Comic

I once had a secret meta-explanation for all powers in my campaigns that I thought through carefully to cover every contingency I could imagine players coming to me with. Then the plan ran into the players, three of five breaking the meta-concept right out of the gates with truly wonderful character ideas I wanted to see played out. So I dumped the meta-thing. Powers happen, whatever the reason.

Jennifer Walters works out and trains in her spare time as her main hobby WITH THE AVENGERS, a cosmos-spanning group of superhuman combatants drawing their skills from across the Universes. She spars with Valkyrie, Thundra and Tigra, and has been intensively coached by Captain America. There's a good chance she could go toe-to-toe with Black Widow hand-to-hand. Diana Prince is an agent whose own organization didn't realize they'd assigned her to hunt her alter ego, trained in combat by an isolationist and isolated group whose techniques haven't changed or accepted outside influence since they fled before the might of the Spartans to hide out on an island away from any threat. Without a doubt, if net and trident combat come into the picture between powerless Diana Prince -- who can shoot a gun -- and powerless Jennifer Walters -- who can bench press a motorcycle -- or if firearms are involved, sure, Diana Prince is queen of the arena. If it's straight wrasslin'? Bruce Banner's cousin brings the bigger guns to the ring: at least equal devotion to a more modern, more widely schooled set of styles, more reach, and more strength. Plus, Diana appears to like ending up pinned.

And here's a terrible question. She-Hulk is an exponential expression of Jennifer Walter's strength. So.. Jennifer puts on the Captain Universe costume, gets exposed to cosmic rays, is amped up by the Morlock flesh sculptor Masque or made a Herald of Galactus.. what's She Hulk like?

Now, which would win in secret identity? Jennifer Walters or Diana Prince (either original powerless version, or due Circe's spell)? I'd have to give that to Jennifer, hand's down.

SPOILER ALERT The following fanfic contains module information that players may not want to know, if they've never come to the aid of a certain Motor City hero group following the tragic loss of some of its members. Lonely are the shadows. Jim was in the crowd, obscured by the taller adults behind police lines. He watched the tension, listened to the concern, the threats, the taunts. Terrorists. A stolen military helicopter. Hostages. Police. Special forces. He was curious, and there were things about superheroes he needed to know. Just being here made him nervous, with all these people. There they came. Jim caught sight of them, flying in low to the ground, as a ripple of nervous cheering passed through the crowd. Clad in the colors of the flag, the legendary winged hero led the mutant girl barely six years older than Jim was but already a famous veteran superhero; the Japanese giant strode head, shoulders and half his body above the mob while only Jim saw through the walls the skulking one he thought must be the super detective arrive. Their radios were giving away their locations. Jim idly wondered if the blipping man in electric armor watching above from hiding was with them. Well, if he was hiding, he likely was the heroes' secret weapon; best not give him away. That would mean piping up in front of all these people. But the teleporter wasn't with them. The teleporter wasn't with the heroes at all. Teleporting behind a police sniper who had just taken up position high above, the villain shot the spotter from behind, leaving the policeman's heart slowed but still beating. A burst of radio came from the assassin in a language Jim didn't know. There was a reply from the floor with the hostages. It was short. From a man in a business suit, sitting in a chair, watching out the window. Three words that gave Jim a chill; he knew these three words from a video game, "Mach ihn fertig". Jim slipped away, moving faster than the eye could follow -- what eye would be watching a little kid, anyway? Jim's quantum feedback told him none. He chided himself silently for caring more about being seen than stopping a killing. QUICK up through the building's stairwells, Jim burst through, grabbed the unconscious policeman as the armored villain looked up from throttling him with one hand, his induced magnetism giving Jim the momentum of a battleship. The villain's gun fired harmlessly once, twice, and QUICK as that, the victim and rescuer where out of sight. Depositing the downed officer near the idling ambulance, QUICK disappeared from sight, and Jim Adams resumed his watch. Now the police knew, and superhero squad was learning, there was more to this drama than met the eye. The detective read the note burned into the spotter's protective vest. Numbers indicating a radio frequency followed by the words, "Big hostage with axe gives orders." Tuning into the villain's exchange, Jim couldn't understand what was being said, but he watched the teleporter find a new perch, as police spotters high up began reporting in, and sweeping with their sights, looking for him. Then, Jim watched the detective skulk away, climbing his swingline in hiding toward the most logical place to find a teleporting killer. Another, fiery, mutant was arriving now, a flaming presence wowing the unaware crowd, a suitable distraction. The axeman leaned forward in his chair to watch. The teleporter leaned forward slightly. The exchange sounded like the pair were discussing if the new arrival had rescued "der bullenschwein". Jim sighed. So long as someone else had to put up with all the attention, he was safe. Then Jim was surprised. Out of nowhere, the teleporter was flattened by.. something. It was like the shadows were alive. Had the detective done that, as he crashed through the window to startle the teleporter? Jim made mental notes. Never underestimate the sneaky guys. He wondered, fascinated, how it was done? As if on cue, the flying villains threw out their challenge. The patriot and the fiery hero flew up to meet them in 'honorable combat'. There was no honor, only ambush and brutal violence. A woman in the crowd put her hand over Jim's eyes; he let her. It made no difference. Jim saw it all, and no one really noticed him. As the mutant girl caught first one, then the other disadvantaged good guy falling from the battlefield of the rooftop level ambush while the winged baddies hooted derision and rained down deadly weapons from above, the giant using a police van to shield the crowd from lethal projectiles, the tide of battle was turning sour. Jim himself had to intercept one javelin. Well, technically, it would've hit him anyway, but in the smoke and chaos even the woman who'd tried to cover his eyes didn't see. Regrouping while the flyers winged away, the good guys began their slow stealthy climb toward the top floor of the skyscraper. Jim was worried about them. Sure, they'd captured and gotten the electronic suit off the teleporter, but their best flyers looked really hurt badly. Jim didn't want to watch. He could, at least, do something about the winged couple laughing as they flew away. In the clouds, he wouldn't be exposed to so many eyes, and he could find out what was going on with these flying villains. And maybe he could keep them from killing someone. As they cleared the inner city, feeling safe and confident, the villains noticed they were being shadowed by a streak of blue and red flecked with gold reflections of the setting sun, high and fast trying to use the clouds for concealment. Both of their visors already damaged in the brief sortee at the ambush, low on weapons, they wasted their few remaining trying to bring down this new supersonic foe, as haze, gloom and breaking of the sound barrier confounded their senses, buildings obstructing their line of sight. Then there, high above them, it hovered, the form of a man, impossible to judge his size, aglow against the coming of night on the verge of a cloud drift. Plasma rays blasted past their wings. Seeing he could not trail the villains to their lair, made nervous by their attack, the boy was curious to see if he could bluff them. He gave a cybernetic shout, booming like thunder. "I like games too. You think you're something special? "Prove it! That didn't feel good at all, for Jim. He was jittery from two people staring right at him like that. The pursuit of this foe was troublesome for the unimpressed winged villains. Just as they'd pull almost within reach, their ranged weapons used up, the wingless flier would zip up higher again. And higher. And higher, using the clouds. The thin air confounded her sonar and massive electromagnetism in the clouds messed with his radar. Jim thought to himself, this is harder than it looks. Plus, up close they were scarier. Their taunts and threats and acrobatics distracted and slowed him over time. He'd pepper the pair with rays, missing wide, merely harassing them, then he got lucky and caught them together with perfect timing by pure chance -- BOOM -- that ear-shattering, bone-jolting scream caught them both, not enough to penetrate their armor and shield, but throwing them around in midair. He'd expected they'd be out cold. They were barely inconvenienced. They retaliated, finally grabbing the surprisingly slender opponent together, rushing him from either side in near total darkness of cloud and thin twilit air. QUICK had intended.. he didn't know what. Teach them a lesson? Tire them out? Lead them back to the heroes? Hurt them, the way they hurt people? He hadn't thought that far ahead, when he decided not to just cut and run. All he knew was if he'd fled, they might kill someone. Only now, the slim hero turned desperately magnetically dense. Too incongruously heavy in the clouds. Too strong, as he reversed their hold on him with grip stronger than a steel vice. While they fell, QUICK knocked the evil lovebirds together over and over again in an adrenaline panic, until they were senseless, their teeth rattled with the blows though they were uninjured. QUICK's feedback told Jim he wasn't really hurting them. Not like they'd hurt the heroes. Not like what they'd said they'd do to him. And when they were deeply unconscious, QUICK's powers were strong and slow or fast and weak, and two adults was more than he could lift at the speeds they were crashing. They shot in freefall back toward the crime scene before QUICK managed to freeze their wings together to form an improvised parachute, then slowed and dropped them at the feet of the police who were focused on other things, then flying too fast to see, sped up to where the melee was going on in full. Jim wondered what he was doing. This was all way out of his league, stuff he shouldn't be doing. But he was caught up in the moment, and turning back never crossed his mind. No one could see him, and all eyes were on the melee. The heroes were not doing well late in the ambush they'd willingly charged into. They'd overcome the axeman first (who judging by his pulse was playing possum now) and someone had left the man with the large head with a concussion. Only fair, as the flying heroes themselves had made their injuries seem more serious than they really were, and come in through the window as a pincer maneuver to trap the fake hostages. But now only two heroes remained standing, and it looked like the bad guys were playing for keeps. QUICK's sonic shout swept the coughing man with the hidden gun and the microscopic-sized woman out through the broken window as they were about to attack two of the fallen good guys. QUICK stayed behind the corner from the rest of the combatants, but he saw that he had been noticed, even while the coughing man bounced off the roof QUICK had hoped he'd land on, and instead continued to plummet through an awning below. Ouch. That broke some bones. The man would need a doctor, for sure. The little woman, she impaled in a building across the street, and didn't look like she'd be up again any time soon, but she seemed undamaged. The heroes took advantage of the distraction to press the fight, moving to protect their fallen comrades. QUICK zipped out the window too fast to see, and into the room below, where there was no one to see him. Its windows had been smashed by the shock of the fight above. There was the axe man, his muscles tensing toward the haft of his weapon. Jim induced his magnetic field to maximum, reached through the concrete ceiling, and dragged the lead villain's head and shoulders through the floor, in what he was sure wrestlers call a sleeper hold. Whatever it was, the foreign businessman didn't seem to want to sleep; it was all QUICK could do to keep him from grabbing the weapon. And everyone else was too busy fighting to intercede. Then it was over, like that. The murderous axeman's heart was beating too slow for him to be playing possum now, and it'd take a jackhammer to pry him out of the hole he was wedged into. No one had really gotten a good look at QUICK, Jim believed, and it was time for him to make himself scarce, and let the grown ups finish arresting the bad guys. Jim was monitoring radio traffic in his head, still mingling with the crowd, ball cap and glasses covering most of his face, learning what heroes do when things like this happen. He didn't even feel the hand slipping the note into his pocket, see it, or know anything was amiss until something wet brushed his cheek, leaving a mark like a woman's lip there. All it said was, "Thank you. S." A shiver ran down Jim's spine. How did she do that?

What I'm suggesting is (for all that on paper Diana has the match tied up) given Jen's obvious superior gets-stronger-the-longer-she-fights advantage even with Diana's Gabby Douglas moves this may be a match we'd need to see repeated time, and time again, to get a definitive answer.

Q.U.I.C.K. (Quantum Unit Interpolated Carbon-fiber Kinetics) Jim Adams VAL CHA CP Base Price END Roll Notes 5 STR -5 10 1 [1] 10- 1d6 HTH; 60 STR, 12d6 [6] w/DI 10 DEX 0 10 2 11- 10 CON 0 10 1 11- 13 INT 3 10 1 12- PER Roll 12- 10 EGO 0 10 1 11- 8 PRE -2 10 1 11- PRE Attack: 1.5d6 3 OCV 0 3 5 3 DCV 0 3 5 3 OMCV 0 3 3 3 DMCV 0 3 3 3 SPD 10 2 10 Phases: 12, 4, 8 2 PD 0 2 1 19(17r) PD; 30(17r) w/DI 2 ED 0 2 1 15(13r) ED; 26(13r) w/DI 6 REC 2 4 1 20 END 0 20 1/5 10 BODY 0 10 1 20 STUN 0 20 1/2 Meters Move 10 FLY - - - [1] X2 Ncbt; 30m w/Multipower, 20m Megascale, Usable underwater 4 LEAP 0 4 1 [1] up to half upward 12 RUN 0 12 1 [1] X2 Noncombat 4 SWIM 0 4 1/2 [1] X2 Noncombat 45 TPORT - - - [[4]] X2 Noncombat 25 TUNN. - - - [[4]] 10 PD 8 Characteristics & Movement Total CP Powers Notes [END] Powers 10 Fully Penetrative Sight 'Residual Feedback' 10 AP [0] 10 10m Flight 'Residual Magnetism' [1] 19 Life Support 'QUICK Bio-Integration' Self Contained Breathing 10 AP All Safe Environments 9 AP [0] 56 17 rPD/13 rED Resistant Protection 'QUICK Integrated Nanofiber' Hardened (+1/4) [0] 11 12 END 12 REC Reserve for Multipower 'QUICK Capacitance' [[0]] 45 Multipower Reserve 'QUICK Control' 45 AP [[0]] 4 f.a 11x Density Increase 'QUICK Induced Magnetism' 200T +55 STR -22m KB +11 PD/ED 45 AP [[4]] 3 f.b 9d6 Energy Blast 'QUICK Plasma Rays' 45 AP Reduced Penetration (-1/4) [[4]] 4 f.c 5d6 Energy Blast 'QUICK Sonic Shout' 8m Cone (+1/4) Double Knockback (+1/2) 45 AP [[4]] 4 f.d Enhanced Senses 'QUICK Feedback' HRRP w/o Transmit:10 AP, Active Sonar:15 AP, Ultraviolet:5 AP, Microscopic Vision x10:3 AP, Rapid x10:3 AP, Telescopic Sight +6 PER vs Range Modifier:9 AP; 45 AP [[0]] 4 f.e 4d6 5 PD/ED Entangle 'QUICK Cold Pump' [[4]] 4 f.f 20m Flight 'QUICK Magnetic Levitation' Megascale 1km (+1) Usable Underwater (+1/4) [[4]] 3 f.g 4d6 Healing 'QUICK Boost' Can Heal Limbs 45 AP Self Only (-1/2) [[4]] 3 f.h 45m Teleport 'QUICK Speed' Must Cross Intervening Space (-1/2) [[4]] 4 f.i 25m 10 PD Tunnel 'QUICK Digging' [[4]] Skills 2 Sci: Nanobiology, Quantum Physics 11- 3 Computer Programming 12- 3 Skill Enhancer: Scientist 192 Total Powers & Skills 200 Total CP Pts Complications 10 Distinctive Features: Tween Nanotech Geek; (Partly) Concealable, Noticed And Recognized 5 Distinctive Features: QUICK integrated nanocircuits throughout whole body; Concealable with Major Effort (to suppress detects), Causes Major Reaction, Feature Detectable Only By Unusual Senses (Detects) and/or Only By A Small Group and/or Only By Technology Or Major Effort 20 Hunted: Floating Tween-themed hunters (Frequently; Mo Pow; NCI; Capture or Harshly Punish) Psychological Complication 15 Code: CvK: Very Common, Moderate 15 Compulsion: Scientific Curiousity: Common, Strong 20 Shy: Very Common, Strong (Avoids attention, or hides as much as possible if attention unavoidable) Social Complication 15 Floating DNPC: Infrequent, Incompetent (Or Competent Group) 20 Minor - Very Frequent, Major Inconvenience (can't drive, etc.) 15 Secret ID – Jim Adams, 12-year old nanotech geek 15 Floating Rival Superhero, Professional, Superior Position Total Complications Points: 150 Experience: 0 Background: "Well, uh, see. I do this stuff with, like, uh, nanobotstotallycoolradical! CarbonfiberinterpolatedquantumdotsawesomefreakyandIputitinajar! AndthajarbrokeanIgotcut! Butdatain'tdacoolpartsee'causedeygotintamybloodannowI'mlikeamazeballs! So that is how I got powers." Jim Adams is a bit of a prodigy, with a little too much access to his parents' lab work and slightly too little supervision with nanotechnology. If you were twelve, and you could make yourself a superhero with a little help from some experimental nanobots, what would stop you? A character with characteristics, combat stats and skills gauged for a tween-themed RPG, loosely inspired by PS 238 and Teen Champions, but a plausible sidekick or foil for a higher powered game. So long as you make sure he does his homework and is tucked in by nine PM. Appearance: Jim Adams looks like a typical twelve-year-old boy with a Cavaliers baseball cap and retro glasses with pop bottle lenses. He slumps and slouches, rounding his shoulders and keeping his face down, in neat brass-buttoned jeans with matching jacket and a school regulation red shirt. His red high tops look two sizes too big for his feet, but no doubt he'll grow into them. "Look! Up in the air! "It's a balloon! "It's a bird! "It's ohmygoodness it's a little kid! "Somebody catch him! "Call the fire department! "Call the air force! "Post it on Youtube! QUICK is so doppler-shifted dark red-blue and alternately radiant he appears like a blur of Cherenkov blue and afterimage red following him like a cape, with a trace margin of bright yellow light kaleidoscopically vibrant and mobile when his plasma rays shoot from his face, shaped by his hands. In flight, energetically bouncing on the spot, it's hard to get a fix on his height or blurred features, but it is apparent he's a boy, and young. Tactics: A novice superhero, Jim isn't terribly skilled at anything combat related. Pretty much everything about real villains is beyond QUICK, so he's given to calling for help and hanging back to watch. A lot of property damage ensues if QUICK's facing truly capable foes.

I normally take the 'relative to everyone' approach to DC and Marvel, because DC's just insanely, unsatisfyingly OP. Relative to everyone else in Marvel, She Hulk or Red She Hulk are top level untameable ragemonsters who recover almost instantly from almost any injury, are so tough most weapons mean nothing to them, and can tear apart mountains with their bare hands. Ever see WW tear apart a mountain? WW, who needs armored bracelets to deflect bullets, so clearly mere bullets are a concern to her? But I don't need that approach in this case. She Hulk has trained with the Avengers -- that's Captain America, the world's greatest combat strategist, and an array of combat experts including at least one with Cosmic martial arts skill levels. WW has trained as an Amazon warrior. I'd say they'd be equal in skill overall with different specializations, but then Jennifer isn't shooting at Diana, and all Diana's skill with lasso, falchion and thracian shield don't have much bearing on a fist fight, which is pretty much all the Hulk family does. Is Diana fast enough to outmaneuver She Hulk, even if we (insanely and irrationally) gave her the edge in strength? I look at it this way: radiation and rage work on Jennifer just like they do on her blood-donor cousin Bruce. To be able to exert Superman-level strength and swiftness, a fist approaching lightspeed is annihilating the atoms of air it encounters and turning them into gamma rays. If Diana is swinging at Jennifer fast and hard enough to outmaneuver and hurt She Hulk, she's swinging hard enough to gamma amplify She Hulk's power with every attack. In the end, the harder Diana fights, the stronger Jennifer gets, and no matter how strong and quick Diana started, Jennifer will overcome her. Passive attacks, like wrestling, might work if Diana can keep Jennifer from getting a breath, but then Diana's given up the edge in speed and is on Jennifer's familiar turf. Wrestling a size-changer is no easy feat, and a reversal by She Hulk ends the match.

I was after an alternate, more elemental Hulk archetype. Elements of myth, but a product instead of mad science the protagonist had no role in nor understanding of, a victim of forces and villainy beyond his ken who struggles with that throughout his career. Matt Mars is determined not to let biology be destiny. He could have left off his work and training as a television weather presenter entirely -- and was sorely tempted when his eyes were opened to how little he had understood of his world. He chose instead to carry on with who he was, adding to that his hunt to shed the curse of the Cyclone. Picture the nightmare: every time he is dissipated into a zephyr, Matt's physical material wafts away to the clouds until time heals him fully. Then he drops, unprotected, identical to the molecule in every way other than his newly created memories, to the moment he was transfigured the first time. The first few years, he would go splat, and spend months in cloud form recovering from coma then suffering as his form regained mortal semblance over weeks without comfort, feeding itself on storm energy. Mars gradually learned to master the transformation. Now, when he emerges human again from deep unconsciousness, he can consciously become an intermediate between man and storm, a cyclone capable of controlled flight. When he stepped the first time onto that unfriendly Earth that had squashed him like a bug on a windshield for so many years, he literally bent down to kiss the ground. Then, he learned to hunt. He hopes one day to find the villain who did this to him, to persuade him to undo it. He has yet to find a shred of any clue, but lives in hope. The Weather Detective will never age. He might never die -- he doesn't know. He's barely able to fend off the Cyclone enough to lead a somewhat normal life if there are no surprises. And he's expected to be a superhero, because he has the power of one, though there is nothing of superheroism in his personality. Matt Mars wants to be able to return to a life of quietly tempered narcissism and glib predictions. He enjoyed being a shallow man among shallow people. It fulfilled him. He wouldn't mind settling down to a medium-sized local viewership and raising a family in the suburbs. The whole living storm giant thing makes him uneasy, and offers nothing but pain. Of course, the flying is fun. That part he doesn't mind.

Cyclone the Weather Detective, aka “The Big Detective”, Matthew Mars VAL CHA CP Base Price END Roll Notes 15 STR 5 10 1 [1] 12- 3d6 HTH; IHID 30 STR, 6d6 [1] 13 DEX 6 10 2 12- 18 CON 8 10 1 13- IHID: 23 CON, 14- 18 INT 8 10 1 13- PER Roll 11- 13 EGO 3 10 1 12- 20 PRE 10 10 1 13- PRE Attack: 4d6; IHID 25 PRE, 14-, 5d6 5 OCV 10 3 5 3 DCV 0 3 5 3 OMCV 0 3 3 7 DMCV 12 3 3 2 SPD 0 2 10 Phases: 12, 6; IHID SPD 4: 12, 3, 6, 9 7 PD 5 2 1 10(3r) PD; IHID 23 (13r) 7 ED 5 2 1 10(3r) ED; IHID 23 (13r) 10 REC 6 4 1 IHID: 40 REC 40 END 4 20 1/5 20 BODY 10 10 1 38 STUN 9 20 1/2 IHID: 44 STUN Meters Move 12 RUN 0 12 1 [1] X2 Noncombat; IHID 24m 4 SWIM 0 4 1/2 [1] X2 Noncombat 4 LEAP 0 4 1 [1] up to half upward; OIHID 1 km upwards 20 FLY - - - [2/1] +1/4 Variable Advantage, OIHID 101 Characteristics & Movement Total CP Powers Notes [END] Powers 18 a 18 Energy BODY Absorption “Stirring Up” to Growth (at 0 END) Max 288 BODY (+3/4; Up to Gargantuan) 31 AP, Always On (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) [0] 18 a 18 Physical BODY Absorption to Growth “Stirring Up” (at 0 END) Max 288 BODY (+3/4; Up to Gargantuan) 31 AP, Always On (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) [0] 25 a 1 level Growth “Cyclone Form” 25 AP Cost END Only To Turn On (+1/4) Unified Power (-1/4) [3] +15 STR + 5 CON + 5 PRE + 3 PD/ED +6 STUN +1m Reach +12m Run -6m KB; + 2 Opposed OCV, PER Rolls, 4m tall by 1m wide, 800kg for purposes of KB 11 a Active Sonar “Cyclone Feel” Touch Sense 360 Degree (+5 AP) 20 AP Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 23 Change Environment “Sympathetic Fallacy” +/- 3 Wind Levels 15 AP Varying Combat Effects (10 pts) 0 END (+1/2) Area Effect 4m Radius (+1/4) Megascale 1 km (+1) Broad Category Variable Weather Effects (+1) 94 AP Explosion -1 DC per km Radius (-1/2) NCC (-2) No Range (-1/2) 9 a 3DC Energy Damage Negation “Storm Form” 15 AP Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 9 a 3DC Physical Damage Negation “Storm Form” 15 AP Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 9 a 1/4 Energy Resistant Damage Reduction “Storm Form” 15 AP Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 9 a 1/4 Physical Resistant Damage Reduction “Storm Form” 15 AP Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 17 b Desolidification "Zephyr Form" 1 Charge Continuous 1 Day (+1/4) Trigger Deeply Unconscious (+1/4) 60 AP NCC (-2), Cannot Pass Through Solid Objects (-1/2) 17 a 20m Flight “Wind Form” x2 Ncbt Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) +1/4 Variable Advantage (+1/2) (1/2 END; Usable Underwater) [3] 1 b 3m Flight "Bouyancy" 0 END (+1/2) Triggered Deeply Unconscious (+1/4) Linked to Desolidification (-1/2) NCC Toward Tropopause (-2) [0] 10 b Invisibility to Sight (20 AP) “Zephyr Form” Reduced to Zero END (+1/2), Triggered Deeply Unconscious (+1/4) Linked To Desolidification (-2), Chameleon (-1/2) [0] 15 Life Support “Chaos Nature” Self Contained Breathing (10 AP) Immortal (5 AP) [0] 17 a 16 Resistant Mental Defense “Storm Form” Hardened (+1/4) Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) [0] 17 a +10 rPD/rED Resistant Protection “Storm Form” 30 AP, Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) [0] 17 a +30 REC "Storm Form" Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) [0] 4 a Reduced END for 30 STR “Storm Ease” (+1/4; 7 AP) Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) [-2] 11 a +2 SPD “Storm Form” Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) [0] 1 a Naked Advantage on 1" Leap Megascale "Tornado Funnel" 1 km (+1) Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) Straight Up Only (-1) [1] Talents 6 3/3 Combat Luck (If I had any real talent, would I be a weatherman?) Perks 1 Private Investigator's License Skills 5 Analyze Powers 13- 3 Sci: Atmospheric Physics, 13- 3 Deduction 13- 3 PS: Meteorologist 13- 20 +2 Overall Skill Levels 299 Total Powers, Talents, Perks & Skills 400 Total CP Pts Complications 30 Accidental Change to Cyclone Form: If Stunned or Enraged; Always, Very Common 15 Distinctive Features: Weather follows his mood; Concealable, Major Reaction 15 Enraged: Innocents Harmed; 8- To Go; 14- To Recover 20 Hunted: Floating (Frequently; Mo Pow; NCI; Capture or Harshly Punish) Physical Complication 5 Strong Emotions come out in Sympathetic Fallacy, “Whispering Winds” Psychological Complication 15 Code: CvK: Very Common, Strong 15 Compulsion: Curiousity: Common, Strong (compulsion to investigate mysteries, pursue secrets) especially if about superpowers that may lead to a cure for his 'condition' Social Complication 15 Floating DNPC: Infrequent, Incompetent (Or Competent Group) 10 Public ID – The Weather Detective 5 Negative Reputation: Responsible for bad weather; Infrequent 20 Floating Rival Weatherman or Detective, Professional and Romantic, Superior Position Total Complications Points: 165 Experience Points: 0 Background/History: “So, you are an expert meteorologist? You have concluded that the human race cannot exert so much influence as to affect the weather? Well, I think it is time we tested that hypothesis. On YOU!” I was foolish, confrontational, and overconfident in my narrow world view, strapped into some sort of machine, hearing an electronic voice taunt me. And then lightning, and pain. I don't know which supervillain cursed me with this power, this cyclonic transfiguration of mine. In all these years of searching, I am no closer to their identity, or to a cure. I don't even look a day older. If the point was to teach me the error of my ways, I've learned. If it was to humble me, I am humbled. I have grown as a person because of this tribulation. Doesn't make me happy to bear it. But I have learned so much more. It isn't all about me. There are people who need protecting from the changes we face. The power of the superstorm rests in me to use as I will. I will use it for good. Appearance Matthew 'The Weather Detective' Mars looks like a cross between a film noire gumshoe and a television anchor man. His grey London Fog trenchcoat swirls in a perpetual zephyr that tousles his hair with just a touch too much attention. The scarf at his neck seems to know where to turn for the best camera angle. There's no irony there; this is pretty much what he does for a living: weatherman by day, private investigator by night. But when the wind changes, when the mood strikes, Matt is not the weatherman. He's the WEATHER MAN, a being of gale and tornado, a cyclone in the shape of a man, but more than a man. And when crossed, beware the fury of the anthropogenic climate as it changes and evolves into the very substance and might of the atmosphere unleashed, in power no less than a typhoon, in reach no less than a hurricane, in resolve a maelstrom beyond ordinary human dimension. Tactics Matt has little choice of tactics; in combat he is unlikely to be able to retain his human proportions and form, and is not built to effectively dodge or block, except for combat luck. He's also not so extraordinarily tough at first that he can do much more than absorb damage, rolling with punches and taking recoveries while becoming bigger with time. He wasn't born a hero, and doesn't have the self-discipline for martial arts or to hold back once innocents are harmed. If he isn't very careful about getting stirred up, he may become the most powerful unconscious person in a fight. Unconsciousness causes Cyclone to dissipate into a zephyr floating off to the clouds, until he regains consciousness. If in a group being overpowered, Cyclone will grab his allies and leap for altitude riding a tornado funnel to escape. He will also resort to this strategy to gain the advantage of altitude by surprise, perhaps carrying something large with him. Once he's grown to huge size, his ability to sweep up an area in his open hands shifts the odds in his favor. Role Floating from gig to gig, town to town, station to station to Metube channel, Matthew Mars is always chasing the weather, the girl, the prediction, the curious and strange, but he never stops seeking madmen and criminals in the hopes of finding the one who did this to him, the one who made him the living storm. It's made him an expert in super powers, of sorts. He's become a decent detective, too, into the bargain.

I can't understand how a detective cannot be a scientist and a scholar, at least enough to understand when a clue in a field of science or scholarship looks 'off' or warrants investigation. The stars don't look right in a picture? Be handy to have a background in astronomy enough to notice, so as to take it up with a real expert to find out exactly what isn't right. Chemical trace evidence? Biology trace? Knowing enough about horse racing to suspect the motives of the jockey or trainer? Cramming, at the least, though Scientist, Scholar or Jack of All Trades could not hurt.

While not exactly what you have in mind, this is very much the image I had of this character, an abomination of Mad Science made into the form of a mythic being.. and he does not like it one bit. Cyclone the Weather Detective, aka “The Big Detective”, Matthew Mars VAL CHA CP Base Price END Roll Notes 15 STR 5 10 1 [1] 12- 3d6 HTH; IHID 30 STR, 6d6 [1] 13 DEX 6 10 2 12- 18 CON 8 10 1 13- IHID: 23 CON, 14- 18 INT 8 10 1 13- PER Roll 11- 13 EGO 3 10 1 12- 20 PRE 10 10 1 13- PRE Attack: 4d6; IHID 25 PRE, 14-, 5d6 5 OCV 10 3 5 3 DCV 0 3 5 3 OMCV 0 3 3 7 DMCV 12 3 3 2 SPD 0 2 10 Phases: 12, 6; IHID SPD 4: 12, 3, 6, 9 7 PD 5 2 1 10(3r) PD; IHID 23 (13r) 7 ED 5 2 1 10(3r) ED; IHID 23 (13r) 10 REC 6 4 1 IHID: 40 REC 40 END 4 20 1/5 20 BODY 10 10 1 38 STUN 9 20 1/2 IHID: 44 STUN Meters Move 12 RUN 0 12 1 [1] X2 Noncombat; IHID 24m 4 SWIM 0 4 1/2 [1] X2 Noncombat 4 LEAP 0 4 1 [1] up to half upward; IHID 1 km upwards 101 Characteristics & Movement Total CP Powers Notes [END] Powers 18 a 18 Energy BODY Absorption “Stirring Up” to Growth (at 0 END) Max 288 BODY (+3/4; Up to Gargantuan) 31 AP, Always On (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) [0] 18 a 18 Physical BODY Absorption to Growth “Stirring Up” (at 0 END) Max 288 BODY (+3/4; Up to Gargantuan) 31 AP, Always On (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) [0] 25 a 1 level Growth “Cyclone Form” 25 AP Cost END Only To Turn On (+1/4) Unified Power (-1/4) [3] +15 STR + 5 CON + 5 PRE + 3 PD/ED +6 STUN +1m Reach +12m Run -6m KB; + 2 Opposed OCV, PER Rolls, 4m tall by 1m wide, 800kg for purposes of KB 11 a Active Sonar “Cyclone Feel” Touch Sense 360 Degree (+5 AP) 20 AP Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 23 Change Environment “Sympathetic Fallacy” +/- 3 Wind Levels 15 AP Varying Combat Effects (10 pts) 0 END (+1/2) Area Effect 4m Radius (+1/4) Megascale 1 km (+1) Broad Category Variable Weather Effects (+1) 94 AP Explosion -1 DC per km Radius (-1/2) NCC (-2) No Range (-1/2) 9 a 3DC Energy Damage Negation “Storm Form” 15 AP Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 9 a 3DC Physical Damage Negation “Storm Form” 15 AP Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 9 a 1/4 Energy Resistant Damage Reduction “Storm Form” 15 AP Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 9 a 1/4 Physical Resistant Damage Reduction “Storm Form” 15 AP Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) 17 b Desolidification "Zephyr Form" 1 Charge Continuous 1 Day (+1/4) Trigger Deeply Unconscious (+1/4) 60 AP NCC (-2), Cannot Pass Through Solid Objects (-1/2) 17 a 20m Flight “Wind Form” x2 Ncbt Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) +1/4 Variable Advantage (+1/2) (1/2 END; Usable Underwater) [3] 1 b 3m Flight "Bouyancy" 0 END (+1/2) Triggered Deeply Unconscious (+1/4) Linked to Desolidification (-1/2) NCC Toward Tropopause (-2) [0] 10 b Invisibility to Sight (20 AP) “Zephyr Form” Reduced to Zero END (+1/2), Triggered Deeply Unconscious (+1/4) Linked To Desolidification (-2), Chameleon (-1/2) [0] 15 Life Support “Chaos Nature” Self Contained Breathing (10 AP) Immortal (5 AP) [0] 17 a 16 Resistant Mental Defense “Storm Form” Hardened (+1/4) Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) [0] 17 a +10 rPD/rED Resistant Protection “Storm Form” 30 AP, Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) [0] 17 a +30 REC "Storm Form" Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) [0] 4 a Reduced END for 30 STR “Storm Ease” (+1/4; 7 AP) Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) [-2] 11 a +2 SPD “Storm Form” Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) [0] 1 a Naked Advantage on 1" Leap Megascale "Tornado Funnel" 1 km (+1) Linked to Growth (-1/2), Unified Power (-1/4) Straight Up Only (-1) [0] Talents 6 3/3 Combat Luck (If I had any real talent, would I be a weatherman?) Perks 1 Private Investigator's License Skills 5 Analyze Powers 13- 3 Sci: Atmospheric Physics, 13- 3 Deduction 13- 3 PS: Meteorologist 13- 20 +2 Overall Skill Levels 299 Total Powers, Talents, Perks & Skills 400 Total CP Pts Complications 30 Accidental Change to Cyclone Form: If Stunned or Enraged; Always, Very Common 15 Distinctive Features: Weather follows his mood; Concealable, Major Reaction 15 Enraged: Innocents Harmed; 8- To Go; 14- To Recover 20 Hunted: Floating (Frequently; Mo Pow; NCI; Capture or Harshly Punish) Physical Complication 5 Strong Emotions come out in Sympathetic Fallacy, “Whispering Winds” Psychological Complication 15 Code: CvK: Very Common, Strong 15 Compulsion: Curiousity: Common, Strong (compulsion to investigate mysteries, pursue secrets) especially if about superpowers that may lead to a cure for his 'condition' Social Complication 15 Floating DNPC: Infrequent, Incompetent (Or Competent Group) 10 Public ID – The Weather Detective 5 Negative Reputation: Responsible for bad weather; Infrequent 20 Floating Rival Weatherman or Detective, Professional and Romantic, Superior Position Total Complications Points: 165 Experience Points: 0 Background/History: “So, you are an expert meteorologist? You have concluded that the human race cannot exert so much influence as to affect the weather? Well, I think it is time we tested that hypothesis. On YOU!” I was foolish, confrontational, and overconfident in my narrow world view, strapped into some sort of machine, hearing an electronic voice taunt me. And then lightning, and pain. I don't know which supervillain cursed me with this power, this cyclonic transfiguration of mine. In all these years of searching, I am no closer to their identity, or to a cure. I don't even look a day older. If the point was to teach me the error of my ways, I've learned. If it was to humble me, I am humbled. I have grown as a person because of this tribulation. But I have learned so much more. It isn't all about me. There are people who need protecting from the changes we face. The power of the superstorm rests in me to use as I will. I will use it for good. Appearance Matthew 'The Weather Detective' Mars looks like a cross between a film noire gumshoe and a television anchor man. His grey London Fog trenchcoat swirls in a perpetual zephyr that tousles his hair with just a touch too much attention. The scarf at his neck seems to know where to turn for the best camera angle. There's no irony there; this is pretty much what he does for a living: weatherman by day, private investigator by night. But when the wind changes, when the mood strikes, Matt is not the weatherman. He's the WEATHER MAN, a being of gale and tornado, a cyclone in the shape of a man, but more than a man. And when crossed, beware the fury of the anthropogenic climate as it changes and evolves into the very substance and might of the atmosphere unleashed, in power no less than a typhoon, in reach no less than a hurricane, in resolve a maelstrom beyond ordinary human dimension. Tactics Matt has little choice of tactics; in combat he is unlikely to be able to retain his human proportions and form, and is not built to effectively dodge or block, except for combat luck. He's also not so extraordinarily tough at first that he can do much more than absorb damage, rolling with punches and taking recoveries while becoming bigger with time. He wasn't born a hero, and doesn't have the self-discipline for martial arts or to hold back once innocents are harmed. If he isn't very careful about getting stirred up, he may become the most powerful unconscious person in a fight. Unconsciousness causes Cyclone to dissipate into a zephyr floating off to the clouds, until he regains consciousness. If in a group being overpowered, Cyclone will grab his allies and leap for altitude riding a tornado funnel to escape. He will also resort to this strategy to gain the advantage of altitude by surprise, perhaps carrying something large with him. Once he's grown to huge size, his ability to sweep up an area in his open hands shifts the odds in his favor.

This brings back memories. One of the best modules I never got to run as a GM. A well-balanced group of NPC heroes outnumbered and outgunned in serious need of help from more durable, one hopes wiser PC heroes. Oh, and their enemies were so lethal. It was like every member of both teams had been lovingly crafted by a novelist for story interest, not just a GM for story balance. And by balance, I mean, how did Freedom Squad survive so long before they lost their first two members?

Perhaps as a subthread, I'm sure I've seen several modules no one ever mentions that look like they ought to be fun. Is this the place to ask about under-appreciated modules in general? What makes them in your eyes great, or at least greater than they are generally credited for being?

Admitting my own limited knowledge of the modules.. I can't remember the modules I've played.. if it's indeed plural, other than a what the players were assured was a heavily modified run of Coriolis Effect.. which I vaguely remember as having a wizard in a wheelchair.

Did I mention it could also be done as a special effect of a Martial Hold? Also, while I think I meant not only Game Effect Linked, but also just a monologue at the same time with the "Extremely Violent Action", and "Showing Power" adders, I like your way better. Especially the 1/4 limit on the 0 point cost.

And of course, a linked PRE attack will often have similar effect, under game rules, and it's more or less free other than what you pay for that very useful characteristic. Plus, built in mechanic for diminishing returns when used more than once, a nice way to prevent abuse.

I think it's a great concept. My question is, "Are you after Effect, or Game Effect?" Do you want a power appropriate to being more sudden, invasive, pervasive or otherwise than an ordinary attack of its type, as represented by being able to overwhelm the CON of those it normally would not, and leave them disoriented for a moment? Or do you just want whomever you hit to lose an action? I'd almost suggest any of the balanced, tried and true ways to get the Effect you're after: 1. Can a Mental Illusion, Only to Believe They're Stunned (-1) serve the purpose, in effect substituting EGO or Mental Defenses for CON & Damage Reduction? 2. Is it really a very short-term Entangle or Force Wall (Invisible), with the special effect that the target is briefly 'stunned', not 'Stunned'? 3. Do you want Armor Piercing, Only For Determining If Target Stunned? What exactly do you want to take away from the target? Concentration on continuing effects, a Recovery, their Held or next Action? All of them? That's a really potent set of Game Effects to have from what you're calling a limited power/advantage. If it truly exceeds game limits, it's likely not something that will in the long run be a balanced mechanic.. And your GM may arm 5-teams with it.

Re: Unworkable Premises for a Campaign So.. Did I miss where Clonus agreed to GM for you all?

Re: Detect Teleportation Destination Mind Scan to locate the people who just teleported would work. Danger Sense at a high enough level to locate the people about to teleport to you in time to act against them first. An N-Ray, Telescopic Sense with Detect on the appropriate special effect. VPP and the appropriate knowledge skill. Clairsentience with Precognition.

Re: Help with power for Helpfire You'd also want to have Detect Innocence, of some sort, since the power appears to be a sort of active sense.

Re: Quick Damage Reduction Question Damage Reduction isn't a Defense; it's applied after all applicable defenses. If you have Damage Resistance that applies against a Killing Attack, all of the Normal Defense you have also applies to the Stun, and then Damage Reduction Applies. The Resistant Defense could be Armor or Combat Luck or Force Field or Defense bought with Damage Resistance; the type of Defense could be Physical or Energy, or -- more rarely -- Mental Defense, Flash Defense for the appropriate Sense, or Power Defense.

Re: Smarter than your average Brick There are people who don't have Yogi Bear's voice in their head?

Re: Unworkable Premises for a Campaign You set the campaign on Wisteria Lane, with a classy bistro and some upscale boutiques? And maybe invite them to be played by Carrie Bradshaw fans?

Re: Nanobot Cloud Megascale sticky attack from a base weapon with Indirect, sounds like.