BoloOfEarth

Part Three of Typhoid Dee: The CDC says that they need Pigeon (as Patient Zero) to better concoct a cure to the disease. With their police connections, the heroes learn that Pigeon is a girl named Diane Carvey with a juvie record, but nothing they find can help them locate where she might be now. Pops: We could dress up as old men, go to the park, and throw bread crumbs on the ground. She's bound to show up. They also learn that Pigeon is part of a group of freaks / society rejects known as Vermin, whose other members are Cockroach, Flea, Mink, Gopher, Weasel, and Willard (who can summon a rat pack). Honey Badger: They may be named Vermin, but I'm calling them "lunch." After learning that witnesses had overheard Pigeon tell Wight he's a "freak like us" and tried to get him to join Vermin, Circe heads to PRIMUS to see if Wight knows where Pigeon might be holed up. GM: Are you going to tell PRIMUS you want to read his mind? Circe: No. I speak Russian. I'm just telling them that I want to talk to him. GM: Okay, they'll let you talk to him over the intercom, while he's still in the cell. Circe: Can I see him? Nexus: They should have a camera on him in the cell. GM: Sure, but Circe's powers won't work over a video feed. She needs direct line of sight. Circe: I could use Mind Scan to lock on... GM: You want to scan the PRIMUS base to lock onto a prisoner in a super-cell? Think it through. Circe: ... yeah, probably not a good idea. After Circe points out that Wight's sickness can also be cured if they capture Pigeon, the Russian relents and gives them a location: a deserted factory on the south side. With building blueprints, a bunch of police and PRIMUS agents as backup, and a combination of Circe's Mind Scan and Shadowboxer's Shadow Sight (Clairsentience) to pin down the specific locations of the members of Vermin, the heroes are ready to go in. Since Weasel (a mentalist) and Flea (a shrinker) are both in the same room, the heroes decide they are the first targets. Circe: (herself a mentalist) We need to take out Weasel first. Because mentalists are sooo evil. Malarky: Before we go in, do you want me to cast a spell on all of you? Honey Badger: Are we all gonna become frogs? Gopher is actually about six meters underground, in a burrow he dug out along with a network of tunnels under the factory. Shadowboxer uses his Shadow Sight to see what the gadgeteer is up to. GM: He's working on some device, you're not sure what, while humming. Shadowboxer: What song? GM: (Hums a tune, but the player doesn't catch it). At one point, he actually quietly sings, "When Captain Gopher throws his mighty shield..." And yes, there's a small round shield lying next to him. While most of the heroes take down Flea and Weasel, and Shadowboxer takes on Gopher, Maker (remote-piloting a captured VIPER flyer bot since she's still in quarantine) smashes through a skylight and fires a missile at Pigeon. It's a 1 1/2d6 Penetrating RKA with +1 STUN Mod, and she rolls badly: 3 BODY and 12 STUN. Maker: Useless. However, Pigeon's armor fails the Activation roll, so she takes the full damage. Shadowboxer: (OOC) It's actually a good thing you rolled so low. We wouldn't want to bring a corpse back to the CDC. Seeing the drone attack and hearing the sound of combat from the room where Flea and Weasel were, Mink leaps into action. GM: She runs to the fire door, shoves it open, and runs outside. Nexus: Really? She's running away? GM: Yeah. Mink is definitely a "me first" kinda person. The injured and pissed-off Pigeon flies up to try ripping the flyer bot apart with her claws. She also rolls incredibly low, getting no damage past the bot's defenses. GM: That nice new paint job you gave it, though - she scratched that all up. Pops: We're painting our whole base with that stuff. I mean, look how well it protected the drone... Upset at the drone attacking Pigeon, Willard summons a rat pack and sends it up into the rafters to drop onto the drone, blinding it's cameras. But with the shrinker and mentalist down, Honey Badger runs into the factory proper and jumps up to grab Pigeon. Honey Badger: Do any of the rats come along for the ride? If so, I'll munch on them while I'm squeezing Pigeon. Because of the surprise attack taking down three Vermin so quickly, the heroes soon defeat the rest of them... GM: Well, Mink got away. Pops: Wait, didn't we have police and PRIMUS out there? GM: Oh, yeah. Forgot about them. Pops: But she's a martial artist, so she probably has a high DCV. Shadowboxer: Which won't help much against stun grenades. GM: So, all of Vermin were captured...

Part Two of Typhoid Dee: Maker's background was that she got her powers as an astronaut aboard UNTIL's Gateway space station after exposure to a solar flare or cosmic radiation or something similar. However, her powers were initially out of control, causing a major problem on the station that left at least one fellow astronaut apparently dead but, in the standard comic trope "nobody could have possibly survived that" which means that of course he survived it, and is now her nemesis. Her character sheet included Hunted: TBD (same origin), giving me free rein to name and create the Hunted. I ran her through a quick prequel scene detailing the incident above, with Russian cosmonaut Andrei Vyelov's spacesuit getting holed and him spiraling out of control into an atmospheric reentry while UNTIL was too busy trying to keep Gateway from suffering a similar fate. Back to the present, Maker (aka Li Jenkins) is running late to her regular weekly lunch with her overbearing Chinese mother. As Li is in the taxi enroute to Boston's Chinatown area, she phones mom (Dr. Hu Cheng) to let her know she's on her way. In the middle of the conversation, there is screaming and then the call is cut off. She tries calling back without success. Maker: How long is it going to take the cab to get there? GM: About ten minutes. Maybe five if you have one of those cab drivers who considers traffic laws as mere suggestions. Maker: Can I fly there faster? GM: You have a slot in your Multipower that lets you fly pretty fast. So yeah. You can get there in about a minute. Maker: I tell the cabbie to stop, throw some money at him, get out, duck into an alley. Turn on my cloak field and fly to Chinatown. GM: Are you doing anything else? Maker: Call the others and let them know somethings going on. GM: (to other players) Is anybody else going there? Shadowboxer (whose secret ID is a PI who also drives a cab to make ends meet): Well, my last customer just threw money at me and jumped out of the cab, so I'm free to head there! Maker arrives to find a badly scarred man holding her (unconscious) mother, and arguing with some black teen girl with wings. Another man is lying unconscious at the scarred man's feet. (He's a good Samaritan who unsuccessfully tried to stop the scarred man from grabbing Dr. Cheng.) GM: The guy holding your mom looks like someone tried to light his cigarette with a flamethrower. Any skin showing is covered with really nasty burn scars. Honey Badger: (sarcastically) Gee, I wonder who that could be? Maker (with "clueless" field fully engaged): I don't know, but I'm getting my mom away from him. The scarred man shoves the winged girl away from him as Maker closes in. GM: You notice that the winged girl has what looks like a cloud of airborne dust particles around her. When his hand touches her, you see all the dust particles light up briefly. Also, she appears to get a bit weaker, and his scars heal up a bit. Maker: Crap. I radio the others: Don't touch him! The winged girl (Pigeon) flips the scarred man off and begins flying away as Pops teleports Honey Badger to Chinatown, while Maker does a move-by grab on her mother, then flies her to safety. Pops: I normally bring the slowest person first, but I start with Honey Badger because I know I can leave him there safely while I get the others. Honey Badger runs up and punches the scarred man (Sushchestvo, aka Wight), knocking him back into some bystanders trying to run away from the scene. Since Honey Badger has pretty hefty Power Defense, Wight's damage shield Drain doesn't do much, but it does reduce HB's strength enough to make him lose a die of damage. Honey Badger: Does he say anything? GM: He's shouting in what sounds like Russian. Maker: I speak Russian. What is he saying? GM: He's using some rather inventive cursing. Something about Honey Badger's mother's sexual proclivities. Wight responds to this attack by grabbing the woman next to him and stealing most of her life energy. Honey Badger: Is there a mailbox, or a lightpole, or something like that I can use as a weapon? Malarky: It's a restaurant with outdoor seating. Tons of stuff to grab. GM: Yep, tables, chairs, big ol' umbrellas... Honey Badger. Umbrellas. Perfect. I grab one. Maker: You're going to pound him with that? Honey Badger: I'm gonna shove the umbrella up his a** and open it! Pops teleports Malarky in, who hits Wight with his "Wee Bit Pissed" spell. Malarky: That should make him drunk. Pops: He's Russian. Probably immune to alcohol. GM: If it was vodka, maybe. But Malarky uses Red Bull in his spell, so it still affects him. Nexus arrives with Circe, and notices two guys on the other side of the street who are looking in her direction. Honey Badger: Wonder why they're looking at you guys, instead of watching the fight. Circe: Maybe because we're hot! As more heroes arrive, the tide swiftly turns against Wight. Honey Badger rips the cloth off the umbrella to wrap up Wight, then begins squeezing him to keep him unconscious. Meanwhile, an older Chinese lady, comes running out of the restaurant. Chinese lady: Hey!!! You break, you buy! Honey Badger: (turns to Circe, who is wealthy) A little help here? I need an umbrella. An innocent bystander hears this and hands HB a small retractable umbrella. Honey Badger: I say thanks, stick it in the ass, and open it. Maker: Of the Chinese lady?!?! Honey Badger: (incredulously) Noooooooo. Of the bad guy. The heroes are discussing what they're going to do with the Russian, who Maker now recognizes as Andrei Vyelov. Honey Badger: (to Pops) Can you teleport him back to Russia? Circe: Do you really want to turn him over to the Russians? Honey Badger: Why don't we put him in bed with Putin? Malarky: I can make 'em both a Wee Bit Pissed... The heroes reluctantly turn their foe over to PRIMUS, while Maker changes back to secret ID and takes her mother home to recover. GM: The Return Rate is per 5 minutes, so it'll take about an hour for all the stats he Drained to return. Even after that, though, your mom is still not feeling great. Maker: I call my dad and explain to him what happened. Let him know Mom's not feeling good, and to keep an eye on her. After Mr. Jenkins also begins feeling unwell the next day, it becomes apparent something is going on. The heroes learn that the woman Wight touched last is also sick, as are a few people in Honey Badger's apartment building. Maker: I touched my mom. Am I feeling sick? GM: You have a slight headache. That's about it. Maker: Wonder why I'm immune? GM: You're not. You have 5 points of Power Defense, and it's a 1d6 Drain. It's only getting a little bit through every now and then. Honey Badger: That's why it's not affecting me at all. I have 15 points. GM: You also have Life Support: Immune to Disease. That might help, too. The CDC quarantines everybody affected at the restaurant (including Maker, in secret ID). The heroes think the disease came from Wight, but are surprised to learn that he is also sick. Honey Badger researches Pigeon and learns that she does have some sort of mild toxic aura around her, but it just causes minor respiratory problems that clear up shortly after you move away from her. GM: Odd thing, the guy that tried to stop Wight from taking Maker's mom recovered all his lost characteristics and isn't sick at all. Nexus: Why's he immune? He was touched by Wight as well. Malarky: (light bulb goes off) Because he was affected before the Russian touched Pigeon. Shadowboxer: When he touched Pigeon, his damage shield must have somehow mutated her disease and made it deadlier.

From last night's adventure (Typhoid Dee) in my Champions game (Part One): Pre-game, Circe was jokingly complaining about last session's fight at her nightclub. Malarky: (OOC) I thought we warned you -- if you tell (GM) that your character owns someplace, it's almost guaranteed there will be a fight there. GM: Didn't you notice, when you gave me Circe's backstory, and it included the nightclub, and your condo's location, and your mom's place, that I chuckled a lot? FYI: Circe's player provided a very detailed background that involved her grandmother Marie (herself a mentalist and a leader of a group known as the Sisterhood) making a deal with an unidentified "powerful mentalist" -- he and Marie's daughter Hanna would bear two children, one female and one male. (One of the Sisterhood could manipulate things to ensure the gender of each child.) Hanna would raise the girl, and the father would raise the boy. However, after the first child (Circe, aka Ana) was born, Marie and Hanna refused to complete the deal by producing the male mentalist's heir. Thanks to the Sisterhood, he didn't have much choice but to accept this and walk away. Ana / Circe didn't necessarily know all of this info, though she was aware of the Sisterhood. The background also mentioned that her grandmother died when Ana was about 8 years old. And Circe's Complications included that she is Watched by her father (More Powerful). Cue the GM machinations. GM: And speaking of your condo, we're going to start Circe, or rather Ana, off there, sleeping peacefully one night... She wakes up to find a man leaning against her bedroom door frame, smoking a cigarette. He introduces himself as Joseph Ryan, her father (whom her mother had said died when Ana was an infant). Ryan assures her he means her no harm, and says that Ana's mother (Hanna) and grandmother (Marie) kept him from seeing her. Ryan: Even though your mother kept you from me, I kept tabs on you growing up, but I did miss out those things a dad gets to do, like watching his baby sleep. So I hope you'll forgive me for watching you sleep just now. Circe: (OOC) The first thing I do? Pull the covers all the way up to my neck. Circe tries using her Telepathy (invisible to mental) to read his mind. Note that all of her mental powers are in a pair of multipowers, and all are bought with the Unified Power limitation. GM: Two things. First, you can tell that your Telepathy is greatly reduced in power. In fact, all of your mental powers are down about 30 points, and you can feel them slowly but surely getting weaker. Secondly, when you try to read his mind, you get nothing. He's like a psionic void. Circe: This is not good! Ryan, by the way, is the psionic assassin Krait from Blackwyrm Games' rather excellent Algernon Files. Ryan: I also never got to tell you bedtime stories growing up, so please indulge me while I tell you one now. Long ago, there was an evil queen, Queen Marie, who was also secretly a witch, leader of a coven of witches known as the Sisterhood. Queen Marie made a deal with young, handsome Prince Joseph (bows slightly), offering a few nights' time with her beautiful daughter, Princess Hanna, with the goal of producing two heirs. The daughter would be raised by Queen Marie and Princess Hanna, and then a son would be born and raised by Prince Joseph. However, after the lovely Princess Ana was born, Queen Marie told Prince Joseph that she and Hanna weren't going to honor the rest of the deal. Since Prince Joseph was still young and not as skilled as he would one day become, and the evil queen had the backing of her coven of witches, there was nothing he could do but walk away. But Prince Joseph trained, honing his skills and powers, and one day he returned. He snuck into the castle late one night and slew the evil Queen Marie in her bed. Circe: But... why? Ryan: Because she reneged on their deal. It was... unprofessional. GM: (OOC) He says that as if being unprofessional is a worse crime than clubbing kittens, maybe even worse than murdering infants. After he finished his twisted bedtime story, he tells Ana that he now plans to murder her mother Hanna for her part in backing out of the deal, and that he felt she should know the full truth of how she came to be. Ryan: I don't want to be one of those parents who puts his child into the middle of things, so you may feel free to tell your mother that I stopped by, and of course my plans for her. All I ask is that you stay out of things and let your mother and I settle our dispute ourselves. I would hate for you to get hurt in the crossfire. - - - - - - I then backtracked to just after the team's fight against Road Kill. Last session, the heroes discovered that Road Kill's new songs were somehow summoning Cthulhu-esqe horrors. GM: So, last time you guys destroyed the Flying Polyp and captured the members of Road Kill. Honey Badger: And I got an autographed guitar! GM: Yes, you did. However, how are you going to keep Road Kill from just playing these songs later and summoning more of those things? Malarky: The lyrics were basically incantations for a spell. If we can get them to change the wording, the spell won't work. (Note that Malarky is a fledgling mage.) Circe: (to Nexus, aka Isabelle, a musician) Does Izzy write her own music? Nexus: Yes. Circe: So she and Malarky can work together come up with new lyrics for the songs, and I'll use my cumulative Mind Control to put them into Heavy Metal's mind and make him think they were his idea. Honey Badger: Can you make them a limerick?

Unfortunately, no. There was a lot of interesting-looking stuff for which I could easily come up with in-game abilities. For instance, a bunch of old cameras, including one way-old accordion-style camera. A half-dozen walking canes (one creepy-looking one with the handle being an animal's hoof that would be an excellent focus for an evil wizard). Glass globe paperweights with things embedded within. That sort of stuff.

For Darla, I'd find some interesting non-combat ways to use the precog. For instance, she can direct a driver through the city in record time (making every green light, avoiding any construction or traffic blockages), and find that one car about to pull out of a parking space on a crowded city block. When the heroes show up at the sandwich shop, she already has their sandwiches and drinks ready, and it's exactly the sort of thing they'd have wanted, down to substitutions. ("Don't worry, I put honey mustard on it instead of mayo.") If the PCs don't have a team vehicle, Hero Stop could have a driver and vehicle on call. A nondescript, mildly beat-up looking older-model van driven by a guy who claims his cousin is a famous NASCAR or Indy-500 driver. Maybe he drives the heroes to a battle in between sandwich order deliveries. One idea I had but never used was having a badly dented but mechanically sound Yellow cab driven by a pretty knowledgeable guy with obvious Combat Driving skill. Just about every time one of the PCs hails a cab, they get him. However, if they look at the cabbie license, his name is different every time. One day, it might be an Indian name, another time Irish, a third time Arabic, etc. If they ask him his name, he'll say, "it's on the license" and point to it. Granted, a taxi wouldn't work for a larger group, but 3-4 people could fit.

She's a high school teacher. If being out of your mind isn't a job requirement, it happens on it's own within the first year on the job. NT: Completely shocking character cameos in the Captain America: Civil War movie.

I laughed so hard I couldn't finish reading it aloud. My daughter pointed out that it's an April Fools news item, to which I replied, "but... Florida!"

The Capacitance Auto Recharge (CAR-1800) battlesuit was Rudolph May's greatest creation. Using principles gleaned from writings by Michael Faraday, James Maxwell, and Nicola Tesla, plus a lot of trial and error, May was able to create a suit that drew all its power from the earth's magnetic field. True, his "collections antennae" are a bit unwieldy, and had to be mounted on the helmet to keep from interfering with the rest of the suit's electronics. So it shouldn't have come as a surprise when PRIMUS rejected his design out of hand. It also shouldn't have come as a surprise when his peers ridiculed his design. "Looks like you're suiting up to lead Santa's sleigh," joked one detractor (though to be fair, the magnetic collection apparatus does look a bit like reindeer antlers). Taking the name CARIBOO (yes, he spells it that way and yes, in all caps), May decided to prove his battlesuit's capabilities against the Russian military. (May grew up during the Cold War and still sees Russia as a greater enemy to the US than any other.) And to be honest, the CARIBOO battlesuit is pretty capable. In addition to increased strength and a magnetic repulsion field for defense, it can fly, operate underwater, and even go into space. Riding the earth's magnetic waves, he can travel quite quickly, though he can only reach mach speed by following isolines of magnetic inclination. Offensively, in addition to the battlesuit's enhanced strength, the "antlers" can generate a electromagnetic blast that, though limited in range, is relatively powerful.

My wife and I drove up to Michigan's upper peninsula (Houghton, to be specific) to move our daughter back home for the summer after her first year as a university student. Found ourselves with a few hours to kill Friday, and headed to Houghton's mall to wander around. Not many stores open there at all, and of those one was a consignment store and another sold secondhand curios. Note that my daughter is a big fan of the former SyFy show Warehouse 13. (If you're not familiar with it, the main characters traveled all over collecting powerful artifacts to lock them away so they wouldn't endanger innocents. Stuff like Edgar Allen Poe's pen, binoculars used to view the Hiroshima explosion, etc.) Wife: (pointing to curio shop) Let's go in there. Daughter: No way! That place looks like "artifact central." Wife: (turns toward the consignment store) Okay, then we'll check that place out. Daughter: Nope. A place like that is bound to have an artifact or two lying around! Me: What, you don't want to play with an artifact? Daughter: Right, dad, cuz that always ended so well for the people who did it in the show. We did end up going through the curio shop, with her and I speculating on what the various things there would do as artifacts.

Here's an example -- Factory Recall (from the Corporate Raiders group in the Villain Theme Teams thread): Background: Ohshitohshitohshit, thought Paul Fraser as he darted between factory buildings, trying to get out of sight of the guards who had already roughed up most of Paul’s coworkers. He didn’t know why he had let John and George talk him into picketing the Duchess Industries plant to protest unsafe work conditions. I’m just some poor schmuck trying to work my way through community college, he thought as he tried one locked door after another. Why couldn’t I get a full-ride scholarship like Tom? Then I wouldn’t even be here, I’d be off studying at MIT or CalTech. Oh, that’s right; I don’t have a rich, connected daddy to pull strings for me. He was nearly to the back of the factory grounds when he found an unlocked door; he was just pulling it open when one of the guards rounded the corner and spotted him. Paul ignored the guard’s shouted order to stop and darted inside. Never been in this building before, he thought as he ducked under a conveyor belt and moved quickly past several large automated assembly robots, all standing silent and unmoving. Winded, he stopped behind a rather tall assembly line robot to catch his breath when he heard the outside door slam open, followed by distant conversation. Gotta find someplace to hide and wait ‘em out. He was just about to move deeper into the factory when he noticed the large hinged access panel on the back of the robot he was hiding behind. Paul cautiously opened it to reveal a padded space inside, large enough for a man. Ask, and ye shall receive. Paul smiled and climbed inside. As soon as the access panel clicked shut behind him, the robot around him automatically hummed to life. A half dozen rectangular LED screens in front of Paul lit, showing views from all angles (including behind and above). As he stared at the screens, a voice (sounding strangely like Arnold Schwarzenegger) began speaking. “Cyberdyne Systems Series 500. Bootup Complete. All Systems Nominal. Power At Optimum Levels.” Paul tried to shush the voice in case it was audible outside the robot, but it continued after only a slight pause. “Neural Link Failed. Neural Parameters Not On File For Current Operator. Diagnosis: New Operator. Scan Commencing.” A high-pitched hum began, and Paul felt something similar to a low-voltage electrical current running through his body. Outside the robot, he heard a shout and knew his pursuers had heard the hum and were on their way. “Neural Link Established.” Paul was wondering exactly what that meant when he saw four guards moving along the assembly line, all with guns in hand. Oh, crap, they‘re gonna kill me! Panicking, Paul thought about running for it… and the robot stood, brushed aside the conveyor belt as if it was a collection of Tinkertoys, and began running away from the armed men. They responded by opening fire, the bullets bouncing harmlessly off the outer shell. What is this thing? With that thought, one of the screens began displaying schematics of the… no, Paul realized, it wasn’t a robot. More like a mini-Mech, he thought as he checked out the various systems available. Repulsion jets. Gripper arms. Sensors galore. Even an ion blaster. Damn, Paul, you hit the jackpot. Wonder if the other ‘robots’ are like this thing. He stopped and picked up one of the other factory robots – it felt light as a toy – and studied it. Nope, just a normal assembly line robot. He tossed it at the thugs, more to get them to scatter and stop firing than to hurt them, and then turned toward the exterior wall of the factory. Moments later, as the mech-driving college student / factory worker smashed through the cinderblock wall and flew off, one of the guards grabbed his radio. “This is Brubaker. Get the Nest Leader out to the Duchess factory, pronto. Someone took the Sea Snake prototype.” Quote: “Threat level high. Initiate primary offense protocols.” Personality: Paul Fraser is a bit of an engineering nerd, and a gaming one at that. As such, he tends to look at most situations from a tactical, problem-solving viewpoint. Unlike the stereotype, however, he does just fine socially. He was raised in a good family in a working-class home and has long felt that the rich behave as if the world is theirs to do with as they please. Their sons and daughters can cheat on tests with impunity or even fail outright and still get into the best schools, while working-class schmoes like him have to scrape by on the scraps the wealthy discard. Because of this attitude, he looks at the Recall armor as his tool to take the entitled snobs down a few pegs. As he likes to say, “Finally, the poor and oppressed have someone on their side.” As Factory Recall, Paul likes to talk and act like a robot. His voice is run through a filter and comes out the external speakers sounding very robotic. This irritates some of his teammates (particularly Union), but Paul figures it disguises the fact that there actually is a person inside there. He’s convinced that one day, acting like a robot will save his life or help him avoid capture. Knowing that VIPER would love nothing better than to steal back the armor, Paul has made copies of Factory Recall’s schematics and other electronic files and has been stealing materials and parts during various team raids. He’s already about 2/3 of the way through building a duplicate mech, just in case. Powers/Tactics: Even though he has a ranged attack (the ion blaster mounted on the right forearm), Factory Recall tends to stick to HtH combat if possible. His signature move is to grab a foe with his Gripper Arms and then repeatedly punch or otherwise beat the individual into La-La-Land. Against a particularly tough foe, he’ll grab and then try a Hydraulic Boosted Haymaker punch (doing 18d6). However, he won’t do this unless he knows the foe has very high defenses. If fighting in a location owned by a large corporation or somebody wealthy, Recall loves to cause as much collateral damage as possible. So if, for instance, he grabs a superhero, he might use that hero as a club to smash walls, factory equipment, expensive cars, and so on. Or he’ll smash through a wall even though there’s an open door a handful of meters away. The mech’s computer monitors the operator’s vital signs and responds automatically with stimulants or painkillers to any signs of operator fatigue or minor injury. (Hence the increased REC, END, and STUN.) Note that it can operate nearly as well in or out of the water, and has both protection from and the ability to detect psionic activity. Appearance: Paul Fraser is tall (just over 6 feet) and skinny, with often-unruly medium-length blond hair and inquisitive blue eyes. He almost always dresses casually, in blue jeans and t-shirts that often have amusing sci-fi-ish sayings or pictures on them (e.g. “Welcome to Washington DC – Where You’re Safe from the Zombie Apocalypse” with a drawing of a confused-looking zombie saying “Brains???”). The Factory Recall armor looks much more like a somewhat large autonomous robot than a battlesuit – it doesn’t have a head, per se, and the operator’s arms and legs don’t even go into the corresponding limbs on the armor. It is normally 3m tall but can extend arms and legs to stand up to 7m high. It has four arms – two semi-normal-looking arms attached at the shoulders, and a pair of articulated gripper arms attached at the waist that fold up when not in use. The pop-up blaster is usually kept concealed in its compartment in the right primary arm’s forearm until needed. Campaign Use: Factory Recall is a fairly decent brick with a pretty extensive group of enhanced senses and the potential do deal out a lot of damage if necessary. With VIPER hot on his heels trying to steal the armor back, he can easily appear without the rest of the Raiders, being Hunted by the Goons in Green. To make him more powerful, increase his defenses and STR, and maybe add a few dice to his Hydraulic Boost. Some more Combat Skill Levels would come in handy, too, as would a Killing Attack (either a cutting laser or a bladed claw would fit well). If too powerful for your game, drop the Hydraulic Boost and Gripper strength, as well as his base PD and ED. Removing 360-degree on All Senses and dropping an Enhanced Sense or two would help make him a bit more vulnerable to sneak attacks.

Keeping in mind that I typically run Champions games, so the characters I create are usually the NPC villains... I often provide Background in story format, which often establishes a "voice" for the character. So yes, it often covers Personality and Quote fairly well. However, when the Background is less story-like, those sections are more necessary. Powers/Tactics often covers a few favored specific powers and how the character uses them. Also how the character might deal differently with ranged and HtH combatants. Personality highlights things that didn't come up in the Background, or motivativations that have arisen since the origin. When I write up Appearance, it frequently covers how the character looks outside his/her hero/villain ID. It also may include accents, odors, or other things that won't show up in a picture. Campaign Use covers the character's role in a team, as well as how to increase or decrease his/her power levels for different campaigns.

What if one used thicker paper?

Magnetite detested paperwork; if he'd known how much he'd have to deal with, he might not have taken on being Chicago's VIPER Nest Leader. So he was quite happy when two VIPER agents interrupted his daily administrative slog with a young woman in tow. He ignored her tattoos, lip piercing, and multi-hued hair; many supervillains had very distinctive looks, and hers was milder than some. The Nest Leader stood and smiled. "Amethyst, isn't it? A pleasure to meet you. I'm Magnetite, but you probably already know that since you did apply to work with VIPER." He reached out and shook her hand, and wasn't all that surprised when his heads-up display warned of psionic activity. He was mildly surprised, however, to see her hair changing colors slightly as she used her powers. "I should warn you, my helmet will make mental attacks against me quite difficult. And it really does get us off on the wrong foot if you try to manipulate me." The young woman shrugged and smiled. "Sorry, old habit. I was just trying a touch of telepathy. It's nice to know how a potential boss thinks." "Understood." Magnetite sat back in his chair. "Just don't try it again, and we'll get along fine." He pulled up her file on his HUD and glanced through it quickly. "Full suite of mental powers. That's good. Specialty in... neural location and telepathic links. Interesting. Tell me, how many people can you mentally link at once?" "Fifteen to twenty with minimal effort. I can go as high as sixty, but can't maintain that for longer than a few minutes." He shrugged. "A lot can get accomplished in a few minutes, especially by a dozen teams of VIPER agents. Cross-communication, or do you have to relay?" "Once linked, everybody can communciate with everybody else." Magnetite smiled. "Excellent. And would you mind giving me a demonstration of your scanning capability? Where is state senator Michael Clayton right now?" Amethyst closed her eyes and tilted her head back. Once again, her hair began to change color, ranging from turquoise to deep violet. Magnetite noted that she really was quite lovely. "He is... at the Garfield Park Conservatory." She concentrated a bit more. "Going over his speech in his head right now." She opened her eyes. "Want to know what his new crime bill's about?" "Not necessary. We've had a copy of it for several weeks." He drew a few sheets of paper from a folder on his desk and studied them for a moment. "Tell me, how skilled are you at manipulation?" She looked mildly uncomfortable. "I can do okay, but it's not my strong suit. I can nudge people to do things they wouldn't mind doing anyway, and push to do things they're not flat-out against. But I can't make someone shoot himself or a friend, if that's what you're looking for. The more they're against it, the more likely they'll know they were mind controlled." Magnetite shook his head. "Not to worry, I'm not looking for anything overly dramatic." He pulled out a thick envelope and slid it across the table to her. She opened it to see banded stacks of money. "I hope that is an adequate retainer." He stood and handed her the sheets of paper he'd been reading. "And I would like this to be the speech that Mr. Clayton gives. Nearly identical, but we'd mainly like him to go off the rails for this bit here." He pointed to a paragraph, and Amethyst's eyes widened as she read it. "What is his stance on S-Squad, and superheroes in general?" "Senator Clayton's not a huge fan. Has called them 'costumed vigilantes' in private, but since they're media darlings right now he holds his tongue." Amethyst smiled. "Well, I think I can make him let it go for a bit."

I don't typically stat out 'normals' unless they will have a possible role in combat. (For instance, a police officer the PC works with closely might get statted out.) For most recurring NPCs, though, I write up a short synopsis - name, job, family/significant individuals in that person's life, any key characteristic or skills, and any personal quirks that should be played out. I try to find an appropriate picture to include, which helps the players and I visualize the person.

Alan Samler is a legend in his own mind. He thinks he is the greatest performer to ever grace a stage, but truthfully he's always been mediocre at best. That's how he ended up singing and DJing at wedding receptions. It was at one such wedding reception that some of the (drunken) guests began heckling Samler rather viciously. Before he knew it he began shouting and slinging CDs at them like frisbees. Unfortunately, midway through this rant his latent telekinetic powers kicked in, causing CDs to slice into people like blades. After that, he knew that he would never work as a wedding singer again. But with practice he discovered that he was a fairly powerful teke, so he decided he could just take what he wanted. That thought lasted until the start of his first crime spree. He was almost taken down by a pair of rent-a-cops working security at a jewelry store, so Samler decided that there was power (and safety) in numbers. Thus, he joined Red Wedding as The Wedding Slinger (usually shortened to Slinger), complete with a collection of razor-sharp CDs. He also carries an MP3 player, speaker system, and his own microphone to provide theme music, commentary, and bad jokes during Red Wedding capers.

Lt. Steven Franklin is a former US Army medic (and unknowingly a mutant healer/transmuter) whose squad was decimated by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. The sole survivor, he tried desperately to piece his fellow soldiers back together, but it was in vain. The event caused his psyche to snap, and three months later he disappeared from the VA hospital where he was under psychiatric care. He now uses both his medical knowledge and his mutant ability to transmute and mold living flesh, muscle, organs, and bones to heal his teammates and create amalgam creatures as Carrion Crow. CC doesn't speak "Bird" but nonetheless has the apparent ability to communicate with Evermore. (At least, he seems able to understand what the raven wants, and Evermore seems to understand CC well enough.) Hugin believes the two have a telepathic bond, perhaps due to the similar nature of their powers.

Given how people can be, it might not be genetic, but rather generic.

"MegaMan, I know you have the best of intentions, but can't you see that digging a mile-wide irrigation ditch from the Great Lakes to California wasn't the best idea you've ever had?"

How the lion took that selfie, I'll never know. And who's the guy that photobombed it?

Check out the full video at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/08/us/south-carolina-officer-is-charged-with-murder-in-black-mans-death.html?_r=1 Especially the part at about 1:35 where the officer casually drops something next to the guy he shot.

Given that I like theme teams, how about a C-list team who named themselves after cities in Colorado and mostly work solo but work together (rarely all at once) for larger crimes. They are: The aforementioned Colorado Springs. Aspen, an eco-terrorist who can animate trees and plants to attack whomever is nearby. Aurora, a woman who can hypnotize people with her light powers Boulder, a low-level brick with earth control powers whose signature move is to pull rock from the ground, surrounding himself with a rocky shell and rolling over people. Golden, a thief with a gun that entangles people with a gold-like coating. Has an extremely well-trained dog (a golden retriever, naturally) that helps with his crimes Loveland, an empath who embraces the phrase, "make love, not war". She goes postal if anybody even mentions Linda Lovelace. Pueblo, a Native American mystic Vail, a snow-controller with a chip on his shoulder because his mutant powers kept him out of Olympic skiing competition [Edit to add] Media wags have named the team the Mile High Club, and the name has unfortunately stuck.

What kind of discussion board is this?! What is this "agree to disagree" crap? Hermit, if this kind of thing continues, I think you'll have no choice but to lock the thread.

Crimson Phoenix snarled at his fallen foe, the blood still dripping from his sword. "Nobody, and I mean nobody, tries to screw me in a deal." He ripped a length of cloth from the dead DEMON Morbane's robe and wiped the worst of the blood off the sword. His own wounds were already healing at an incredibly fast rate. He had gotten so used to his ability to regenerate that he didn't even notice it any more. Ever since he had come back from supposed death a decade before, he trusted that nothing could truly harm him for long. The DEMON initiates had fled while Phoenix was shrugging off the Morbane's magical attacks and slicing the back-stabbing jerk to pieces, but he didn't want to stick around any longer than necessary. The authorities just might show up to investigate all the weird lights in the night sky, and Phoenix didn't want to have to slice his way through a couple cop cars to get them to leave him alone. As Crimson Phoenix reached back to sheath his sword, he felt a pain in the middle of his back and winced. That's right, he thought. The Morbane had literally stabbed him in the back, and he never had pulled the dagger loose during the fight. It took a swing or two with the sword to knock the dagger free, and it fell to the ground with a clatter. Shaking his head, he walked over to the stone altar and picked up the small oxyx skull DEMON had hired him to procure. "I wonder what the heck DEMON wanted with you," he said, then shrugged indifferently and dropped it into his leather shoulder satchel. "Whatever it is, I'll bet I can find someone else willing to pay me for you." With that, he strode off into the night.

I have no idea what a Hollywood Grey List, or a Hollywood Brown List, actually means (and a Google search didn't clarify it). So please clarify a bit what the Brown List means as a theme.

Yep, I could see that. All citizens required to wear body cameras that can record their slightest misdeeds to back up their arrests. Restrictions put in place to forbid defending themselves at all. And if you can't afford a body camera and don't wear one? Well, you're probably actually trying to hide something. That's probable cause for arrest right there. Oh, wait, you were talking about body cameras for the police. Ah, sorry. Sometimes my cynical side gets the better of me.