, Sam isn't the brightest thug, or the best strategic planner. And most of his "victories" in the gang's fights have been "kill-stealing" other members' opponents. He sure can speechify, though, and he looks great soaring on a favorable wind.

Re: Create a Hero Theme Team! "I'm thinking that maybe we should boot Cheer Girl from the team." "What? She's hell on wheels in combat. And it's not like we can be extra picky." "When she shows up for combat, sure. That's maybe...two-thirds, half our battles? She almost never sticks around after the fight, she doesn't come to planning meetings, she won't tell us her secret identity." "Oh, like you share all your personal details. I'll talk to Cheer Girl, see if I can get her to open up about why she's being so erratic about attendance, but you have to understand that not everyone has your extreme dedication to crimefighting. And sometimes teenagers, they just have difficulty talking about their problems." Cheer Girl is an attractive young woman who wears a skimpy "generic" cheerleader costume. She's very acrobatic, extremely flexible, and stronger than she looks. She can use her baton as a "boomerang" weapon, twirl it to deflect attacks or just use it to hit people as part of her "martial art". Her "pom-pom bombs" have a variety of explosive effects. She's always peppy and optimistic, often bursting into cheer routines and spelling out words in banter. Out of combat, Cheer Girl comes across as a bit vain and a lot of a ditz, who seems primarily fixated on boys, clothes and sports trivia. Despite not wearing a mask, she deflects all attempts at inquiring about her personal life. Since joining the Sisterhood of Eowyn, her secretiveness seems to have increased.

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! He was once a king. If the stories are to be believed, the first human king of the first human city. He's not sure about that anymore, it was a long time ago, and his memory is not what it was. But he remembers his friend, the wild one, his best beloved, and his horrible death. He remembers seeking out immortality, and failing time and again. But his ending is not the one in the stories. Eventually he gained immortality against the will of the gods, by his own strong hand and clever brain. But since he had done this against the will of the gods, they cursed him. He lost his kingdom, his people, his ability to stay more than one night under any roof. And more, the gods prophesied that he would outlive even them. As he was the first human king of the first human city, he would be the last human king of the last human city. Until that time, he must wander without a home. He calls himself Ur, now, after the vanished city. Ur seeks to keep on moving, not attract undue attention, and wait for his final destiny. It usually doesn't happen like that. Ur is rather short by modern human standards, but well-formed and muscular, and handsome under the filth and weariness. He's only peak human strength, but has millenia of experience as a wrestler, and is immortal. When Ur chooses to use it, he can project the King's Aura, a bearing of authority and majesty that makes all humans in the area aware that he is the true once and future king.

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Shoulder Surfer is a mutant with a peculiar form of "remote viewing." He can tap into (almost) anyone's optic nerves and see what they're seeing without the original viewer being at all aware of the process. While his range is about a kilometer, Shoulder Surfer can't just pick a person at random, but must "see" them first. Thus his usual technique is to choose a person entering the target building, wait until he sees what appears to be a more important person, then jump to them, etc. until he finds someone actually useful. Once he's tapped into the right person, it's a snap for Shoulder Surfer to steal computer passwords, safe combinations and any other visible information to pass on to the more...vigorous members of his team. He's also stumbled on juicy blackmail material from time to time, a very lucrative sideline for the Byters. SS doesn't have any useful combat skills and will avoid personal conflict.

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! "He was handsome, I'll give him that. A little off human standards, but not too much, and he had that regal bearing and gentlemanly way of talking. He said he was the prince of his planet, being hunted by the soldiers of the usurper. He offered to make me his queen, even. And I swallowed it, hook line and sinker, just like I'd swallowed that ninja clan recruiter's promises a few years before. Long story short, turns out Prince Charming is actually an alien prostitute, and I'd been helping him avoid the police that were after him for killing a john. I got off with a warning, cause the space cops saw how bad I'd been fooled. "But a few weeks later I discovered my prince had left me a little gift that keeps on giving, and I'm not talking about a bundle of joy. His species, it just causes a mild recurring rash. On humans, it's a bit nastier. Fortunately, Doc, Vivisectionist to you folks, fixed me up with an ointment that cleared the sores in a jiffy. But the internal stuff, not so lucky. Especially my brain, feels like a million tiny winged insects in there just eating away. You can feel them too, right, just chomping away at your grey matter? Or maybe it's green matter for your species, orange perhaps? Yeah, judging by that drool trail, I'd say the bugs have a quarter of your brain or more by now. That's half of why they call me Buzzkill. "The other half? I may not have gotten the hang of disguise or seduction at kunoichi school, but I did damn well with the sharp, pointy objects lessons. And I have a lot of aggression to work out on you alien bastards."

Re: Create a Hero Theme Team! "Yes, my name really is Skylark DuQuesne. My father was an old-school science-fiction fan with a sense of humor. God, I hated his sense of humor. My mother was the mad scientist of the family, though. She was always 'just one good breakthrough away' from commericial anti-gravity. Still is, actually. They were kind of busy when I hit puberty and started having weird dizzy spells. They meant well, but when one of them would take me to the doctor, the symptoms went away and the tests came back negative. All except for the one that said I had a metagene, but it seemed to be inactive. "So when Mom's work suddenly got more involved, the folks tuned out my dizzy spells. Things got worse and worse for me, and no one was answering when I asked for help. So I crawled down to the lab--they'd forgotten to lock the door...again...and saw my mom's anti-gravity generator. And suddenly I knew! This is what was causing my dizzy spells! Being a teenaged brat who was sick to her stomach and tired of being neglected, I had a temper tantrum. Before my parents even knew I was there I'd picked up a monkey wrench and just started bashing at the machine. I must have hit something vital, because it exploded. "When I woke up in the hospital, I was hovering about an inch above the mattress. My metagene had turned on. My folks were apologetic then, but once I got better, it was all 'test this' and 'experiment that'. I was only too thrilled when Ravenswood Academy came calling. Once I got there it was still 'test this' and 'experiment that' but at least I had other kids in the same boat with me, and the instructors knew when to back the hell off. So, now I've got gravity control powers, not the strongest ever seen, there's at least three people stronger than I am just in North America, but enough to let me reach escape velocity while taking a bubble of atmosphere along. For the long hauls I've got this experimental light space suit the NASA boys came up with for super-astronauts like me. "And now I'm Skylark of Space, a proud member of the Saturn Five."

Re: Create a Hero Theme Team! "You look familiar." "I get that a lot," said the waitress, smiling wearily. "Yeah, you look just like that singer...what was her name again, my teenage boy is crazy for her...oh yeah, Sapphire!" The waitress winced a bit. "What a coincidence. Sometimes I wish I actually could be a famous singer and superhero. But if wishes were horses, beggars would ride." "You have a nice voice. You ever try singing for a living?" "Long ago." The waitress looked a bit sad. "Things went sour. Hey, you want a refresh on that coffee?" "Maria Smith" remembers being Sapphire, riding the wave of fame, fighting against evil and injustice--and being knocked out in a fierce battle. She came to in a cloning vat three years later, naked and without the scar she'd gotten on her hip the time she'd gotten too close to one of Mechanon's missiles. There were other clones there, and they banded together to escape. She'd wanted to resume her old life...but there was already a Sapphire, presumably the original since she was still working just fine with the other Champions. Some friendly contacts who could keep a secret and forged papers later, Maria Smith was taking orders in a greasy spoon far from Millenium City. She still fights crime with Beta Project, under the codename Bluestone. She dreads the day she'll inevitably have to face her original, especially as Maria Smith really hates the musical direction Sapphire's taken recently.

Re: Create a Hero Theme Team! Vicky Torvaldsen grew up in Odin, Minnesota. She always had a ...special relationship with micro-organisms, being able to see, communicate with and to a certain extent control them. For most of her young life, she pretended to not notice this, as it had caused her no end of teasing from other kids who either didn't believe her or thought her power was "gross." But eventually she wound up going to a "farm" college (because her folks wouldn't spring the money for the big city school) and fell under the tutelage of a professor who showed her how important microbes are to agriculture and the process of fermentation. Moreover, she now had friends who envied or appreciated her powers and could think of new and interesting ways to exploit them. Upon graduation, Vicky got a day job as a consultant to the beer industry in Minnesota, traveling from small brewery to large distiller to help them make a better product. But she also helps out the Farm Belt as the Brewer, mistress of microbiology. Essentially, any effect that can be created through manipulation micro-organisms (except killing them) is within her power, even causing effects that would normally take years in a single day. While she can't kill disease germs, she can make them "sleep" which can help immensely. And by now she just shrugs off the jokes that with that name she should be from Milwaukee. I've already gone recently, so next poster gets to pick the theme.

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Mother "I'm sorry, Dr. Frobisher, but the tests are conclusive. You don't have a womb, or ovaries. You have testes, but they're inert due to your condition. You can live as a woman, as you've been doing, but you will never be able to bear children." And thus Anika Frobisher had doom pronounced upon her. Somehow, she had grown up without ever getting a full medical examination that revealed her androgen insensitivity (a rare medical condition where the patient is genetically male, but can't absorb testosterone and winds up looking on the outside like they're completely female.) She broached the subject of her infertility to her fiance (without giving the gory details), and he dumped her like radioactive waste. Ever since she'd been a little girl, Anika had wanted to be a mother and a scientist. One of those two was denied her now. Or was it? Just because Dr. Frobisher couldn't make babies in her belly didn't mean she couldn't create "children." She steered her robotics research into new and disturbing territory, and has been building an army of nigh-human robots ever since. "Mother" has no superhuman powers as such, just a brilliant mind for robotics and related fields. She is constantly turning out new "children", robots that can easily pass for human, but are utterly devoted to her. Most of her plots revolve around her robots infiltrating human communities, working their way into positions of power or influence, and slowly turning the community into a robot factory that will create more children for Mother. There are at least a half-dozen of these going at any given time, so it's hard to shut Mother down completely. In time, she hopes to replace all humans with her robot children. New team: Back to Teen Champions, and the Public Service Announcement subgenre of comics. The Vice Squad: Six villains who want to induce kids (and grownups, but mostly kids) to indulge in bad behavior, such as smoking, littering, engaging in extramarital sex without protection, etc. Each represents a different "vice", but they've banded together because they kept getting beaten up seperately. Feel free to make their motivations/background serious, and their powers don't necessarily have to be based on the vice they're promoting.

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! "They laughed at me at university! Said evolution 'does not work that way!' Well, I showed them. I showed them all! Pity it didn't stick. Then they switched to saying that my evolutionary ray was unnatural and defied the laws of God and Nature, that it was evil! They're wrong, of course, but that's why I'm called the Evilutionist!" Dr. (not really, he never completed his doctorate) Lysenko Redtree has some unorthodox theories regarding evolution. To prove them, he built an evolution ray. Exposure to that ray has turned him into a "future man" with a large head containing an oversized brain, long slender fingers, and a frail body. As a result, he's even more quick of thought than before, with all the usual "talents" associated with brainpower, including the ability to operate any device equipped to be controlled mentally, even if it isn't his. He generally gets about on a anti-gravity platform of his own design. The evolution ray allows the Evilutionist to move any living being up and down "the evolutionary ladder" and sometimes sideways. At any given time, the Evilutionist will have a few goons who are either humans devolved to cavemen, or animals evolved to humanoids, and at least one monstrous evolved or devolved critter for amusement purposes. He will almost never evolve another human to "future" status, as he hates competition. While the details of any given scheme vary, the goal of each remains the same--to get resources to build larger and more powerful evolution rays so that he can affect entire cities at a time, and impose his own ideas of what the human race should be like on the population.

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Shaniqua Chell was a very homely little girl, and took a lot of stick for that, especially from boys. When puberty hit, she didn't really get any prettier, but she did bloom in other ways. Most notably, she discovered that she was able to make other people see her as she wasn't. She still saw an ugly, gangly teenager in the mirror, but she could make the other kids see the sexy bombshell Shaniqua wanted to be, or a boy, or a teacher, or even erase her presence altogether and be invisible. The effect also extended to whatever she wore or carried, but no further. Pranks and petty crime soothed Shaniqua's wounded pride at first, but all too soon high school was over, and she had to think about supporting herself, and petty crime doesn't pay well. Then she happened to see a news story about a powerful politician having to resign because he'd been caught in an affair. Shaniqua did some research, took acting lessons, and came up with a plan. Even the wealthiest and most powerful men had women (or men) they wanted to have sex with, but couldn't for reasons of illegality or the other person just not liking them. Shaniqua would become their Dream Date and lover. Shaniqua does the research to find out her target's fantasy, then uses her considerable acting and charm skills to sell her illusory appearance to him. (By this point, she could easily seduce men even with her subpar real appearance, but she's on a roll.) Once she's got a sucker hooked, Dream Date milks the relationship for all it's worth. Eventually, the bloom will fade from the romance, and Dream Date moves on to the final stage. Sometimes she is "kidnapped" for a huge ransom, other times it's blackmail--a couple of the worst men she's just arranged for them to go to jail. The other Psirens help her out with parts of her scams (especially the end game) and in return, she aids them with their schemes. Shaniqua doesn't hate men, as such, but her work brings her into contact with some of the worst slimeballs around, and her modus operandi is based on exploiting their lust, so she has never developed a high opinion of them. Shaniqua's three favorite illusions besides her "Dream Date" sexiness are 1) Invisibility, 2) "I'm a policeman", and 3) hideous demon "who is the true form of Dream Date"--if she is convincing enough in that last role, her claws and flame breath can do actual damage.

Re: Title Tag Returns! Let It Snow (Best for low-powered heroes) It looks like a bleak winter for the Gurwitzky Ski Resort. Nearly a month into the season, and no snow has fallen onto their land! Their antiquated snow machines have kept the place from closing down entirely, but now those machines have broken...all at the same time! Weird thing is, all the other ski resorts in the area have been getting plenty of snow. The mortgage is coming due, and the upcoming weekend is a major one that could make or break Old Man Gurwitzky and his pretty daughter (or whatever sympathy-inducing family situation the GM prefers.) As a last resort, they turn to the heroes. How is this happening? Who or what is responsible? Can our heroes get the resort running again in time? Title List: 1) My Kingdom for a Horse! 2) The Ring of Dragon's Flame 3) Meet In the Hall of Planets

Re: Create a Hero Theme Team! "I don't know if she's quite ready for prime time, but I've put Deluxe Girl on our short list. She's the last survivor of the doomed planet Neon, rocketed to Earth at the last moment. Something in Earth's environment gives her superpowers, which she's been using for good and justice. As you can see, she's got girl-next-door good looks." "What kind of powers?" "The standard flying brick package--Flight, Invulnerability, Super Strength (enough to lift and throw a battleship), and some vision powers, we're still testing on that. She's new to Earth, so she's not too familiar with our culture, she'll need a handler. Oh, and she asked about having access to Megacorp labs; Deluxe Girl thinks she may be able to recreate some Neonian superscience for our use." New team: The Seven Lights. (seven members, natch.) Originally an all-Catholic group, over the years they've chosen to take ecumenicalism as one of their goals, and now will accept members from any of the People of the Book (Jews, Christians and Moslems.) They act as heroes and lead righteous lives to show the positive side of faith, and to help as many people as they can. All members are deeply but not blindly religious, and they tend to spend their "downtime" discussing theology and philosophy. Oh, and the theme bit: Each member should be somehow related to or exemplary of one of the seven heavenly virtues: Valour: Pursuit of Courage and Knowledge Generosity: Pursuit of Giving Liberality: Pursuit of Will Diligence: Pursuit of Ethics Patience: Pursuit of Peace Kindness: Pursuit of Charity Humility: Pursuit of Modesty Go for it!

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! The People tried to contact Coyote for help, but the old trickster either wasn't listening or didn't care. Who they got instead was Rattlesnake, or at least that's the claim. Rattlesnake generally appears as a man or woman of Dakota heritage, switching human forms by a rather disturbing process of shedding its skin. It can also turn into a 8-foot-long rattler, summon and control any rattlesnakes in the vicinity, and switch between haemotoxic and neurotoxic venoms at will. While Rattlesnake is very good at stealth and concealment outside of combat, it cannot strike without issuing its distinctive challenge. Rattlesnake cares little for the People's cause, and has no particular grudge against any group of humans. It's just here to kill those that oppose its allies. And that's six. Any more?

Re: Create a Hero Theme Team! "Elegance, seriously? And you want us to put a demon from Hell on the team exactly why?" "That's the closest human vocal apparatus can get to pronouncing his name. And he's a demon who got kicked out of Hell for being good. It'll play to all the Twilight crowd. Darkly handsome fellow, scary monster only not really because he's a swell guy at heart, just enough 'bad boy' to tittilate without freaking out their families." Just as described, Elegance is indeed a demon kicked out of Hell for being "good." In his humanoid form, Elegance can summon and control flames, and is immune to the effects of fire, heat and smoke. He can "shoot" flames if he has a long sharp object to channel them through, such as the trident Elegance usually carries along. He can also turn invisible and summon Soulchains, that bind you with your own sins (but can be broken by true repentance.) If he morphs into his full demon form, Elegance can fly on leathery wings and use claws and fangs to maul enemies. As a demon, Elegance is affected by blessed objects and holy magic. He hopes one day to be accepted by Heaven and lose those vulnerabilities.

Re: Title Tag Returns! I Never Studied Law (of Physics) A new team of super-powered thugs has hit Campaign City. The good news is that they're kind of stupid, so it's easy to outwit them. The bad news is that their power is basically ignoring the laws of physics. They don't fall unless they look down, they can fly if they flap their arms fast enough, normal inertia effects have no bearing on their ability to turn or stop, etc. It appears to be a hypnotic effect that is imposing itself on reality, but what sort of mentalist has that kind of power? And you'd better figure out how to stop them before they figure out they've got holes in their pockets! Options for next: 1) The Corpse Who Kills 2) The B Team! 3) For Joy In The Dark Forever

It's been a while since we had one of these threads, I hope you'll be ready for another round. The idea is that three titles for potential superhero game plot seeds are given. Pick one, write a few paragraphs (or more) about the plot seed, then provide a new title so that the list is back up to three. You can use the generic Champions Universe, or specify what sort of heroes would be best for the scenario. And here's our starting list! 1. The Corpse Who Kills 2. The Best Opposite Day Ever! 3. Darkness In Paradise Have fun!

Re: Create a Hero Theme Team! Golden Boar is the translation of Cao Bei's Chinese codename. Already an impressively-muscled man (if a little stout), Cao Bei becomes even stronger when he transforms into his gold-colored metallic form. (And it's non-magnetic, too!) He supplements this with a martial art that focuses on but is not confined to spears. Golden Boar was once part of a Chinese Zodiac-themed team in the People's Republic, though they were quickly absorbed into the Tiger Squad before they could get a full twelve members. He seems to have done all right in the Tiger Squad for a couple of years, but recently was accused of "counter-revolutionary activities" (the exact nature of which is classified) and had to flee China to avoid arrest. Subsequent interviews have involved him praising democracy and freedom of choice, which appeals to Megacorp (though they would like him to say nice things about capitalism as well.)

Re: Create a Hero Theme Team! Hiram Quillian is a genius, no question about it. He used to operate as one of the country's leading inventors of crime-fighting gear and a consulting detective. His use of the "Sherlock Scan" was famous for its accuracy and speed. Because he was so brilliant, he worked alone rather than have the irritation of explaining things to a bumbling sidekick. Then came the Dalmen case. Hiram solved this particularly vile set of murders in under five minutes. Sure, Mr. Dalmen claimed he was innocent. Most murderers do. Dalmen's family pled with Hiram to reconsider his testimony, to no avail. All the evidence pointed to only one conclusion, and Hiram was satisfied. Until the day after Mr. Dalmen's execution, when new evidence surfaced. Upon investigation, it was learned that Quillian (and the police, the courts and the media) had been fooled by a particularly insidious frame-up planned by a criminal genius. Hiram was filled with despair; his hubris had caused an innocent man's death! Ever since, Hi-Q has worn a prison uniform and shaved his head in penance for his arrogance. He also signed up with Vigilance Inc. to better facilitate crosschecking his deductions with reality. Hi-Q is still an inventor, and will often be carrying around experimental gadgets. (Reliable and useful gadgets are shared with the team.)

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Mood Master, born Alek Shannon was once a low-level empath until he fell into the hands of PSI. In an effort to make his powers more useful, they experimented with booster drugs and surgery. It worked a little too well, as the newly-rechristened mastermind briefly took over the group. Only a pre-arranged psychic dampener and their combined willpower was able to drive him off, and he's been at odds with PSI ever since. Alek is able to sense and manipulate the emotions of anyone within a kilometer of him, read any thoughts connected to strong emotions (but only the strong emotion the victim is currently feeling,) and create hallucinations based on the emotional state he wants to induce. He can affect multiple people at once, creating a different effect in each, at the cost of becoming immobile as it takes considerably more concentration. Mood Master's major weakness is a complete lack of physical prowess--he's relying on the other Masters for technology to counter this.