SKJAM!

Gantha the GraverobberPlayer: NPC Val Char Cost 12 STR 2 14 DEX 12 15 CON 10 10 BODY 0 11 INT 1 10 EGO 0 13 PRE 3 10 COM 0 2 PD 0 3 ED 0 3 SPD 6 5 REC 0 30 END 0 24 STUN 0 6" RUN02" SWIM02" LEAP0Characteristics Cost: 34Cost Power END 20 Purifying Light: Elemental Control, 40-point powers 7 1) Hands of Burning Light: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 2 1/2d6 (40 Active Points); Only vs. diseases, disease-related beings and diseased beings Power loses about half of its effectiveness (-1), No STR Bonus (-1/2), Only When Serving The God's Purposes (-1/2) 4 10 2) Disease, Be Gone!: Dispel 11d6, any disease-related power one at a time (+1/4) (41 Active Points); No Range (-1/2), Only When Serving The God's Purposes (-1/2) 4 14 3) Weaken the Grip of Disease: Suppress 6 1/2d6, any Disease-based power one at a time (+1/4) (41 Active Points); Only When Serving The God's Purposes (-1/2) 4 10 The Goddess Protects Me From My Enemies: Life Support (Immunity: All terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents) 0 Powers Cost: 61Cost Skill 3 AK: Campaign Kingdom 12- 3 Breakfall 12- 3 Bureaucratics 12- 3 Climbing 12- 3 KS: Diseases and their treatment 12- 2 KS: Precepts of the Healing Goddess 11- 5 Paramedics 12- 2 PS: Healer 11- 3 Streetwise 12- 6 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Common Missile Weapons, Off Hand, Staffs 9 +3 with Elemental Control Skills Cost: 42Cost Perk 1 Fringe Benefit: Monk 2 Reputation: Crusader against disease (A medium-sized group (Worshippers of the Healing Goddess)) 11-, +2/+2d6 Perks Cost: 3Cost Talent 10 Divine Favor Talents Cost: 10Val Disadvantages 20 Hunted: Minions of the Disease Gods (one at a time) 11- (As Pow, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Harshly Punish) 15 Hunted: Priests of the Healing Goddess 11- (Mo Pow, NCI, Watching) 15 Psychological Limitation: Hates Disease (Common, Strong) 25 Psychological Limitation: Will Never Lie (Very Common, Total) Disadvantage Points: 75Base Points: 75Experience Required: 0Total Experience Available: 0Experience Unspent: 0Total Character Cost: 150 Height: 1.66 m Hair: Brown Weight: 70.00 kg Eyes: Blue Appearance: Gantha is on the short side, and looks scrawny, the reslut of a undernourished childhood. His hair is short, and arranged in the proper priestly fashion; he is clean-shaven. Gantha is seldom seen without his healer's robes, and if in a dangerous area will be wearing sturdy armor as well.Personality: Gantha is a firm believer in the healing goddess' core values of mercy, cleanliness and healthy living. But this does not prevent him from defending himself with all his might if he's attacked. His most obvious personality trait is that he never lies. He can refuse to answer a question, but everything he speaks must be true to the best of his understanding, and he will always distinguish fact from opinion or hearsay.Quote:"Rest easy now. I believe I know what is necessary to do."Background: Gantha was orphaned at an early age when his parents and siblings succumbed to plague. With no near relatives, and not yet old enough to work, the boy was kicked out into the streets to fend for himself. He joined a group of other homeless children and managed to scrape by. The epidemic that took Gantha's family was just the start of a series of outbreaks in his home city. The disease was resistant to the normal spells of the healing goddess' priests. It could be treated, but that treatment was expensive, and catching the disease once did not immunize you against re-infection. The healing goddess' temple grew in wealth and power, though most of the priests were too busy to appreciate it. Many of Gantha's friends died from the plague, but no one cared, because they were penniless trash. At last, Gantha came of an age where he could find employment. Knowing as he did how prevalent disease was in the city, he thought that perhaps the temple of the healing goddess would be hiring. As it happened, he arrived just as one of the acolytes was being dismissed for having caught the plague and concealed it until too late. The officious priest who'd done the firing asked Gantha, "Would you like a job?" Being a truthful sort, Gantha said "Yes." The outgoing acolyte, pausing in his coughing, cursed Gantha, and gave him the epithet "Graverobber," which Gantha has borne ever since. The first few months of Gantha's life in the temple were much like any other acolyte's. He fetched, carried, learned the basics of the religion and non-magical healing, and tended the sick. But then one day as he was retrieving some rare herbs he'd been sent for, Gantha found himself in a part of the temple he'd never seen before. Strange and inhuman noises were coming from behind a door that stood just a little bit ajar. Curious like any teenager, Gantha peeked inside. He soon wished he hadn't. The room was dominated by a large diorama of the city. Gantha recognized several of the landmarks. Suspended above the diorama by a set of chains that seemed rigged to move it anywhere over the diorama with ease was a hideous, malformed creature that combined the ugliest aspects of rat and worm. The creature seemed to be wounded; every so often a drop of ochre ichor gathered and dropped on the diorama below. Gantha remembered seeing such a creature illustrated in one of the sacred texts. It was a disease demon! But what was it doing here, in the temple of healing? Certainly nothing good. He pulled a chain to swing the demon away from the diorama, intending to then call a priest to investigate. But something he'd done caused the binding to weaken, allowing the demon to break loose. Worse, the demon was between Gantha and the door, and Gantha didn't have a weapon. Being a religious boy, he did the only thing that came to mind and prayed to the healing goddess for help. *Do you really wish my help, Gantha? Are you willing to pay the price?* came a calm voice inside his head as Gantha ran from the demon's snapping teeth. "As I am a truthful man, I do, and am!" shouted Gantha. *Very well. I take your ability to deceive.* Gantha's hands suddenly glowed with light, and he felt his confidence rising. He whirled on the demon and struck at it. "Begone, unclean thing!" The light ate into the creature, killing it. It was at this point that other people arrived, attracted by the shouting. They witnessed Gantha destroying the demon, and several acolytes cheered. But a senior priest sank to his knees, moaning, "No, why wasn't the guard at the door? Everything's ruined now...." While another senior priest tried to shut the first up, a tumult was heard from the infirmary. Eventually it was discovered that every sufferer from the plague that had haunted the city for so long had spontaneously gone into remission. After much investigation, it was proved that several of the senior priests had secretly summoned the disease demon and created the diorama ritual in order to make themselves wealthy and powerful. They'd managed to conceal their loss of healing magic for years! With the loss of much of their management structure, the temple of the healing goddess had much to do to redeem themselves in the eyes of the people. Gantha did his best to aid them, as he was now endowed with a fraction of the goddess' power directly. Since then, he has become a full-time healer, fighting disease wherever it raises its ugly head. Powers/Tactics: Gantha is a trained healer who works for the temple of the healing goddess. He does not have the standard array of healing spells, but rather has a set of specialized abilities to fight disease. His touch harms beings who are diseased or disease-related, and can remove disease within a victim. He can even suppress the effects of disease at a distance. He's had some training in basic combat techniques as well. Campaign Use: Gantha the Graverobber was my player character in a PBM campaign run by Robin Laws many years ago; I've taken him a bit further down the road. He's a variant healer-type for campaigns that need one. To make him more powerful, give him some regular healing spells as well; if he's too powerful, take off the weapons skills and combat levels. He'll only hunt minions of the disease gods, and even then will usually work with his temple to deal with them. _Plot Seeds_ "Saving Princess Rita": A politically powerful person, best if you can make it the player characters' patron, has a child who has come down with a mysterious illness. The local medical personnel are baffled, so it's time to call in a specialist, Gantha the Graverobber. But it had better be quick, the victim doesn't have long to live. "The Only Truth is Death": Gantha recently treated a corrupt official, whose fever made him babble some unpleasant facts that the official would prefer remain hidden. As Gantha never lies, there's only one way to ensure his silence. Player characters may be hired as either assassins or defenders. "And Who Will Speak For the Mosquitos ?": Gantha has come to a small, isolated village, and discovered that the cause of frequent disease outbreaks is the nearby contaminated swamp. By a happenstance of geography, this particular swamp is placed such that it could be relatively easily drained, making it harmless. But his attempts to convince the villagers to do this have met with opposition from the local druid-type, who believes that this will disrupt the balance of nature. The village is divided against itself, tempers are flaring, and it would be very helpful if someone with a level head helped negotiate the situation.

Re: Fake TV-Shows While not an "actual" fictional TV show, I created this for one of my campaigns: PRINCE OF DENMARK Exiled from his home by his evil stepfather, Prince Hamlet and his bumbling sidekick Horatio wander Reformation-era Europe, investigating mysterious crimes and weird events. Hamlet uses his razor-sharp wits and the scientific method to reveal the truth. While Hamlet comes up with a rational explanation for supposedly supernatural events, the audience sees that there is perhaps more going on behind the scenes. Additional comic relief is provided by recurring assassins Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who are more adept at philosophical debate than killing. Indeed, they only ever seem to kill people by accident; usually the villain of the episode. The show is basically a Sam Raimi (Xena, Hercules TLJ) style historical fantasy. No actual research is ever done.

Re: (In Character) The Q.U.A.R.K. Column begins anew! Quite easily, I'm afraid. Those whose power comes from their title, rather than any innate quality, often mistake "granted power" over their subordinates for actual power that they can wield without restriction. If you are working for an Evil Corporation , this is doubly true. Just my two cents, SKJAM!

Re: (In Character) The Q.U.A.R.K. Column begins anew! Dear QUARK, My girlfriend recently left me due to the machinations of a mind-controlling metahuman. ("Can't turn the power off", my @$$.) When I attempted to persuade her that she was being manipulated and should return to my loving arms, things got a little out of hand. The upshot is that I am now serving time in a reform school. (I'm sure her jaw will heal!) While I am not exactly a genius, I'm good with machinery, and have been granted access to the school's machine shop. I plan to build a crude armored battlesuit, break out, and get my revenge on the mind-controller. The problem is that he resides in a school for metahuman teenagers, and I may be forced to fight his teammates as well. Given my limited access to high technology, what weapons would you recommend I build in to maximize combat flexibility? Thanks, Jawbreaker

I've posted the player call for Venture Institute in the Player Finder forum, if anyone is interested.

Re: Politics in Champions.... Hmm...I would guess that the Shadow Masters had direct control over the Security Council (mind control, perhaps) to ensure that its agenda went forward as planned. "Gee, I would have thought the US Ambassador would have vetoed that resolution, but he didn't. Interesting."

Re: Crisis of Infinite Boredom Rock Bottom, after exhausting all his other duties, would go off to the library and find a book or three he hasn't read yet. "Knowledge is power!" Calculus: Surprise inspection of one of the convenience stores he's the regional manager for. It not only amuses him, but the "could show up at any moment" tactic keeps people from wondering where he is when he's in hero mode. Mask of Justice: Interview someone for a fluffy "human interest" story. Just because he's a crime reporter doesn't mean he can't do pieces on cute kittens and such on a slow news day. Kira Midori: "Let's go shopping!" Death glares for anyone who says "typical woman." Talion: Combing the personals in an (vain) attempt to find a woman who'd want to date him.

Re: Supervillain Motivation Made Simple "I'm not waiting around for this 'Lord' person. Vengeance is mine."

Re: WWYCD: Wonder Drug Rock Bottom: Will assist with research on the drug by Johns Hopkins scientists, if a sample can be obtained. Prepares for the inevitable rampages by spoiled rich kids who suddenly have powers. Calculus: Is astounded the military hasn't already made this drug a government monopoly. Will ask his friends with federal connections to look into why that didn't happen, even allowing for the bribes. Puts the company at the top of his "likely to have shipments hijacked, so make sure you know what's going on" list. "And why weren't they doing something useful, like curing that new disease, what's it called? Oh, yes, AIDS." Mask of Justice: Checks to make sure none of his old enemies, especially the ones with mad science skills, are behind this. Back in the Golden Age, $100,000 *really* cuts down on the number of people who can afford the treatment. "And why didn't they give that drug to the war effort? Are they really American patriots?" Kira Midori: Braces for the inevitable rise in powered idiots, good and bad, hitting the street. If she gets any bad premonitions, will follow up on them. Talion: Checks his stock portfolio to see if he owns any part of the company producing the drug. If not, purchases some. He isn't too worried about the extra superpowered people hitting the streets, as his abilities can still take them. (Now if it turned them into robots, Talion would be worried.)

Re: Show Me The Master/Megavillain It has been pointed out to me (thanks, LL) that the word I was looking for was "apotheosis." While "apothesis" is a perfectly good word, it doesn't have the same meaning. You may either correct the spelling if you're using the character, or say that Ezekiel didn't read the dictionary carefully enough.

Re: WWYCD: Sleeping With The Enemy Rock Bottom: Is scheduled to get a bunch of new teammates soon. Of the ones he has, Rock would be appalled that Thunderfist was cheating on his steady girlfriend, and utterly baffled by Tao having sexual interests at all. Calculus: "Time to get you to detox." It's probably Feelgood, Jr. messing with heads again. Mask of Justice: A-hem. Here in the Golden Age, we do not have sex lives on camera. At most his teammate would *date* a foe. And these sort of things never last. (Though the Mask *would* check to make sure it's not someone impersonating the villain.) Kira Midori: Mind probe time! Both teammate and paramour. Further actions from there. Talion: "Jesus, She-Cat, *again*? Have you no common sen--why do I even ask?"

Re: [Pulp] Steve Midnight Here you go. All the Steve Midnight stories originally appeared in Dime Detective, and have been reprinted in "At the Stroke of Midnight", available from Adventure House. ISBN: 1-886937-25-7

Steve MidnightPlayer: NPC, created by John K. Butler Val Char Cost 13 STR 3 12 DEX 6 13 CON 6 10 BODY 0 13 INT 3 10 EGO 0 10 PRE 0 10 COM 0 4 PD 1 4 ED 1 3 SPD 8 6 REC 0 26 END 0 24 STUN 0 6" RUN02" SWIM02 1/2" LEAP0Characteristics Cost: 28Cost Skill 5 AK: Los Angeles and Suburbs 14- 5 Combat Driving 12- 5 Conversation 12- 3 Criminology 12- 5 Deduction 13- 5 High Society 12- 2 KS: Police 11- 3 KS: Nightlife 12- 3 KS: Who's Who 12- 4 KS: Alcohol 13- 2 Navigation (Land) 12- 2 PS: Taxi Driver 11- 3 Shadowing 12- 5 Streetwise 12- 0 TF: Small Motorized Ground Vehicles 1 WF: Handguns Skills Cost: 53Cost Perk 5 Contact: Captain Hollister, Homicide Division (Contact has: useful Skills or resources, Good relationship with Contact) 12- 1 Fringe Benefit: License to practice a profession Perks Cost: 6Cost Talent 5 Lightning Reflexes: +5 DEX to act first with Single Action 3 Resistance (3 points) Talents Cost: 8Val Disadvantages 0 Normal Characteristic Maxima 20 Dependent NPC: Elderly Mother and Invalid Sister 8- (Incompetent; Group DNPC: x2 DNPCs) 5 Distinctive Features: Taxi Driver Uniform (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses) 5 Money: Poor 10 Hunted: Pat Regan, Dispatcher at Red Owl Cab 11- (As Pow, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Watching) 5 Psychological Limitation: Pretends to be Cynical (Uncommon, Moderate) Disadvantage Points: 45Base Points: 50Experience Required: 0Total Experience Available: 0Experience Unspent: 0Total Character Cost: 95 Height: 1.84 m Hair: Black Weight: 82.00 kg Eyes: Unknown Appearance: Steve really isn't described in the stories, beyond being "broad-shouldered." The illustrations show him as on the tall side of average, with close-cropped black hair. While on duty, he wears his taxi driver's uniform, which is described as "whipcord" and is reminiscent of a chauffeur's getup, and his pink taxi driver's cap.Personality: Steve Midnight likes to pretend he's a hard-boiled, cynical sort, but in reality feels honorbound to help innocents in trouble, and will even give known criminals chances to redeem themselves. Though he needs to send a constant supply of money to his relatives (living on a rest farm in Arizona), Steve will not take large bribes, but tries to gain his money semi-honestly. While Steve is irritated by the cops' tendency to arrest him and apply the third degree on general principle, he understands that they're just doing their jobs. He usually gets to show them up at the end in any case. While Steve was a drunk for many years, he is not an alcoholic, and can abstain from booze at will. He also no longer dates, or even flirts! He also never smokes while he's driving. Quote:"I had the bulge on the cops," I continued, "because I used to be a playboy, a matinee dancer, a teacup balancer. So I know more about women's clothes than the average cop."Background: Steven Middleton Knight was born into the wealthy Knight family sometime in the first decade of the Twentieth Century. Sadly, he did not choose to devote himself to a study of science, or a nighttime habit of fighting crime (yet.) Instead, he chose to become a drunken playboy. Even the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the subsequent suicide of Steven's ruined father didn't pull him away from his lifestyle of drunken licentiousness. But at some point the money ran out. Steven woke up one morning sober, broke, and with an aging mother and invalid sister to support. He swallowed his pride and begged for a job at a local taxi service. (As it happened, he was a pretty good driver.) Steven got stuck on the graveyard shift, and between that and a wish to protect what was left of his family's reputation, he started going by the nom d'auto "Steve Midnight." Strangely enough, during the early 1940s, Steve became involved in a number of murder cases, which he solved. Steve lives and works in Pacific Park, a seedy suburb of Los Angeles near the ocean. Its primary attractions are a Coney Island style amusement pier, and an assortment of downscale nightclubs and honkytonks. Powers/Tactics: Steve is a healthy adult who gets quite a bit of exercise, especially considering he sits down and drives a car all night. He's quite knowledgable about Los Angeles and the surrounding suburbs, especially the streets and nightlife. He's so familiar with alcohol that he can make a good guess as to brand just from the smell. While he doesn't normally carry a gun, Steve is a decent shot, and knows quite a bit about firearms and the wounds they cause. He keeps a Colt in his apartment for emergencies. He's also a darn good detective. While Steve has a remarkable talent for getting in the first punch, he's not really much of a scrapper, being no match for even a mediocre professional boxer. He prefers to make that punch and run before his opponent can recover. Failing that, he gets knocked out a lot. He can roll with the punch pretty well. Note that while Steve often has access to a taxicab, it belongs to the Red Owl Cab Company, not him, and any damage to it comes out of his salary. Campaign Use: Steve Midnight is a taxi driver, which is an useful contact for any pulp character who happens to be without their own transportation. He might not let you ride for free, but you know he's got your back. A wealthy character might know him from his old playboy days, as might nightclub entertainers. If used as a Contact, the GM will probably want to de-emphasize his detecting skills and emphasize his knowledge of the streets (both literal and metaphorical.) Steve is easily adapted to any modern big-city setting, you simply need to edit his background a bit. (As did the original writer, in the final known story. In that one, Steve had been hacking since before 1929!) The Milieu: A few words about the Red Owl Cab Company: As of 1940, there are no radios in their taxis. While radio cabs do exist, they're an innovation Red Owl isn't willing to upgrade to yet. Instead, the drivers park in specified locations near callboxes. When the dispatcher receives a request for a taxi, he calls the callbox of the nearest taxi driver, and hopes they pick up. If not, then calls the next closest and so forth. The usual reason for a taxi not responding is that it's got a fare (It's supposed to be the only reason.) Steve's corner is an unusually cold street near the Corinthian Club (also spelled the Carinthian Club.) Pat Regan: Chief dispatcher for the Red Owl Cab Company. He's greedy, cowardly, hypocritical, likes bullying the drivers and is highly concerned with the effect the drivers' behavior/appearance has on the reputation of the company. You remember Danny DeVito's character from Taxi? Like that, but of Irish descent. Pat has a habit of firing Steve whenever the taxi driver gets into trouble, only hiring him back when Steve once again covers himself with glory. Captain Hollister: Homicide detective with the Pacific Park police. He's an old friend of Steve's father (even when the backstory changes), and is pleased to see Steve earning an honest living. Captain Hollister is also pretty impressed with the way Steve is able to solve cases. This earns Steve a lot of leeway from the captain. It doesn't, however, mean that Hollister will pull Steve out of the room with the rubber hose until he's absolutely sure Steve didn't commit the latest atrocity. Captain Hollister is a large man with graying hair. He likes smoking cigars down to the last nub, and is a huge boxing fan. Ollie Greenberg: A fellow taxi driver who appears in several stories. He's rather chubby, is married, and thinks he's a comedian. No one else agrees. He likes to tease Steve about the latest mishaps the other driver has gotten into.

Re: Soulless?

Re: Show Me The Master/Megavillain Fixed.

Re: An odd question Apothesis is now posted over in the Master & Mega-Villains thread.

Re: Show Me The Master/Megavillain Inspired by the "Odd Question" thread; this is my first ever Hero Designer character, so please be gentle on the presentation issues. Apothesis Player: NPC Val Char Cost 30 STR 20 30 DEX 60 25 CON 30 20 BODY 20 12 INT 2 30 EGO 40 25 PRE 15 10 COM 0 6/46 PD 0 5/45 ED 0 8 SPD 40 11 REC 0 100 END 25 48 STUN 0 6" RUN 0 2" SWIM 0 6" LEAP 0 Characteristics Cost: 252 Cost Power 120 I Control Reality Itself: Multipower, 120-point reserve 24m 1) I Mold Forms and Minds Like Clay: Major Transform 4d6 (Anything into Anything, A reversing Transformation, Shapeshifting, or Probability Alteration Heals), Improved Target Group (Anything; +1) (120 Active Points) 16m 2) I Can Make You Do As I Please: Mind Control 16d6 ( Human, Animals and Aliens classes of minds) (100 Active Points); Does Not Provide Mental Awareness (-1/4) 18m 3) To Hell With Subtlety: Energy Blast 12d6, Variable Special Effects (Any SFX; +1/2) (90 Active Points) 16m 4) You Can't Touch Me: Force Field (40 PD/40 ED) (80 Active Points) 17m 5) That Didn't Just Happen: Healing BODY 6d6, Can Heal Limbs, Resurrection (85 Active Points) 16m 6) Duh, Of Course I Can Fly: Flight 40" (80 Active Points) 2u 7) "Let's Make That Retroactive, Shall We?": Extra-Dimensional Movement (Related Group of Dimensions, Any Location), x2 Increased Weight, Usable As Attack (Shifts Victim (and Apothesis) into an alternate dimension where a chosen Transformation "has always been true."; +1) (80 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Turn (Post-Segment 12), Character May Take No Other Actions, -1 1/2), Limited Power Power loses about half of its effectiveness (Cannot be used in front of witnesses; -1) 3u 8) Bored Now: Teleportation 5", No Relative Velocity, MegaScale (1" = 1 km; +1/4), Safe Blind Teleport (+1/4) (30 Active Points) 4u 9) I Can Even Change My Own Appearance!: Shape Shift (Sight , Hearing , Smell/Taste and Touch Groups, Any Humanoid Shape), Imitation, Instant Change (44 Active Points) 15 He Probably Won't Go Down With Just One Shot: Energy Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25% 15 He's A Mega-Villain After All: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25% 24 You Didn't Think It Was Going To Be *That* Easy, Did You?: Mental Defense (30 points total) 30 Nice Try, But He's Got This Covered: Power Defense (30 points) 45 I Can Sense The Fabric of Reality: Spatial Awareness (Unusual Group), Discriminatory, Analyze, Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees), Microscopic (x10), Range Powers Cost: 365 Cost Skill 5 Cramming 2 KS:Comic Books 11- 2 AK:Littleton 11- 1 Language: Spanish (basic conversation) 0 Language: English (idiomatic) (4 Active Points) 2 Navigation (Air) 11- 3 Oratory 14- 1 PS: Farmer 8- 2 PS: Student 11- 3 Analyze: Psychological Limitations 11- 3 +1 With Multipower Attacks Skills Cost: 24 Cost Talent 3 Absolute Range Sense 3 Absolute Time Sense 3 Lightning Calculator Talents Cost: 9 Total Character Cost: 650 Pts. Disadvantage 30 Enraged: Berserk When Successfully Taunted (Uncommon), go 14-, recover 11-, Berserk 15 Hunted: Player Characters 8- (Mo Pow, Harshly Punish) 15 Hunted: Police 11- (Less Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish) 15 Physical Limitation: Bad at Physical Confrontation (-3 levels in HtH Combat) (Frequently, Greatly Impairing) 15 Psychological Limitation: Vengeful (Common, Strong) 20 Psychological Limitation: Easy to Psychologically Manipulate (Very Common, Strong) 15 Psychological Limitation: Likes To Toy With His Victims (Common, Strong) 10 Reputation: Extremely Dangerous Reality Manipulator, 8- (Extreme) 5 Social Limitation: Minor (Occasionally, Minor) 10 Unluck: 2d6 Disadvantage Points: 150 Base Points: 500 Experience Required: 0 Total Experience Available: 0 Experience Unspent: 0 Hair Color: Brown Eye Color: Brown Height: 1.73 m Weight: 62.00 kg Description: Ezekiel is a seriously scrawny sixteen-year-old with rather plain features, upgraded from his previously really ugly, and clear skin. In civilian guise, he favors expensive, trendy clothing. He's usually scowling or sneering. In his first appearance as Apothesis, Ezekiel wears a Littleton High letter jacket in purple and white over a bare chest, baggy jeans, expensive tennis shoes, and a purple cape with red lining that has a high collar that *should* be obstructing his peripheral vision, but doesn't actually do so. In futher appearances, Apothesis will favor crimson, purple and white as costume colors, and aim for a "regal" look. Background: Ezekiel Mundus was born and raised in Littleton, a small rural community a couple of hours' drive from Campaign City. What seemed at the time like a poor roll of the genetic dice made young Ezekiel a scrawny, ugly child. He proved to be hopeless at sports, a huge disappointment to his athletics-obsessed father. For a few years, he was very attached to his mother, until the birth of his little sister Jenny. Jenny was born with a congenital defect that required frequent medical treatment and often caused her to be bedridden. The already low-income family had to spend all their spare funds on her care, and Ezekiel felt neglected because Jenny got all the attention. At school, Ezekiel's ugliness, poverty and wimpiness made him the main target of bullies. "Zeke the Freak" came in for constant teasing and pummeling. If Ezekiel told an adult, sometimes the bullies got punished, but then they beat him up even worse in revenge. Ezekiel's parents were unsympathetic, his father because "real men defend *themselves*" and his mother because her hands were full with Jenny. Ezekiel initially showed some talent for schoolwork, but every time a teacher pointed him out as a good example, the bullies would target him again. The greatest pleasure in Ezekiel's life was comic books. By scrimping and saving every penny he could find, Ezekiel was able to buy one or two on the family trips to Campaign City for Jenny's treatments. Ezekiel knew that if somehow he ever got superpowers, he'd finally have the good life he deserved. Puberty brought Ezekiel a severe case of acne over his already unattractive features, and a new sort of bullying when a rumor got started that he was homosexual. He wasn't, but that didn't seem to matter to his attackers, and since girls treated him like a loathsome disease, the charge was difficult to disprove. Today began with Ezekiel learning that he was expected to take a part-time job in addition to his farm chores, the money to go to his sister's care. When he got to school, the lock on his locker was broken, and everything inside had been smeared with used tampons. And the comic books had been torn to shreds. Everyone was laughing at him. He gathered up his things to take them to the boys' room to wash, but got only two steps before someone tripped him. "Someone" turned out to be Brent Phearson, the football team's best running back, and a seriously homophobic bully. "What's the matter, faggot? Your limp ankles finally give out? Maybe it's time someone put you out of our misery." "P-please don't--" Ezekiel felt ill, as though something was growing in his brain. "Oh, I know you want me, you little queer. I seen you staring at me in the showers. I know you want something rammed up your butt." And with that, Brent kicked Ezekiel in the general area of his buttocks. Everyone laughed again. Ezekiel felt something snap in his head. "If you can't see what's really going on, then maybe you shouldn't have eyes!" A violet glow surrounded first him, then Bryce, and when it faded, Bryce had only empty pits where his eyes used to be. "That...was cool," said Ezekiel as he stood up. "I wonder what else I can do." The laughing stopped and the screaming began. About an hour into Ezekiel's rampage, after he'd stopped by the school library and chosen the name "Apothesis", the sheriff had rounded up the Mundus family, and asked them to attempt to talk the boy down. "Boy, you get down here right now!" yelled Mr. Mundus. "I'm going to give you such a hiding!" Mrs. Mundus shuddered. "Ixnay on the idinghay, Dear. I don't think he's in the mood." Jenny coughed, and pleaded, "Ezekiel, I love you! Please don't do this, I'm begging you!" Apothesis cocked his head and smiled, but it wasn't the friendly sort of smile. "Dear, dear little Jenny. Poor, brave Jenny. Bearing up so nobly under her affliction. She's so *special.* I hate you. Oh, God it feels good to finally say it. I HATE you!" Violet light traced over his body. Jenny cowered, and her father moved to shield her. "Don't you touch her, you little punk! I should have known, you can't possibly be my son!" "Wrong, Pop. I'm exactly the son you deserve. And I'm not going to hurt Jenny. Much." Moving at inhuman speed, Apothesis got behind them, and his violet rays struck Jenny. She writhed in pain as the rays played over her body. When they stopped, however, she appeared unchanged. Jenny patted herself down, then realized, "My lungs, they don't hurt anymore! Nothing hurts!" Apothesis smirked. "That's right, Jenny. You're cured. You don't get to be special anymore. Now, vamoose, before I change my mind. You too, Mom and Pop. I don't want to ever see you again." As the grateful family scrambled away, the sheriff hoped that the metahuman backup he'd called for would arrive soon. POWERS/TACTICS: Apothesis is able to alter the fabric of reality itself. This allows him to transform people and objects at will, control minds, project force fields and summon blasts of any desired composition. By bending space-time, he can even fly or teleport. Subconscious use of his powers prevents some forms of harm, and if wounded, Apothesis can simply cause the wound to go away as if it had never occured. He also is able to sense the realitiy around him without the use of his eyes. Perhaps the most frightening application of Apothesis' power is his ability to bend spacetime to make a transformation retroactive, as if it had always been the case. Fortunately, this requires him to spend several seconds to penetrate the time barrier, and the presence of other beings who remember the current timeline will cause it to fail. Oh, and he's given himself superhuman physical prowess, just as a sideline. For all his power, Apothesis sucks at tactics. He prefers to track down his prey one by one, torture them with his transformations, and move on when he's had his fun. Initially, he will tend to underestimate metahuman opponents, slapping them down as quickly as possible without bothering to check on the results. If pressed, Apothesis will use the most obvious energy blasts he can while protecting himself with a force field, or mind control an opponent into fighting for him. In dire circumstances, he'll attempt to teleport away. He will often forget useful applications of his powers, and will tend to repeat actions that succeed, even if they're now predictable. PERSONALITY/MOTIVATION: Apothesis feels that the world has kicked him around all his life, and now that he has power, he has the right to kick back hard. He remembers every insult, snide remark, blow and practical joke at his expense, and now he will repay tenfold. While he doesn't have any qualms about killing, dead people can't suffer, so he prefers to do things to them other than instant death. He also quite likes "poetic justice", and often tailors his transformations to match the victim's past crimes or personality. Starved for affection and respect, Apothesis can be easily manipulated by anyone who can sway his emotions. Insults are not as effective as they once were, since he can turn them back on their wielder, but if a barb strikes home and he's unable to avenge it, Apothesis will fly into a destructive rage. Campaign Use: Apothesis is an example of a superhuman gaining powers at exactly the wrong time and place. He should be especially useful for Teen Champions campaigns, as young player characters are the most likely to empathize with his bankground. Apothesis will Hunt people who annoy him, but he will tend to be a bit haphazard about it. He may cooperate with other Hunters if they don't step on his nerves, but is unlikely to join a team or organization. If Apothesis is too powerful for your campaign, knock his Speed down a point or three, and lower the Active Points limit on his Multipower. If he's not powerful enough, move his Force Field out of his Multipower and give it Reduced END so he can attack at full strength with it on, and perhaps add a few more slots to the MP. (Eventually, he can have a Cosmic VPP.) Plot Seeds.... Apothesis Now: Ezekiel just gained his powers this morning, and is still rampaging through Littleton. The player characters are called in to deal with this dangerous new metahuman threat. By the time they arrive, Apothesis has erected a four meter tall razor wire fence around the town to keep any more victims from escaping, The streets are littered with people who've obviously been transformed, many in horrific fashion; others who aren't obviously transformed but claim they have been, and some who are just acting bizarrely. There are bent lampposts, smashed automobiles, a couple of buildings are on fire, and the high school has a huge hole in its side. Civic-minded characters might try to allieviate some of the immediate suffering; cautious ones will try to gather more information about what happened. A fight is not inevitable; a clever bunch of heroes might be able to give Apothesis an attack of conscience and convince him to undo at least some of the damage. However, if the team includes Attitude Lad or Trigger-Happy Lass, this is unlikely. Flow My Tears Softly, The Policeman Said: A player character that was especially obnoxious to Apothesis the last time they met is ambushed by the reality-controller, inflicted with a humiliating transformation (including the blocking of any powers that would allow the victim to easily escape the situation), and then Apothesis makes it retroactive. The protagonist must now make his way in a world where everyone believes that he has always been as he is now, no matter how ludicrous that seems. ("But you've always had the head of a chicken, Attitude Lad. I've seen your baby pictures.") Even if the victim manages to get the transformation reversed, the only way to restore the history he remembers is to convince Apothesis to fix the timestream.... Golddigger: Apothesis is back, but he seems to have changed his agenda. He's robbing banks, jewelry stores, boutiques--"He's got a girlfriend, doesn't he?" Yes, a reasonably attractive young female criminal has managed to get her claws into Apothesis, and has convinced him to commit crimes for profit and to provide her with nice things. She's also giving him tips on tactics, making Apothesis much more dangerous in battle, especially when she's present. Of course, she'd better not slip and reveal how she actually feels about Apothesis where he can hear her.

Re: An odd question Remind me in a week or so to post "Apothesis", inspired by my comment above.

Re: An odd question Well, myself at that age.... I was raised in a fairly conservative environment and was pretty patriotic. With the right powers and a good day when they turned on, you'd have seen the next coming of Captain America. Four-color and working for the good of America as I saw it (and possibly as the government saw it. The Carter years and all that.) But I was also absolutely miserable as a teenager due to living in a small town where I didn't fit in and there was no escape from my bullying peers. The wrong powers, and a really bad day, and I would have pulled a Carrie. At the power level posted, my home town might well have been a smoking crater or worse by the end of my initial rampage. (That might make a good opening scenario in some darker campaigns--the wimpy, perpetually bullied misfit at school suddenly "blossoms" or whatever they call it in the Seeds campaign, getting a ludicrous amount of power, and deciding it's time to get revenge on everyone who's ever pushed him around. I'm thinking, say, reality-manipulation powers. "You kept calling me spineless? Let's see how *you* like life as an invertebrate!" By the time the player characters arrive on the scene, the former victim has long passed the line of "poetic justice" and is well into "hurting other people because I can.")

Re: Character Post: Gil Grissom Shouldn't his Clairsentience be Postcognitive? Otherwise, looks good.

Re: (somehow) realistic Secret IDs

Re: Musings on Random Musings re: Quartermain Disadvantages PDF It's rather obviously taken from a point before I started submitting to the Master List of Limitations, as none of my additions are present, and ones with similar names are the few that are substantially different from the Master List. Some "editorializing" comments have been removed, others very clearly have not, making the source material very obvious. Interesting.

Re: WWYCD:One Issue Super Cross over event! Sailor Io and her Scouts, while pursuing leads on a missing renegade Mah-Ki general and his troops, find themselves transported to WWII New York. Mistaken for Japanazi villains due to their habit of speaking in Japanese (and possibly looking Japanese too), the Scouts are pursued through the city until they are able to convince the Mask of Justice that they aren't the bad guys. The Mah-Ki renegades, meanwhile, have conned the Nazis into believing that these magical visitors are in fact the Teutonic gods come to Earth to aid them. "Wotan" in reality plans to use a doomsday device to destroy the human population so that the Mah-Ki can emigrate to an Earth not protected by the Scouts. Boy is he in for a surprise. The Mask's ability to see through any disguise allows the Scouts to locate and defeat the renegades.

Re: Help me populate the Seeds of Change Universe The Harvester: A mad scientist type who has discovered how to give himself temporary powers using tissue samples from "Seedlings". He was only amoral before his experiments bore fruit, but now he's completely nuts. The Harvester is unusual for an Iron Age villain in that he takes strong measures not to kill his opponents or bystanders--he needs their fresh tissue samples, at least until he can perfect cloning. He may or may not work for "the conspiracy"; his funding had to come from *somewhere.*

Re: Champs Worldwide: Whaddya want? Hero Games still owns the rights to Zen Team.