Tigereye

Paradise City's former industrial center is now the location "where the streets have no name". This neighborhood is wedged between Electric and Ammonia Avenues. Electric Avenue is home to a impoverished yet vibrant Jamaican culture, unfortunately also with the gangs that are often associated with Jamaica. Ammonia Avenue still has the Harmon Industries Nitrogen Products Production Division - but it has run at a very low capacity for years, and only keeps running as a local source of ammoniated products. Ammonia Avenue is the home to a church associated with social justice and helping the poor. The head pastor there, Alana Parsons, was a chemical engineer for Harmon. She is one of the rare types who will engage in a spirited debate - pardon the pun - of the role of God in a world of science and magic, without rancor. She has no time for cynicism or conspiracy theories, or the constant need for agreement with her views. She's an idealist who is also a rare black critic of the current president - an oft-quoted sermon from her is "When you can't hear the rhyme and you can't see the reason - Why should the hope remain? For a man will be tired and his soul will grow weary, living his life in vain." She believes that the neighborhood will someday rebuild and empower its inhabitants again - although probably very differently than before.

The origin mystery gets even deeper when most of the metahumans above can only use their powers for about a day at a time in a month. You can add to the list China Girl - a mysterious woman who can render the toughest defenses as brittle as porcelain. (Major Transform - Being to being with a Vulnerability to their own powers, transform goes away after 24 hours). She's the only hero who has caused Gravitar to shy away from using her power set. China Girl lives in "Suffragette City", a community which was a haven for ardent feminists for more than 150 years. Strangely enough, it also has a reputation for very sexually adept women... Another location is the "Criminal World" - a neighborhood filled with youth gangs. Most of these have adopted a deliberately androgynous 20s-30s gangster appearance.

Loch Lomond is a small lake in Paradise City, five miles long but only about a half-mile wide, flanked by several parks. The two largest are: Palisades - has an amusement park to rival Coney Island. Rumor has it that Major Tom didn't need testing for G-forces or motion sickness after he stated his favorite ride was Palisades' infamous "Shoopty Shoop". MacArthur - much more quiet - almost brooding. The sort of place for a solitary walk or an assignation with a lover. Has a pastry shop right in the middle - makes legendary cakes with light cream frosting which should be eaten in fair weather. The head baker there often sings ballads to lost love. Itchicoo - smaller park centered on a burial mound in the shape of a fantastic creature (a "Coyote-Eagle") which the native Paradisians pronounce It-shik-oo but which non-natives, tourists, and some irreverent right-wing skinheads insist on pronouncing "Itchy-koo". Pronouncing it correctly is respectful of the tribe who gave the park its name, a native Paradisian, or at least savvy enough to get around without asking for directions. Pablo Fanques' Fair - a splendid circus based in Paradise City and often shown in Paradise City's arena during the winter. Pablo (real name: William Darby) has worked hard to recreate the sense of wonder associated with Victorian Age circuses, and at this he has succeeded. Some of the acts: William Kite has a legendary equestrian team, based around the magnificent dancing mustang, Flying Kite's Zanthus, better known simply as Henry. Amazingly, Henry went from a wild horse to the title of "Best Broke Horse In The World" due to his remarkable intelligence (Rumor has it, from a few psychics, Henry may in fact be sentient!) The Hendersons are a marvelous troupe of acrobats. John Henderson himself holds the world record for somersaults (which in Pablo Fanques' Fair are called "somersets" in true Victorian fashion) and will routinely break off more than twenty in the limited space of the arena - including a backwards one through a thick flaming hoop called "The Hogshead". Dude is fearless. One place you probably don't want to find yourself at: The St James Hospital Medical Center, better known as the "St James Infirmary". Excellent medical care - but they also have the Paradise City Forensic Investigation Laboratory, adjacent to the city morgue.

Scirocco Mistral Foehn Antarcticus (or just Arcticus)- cold powers Extermina Maleficia GoldBug - Powers based on precious metals

Mental Illusions is a tremendous power in combat when used correctly; Don't forget that at +10 it can act to hit a Target with STUN damage, and at +20 with STUN and BODY. At a +30 effect the target can no longer have any link to reality, and so the user can make the target almost believe anything they want. This can be devastating in combat, particularly against targets with low EGO scores and those without mental defenses. If combat is unavoidable, have Raksasha target the party Brick or someone else with the lowest EGO/MD and hit them with a Mental Illusions attack. Steer him against his comrades - Make the heaviest-hitting energy projector the party mentalist look like Meteor or Gigaton. Raksasha should try to disguise himself as a low-level innocent NPC during all this.

I like Exemplar as well; but if you don't, there's at least 1475 words that start with ex... http://www.morewords.com/starts-with/ex/

Re: Lex Luthor Is Worse Than Useless Just to summarize, there are several plausible explanations as to why higher technology items have not seen public use: 1) "Not Ready For Prime Time" - Sheer sophistication: The systems are not ready for mass production; they require almost being hand-built at this point, or require tooling or synthesizing just as complex - or more so - than they are. This is actually common in real life - lots of inventions languish for lack of the ability to profitably or even feasibly mass-produce them. I currently recall recent experiments in superconductors that have a small percentage of a carefully sintered bulk material actually having a critical temperature above 0 degrees Celsius, which would be a huge breakthrough; the problem is identifying and separating that part of the material from the rest of the bulk without destroying it. 2) Materials issues: The technology involved requires rare minerals/alloys, or those strictly controlled by law. Kelvarite, questionite, neutronium, or even real but man-made materials like plutonium etc. 3) Public Hazards: The government prevents the public from possessing these due to the strong chance that someone will negligently or maliciously use them to cause damage, possibly fatally. Frequently quoted as a good reason not to have flying cars until we can perfect automatic "flying lanes" and fail-safe mechanisms. 4) Military Secret: Possession of the technology is in the hands of the military, who are unwilling to promulgate it lest potential adversaries get a hold of it. Whether or not the military in question is itself an opponent of the PC's society is another matter... 5) Actually Alien Technology: Cannot be reproduced (at least on a mass scale) as Terrans don't understand some or all of its underlying physical principles. Whether or not humanity ever will may also be in question - perhaps it requires thinking in more than four dimensions (three spacial plus time) or something. 6) Near-irreproducable Technology: As above, but the result of serendipitous discovery that, as of yet, cannot be copied. (If multiple copies of the technology exist, it's due to repeated attempts to reproduced, with many failures in between successful ones.) This is sort of a subset of 1) and 5) above, but includes the possibility of the original discoverer coming upon the ability to reproduce it in a larger scale by understanding its principles better, or giving it to someone who can reproduce it more effectively. (A GM could use it to represent a current technology where it's not in wide use as of yet.)

Re: Welcome to the Silver Screen Deuce has already been adapted for the movies. His superior officer in WWII used Deuce as one of several primary models for his protagonist in a series of spy thrillers - which were then turned into movies starting in the early 1960's. The only reason why the officer wasn't arrested under the Official Secrets Act was because of the bad publicity it would have caused - that, and he'd had the good sense to die in 1964. Sometimes the movies are all right - and many times they're wildly unrealistic. He would never try half the stunts they pull in the movies. Plus, he looks nothing like the actors, for the most part. (He thinks they're on their sixth Agent 11 now...he's not sure.) No doubt you've heard of the Mark Hazard series - everyone has, and it bothers Deuce to no end. Spellvis got cast as the young Hillbilly Cat in an abortive biopic, but would blanch at someone playing him, because it would be someone imitating an Elvis impersonator! (Admittedly, the best there's ever been.) He'd have a much bigger and more destructive power set. He'd be capable of wide swaths of sonic disruption, but having a much different power absorption base - Spellvis can function well in the dark, as long as there's some light, but the movie version would have to light a butane lighter to activate and serve as a power source. When it would be dramatically appropriate, natch. Plus, he probably would be a lot dumber on the screen - people from Tennessee are nearly always portrayed as rednecks, even though Spellvis' alter ego is a serious music student and a trained helicopter pilot, and has but a mild accent.

Re: Silver Age villain concepts: The Seven Perils The fears of McCarthyites also included rock-and-roll, of course. This could be the Blue Peril (or rather, the "Blues Peril") in reference to rhythm and blues, from which rock was a direct descendant. The indigo peril may refer to the fears of racists - I've heard of people (in Wisconsin) referring to especially dark skin as "indigo black".

Re: Foxbat airplane Just my opinion, but a Foxbat is far from "an ordinary fighter jet". A Mach 2.8 aircraft made from stainless steel is not ordinary.

Re: Foxbat airplane (Bows modestly) Thanks for the rep. I love designing things like this. Use it in good health. Now I'm reminded of the old SPI wargame "Foxbat and Phantom". Now, what would the Phantom fly? Hmm...

Re: Foxbat airplane Here we go. First the file itself: [ATTACH]45679[/ATTACH] Then a text version, as my computer has been giving me fits tonight: Foxbat-Foxbat-PU [TABLE=class: MsoNormalTable] [TR] [TD] Val [/TD] [TD=width: 48] Char[/TD] [TD=width: 36] Cost [/TD] [TD=width: 180] Notes[/TD] [TD=width: 2][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 9 [/TD] [TD=width: 48] Size[/TD] [TD=width: 36] 45 [/TD] [TD=width: 180] Length 16m, Width 8m, Height 8m, Volume 1,024m^3 Mass 51.2 ton, OCV +6, KB -9[/TD] [TD=width: 2][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 45 [/TD] [TD=width: 48] STR[/TD] [TD=width: 36] -10 [/TD] [TD=width: 180] Lift 12.8tons; 9d6[/TD] [TD=width: 2][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 10 [/TD] [TD=width: 48] DEX[/TD] [TD=width: 36] 0 [/TD] [TD=width: 180][/TD] [TD=width: 2][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 19 [/TD] [TD=width: 48] BODY[/TD] [TD=width: 36] 0 [/TD] [TD=width: 180][/TD] [TD=width: 2][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 3 [/TD] [TD=width: 48] SPD[/TD] [TD=width: 36] 10 [/TD] [TD=width: 180] Phases: 4, 8, 12[/TD] [TD=width: 2][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35][/TD] [TD=width: 48][/TD] [TD=width: 36][/TD] [TD=width: 182, colspan: 2] Total Characteristic Cost: 61[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Movement: Running: 12m / 24m Flight: 434m / 1736m [TABLE=class: MsoNormalTable] [TR] [TD] Cost [/TD] [TD=width: 227] Powers[/TD] [TD=width: 38] END [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 11[/TD] [TD=width: 227] Life Support (Safe in Intense Cold; Safe in Intense Heat; Safe in Low Pressure/Vacuum; Self-Contained Breathing) (16 Active Points); OAF Bulky Durable (-1 1/2), 1 Continuing Charge lasting 6 Hours (-0) Note: (x2 number of items)[/TD] [TD=width: 38] [1 cc] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 10[/TD] [TD=width: 227] Foxbatejectors!: Telekinesis (26 STR) (39 Active Points); 1 Charge (-2), Only to throw object straight up (-2), OIF Bulky (-1), Only Works On Limited Types Of Objects Limited Group of Objects (Pilot and Foxbat; -1/2), No Range (-1/2), Affects Whole Object (-1/4) Note: (x2 number of items)This power should be used only with Foxbat's "Fly!" power, Foxbatchutes, or their equivalent...[/TD] [TD=width: 38] [1] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 97[/TD] [TD=width: 227] Two Tumansky R-15B-300 afterburning turbojets and JATO Rockets: Multipower, 435-point reserve, (435 Active Points); all slots Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; Jet Blast; -1 1/2), OAF Bulky (Requires Multiple Foci or functions at reduced effectiveness; -1 1/4), Cannot Move Backwards (-1/4), Leaves A Trail (-1/4), Limited Maneuverability Only 2 turns per Phase at Combat speed; only 1 turn per Phase at Noncombat speed (-1/4)[/TD] [TD=width: 38][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 9f[/TD] [TD=width: 227] 1) Subsonic and Low-Altitude Flight: Flight 430m, x4 Noncombat (435 Active Points); Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; Jet Blast; -1 1/2), OAF Bulky (Requires Multiple Foci or functions at reduced effectiveness; -1 1/4), Cannot Hover must make at least a Half Move per Phase (-1/2), Cannot Move Backwards (-1/4), Leaves A Trail (-1/4), Limited Maneuverability Only 2 turns per Phase at Combat speed; only 1 turn per Phase at Noncombat speed (-1/4), 1 Continuing Fuel Charge lasting 1 Hour (-0)[/TD] [TD=width: 38] [1 cc] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 1f[/TD] [TD=width: 227] 2) Mach Flight: Flight 4m, MegaScale (1m = 1 km; +1) (8 Active Points); Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; Jet Blast; -1 1/2), OAF Bulky (Requires Multiple Foci or functions at reduced effectiveness; -1 1/4), Limited Maneuverability Only 1 turn per Phase at Combat speed; only 1 turn per Turn at Noncombat speed (-1/2), 1 Continuing Fuel Charge lasting 20 Minutes (-1/4), Cannot Hover Must move at least 215 m per Phase (-1/4), Cannot Move Backwards (-1/4), Leaves A Trail (-1/4)[/TD] [TD=width: 38] [1 cc] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 5f[/TD] [TD=width: 227] 3) JATO Rockets: Flight 300m, Combat Acceleration/Deceleration (+1/4) (375 Active Points); Limited Power Only for takeoffs/landings (-1 1/2), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; Jet Blast; -1 1/2), OAF Bulky (Requires Multiple Foci or functions at reduced effectiveness; -1 1/4), 2 Continuing Fuel Charges lasting 1 Turn each (-3/4), no Noncombat movement (-1/4), Cannot Move Backwards (-1/4), Leaves A Trail (-1/4), Limited Maneuverability Only 2 turns per Phase at Combat speed; only 1 turn per Phase at Noncombat speed (-1/4)[/TD] [TD=width: 38] [2 cc] [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 50[/TD] [TD=width: 227] Foxbat-Hittiles!: Multipower, 100-point reserve, all slots Increased Maximum Range (16,000m; +1) (200 Active Points); all slots OAF Bulky (-1 1/2), 4 Charges (-1), Extra Time (Delayed Phase, or More; at Maximum range, could take an Extra Phase; -1/4), Limited Arc Of Fire (180 degrees; -1/4) Note: Because *Miss*iles are what heroes have! Bwah ha ha ha ha![/TD] [TD=width: 38][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 3f[/TD] [TD=width: 227] 1) Knock 'Em Out of the Air!: Blast 16d6, Area Of Effect (1m Radius Explosion; +1/4) (100 Active Points); OAF Bulky (-1 1/2), Extra Time (Delayed Phase, or More; at Maximum range, could take an Extra Phase; -1/4), Limited Arc Of Fire (180 degrees; -1/4) Note: He usually only uses these against fighters sent to engage him, or the heroes.[/TD] [TD=width: 38] 0 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 3f[/TD] [TD=width: 227] 2) Ice!: Change Environment (-3 to Normal Sight PER Rolls, -3 to Infrared Perception PER Rolls, -3 Temperature Level Adjustment, -3 to Combat Piloting Skill Roll, -3 to DEX Roll, Long-Lasting 5 Minutes, Varying Combat Effects), Area Of Effect (16m Radius; +3/4) (96 Active Points); OAF Bulky (-1 1/2), Extra Time (Delayed Phase, or More; at Maximum range, could take an Extra Phase; -1/4), Limited Arc Of Fire (180 degrees; -1/4)[/TD] [TD=width: 38] 0 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 3f[/TD] [TD=width: 227] 3) Zap!: Dispel Electrical Equipment 12d6, Time Limit (1 Minute; +3/4), Expanded Effect (x3 Characteristics or Powers simultaneously) (+1) (99 Active Points); OAF Bulky (-1 1/2), Extra Time (Delayed Phase, or More; at Maximum range, could take an Extra Phase; -1/4), Limited Arc Of Fire (180 degrees; -1/4)[/TD] [TD=width: 38] 0 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 3f[/TD] [TD=width: 227] 4) Dark!: Darkness to Sight Group 10m radius, Time Limit (20 Minutes; +1) (100 Active Points); OAF Bulky (-1 1/2), Extra Time (Delayed Phase, or More; at Maximum range, could take an Extra Phase; -1/4), Limited Arc Of Fire (180 degrees; -1/4)[/TD] [TD=width: 38] 0 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 10[/TD] [TD=width: 227] FoxbatScope!: +15 versus Range Modifier for Sight Group (24 Active Points); OAF Bulky (-1 1/2) Note: This is only a bit more than half of the Range Modifier of the Foxbat-Hittiles when used at their maximum Range (-24); this reduces the effective range without a modifer to just over a kilometer.[/TD] [TD=width: 38] 0 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 4[/TD] [TD=width: 227] Radar Altimeter: Radar (Radio Group) (15 Active Points); Power can only be used to detect altitude above ground (-1 1/2), OIF Bulky (-1), Sense Affected As More Than One Sense Sight Group (-1/2)[/TD] [TD=width: 38] 0 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 4[/TD] [TD=width: 227] Radio Perception/Transmission (Radio Group) (10 Active Points); OIF Bulky (-1), Sense Affected As More Than One Sense Sight and Hearing Group (-1/2)[/TD] [TD=width: 38] 0 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35] 9[/TD] [TD=width: 227] Electronic Support Suite: Radio Perception, Discriminatory, Tracking (18 Active Points); OIF Bulky (-1)[/TD] [TD=width: 38] 0 [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 35][/TD] [TD=width: 227][/TD] [TD=width: 38][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Total Powers & Skill Cost: 222 Total Cost: 283 [TABLE=class: MsoNormalTable] [TR] [TD] 300+[/TD] [TD=width: 262] Disadvantages[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 36] 20[/TD] [TD=width: 262] Distinctive Features: Large, Angular Warplane (Not Concealable; Always Noticed and Causes Major Reaction; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 36] 5[/TD] [TD=width: 262] Dependence: Maintenance Supplies Powers Gain 11- Activation Roll (Difficult To Obtain; 1 Day)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 36] 10[/TD] [TD=width: 262] Negative Reputation: Former Soviet Aircraft, Infrequently (Extreme)[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 36] 25[/TD] [TD=width: 262] Hunted: Air Force and PCs Very Frequently (Mo Pow; Capture/Kill) [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 36] 20[/TD] [TD=width: 262] Physical Complication: Many components unreliable or require frequent maintenance (Frequently; Greatly Impairing) [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=width: 36] 0[/TD] [TD=width: 262] Experience Points [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Total Disadvantage Points: 283 Total cost: 283/5= 57 Points History: The Foxbat-Foxbat-PU (FF for short) was "borrowed" by Foxbat from the Libyan Air Force shortly after the overthrow of Gaddafi. A training version the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 Foxbat high-altitude interceptor, it does not have an internal radar or sensors outside of a radar altimeter and radar warning receiver. Foxbat has taken it to his secret base, near the PC's main city, where he plans to use it for his latest plan to become Master of the Skies! Bwah ha ha ha ha ha! Tactics: The lack of sensors on the Foxbat-PU hasn't slowed Foxbat down a bit...he's modified the wing pylons to accept his version of the gigantic Bisnovat R-40 missile, sight/radio-guided by Foxbat through x10 telescopic binoculars mounted on a gyrostabilized semicircular swivel in the training cockpit. A Russian, however, would be torn between sheer terror or side-splitting laughter at the warheads Foxbat has put on them! Foxbat himself does not pilot the FF (unless the GM has allowed him to buy TF: Jet Fighters or the like and Combat Pilot). What's the fun in that? Instead, he leaves the piloting to a Trusted Minion (probably hired from the Libyan Air Force) and concentrates on guiding the variety of missiles - which can include warheads which form ice on the wings of an opposing aircraft, create a huge electrical charge to blast its electronics, or even a gigantic boxing glove to "knock out" the other aircraft. Use Foxbat's own OCV when using the missiles (with his telescopic sight) rather than the plane's OCV. When the FF runs out of missiles, the pilot makes a beeline for home lair before it runs out of gas - and hopefully before the Air Force shows up. Foxbat has little awareness of air tactics or the weaknesses of the aircraft - he just wants the pilot to fly as fast as possible and to evade the heroes, so he can shoot at random aircraft. Unfortunately, the MiG isn't a dogfighter, being built to intercept bombers or fast reconnaisance aircraft (hence the rather limited DCV) and the plane has no countermeasures or jammers apart from its RWR. The pilot will probably limit the plane to slashing passes through the combat space. But it's FAST! Campaign Use: The scenario- Foxbat is terrifying the local area by zooming into and out of commercial flight paths, causing airliners to ice up, lose power and so forth. Luckily, no one has been killed - yet - but several airliners have made emergency landings, the airlines are refusing to take off or land anywhere nearby, and the Air Force is mystified by the sudden appearances and disappearances of the plane. What the devil is a MiG-25 zipping around in our airspace, taking potshots at Airbuses and Boeings? One thing they're sure of is that the laughter over the radio channels belongs to the complete lunatic and noted villain - well, it's Foxbat. Foxbat with a Foxbat? The Air Force calls on the heroes to stop this menace, before he really does hurt somebody! A little extra experience should be awarded if the PCs can figure out a way to keep at least its wings intact - the US Air Force Museum wants them for restoring its MiG-25. The pilot's morale could be shaken up the first time he encounters the PC's powers - Foxbat might be bat-fox crazy, but he's less so! The GM should dock the players as much OCV as he possibly can due to range, and use the Velocity-Based DCV table, unless the heroes have something that can also go Mach 3.2. Setting up a hex grid where 1"= 1 km is a pretty good idea. The idea is to get Foxbat as much defense (in addition to his Luck) given that the MiG really isn't a dogfighter. This may be one of those situations where the Blazing Away maneuver is in order...it might be just as effective as a carefully aimed shot! Note that the FF should have "Every-Plane" powers - landing lights, marking lights, instrumentation, tires and the like. Its minimum ("stall") flight speed at low altitude is about 1/2 is normal subsonic combat speed, or about 215 meters/phase. Description: The Mig-25 screams "1960's Jet Fighter", with muscular swept wings high-set over a boxy fuselage with twin rectangular intakes, and a sleekly pointed nose. The only difference between a standard Foxbat interceptor and the -PU training version is that the radar has been removed and a second cockpit installed in the nose, stepped underneath the pilot-instructor's. Some of the instrumentation would not be out of place in a Steampunk setting. The MiG-25 is made mostly of hand-welded stainless steel, with titanium and aluminum only used where absolutely needed. There are even normal rivets in some places, although they're out of the way of any place that could cause drag. The plane has so much fuel on board for take-off that it must maneuver very carefully. Foxbat's changed the aircraft's paint job (a suitably matching two-tone brown, with yellow on the wing and tail tips), the installation of two double-ended liquid-fuel JATO rockets (which he took from the test facility of Acme Industries, which still bear the brand name prominently). These rockets can only be used to accelerate or decelerate the aircraft above or below its minimum speed, for near-zero-distance takeoffs and landings. The other change, of course, is the addition of armament. General characteristics of MiG-25 PU: Crew: Two Length: 19.75 m (64 ft 10 in) Wingspan: 14.01 m (45 ft 11.5 in) Height: 6.10 m (20 ft 0.25 in) Wing area: 61.40 m² (660.93 ft²) Empty weight: 20,000 kg (44,080 lb) Loaded weight: 36,720 kg (80,952 lb) Powerplant: 2 × Tumansky R-15B-300 afterburning turbojets Dry thrust: 73.5 kN (16,524 lbf) each Thrust with afterburner: 100.1 kN (22,494 lbf) each Performance Maximum speed: High altitude: Mach 3.2 (3,600 km/h, 2,170 mph); Mach 2.83 (3,200 km/h, 1,920 mph) continuous engine limit Low altitude: 1,200 km/h (648 knots, 746 mph) at altitude Range: 1,730 km (935 nmi, 1,075 mi) with internal fuel Combat Radius: 300 km (162 nmi, 186 mi) Ferry range: 2,575 km (1,390 nmi), but Foxbat removed the ferry tanks so he could fit missiles Service ceiling: 20,700 m (67,915 ft) with four missiles Rate of climb: 208 m/s (40,950 ft/min) Wing loading: 598 kg/m² (122.5 lb/ft²) Thrust/weight: 0.41 Time to altitude: 8.9 min to 20,000 m (65,615 ft) Armament: 4 Foxbat-Hittiles with various warheads, maximum range 16 kilometers, speed Mach 4.5.

Re: Foxbat airplane Shh! Don't give Foxbat ideas! Just some final notes: - The Foxbat remains in service in some places, and in an improved version as the MiG-31 Foxhound (not to be confused with the MiG-31 Firefox, which is a fictional aircraft). Of course, to Foxbat, it wouldn't be a real Foxbat. - As wcw noted above, if Foxbat (the supervillain) lacks the Combat Pilot skill (or even the necessary TF), he might want to check out the two-seater version of the Foxbat (the aircraft - yes, there's a trainer). He could have a Foxbatminion fly it. Appropriately enough, it's known as the Foxbat-PU. Unless he wants to splurge and buy (or steal) the two-seat reconnaissance trainer version, the normal trainer has no radar or combat capability. Of course, he might want to fit it with Foxbatgadgets of his own design, anyway... Anybody want to see the Foxbat-Foxbat-PU designed with Hero Designer?

Re: Foxbat airplane Just a few other (somewhat more charitable) notes about the plane: It was designed to intercept the B-70 Valkyrie bomber, and is probably one of the greatest examples of limited technology applied to a seemingly impossible task. All the above I posted above are true. However, the radar, although not solid-state, was virtually unjammable, and was immune to EMP. The steel structure and skin were heavy and not as strong as modern alloys, but they allowed the plane to handle high heat. The engines were primitive (they were rather unreliable, and had a problem of uncontrollably accelerating once you got to Mach 2.8 - you'd go to Mach 3.2, whether you wanted to or not, and the engines would have to be completely replaced after that). However, they were tasked with pushing all that weight around, and very few engines from the era could do that, Russian or Western. In a stripped-down form, it set several speed and climbing records, some of which still stand today. The tragedies (from the Russian perspective) of the MiG-25 was that the threat that it was built to fight never went into production. The B-70 program was cancelled, and the US bomber fleet went from high-altitude-and-incredibly fast to low-stealthy-and-medium-fast (the B-1A and B-1B are the case in point of the shift), and the Foxbat was suddenly a bit of a white elephant, as it performed poorly at low altitude. It wasn't nearly capable enough to catch the US SR-71 Blackbird, let alone have the weapons suite to engage it. Another, larger tragedy was that the USAF, not having any hard intelligence on the plane, went on what they thought the plane could do - and thus sharpened the design of the F-15 Eagle, which far, far surpassed the Foxbat's combat performance, and is still in enthusiastic use today. Foxbat might want a Foxbat - but if the heroes have anything like a Blackbird... Curses! Foiled Again!

Re: Foxbat airplane Foxbat suddenly wants a 1960's-era jet fighter, made mostly of steel alloys, consumes fuel by the tankerload, needs a county-long runway to take off and land, has tube-fired electronics and can't turn above 3 G with a full load of fuel without ripping its own wings off? Yeah, that sounds like Foxbat!

Re: Most PCs... My character Deuce uses a VPP, as a Focus Pool (or Gadget Pool, if you prefer). I've self-limited to 4 slots in any one "scene", after which I have to reload someplace else. I'm also restricted to a predetermined list of gadgets and light weapons. I have to take at least -1 in power limitations in any one slot (which actually limits the "rubber science" my character can use). The GM allows it because it allows for surprise moves on my part -and much of the fun of the character is finding just which powers can be effective when used in surprising ways.

Re: Discussion: 'Dive for Cover' and Non-Area Attacks Use of Persistent or Constant power that requires Concentration, particularly Defensive powers; for example, a Desolidified character discovers that his enemy is using a power with an Affects Desolid advantage (and wasn't pasted the first time) can use it to put off that second hit.

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed It wouldn't have to be all at once; just someone with the ability to go back and forth to a safe area, say in five minutes, with all 4 kilotons of gold, could be nearly as effective. Assuming a Speed of 6 and using two Recoveries per turn (one phase per turn and post-12), that's up to 125 Phases for action. If they knew the vicinity well, and worked efficiently, they could clean it out with a x512 modifier. Deuce questions the interior guard (if any are still alive or coherent enough to speak) = what did you see? hear? smell? feel? how long between the time between the vaults being full and empty? Still, The number of beings with that much capability and the ability to defeat several sensor systems simultaneously are few; this implies either powerful magic or extremely advanced technology. (One just does not walk out of Fort Knox with potentially half of the US gold supply in tow; it would make Mordor look like Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.) It also implies that they don't want to be seen doing it. That leaves out most of the most overt villains - the Dr. Destroyer/Gravitar types, who, if motivated to do this (which they probably would consider beneath them, anyway) would do something without really worrying about sneaking it all out. Motivations would include: Need it for some ritual purpose, grotesque decoration to exhalt themselves/someone else, a scientific reason, blackmail, or actually for larceny. Unfortunately, Deuce's knowledge of superbeings in this age is very low; and the last man he encountered with a similar bent was going to use an atom bomb as a safecracking device! (Funny, it was also Fort Knox!) Deuce is reminded of the words of William Jennings Bryan: "There are now three kinds of larceny: petty, grand, and glorious."

Re: Fort Knox Has Been Robbed First, observe the available evidence. Cameras (including IR) constantly record the inside and outside of the place, there are sound and seismic sensors, and there are probably "rubber science" sensors too. Did they leave a trace of themselves, even a few spots of blood from cutting themselves on a sharp bar or a lifting tool? If these were all somehow defeated, it was probably at least partially an inside job, or by those very knowledgeable with similar sensor suites and military security tactics (perhaps the Warlord?) Next, the overall strategy is to turn that much gold from a boon into the burglars' biggest problem instead, and forcing them to either give the gold back, turn them against each other, get it out of their hands as soon as possible or give themselves up. Stating publicly that only a couple dozen bars were stolen, and the thieves did it by hitting a college science institute (on loan from the Treasury) studying the properties of noble metals (by introducing a distinctive, subtle radioactive tracer, but one that is lethal in close proximity for more than a few weeks) is a way of indicating a volume was stolen without causing a big panic, plus the pressure on the thieves means they'll be less likely to keep the gold for a long period. Is there a magic-user or superhuman out there, with Detect Metals, Discriminatory/Analytical, Megascale? Or has the ability to teleport a noble metal and replace it with a traceable or even useless substance blind - like radium, or lead, or loo rolls? He's also going to contact DeBeers, Russian authorities, and members of the gold cartel who he can trust. Pull a favor here and there. Plus, there'll be a multimillion dollar reward quietly placed by the cartel for its safe return, or the capture (or the heads) of the thieves. The US government and Deuce's group won't be the thieves' biggest problem - Russian Supers, the Spetnaz, and every bounty hunter and mercenary worthy of the profession will be, and the thieves might start to see Stronghold as a safer option. If nothing else, they might break into the open after the first major battle. Even a few greedy-but-saner villains will be looking for it that way... Glutting the market and a panic on gold prices is the last thing any named party wants, so their discretion will be assured. Lastly, Deuce would start putting tabs on the people who will be the secondary market for the gold, Underworld figures, smugglers, and so forth. First, second or third world, that much gold is going to show up somewhere and start to glut a market there. Hoarding it really isn't an option, because that much gold now becomes a problem for those who have it - they're going to have to get rid of it as quickly as possible, unless they want to keep it to gold-plate their entire underground lair, use it for some arcane magical ritual, convert it via alchemy into mercury, or some stupid thing like that. Deuce's a bit surprised, though - he was always under the impression that Fort Knox was now a gigantic decoy, with hardly any gold in it. Most of the gold had been taken to places like the Yucca Mountain Radioactive Waste Disposal Site - because who's going to look there?

Re: Non-Player Characters I love clever takes on this like Phydeux had - in an old game I ran, one of the characters had four DNPC wives, each with a very different personality. (It's OK, he was an Aslan, sort of like from Traveller - the ratio of women to men with the race is about 3 to 1!) One saw him as sort of a father-figure, one was very brassy, outspoken and bold, one was more quietly independent, and one was a somewhat shy (but gloriously beautiful) old flame he'd managed to re-establish his relationship with (at the cost of a punctured lung). Keeping his relationships more or less in equilibrium was part of the fun - not to mention handling the reactions of other PCs who accused him of "keeping a harem" - the wives themselves would blanch at that, and defended the practice from their perspective! And I haven't mentioned when the ladies involved started to have children... My character Deuce has a classic "femme du jour" type of DNPC (8- due to the fantabulous amount of points he's had to spend on Psych Comps) and Secret ID. He falls in love (or at least in amour) quite often, but his absences, often for weeks at a time, gets on most DNPC nerves, and they walk out on him. Unfortunately, he also has a Sense of Duty To Friends and Compatriots (C, S) - powered or otherwise - so his protection of them is also a common theme (or rather, will be common - our GM is resetting the universe). Everybody he gets to know personally becomes a DNPC of a sort eventually. So he has to be careful, especially with his Secret ID, as he will be required to rescue damsels in distress and captured low-level staff with fair frequency. Every once in a while he's not successful - for most Mary Janes there's occasionally a Gwen Stacy. And people sometimes wonder why he drinks so much?

Re: Ares Saves the World!

Re: Ares Saves the World! No, but Ares would know about the Battle of the Bulge...if he was truly the God of War, he'd have an inkling just by the date Deuce gave. (British, but a date in December 1944? No major British offensives in the Pacific then...) Otherwise, he'd have no need to follow up with the other questions - clearly if Ares doesn't know of one of the major battles of the Second World War, he's not who he says he is, in Deuce's eyes. History is filled with people, superpowered or otherwise, who claim they are conquerors, or reborn heroes of antiquity, or gods...and Deuce is initially suspicious of all of them. He's very leery of those claiming supernatural origins - including being a citizen of Mount Olympus.

Re: Ares Saves the World! Deuce's first reaction to Ares is "Prove it. Where was I on December 23, 1944, and what was I doing?" If he was truly the God of War, he'd know what Deuce was doing that day. (one of only a few thousand Britons to actually see action in the Battle of the Bulge, he was fighting furiously behind enemy lines, having been stuck there while performing armed reconnaissance to find a lost cache of German uranium as part of his duties with 30 Commando.) If the being claiming to be Ares did not answer him precisely, he'd play twenty questions with the "Greek god". If he proves his bonafides somehow, or even if he didn't, Deuce would accompany "Ares" to meet with "Kosmos", still a bit suspicious. Upon hearing Ares' proposal, Deuce would act as the Devil's (or rather, Athena's) advocate. Certainly, atomic weaponry may not have prevented war completely, and there are certain conflicts it simply cannot halt, but it has stopped almost all large-scale "total" war. If Ares was serious about that, then it would re-open the gates to large-scale international conflict. Maybe that's what Ares wants - like an addict, even the bloody wars of today cannot slake his thirst. He wants a Big War to get another "hit". Changing the laws of physics could also have unforeseen, long-term consequences elsewhere, too. Much as he would hate it, he'd advise against it to Kosmos. Let humanity see the folly of atomic bombs for themselves.