BoloOfEarth

I can offer a villain team and an introductory adventure arc (PDF attached). Elsewhere I had posted the Corporate Raiders (from the Villain Theme Team thread), along with a short adventure arc, which I was putting together for a larger project that has pretty much fallen by the wayside. It is, unfortunately, sans character artwork, though I've left space to include some. The idea had originally been presented to the original posters on the VTT thread to be made available for free download, so I don't think we'd have much trouble getting those original posters to agree to move those characters into this project. I also have writing, proofreading, and editing experience, as well as putting things together into a PDF. (Alas, no art skills.) I don't want to take on the coordinator role (been there, done that, not enough time available to do it again), but am willing to help in any area needed. T and S 003 Corporate Raiders.pdf

So, finishing off the quotes from Return of Muerte: One I forgot from earlier... GM was talking about the vision where the heroes learned Muerte was restored to (un)life by Takofanes. Maker: Taco-face? GM: ... (head-desk) No. Takofanes. As the heroes free Libertador and prepare to assault the unknown facility to shut Muerte down, they feel a slight tremor in the ground. Maker uses her flyer bot to take a look outside, and sees a plume of smoke as an ICBM streaks skyward. Maker: Can my flyer bot chase after it and shoot it down? GM: Maker's an astronaut, so she'll easily recognize an Atlas, basically the same thing that launched Mercury astronauts into space. Your flyer bot has exactly 0 chance of catching up to that. Maker figures out she can gadgeteer a suborbital booster for own flight to allow her to catch up to the missile, plus a boosted clinging strong enough to attach to the Atlas. After a brief discussion over whether to take anyone else along (other than Maker, only Shadowboxer has the necessary Life Support to survive the missile's suborbital phase, but he's one of the front-line fighters and will be needed against Muerte), Maker takes off alone after the missile. Meanwhile the rest of the team heads over to the other island, where they figure (correctly) that they can get into that section of the base through the now-open silo. Maker's player will be running Libertador during the assault while her regular character is chasing the ICBM. Maker: What does he do? GM: (hands her character sheet) Basically, he's Peru's version of Captain America. Maker: So I'm Captain Peru. They quickly dispatch the trio of Hands of Death waiting there while avoiding being touched, and turn their attention to the blast doors leading into the rest of the base. Honey Badger: I can try a move-through on them, but if I don't get through on the first try it's gonna hurt. He slams into them at top speed -- and is exactly one BODY shy. Circe: When we get done here, can we take those blast doors home with us? They have a pretty impressive Honey Badger-shaped dent in them. HB did enough damage to part the blast doors a crack, through which he sees Gigante waiting. The rocky brick peeks through the crack. Gigante: Wow. Gigante impressed. Is little man hurt bad? Honey Badger: (shaking off the effects of being Stunned) Nah. I heal fast. Gigante rips open what remains of the blast doors, and the battle is on. HB and Gigante trade punches, causing some damage to the rocky one but leaving HB knocked back into the silo - and ending up in the open area where the missile once stood. HB: Can't I just grab onto the walkway? GM: Sure, on your next Phase. Of course, you may be a bit farther down the silo by then. Libertador does a full-out shield-bash roundhouse on Gigante. Libertador: Sixteen dice?! Maker needs one of those shields! GM: (thinking) Sure, if she gets some questionite and about 75 points. After the heroes' concentrated attacks on Gigante take him down, they move into the hall to face Khemset (the metal-wrapped mummy), Espiritu, and a half-dozen Hands of Death. Shortly afterward, a blast door down the hall opens to reveal Muerte and Mayan sorceress Bruja Balam. Libertador: MUERTEEEEE!!!! (charge and shield bash) Shadowboxer grabs and squeezes Bruja Balam. GM: Drop six dice from your attack. Pops: Why does he have to roll six less dice? GM: She has Damage Negation. Pops: What the heck is that? Shadowboxer: It's what I have. It's how I survive so many attacks. Eventually the heroes have most of the villains down, including capturing Muerte. So we finish with Maker catching up to the missile. Maker: Can I defuse the nuke? GM: If you make your Demolitions roll by enough. Maker: I don't have that skill. GM: I'll give you an 8 or less. I mean, sure, Muerte is a raving paranoid, but that doesn't mean he put any boobytraps or failsafes in. You'll be fiiiiine. Maker: So, can I redirect the missile into orbit, and let UNTIL take care of it? Using her electrical engineering and systems operation skills, she's able to fire the engines and direct it to a higher altitude. Little knowing that Muerte had a failsafe in case the missile is redirected. GM: (to the rest of the hero team, monitoring things from the launch control room in Muerte's base) Maker's been giving you regular updates via the Mind Link, when suddenly she drops off. Circe: What, did Muerte rig some sort of dimensional travel? GM: No. A moment later, you see on the screens that the nuke has gone off. Looks like Maker just got nuked. Honey Badger: She's not dead. You're smiling way too much. GM: [Maker's player name], please come with me a moment. (once away from the other heroes) One moment, you're clinging to the missile as it moves closer to orbit... and the next, you find yourself standing in a room with white walls. Then Taurus walks in. Taurus: We noted the launch and have been monitoring the missile's flight. Our scans indicated the warhead was about to go off, so we pulled you up here. Maker: Oh. Well, thank you. (awkward pause) Um, can you send me back to my team now? Taurus: Eventually, perhaps. For now, though, you'll be staying with us. Don't worry, you'll be made quite comfortable. Zodiakos Kyklos, please prepare a room for our guest...

I appreciate the warnings and thoughts expressed, and can understand your concern. I'll also say up front that I don't want to derail a mainly fun thread, so if this is going to mutate into a discussion about how to do / not do something, we should take it to another thread. However, to address the main points (and hopefully put your concerns to rest): I don't see anything disallowing Defenses with UOO. If there is, please let me know where to find it. The Healing power was allowed with the understanding that it would be mainly for use on civilians / noncombatants. Its repeated use on the heroes, essentially allowing them to shrug off anything but an immediately lethal attack, has been making them rather cavalier about taking BODY damage. As soon as combat ends, Malarky erases all their damage instantly. Which makes sense - why have a power if you're not going to use it? Reasonably common and obvious defense is possessing magical powers. That immediately excludes two of the heroes (1/3 of the team). And though not mentioned in Christopher's post, the way to stop the Continuing Charge is a magical ritual, which one of the magical heroes (Nexus) has in her dad's magical library at home and the other (Malarky) can get by asking his mentor. So a little research will end the threat very quickly for even the non-magical heroes. The long Continuing Charge was put on to make them think twice after it doesn't just disappear in a few minutes (which is what they expected - just wait it out, then go take on Muerte and the rest of his minions). As I said, I understand and appreciate your concern. Rest assured, it's not as bad as you think. It's just giving the players an adventure where the threat is real.

Continuing Return of Muerte. Note that I used modified versions of Muerte and his undead team from Digital Hero #44, with apologies to the author. In the dirt of the mass grave, the heroes also find some quartz marbles, each with a very thin reddish vein running through them. Handling one, Malarky can tell it is some sort of magical focus, now spent. Agrippa had told Malarky he did some scrying and heard DEMON members talking about collecting "touchstones" created by Takofanes from Isla Muerte, something to do with an Unbinding ritual. He hands one to Nexus, who proceeds to have a very powerful vision. Muerte (looking badly burned and in partially slagged armor) is standing before Takofanes, who is sitting on a throne of skulls. Takofanes: Kneel before me, thrall. Muerte: Muerte kneels before no man! Takofanes: Then how fortunate for you that I am no man... (his eyes glow red, and Muerte kneels like a man being forced to his knees) Nexus sees Takofanes give Muerte a bag of the quartz marbles (all glowing a dull red) to "raise minor thralls, enabling you to do my bidding." GM: Everybody but Nexus can see that the marble Nexus is holding is now glowing bright red. Is everybody still Mind Linked, and seeing this vision? (all players nod) GM: Okay. Nexus and Circe, you each take two BODY damage, no defenses. Everybody else takes 1 BODY, no defenses. (pause) Nexus, are you continuing to hold the touchstone? She opts to continue holding the touchstone to see if the vision continues. Maker: If it's all the same to you, I'll drop out of the Mind Link now. You can tell me about what you see later. The vision continues, with Takofanes holding what looks like a silvery orb glowing a sickly green. Takofanes: This is the heart of the totem you created and buried beneath where my temple once stood. Muerte: Totem? Do you mean my missile? (looking at what Takofanes is holding) Is that the uranium from the warhead? Takofanes: Whatever you wish to call it. I have imbued this heart of metal with some of my might. You sought to kill tens of thousands. This will raise them all as my thralls, increasing my power and my reach. Malarky: (watching the vision) A zombie nuke! The touchstone in Nexus's hand is now glowing a blazing red, and the skin on her fingers and palm of her hand is starting to blister. The heroes (except Maker) take more BODY damage, but opt to continue the vision. They see Muerte present a mummy to Takofanes, asking the Undying Lord to raise him as a minion to aid Muerte. Pops: This is South America. Where the heck did he find a mummy? Shadowboxer: Probably just popped over to Egypt for a visit. At this point, the touchstone explodes like a mini-grenade, ending the visions. Circe and Nexus are bleeding from the nose, ears, and eyes, with the others less seriously injured but still hurting. Nexus: Just as well that thing exploded. I only have 4 BODY left. Malarkly: No worries. Everybody gather around. (pulls out a red crystal heart and casts a healing spell, instantly undoing all the BODY damage) GM: (thinking) Okay, we'll just have to do something about that... Nexus talks to a few ghosts, all former residents of San Muerte buried in the village cemetery prior to the falling-out between Muerte and Scorpia/Feur. She learns that Muerte had unburied the bodies months ago with the aid of Gigante, picking and choosing the ones he wanted to raise from the dead. She also learns that a half-dozen robed men were checking out the mass graves just a day or two ago before heading toward Muerte's former hacienda. They track the apparent DEMON agents and find two bodies -- one pretty cleanly decapitated, and another clawed to shreds to the point that the head is barely attached. Pops: Just two? Where are the others? Malarky: Muerte probably took them to increase his zombie army. Waste not, want not. They proceed to the hacienda. Honey Badger lifts the concrete slab that Kina Dinamita put back in place over the elevator shaft, to find that it has been collapsed by explosives, with more rock tossed in to fill the shaft. Shadowboxer uses his Shadow Sight to find that the tunnel to the underground lair is still clear, as is the rest of the lair. He also sees two zombie Terror agents (now Hands of Death) clearing rubble and shoring up part of the roof. He also finds some cells, one of which contains a badly-injured Libertador (Peruvian hero) along with two captured DEMON brothers. The latter two are being tortured by remote-operated mechanical arms. GM: You also notice that someone has hooked security cameras back up, where the Peruvians had removed them years ago. (points to various markings on the map. Nexus: That's a lot of cameras. He even has them in the bathrooms! Honey Badger: Not that zombies need to use bathrooms. GM: Muerte was known to be rather paranoid. That's why he never told Scorpia about the nuke missile. It's a case where his paranoia really worked in his favor. Nexus sees a ghost of a kid wandering around, chasing butterflies. She strikes up a conversation with him, working around to what's been going on there. Kid: Papa died, and then Scary Death Man took him away. (cries) He acts like he doesn't even see me any more! Nexus: I'm afraid your father won't be able to see you again. Profesor Muerte turned him into a zombie. Pops: Geez, way to hit the kid when he's down. Why don't you tell him it's all his fault, too? Completely crush his spirit... Shadowboxer: Wait... if there's cameras hooked back up down there, do I see any cameras up here? (makes a successful Concealment roll) GM: As a matter of fact, you do see a camera hidden in some rubble, with a perfect view of the filled-in elevator shaft you're all standing around. Shadowboxer: Crap. They know we're here. Shadowboxer's shadow-reconnaissance of the underground facility also revealed a partially-removed fake wall that concealed a short tunnel ending at a pair of blast doors. This was something Kina, the Peruvians, and UNTIL didn't know about. His shadow-sight can't see past the blast doors, but Maker gadgeteers some ground-penetrating radar to reveal a tunnel leading east from that facility, sloping downward to the east side of the island, and presumably under the ocean floor to the relatively-untouched island a few klicks away. Since they don't want to search that whole island, they opt to go into the known section of the base, clear it out, and then take the tunnel to find Muerte. Maker: We should teleport into the cells area to rescue Libertador and get those DEMON brothers out of there. Pops: Teleport us into cells? Yeah, not gonna happen. Honey Badger: And why pull the DEMON Brothers out? We'll have to drag them along while we fight Muerte and his zombie hoarde. No, they're safe and sound where they are. GM: Safe? They're being tortured. HB: Relatively safe. Shadowboxer: Of course, once we get past the blast doors Muerte could just open the vents and flood the tunnel. GM: I'm ashamed to admit that I hadn't thought of that. But I'll make a mental note for next time. While the heroes dithered around making and discarding plans, a winged serpent lady (Seraphina) arrived through the tunnel with another half-dozen zombies, along with what looks like a were-creature and an air spirit (undead Pantera and the deceased Bora). GM: (regarding Pantera and Bora) Well, Muerte figured since Scorpia and Feur left his team for Eurostar, turnabout was fair play. The heroes finally teleport in and engage the zombies. During the battle, one of the Hands of Death touches Shadowboxer, without any obvious effect except for a brief grayish glow. The same happens to Honey Badger. Malarky's mage sight can tell it's a magical abjuration of some sort. Malarky: What, like some kind of protection? Shadowboxer: Yeah, from life. "We'll help protect you from that whole pesky life thing. Being undead is so much better." Honey Badger engages Seraphina in HtH combat, grabbing her. She responds by stinging him with her tail and injecting a venom. Honey Badger: What does it do to me? GM: Nothing obvious, but you do notice that you're feeling much more inclined to like her and listen to what she tells you. After Honey Badger takes her through a wall into a former lab, knocking her unconscious: Honey Badger: I grab her tail and keep jabbing her with it, saying "You will like Honey Badger. (jab) You will do as he says. (jab) Honey Badger is the man. (jab)" GM: It doesn't work that way. HB: Doesn't matter. I'm still doing it. Once the battle is over, Malarky has the heroes again gather and casts his healing spell. Malarky: (OOC) Not a good roll. 7 BODY and 14 STUN. GM: Honey Badger and Shadowboxer don't heal any BODY, and only get 2 STUN back. Apparently something to do with the zombie touch. Malarky: How'd you do that? GM: 12 points Power Defense, Usable as Attack, on a continuing charge. Malarky: When does it wear off? GM: (shrug) You'll just have to wait and see. [GM note: Duration is 3 months. Also has Difficult to Dispel. In case you didn't already know that GMs are generally evil.] (More to follow)

Any crazy thing that enters his mind. Often put there by the mind-controlling marmot atop his balding pate. NT: Amusing presidential candidate cameo appearances in Captain America: Civil War. (Who and what they were doing/saying)

Ran my players against a revived Terror Incorporado over the past two weeks, though I started them off with a 4-day weekend at Sanctuary. It's the first time any of these heroes have been there, and the first time two of the players (Circe and Pops) have even heard of it. GM: Gerald Donner, CEO of Donner Technologies, is paying for an all-expense vacation on Sanctuary for Just Cause as thanks for freeing him and the other former missionaries from their possession by the Corrupted spirits. Maker: Who was Donner? GM: He was the Anti-Pope. Honey Badger: The important question is, does he want his hat back? GM: He did say he'd like to take a look at it. He's an engineer in his own right, and is interested in the teleportation technology the Corrupted put in there. Circe: Probably not a good idea. That's just a supervillian origin waiting to happen. GM: So other than sunning yourselves on the beach, what would you like to do? Nexus: Can we rent a boat and do some deep-sea fishing? GM: Sure, you can rent a boat and run it yourself, or charter a boat and crew. Nexus: I don't know how to drive a boat, so probably best to charter one with a crew. GM: Anyone else going along? Malarky: With all the C'thulhu stuff we've been dealing with lately, count me out. I'll just watch from the beach as the Kraken attacks the boat. The heroes interact socially with their peers, both heroes and villains. Circe: Don't you feel a bit... exposed, walking around without your costumes? Black Diamond: Well, I still wear a domino mask. But that's why I've got the string bikini on. Most of the guys here probably can't tell you if I even have a face, let alone what it looks like. The heroes run into members of A-Team, some of whom just got freed from Stronghold thanks to the Corrupted. Agrippa (the A-Team mage) takes Malarky (the Just Cause mage) aside to chat. Agrippa: I wanted to let you know that DEMON tried to hire the A-Team to retrieve something from Isla Muerte. Ankylosaur said no, since they hunt me on occasion. Malarky: (OOC) Isla Muerte - what's that? GM: It's the former base of Terror Inc., off the coast of Peru. It's been pretty much deserted since Profesor Muerte got killed by Scorpia and Feur and his organization broke up. About, what, 15 years ago. Maybe more. Malarky: (IC) So why are you telling me this? Agrippa: DEMON's not nice people, and as I said, they hunt me. It serves them right if they get some hero attention. This gets filed under "nice to know, but we really don't care enough to investigate"... until they get their week's Heronet Herald news sheet and see an article about a Peruvian superhero (Libertador) who disappeared while investigating the murders of several current and past Peruvian ministers (basically, cabinet-level people). Malarky: Apparently, someone at Heronet wants us to look into this. Pops: I'm noticing - for a Boston hero group, we've been spending a lot of time outside Boston lately. The heroes peruse UNTIL's dossier on Isla Muerte. (Unfortunately, their contact couldn't locate a map of the facility found underneath Muerte's hacienda.) Honey Badger: This says that there are rumors the island is haunted by the ghosts of dead villagers and Terror agents. Circe: Hey, Nexus, this is right up your alley! Tapping various sources, the heroes learn that the deceased ministers all had revealed info about Profesor Muerte's activities, in exchange for freedom for prosecution about past ties to Muerte, shortly after his death. Malarky: Corrupt government officials. Imagine that. GM: And now you know why Peru kept UNTIL from just wiping out Muerte. He had enough people in his pocket. Most superheroes in Peru are pretty local -- the only two that seem to operate throughout the country are Libertador and Kina Dinamita. GM: Kina is an actual person, a female Peruvian boxer who's fairly famous down there. Someone created a comic book character based on her, so I just had to run with it. Circe calls Kina to compare notes, and learns that Kina actually went to Isla Muete at the Peruvian military's invitation about 5 years ago. Circe: I don't suppose you'd let me read your mind and see what you saw there. Kina: I've never had my mind read - at least, that I know of. I guess that would be okay. Circe: (incredulous) Really?! Um, I mean, you're sure don't mind? Kina: As long as you restrict it to only looking at the memories of what I saw that day. Circe: I'll agree to that. Through the Mind Link, the heroes of Just Cause see the mass graves, the devastated village of San Muerte, the hacienda of Muerte that has been pulverized by the Peruvian military after Muerte's death. They also see as Kina cleared some fallen stone blocking an elevator shaft, and the soldiers and Kina explored the underground facility beneath the hacienda. (It was pretty completely stripped by the Peruvian government prior to inviting UNTIL in.) GM: After you're done with that, are you going to do any other rooting around inside her head? Circe: Tempted, but no, I'll stick to what we agreed. With Pops' help the heroes teleport down to the island, where Nexus is nervous she's going to run into way too many ghosts, especially when they check out the mass graves. Strangely, there is a distinct lack of ghosts in that area. However, they notice signs that someone had dug up the grave at some point relatively recently (several months ago). Honey Badger volunteers to use his tunneling to check out the contents of the mass grave. GM: Really? You want to dig around in a mass grave? HB: (shrug) Honey Badger don't care. He finds a number of empty body bags that had been ripped open. The only bodies still in the mass grave seem to be children or elderly. Circe: Ripped open, like from the inside? Dead rising from the grave? GM: Looks like they were dug up, ripped open, some bodies removed, and the empty and unwanted body bags tossed back into the hole before they refilled it. HB: But ripped open? Those things have zippers, you know. GM: Could be whoever's behind it didn't have very skilled labor. "Open that." (riiiip) (sigh) "You could have unzipped it." (more to follow)

Wardrobe malfunctions. NT: Ill-advised gifts to get your spouse / significant other for Valentine's Day.

Lixivious, your contribution is the third member of Three of a Kind. That means you get to provide the name, number of members, and theme for the next group. (Got a kick out of Triad, BTW.)

So it was "sham"-pagne.

One observation -- the "pay for sins" thing makes it seem that Muerte is motivated by religion. Perhaps something like "Now the traitors shall pay for their treachery. Then all of humanity shall bow to his will." Just a suggestion, feel no obligation to use it.

Very nice! Props to Storn for the Muerte pic.

Purifier is a transmutator, able to alter molecular structures at a touch. As a member of CB9, she uses her power to provide clear water (often from completely noxious liquids), and removing toxins or poisons. She's also used her powers to create safe entries into collapsed buildings or make tunnels through landslides, though this is slow going due to the limited range of her power. Unfortunately, she doesn't know enough anatomy to reliably mend injuries or cure diseases. While she can use her powers offensively, she refuses to do anything truly damaging (for instance, creating a toxin inside a person's body) on strict moral grounds.

Go Joe was once toymaker Joe Levine, specializing in action figures for boys. Nobody knew Levine's secret: he is a mutant who can permanently miniaturize non-living things. (His attempts to miniaturize living things tend to only cause injury and disfigurement.) While most of his toys were made normally, he could create more intricate designs at full size and then shrink them down for limited-edition runs. When Hispro Toys sued Levine for allegedly copying their designs (a charge he flatly denies) and put him out of business, Levine decided to put his skills and power to use designing working miniaturized weapons and equipment for a new line of action figures - that are actually full-size robots shrunk down to action figure size. Levine can control them remotely but has found that he has trouble keeping track of too many at once, so he tends to send his "Go Joes" out in groups of three (though he's actually built dozens of them to use.) He now uses miniature robotic trios, equipped with shrunken tools and equipment to suit the job or target, to perform thefts, sabotage, or assassinations for Three of a Kind.

This is better as a visual joke, but I think you can visualize it easily enough. (And it's pretty much what I do before I step out of the house each day.) A priest and a rabbi were in an airliner, midway through their flight, when suddenly the engines stopped and the plane went into a dive. People were screaming and praying, and the priest looked over to the rabbi. To the priest's surprise, he saw the rabbi cross himself. Thankfully, the pilot got the engines restarted and pulled out of the dive. As everybody was breathing a sigh of relief, the priest leaned over to the rabbi and said with a chuckle, "Don't think I didn't see what you did there. Last minute conversion, eh?" "What are you talking about?" the rabbi asked indignantly. "You crossed yourself," said the priest. "I saw it with my own eyes." "Oh, I wasn't crossing myself," said the rabbi. "I was just checking to make sure I had all my essentials. Spectacles. (touches face) Testicles. (touches groin) Wallet. (touches left suitcoat pocket) And watch. (touches right suitcoat pocket)"

To be fair, K'anal Ik'nal rolls off the tongue too. "Kah-nal Ik-nal. Kah-nal Ik-nal". It's got a good beat, I can dance to it. I'd give it an 87. Ixzel is nice and short. Really, all of them have something to recommend them. Personally, whichever one wins, I'm planning to use the others as incantations or chants when she casts spells.

The "vote often" is a tongue-in-cheek poke at voter fraud. Like in places where supporters of a candidate pass themselves off as recently deceased voters to give additional votes to their candidate. Although considering this is Muerte we're talking about, the dead voting just might be appropriate in this case...

<Emily Litella voice> Wife support: Immoral?! I can't believe anybody would be in favor of that! Just another sign of the decline of our society, I tell you. All that immorality, tearing families apart. And why would you expect your wife to support it?! What kind of husband are you, anyway? It's like those people pushing for eagle rights - why should birds have rights that cats and dogs don't get? (tap, tap) (whisper whisper whisper) Oh, Life support: Immortal! Never mind! </Emily Litella voice>

Vote early and vote often.

On the flip side of that coin, Nothere, how about going to a bar and knowing up front how petty, self-centered, moronic, or obnoxious that rather attractive person across the bar really is? Or realizing, "hey, he/she may not look like much, but he/she has the soul of an angel."

Three executives (from different beer companies) at an international brewers convention decide to hit the bar The man from Budweiser orders a cold glass of Budweiser. The VP from Miller Brewing orders a bottle of Miller Lite. And the executive from Guinness orders a glass of Coke. "Aren't you going to order a pint of Guinness?" asked the executive from Budweiser. "I was," the executive from Guinness replied, "but I figured if you two weren't having a beer, I shouldn't have one either."

I'm introducing Muerte in my new Champions campaign tomorrow, with the history of his betrayal and death. I'm using LL's version of a Takofanes-revived Muerte, along with El General and Khemset and Seraphina. I'm also having Muerte respond to Scorpia and Feurmacher defecting to Eurostar, by him bringing the deceased Bora (now an air spirit) onto his team. I also had Muerte bring Gigante back under his wing, since ol' Rock-face remained loyal to Muerte. As to his island base, I'm callilng it Isla Muerte (with San Muerte the only village on the island) and put it 50 miles due west of Chiclayo, Peru. (Check it out on Google Maps' satellite view.) Since Peru claims a 200-mile territorial limit, that made Muerte and his goon squad Peru's problem to deal with. Of course, prior to his death Muerte had enough Peruvian ministers and other politicians in his pocket to stymie attempts by other countries to capture him. As an additional "of course," an underground base (beneath that relatively narrow island east of the main island) managed to avoid detection by the Peruvian military, so Muerte has moved back in.

I beg to differ. We already have a body of people that exhibit pretty much all of those traits, and you can scarcely say the US Congress has "increased intelligence."

Here's a combat example I've come up with on the fly. To save typing: [#]f (e.g. 50f) means a fixed slot of [#] active points [#]v (e.g. 60v) means a variable slot of [#] active points Element-Mage has the following magic spell Multipower: Multipower, 75 point pool, (whatever Limitations you have, e.g. Gestures, Incantations, Requires a Magic Roll) 1) 65v - Ray of Frost: Blast up to 13d6 2) 50f - Coat of Ice: Entangle 5d6 3) 75v - Cone of Cold: Blast up to 6d6, NND (defense is LS: cold; +1), AoE (8m Cone; +1/2) 4) 75v - Wind-Running: Flight up to 75m 5) 50v - Light-Step: Teleportation up to 45m with Position Shift 6) 50f - Body of Air: Desolidification, Half END (+1/4) 7) 45v - Ironskin: Resistant Protection up to 15 rPD / 15 rED 8) 45v - Wind Hand: Telekinesis up to 30 STR 9) 25f - Pure Air: Invisibility to Sight Group, Half END (+1/4) 10) 25v - Light Displacement: up to +5 DCV, costs END (-1/2) 11) 10f - Iron Will: +10 PRE EM also has an enchanted robe (Resistant Protection 8 rPD / 8 rED) so the Ironskin is mainly to add to that against dangerous foes. ElementMage has heard that his arch-foe Terror-Axe is attacking the Natural History Museum, so EM rushes across town as fast as he can. (all 75 pts. in Flight). When he gets within range of the museum, he decides to slow down and raise some defenses (50 pts Flight 50m + 15 pts. Resistant Protection 5 rPD 5 rED + 10 pts. DCV ) in case he's attacked on approach. (He doesn't use the Invisibility + Flight since the SFX of the flight will render the Invisibility less useful). Luckily, ElementMage isn't attacked, so upon landing on the roof, he goes into full stealth mode (50 pts. Desolidification + 25 pts. Invisibility) and enters the museum. A quick search of the building reveals Terror-Axe has hired six thugs to hold the museum patrons and staff hostage on the first floor. Meanwhile, in a back prep room Terror-Axe has just located what he's been searching for: The Orb of MacGuffin. As the criminal prepares to leave the back room, EM decides to attack from surprise from across the room. (Both EM and TA are SPD 4, and the thugs are SPD 2.) Phase 11 (Surprise) - EM goes for 65 pts Blast 13d6 + 10 pts. PRE. This doesn't CON-Stun TA, but it hurts him quite a bit. Phase 12 - TA makes a half-move closer to EM and throws a small axe while screaming threats (Presence Attack). The throwing axe does minimal damage to EM, and the extra PRE keeps the hero from quaking in his boots. EM switches his Multipower to 50 pts. Blast 10d6 + 15 pts. Resistant Protection 5 rPD / 5 rED + 10 pts. PRE, and takes another shot at TA with the Blast, doing some damage. Phase 3 - TA quick-draws his main axe, finishes closing on EM, and takes a swipe, drawing some blood. EM isn't so keen on this so he sets his Multipower to 50 pts. Blast 10d6 + 15 pts. Resistant Protection 5 rPD / 5 rED + 10 pts. DCV (+2). He can also hear the thugs in the other room and anticipates some of them will be joining their boss soon. EM curses as his Blast misses TA. Phase 6 - TA takes another slash at EM, but the extra DCV helps him avoid getting hit. Hearing the thugs approaching him from behind, EM sets his Multipower to 50 pts NND 4d6 Cone + 15 pts. Teleportation 10m + 10 pts. DCV (+2) and Holds his action until the thugs arrive. As soon as five thugs come running in (leaving one man to guard the civilians), EM teleports to the other side of TA and blasts the villain and his thugs with the NND. This is enough to CON-Stun the thugs and anger Terror-Axe further. Phase 9 - TA spins around and takes another swing at EM, connecting and doing pretty nasty damage. A panicked EM sets his spells to 25 pts. NND 2d6 Cone + 30 pts. Resistant Protection 10 rPD / 10 rED + 20 pts. DCV (+4), backs up a few steps and blasts TA and the thugs again. Phase 12 - a now-Enraged TA closes and takes another slash at EM, missing completely. An emboldened EM gambles on finishing the bad guys off by going full-offense: all 75 pts. as NND 6d6 Cone. This takes down Terror-Axe as well as the 5 thugs. Phase 3 - EM sets his spells to 50 pts. Entangle 5d6 + 25 pts. Invisibility (just in case), and ices up TA so he can't escape. Phase 6 - EM keeps his spells as-is and moves stealthily to the doorway of the room where the nervous thug has the civilians Covered with his Uzi. Phase 9 - EM sets his spells to 45 pts. TK 30 STR + 15 pts. Resistant Protection 5 rPD / 5 rED + 15 pts. Teleportation 10m, then teleports between the thug and the civilians. This ruins the thug's held Covered maneuver but he pulls the trigger anyway (hitting ElementMage and hurting him slightly). EM responds by using his TK to rip the Uzi from the thug's hands and pointing it at the thug (who doesn't realize that without Fine Manipulation on his TK, EM can't fire the gun). The thug surrenders, ending the battle.

The simplest example of a Multipower I can think of, which shouldn't require a player aid, is Hawkeye's arrows. Each type of arrow is an fixed slot taking up the entire Multipower pool. For something more complex, I'd go with a mage casting spells. The mage only has so much mana / magical power available (the Multipower pool), and has to split it among whichever spells (individual slots) he has running at any moment in time. Sorry, I don't have an actual in-game example to provide.

I'm imagining how much fun Cisco could have "upgrading" a wheelchair...