csyphrett

Re: The New Circle 8 Character Name: The Avenger Real Name: The Avenger Nationality: Legend Construct Hair/Eye Color: Gold, red sparks Place of Birth: Land of Legends Date of Birth: 01/25/1995 Height/Mass: 6'2"/ 322 pounds Cost Characteristic Value 40 STR 50 75 DEX 35 40 CON 30 40 BODY 30 2 INT 12 20 EGO 20 10 PRE 20 8 COM 26 PD 10 ED 6 5 SPD 5 REC 16 END 60 STUN 70 OCV: 11 DCV: 11 OECV: 6 DECV: 6 Phases: 2,5,8,10,12 Cost Powers and Talents (END) The Avenger' Greatest Gifts 100 pt multipower. 5u Weather Control change environment 8" radius, +/-4 temperature levels, 32 pts varying effects +1/12, 48 pts 5u Growth: Growth 50 pts. +50 str, + 10 body, + 10 stun,-10 knockback, 70,000 kg, -6 DCV, +6 per rolls, +4 to reach 12" x 6" 5u Shrinking: Shrinking 50pts, .064 tall, .0032 kg, - 10 to perception rolls, + 10 DCV, + 15" knockback. 50 pts 4u Talking to bugs: Mind Control 5d6 only with insects 25 pts, telepathic (+1/4), AOE one hex (+½) 44 pts 5u Flight: Flight 25" 50 pts 5u Lightning: 6d6 Energy Blast, 30 points, Indirect always from above (+½) 45 pts Talking to Bugs: 8d6 Telepathy 40 points, only with insects, linked to mind control (-1/2) 26 pts Golden Body: Armor (25 pd/25 ed) 75 pts Damage Reduction 50% physical and energy reduction, 60 pts linked to armor -1/2 40 pts Healing: 3D6 30 pts Self Only (-1/2), Reduced End (0) (+1/2) , persistent (+1/2), extra turn (-1), linked to armor (-½) 20 pts Total Life Support 45 pts, linked to armor -1/2 30 pts Bag of Godly Dirty Tricks 50 + 25 pt variable power pool 75 pts Cost Skills 3 Acrobatics 16- 2 Animal Handler 13- 3 Climbing 16- 3 Combat Driving 16- 3 Deduction 11- 3 Fast Draw with Lightning 2 Gambling 11- 3 High Society 13- 3 Interrogation 13- 3 AK: Amalgam City 11- 3 AK: Land of Legends 11- 3 AK: Babylon 11- 3 Lockpicking 16- 3 Paramedics 11- 6 Navigation: Land, Sea, Air 11- 3 Riding 16- 3 Seduction 13- 3 Shadowing 16- 3 Stealth 16- 8 Survival: Temperate Climes, Arctic, Desert, Exotic places 11- 3 Tracking 11- 3 Tactics 11- 3 Teamwork 11- 2 TF: Chariots, Riding Animals 8 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Common Martial Arts Melee Weapons, Common Missile Weapons, Siege Engines. 3 Weaponsmith 11- 3 Grab 4 Punch 3 Throw 4 Choke 4 Nerve Strike 150 Points Disadvantages 30 Hunted by Demon 11- 10 Watched by the Pantheons 11- 30 Hunted by Viper 11- 10 Reputation: Golden Defender of Justice 11- 20 Public Identity 20 Subject to Orders 20 Psych Lim: Built to oppose Luther Black 10 DF: Gold Humanoid dressed in historical fashion 391 Exp points CHA Cost = 240 Total Powers Cost = 395 Total Skills Cost = 106 Total Cost = ____741___ Plot Hook 1) A major event has caused the Avenger to be recalled to the Land of Legends for an unknown time. At the same time, things have started piercing reality around Amalgam City. Is there a connection? Can the players find it while the Legionnaires defend reality? Plot Hook 2) The Avenger has busted several Demon bases. He asserts that the mastermind in charge keeps getting away during the assaults. He asks the local heroes for assistance. Plot Hook 3) The Avenger is destroyed on television by a powerful demon. Days later, he reappears explaining that he is just a replacement for the original Avenger. Is he? Background Information: Charles Beauregard Ecks, Charlie X, learned at an early age that he could read minds around him. Always a frail boy, he tried to use this native talent to improve his sickly nature so that he could do things that other boys his age did. His constant effort trained his talent to move things around him to assist him, then to enhance his body. Charlie came to the attention of PSI. His abilities should have been a wonderful addition to their arsenal once they had him trained. The mutant didn't agree. He arranged for PSI and members of the IHA to meet. The resulting conflagration allowed him to escape into nonexistence for a few years, just drifting wherever the road took him. Finally he drifted into Amalgam City a few days before the Legionnaire tryouts. When the villain brigades attacked, he used his telekinesis and telepathy to hit and run, even flying around the field for brief moments. He couldn't stop others from getting hurt or killed, but a host of villains were taken thanks to him targeting their weaknesses and informing those heroes who could act, or simply flinging nonflying bad guys high into the air on his mental strength alone. Charlie accepted the extended invitation and has been a member of the Legionnaires ever since, even becoming involved in the training program for junior legionnaires headed by Defender and Champion. Quote: "A little push is all it takes." Personality: Charlie knows well how people keep things hidden. He himself keeps his telepathy hidden, amused by others trying hard to keep their secrets from others. He believes that his gifts should be used to help others. That makes him and PSI natural enemies. He has opposed them whenever he detects their plans. His attitude has made more villainously inclined psionics to steer clear of him. Appearance: Charlie has developed from a skinny, short boy into an athlete with exceptional strength and dexterity. His hair changed to a brilliant red sometime in his teen years. Charlie wears civilian clothes such as jeans and sweat shirts. He is the team coordinator and back up blaster. He prefers that to actually going toe to toe with a powerhouse on his own. If he is cornered, he has been known to throw a villain straight up in the air and letting him hit the ground. Powers: Charlie is a telepath capable of sifting through a person's mind in a matter of seconds. Generally he uses this ability to learn things, as well as a warning in case of attack. Everything he picks up in this way is stored away in his mind until he needs it. Additionally Charlie has taught himself telekinesis that he uses in various ways. First is the traditional strength at range picking things up. He also uses it to enhance his physical abilities. He creates solid energy with it that allows him to fly, create walls, even fire blasts from his eyes. Charlie also has a knack for gadgets that he can assemble on the fly with his powers. He uses this to target vulnerabilities that his powers cannot touch on their own. Sound guns to disorient psionics, EMP blasts for power suits, even glue traps for bricks have been known to appear in his hands when he needed them. As the team coordinator, Charlie also uses his friends to his advantage when possible during combat, or for general tips about life.

Re: Every Myth Is Not True I have seen this done for cartoons where every mythical monster is an alien. I think the main one I remember is Rosswell for BND. It seems to me that cutting out all magic will lead to a world very much like Wild Cards where every power is psionic in nature and caused by altered DNA. And some people just don't like Wild Cards. Like ODDhat said, you might just need to take a break from superheroes and play some other genre for a bit to recharge. CES

Re: The New Circle 7 Character Name: Patrolman D Real Name: Philip Robertson Nationality: American Hair/Eye Color: None/Yellow Place of Birth: Amalgam City Date of Birth: 1/23/1965 Height/Mass: Shell is 6'5, 500 pounds. Phil's real body has a variable height and weight. Cost Characteristic Value 30 STR 40 45 DEX 25 40 CON 30 40 BODY 30 5 INT 15 20 EGO 20 5 PRE 15 - 4.5 COM 5 PD 8 ED 6 5 SPD 4 REC 14 END 60 STUN 65 OCV: 8 DCV: 8 OECV: 6 DECV: 6 Phases: 3,6,9,12 Cost Powers and Talents (END) Release the Energy Man Within: Duplication 70 pts, Easy Recombination + 5, Altered Duplicate (+1/4), Character is left behind and helpless -1, 46 pts Robot Body: Armor (30 pd/10 ed) 60 pts Robot Body: Full Life Support 45 pts Cost Skills 3 Combat Piloting 14- 3 Combat Driving 14- 8 TF: All Flying Aircraft, Parachuting, Common wheeled vehicles 6 Navigation: Air Sea Land 12- 3 Paramedics 12- 3 Mechanics 12- 3 Electronics 12- 3 KS: History of flight 12- 3 Climbing 14- 3 System Operations 12- 3 Demolitions 12- 2 Survival: Temperate climes. 12- 3 Tracking 12- 3 KS: Explosives 12- 3 PS: Explosives 12- 1 Perk: Pilot's license 150 Points Disadvantages 30 Hunted By Viper 11- 10 Reputation: Freak in a Tin Can 11- 15 DF: Radioactive Aura 20 Vulnerability: 2 x body from magnetic attacks 15 3d6 Unluck 15 Secret Identity 20 Psych Lim: Self Destructive 25 Accidental Change: When Shell is destroyed 38 pts experience CHA Cost = 186 Total Powers Cost = 151 Total Skills Cost = 51 Total Cost = _____388_____________ Character Name: Patrolman D Real Name: Philip Robertson Nationality: American Hair/Eye Color: None/Yellow Place of Birth: Amalgam City Date of Birth: 1/23/1965 Height/Mass: Shell is 6'5, 500 pounds. Phil's real body has a variable height and weight. Cost Characteristic Value 5 STR 15 45 DEX 25 20 CON 20 20 BODY 20 5 INT 15 20 EGO 20 10 PRE 20 -4.5 COM 5 PD 3 ED 4 15 SPD 5 REC 7 END 40 STUN 37 OCV: 8 DCV: 8 OECV: 6 DECV: 6 Phases: 3,5,8,10,12 Cost Powers and Talents (END) Flight: 20" flight Always on (-½), Reduced end (+½) 40 pts 3d6 Hand Killing Attack 45 pts, linked to flight (-½), no strength bonus (-½), does not work against radioactive shielding (-½) 18 pts Desolidification 40 pts Str affects real world (+1), not through solid objects (-½), Does not protect against damage (-1), Only to protect against Radioactivity (-1), linked to flight (-½) 20 pts Radioactive Body: Life Support 45 pts Cost Skills 3 Combat Piloting 14- 3 Combat Driving 14- 8 TF: All Flying Aircraft, Parachuting, Common wheeled vehicles 6 Navigation: Air Sea Land 12- 3 Paramedics 12- 3 Mechanics 12- 3 Electronics 12- 3 KS: History of flight 12- 3 Climbing 14- 3 System Operations 12- 3 Demolitions 12- 2 Survival: Temperate climes. 12- 3 Tracking 12- 3 KS: Explosives 12- 3 PS: Explosives 12- 1 Perk: Pilot's license 150 Points Disadvantages 30 Hunted By Viper 11- 10 Reputation: Freak in a Tin Can 11- 15 DF: Radioactive Aura 20 Vulnerability: 2 x body from magnetic attacks 15 3d6 Unluck 15 Secret Identity 20 Psych Lim: Self Destructive 25 Accidental Change: When Shell is destroyed CHA Cost = 136 Total Powers Cost = 123 Total Skills Cost = 51 Total Cost = _310_________________ Plot Hook 1) Local scientists report a trail of radioactive particles crisscrossing the city. They contact the heroes to ask what is going on. The group discovers that Patrolman D has lost his body and is frantically searching for it. Unfortunately that search is causing particles from his diminishing body to rain down on innocent civilians in harm's way. Who has the protective shell, and what is the gain for this crime? Plot Hook 2) Dr. Mike Rowe has discovered a method to keep excess radioactivity down. It's a special paint that covers the target and seals the isotope, or source, until the radiation is gone. It's been proven safe in tests. The only supply has been stolen from his lab. It's up to the heroes to figure out why. Plot Hook 3) Patrolman D's armored shell has been found in the campaign city. There is no sign of any pilot, or a power source. What has gutted the mechanical marvel and dumped his suit? Background Information: The Avenger was born in the land of legends, the product of unnatural forges at the behest of the living myths wandering the realm. His duty is to protect Earth, and by extension the other realms attached to it. Ever since Luther Black tried to usurp the power of the Ravager, the gods that populate the lands of legend have been aware of his threat. There's little they can do to oppose him on the material plane. The decision was made by the leaders of the pantheons to create an armored creature that could take the battle to the Edomite and hopefully destroy him before things got out of hand. Smith gods gathered their resources and created a hollow shell that would hold touches of power from the other gods. The last gift was life and the understanding of what would happen if Black succeeded. The Avenger was sent to Earth to carry out its mission. The Avenger calculated it would need allies to help complete its mission. The invitation for the Legionnaire gathering fell into its hands thanks to a hapless almost crime fighter it encountered. When the battle broke out, the Avenger used the gifts it had received to defend innocents that were in the crossfire. That earned it a place on the new team. The Avenger spends most of its time tracking down Demon, and averting disasters with the help of the rest of the Legionnaires. The local Demon morbanes are not pleased with this new enemy disrupting their plans at every turn. Quote: "The Hammer of Thor says suck it." Personality: The Avenger acts almost alive, wandering the city, taking part where it can. The only thing that reveals its almost mechanical nature is the mention of Demon, and the appearance of secondary trouble from beyond the veil. That causes it to lash out with ruthless finality to hunt and destroy its enemy. Appearance: The Avenger is gold skinned humanoid given a toga and sandals to wear. Sparks replace what would be eyes on a normal human. Powers: The Avenger has been given abilities from the gathered myths of the Land of Legend. It can fly, grow, shrink, control the weather and insects, shoot lightning, and is extremely durable and strong. Occasionally it will add a new trick to its repertoire, almost as if it has many more gifts than what it has displayed so far.

Re: Why should I care? If that's the players at work, there's a D&D mentality going on. They don't want to play a super hero game. Out of the list of options, you can try to get a new group, try a PCs as villain game on, or tell them that it is a hero game and then go after them. They're the heroes, they're targets. Maybe that will spark them up. CES

Re: What gives the "rightful" king the right? As an expansion on the discussion, Chris Stasheff's Her Majesty's Wizard was set up like this. The queen had the divine right to sit on the throne which conferred the ability to always be right on public decisions. CES

Re: Help: Mental Imagery into a Campaign World

Re: Help: Mental Imagery into a Campaign World If the players found the organization, you can get a ghostbusters set up to build on which can be used as a sort of plug in CES

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Lisey's Story by Stephen King. After reading so many faster paced books, it's hard for me to explain this one. Most of the book is made of recaps as Lisey's dead husband leads her through a trail of memories about their marriage and the strange place he can go to when he needs to. The modern plot is psycho stalker who wants any unpublished stories that Scott might have written but really only wants to hurt Lisey. It echoes other books that King has written like Rose Madder, and Bag of Bones, but I enjoyed the visit to familiar ground. CES

Re: Need ideas for Steampunk Over-The-Top Game Can you combine them? I haven't played half life but the early 1900's always lend to alien invasions and things. CES

Re: Palladium's Nightbane for HERO's 50 is fine with me. Personally I wouldn't worry about that until I knew what they wanted to put on their character. Then you could build all the package deals as a separate EC. ONce you have one character in hand, you can look at what the base is to work around. CES

Re: Humans are "Special" Some of this conversation reminds me of David Drake's Ranks of Bronze. Aliens take on roman soldiers as a slave army. The Romans go along with this for a while, then they decide to put their control's head on a pike and go home. CES

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? New Police Story with Jackie Chan. Inspector Chan versus a gang of psycho kids who think nothing of mowing down anyone in their way. CES

Re: Help: Mental Imagery into a Campaign World This is essentially what I'm looking for is an overall core theme. Outside of the mystical aspects in a modernish world, I'm not sure where to go with it. I'm preliminarily thinking of using the catholic angle, where the church is a main protagonist against the evils in the world, just because of the imagery and lore that goes with it. As Monster stated, agents thereof, rather than actual angels/demons and the like. I want to stick with the human angle, empowered as they might be, without massive spells and craziness. I love the part in Constantine where he reveals the tattoos on his arms and does a rather powerful thing since he's a "powerful" human, yet its overall effect on or against his enemies is little or none. I know there's a good idea in here somewhere, but its escaping me. It sounds like you have you're core idea, Remjin. The Catholic Church as hunters of monsters. The Church is noted for exorcisms against demons and the gathering of relics. That gives you an instant source for Ghostbusters type adventures as well things like Hellboy/BRPD, Supernatural, Reaper, and Bureau 13. CES

Re: Palladium's Nightbane for HERO's Palladium as a rule depends on the GM to balance things when he sets the game. Some people can't do that. As an example of something that should be easy to handle is Invulnerability as a power. Every few months there is a struggling gm that says this simple power overwhelms his game. All it does is block mundane damage like high pd/ed armor. You can still strangle the guy if you had to. It even says it in the rule book. The Ultimate Metamorph is a good book to look. Before you start converting though you might want to like get a physical description of each character. That will give you something to build powers on. If the guy looks like a winged tentacled thing, that will give you a target at power design to shoot for. CES

Re: Palladium's Nightbane for HERO's Night bane are HU characters with weirder powers generally. Maybe a lot more power in some ways, disads in the others. CEs

Re: Palladium's Nightbane for HERO's If the roll is an 11 and you add ten for PS that's a 21. Supernatural str is carry 300 times and lift five hundred times with damage added in carry 6300 pounds and lift 10,500 pounds which is a little different from hero rules on str. Something like that will be at least a 40 str. Caps on the end reserve is okay but some things can blow the whole reserve in one shot. 60 is good for a start up I guess. It will seem low end. Talents can be built as multipowers with only in morphus, and other limits CES

Re: Palladium's Nightbane for HERO's As a PALLADIUM gm of twenty years, I can almost guarantee you will not be able to build characters like Nightspawn without multiform. Additionally each nightspawn is going to need a package deal which includes regeneration, armor, power defense (cannot be transformed to other forms), high charteristics, an energy reserve for talents (and some talents can use all the power in the reserve at once), extradimensional movement only through mirrors. Starting nightspawn are going to be in the 400-500 range depending on what you allow just on powers. the only other way to do it is build a 350 hero and make everything OHID and accidental change. CES

Re: (SoloUber) Webs of the Widower Page 4 Jason's move blocked the ball, sending down the outside lane. It headed for the open street as he flew backwards. Hands caught him before he hit anything. "You're sure you're not playing any sports?" Poster Rollins slid a little but kept Jason from hitting anything hard. No," Jason said, grunting, "but I'm pretty sure someone's playing ME. Thanks for the save, there." Maybe you should try to use your environment a bit more. Jason spared a quick glance behind him. Stop being a $#@!. This isn't about you. He ran after the ball, stretching his iron claw out again. No, it's not. This isn't about you wandering around naked in a storm, yelling at Shakespeare. It's about doing what needs to be done to keep that sphere from plastering little Betty Jo into the pavement. Oh, knock it off with the passive-aggressive smarminess already. So what if fate placed a sphere-based villain right next to a sphere containment facility? It's not predestined if you freely choose to go along with it. Summa Theologica. Just kick the damn ball into the damn skate park. Jason let fly with the tire iron. The flying hook bounced and missed as the marble rolled into the light traffic passing in front of the mall. "Chloe's car." Poster ran for the open jeep. "We can use that to catch up." The marble got hit by a delivery truck and got sent flying to Jason's right, down the main road. It bounced once, then started rolling again. Jason stared down the road for a moment, before snorting. "Nah, %$#! it." With that, he started back towards the mall. Hold on. You're just going to let it roll? Jason meandered over to where he had thrown the crowbar, and picked it up. Stop being passive-aggressive. That thing's careening into everyone on the road. He strolled back to where Poster was. "Not our car. I really don't think we can ask her parents to do that." You %%$#@ bastard! People are going to DIE because of that thing! He closed his eyes, turning away from the youth. So go chase after it! Get somewhere where those plans ARE feasible! he thought, He turned back, and stared straight into Poster's eyes. "We're not heroes, Poster. Let someone else handle it." The voice, for the first time, was silent. "It's cool, man." Rollins headed for Chloe's jeep. "You did what you could." He got behind the wheel and cranked it. A moment later, he started out of the parking lot. Jason stared out towards the teen. "Huh. I just got shown up by a teenager." He pondered the event for several moments longer, then shoved his hands back into his pockets. "Screw it," he muttered. "If he wants to go off and be useless, he can do it." Frowning at his own words, Jason trudged back to the broken window, passing the girls as he went. "Hey, um...Poster just took off with your jeep." "Why didn't you stop him?" Callie made this face that was half ferocious scowl and half pouting moue. "This is an awesome story and now he's getting all the credit. You suck." She stomped inside the broken store, looking around the debris. "Don't mind her." Lorna looked on something like amusement at her friend. "She wants to be a big city reporter like her cousin. She'll get over it." Jason managed to avoid a face-fault. "You mean he was doing all that for a BYLINE? Good lord, he's, what? Sixteen?" He began gesticulating with his hands, as though directing a particularly angry orchestra. "Reporters his age should be covering football games!" His voice began to rise. "ASB elections, Prom snafus! Not class one Felony crime scenes!" Then, he stabbed at the air, crescendoing. "Even the Hardy Boys didn't run after uberhumans until they got into college!" "Idiot kid..." abruptly, he brought it back down from its crescendo and into the denouncement. "Death isn't fun," he muttered, turning back towards the broken storefront. "Kids shouldn't chase after it." "He'll be okay, Jason." Lorna looked at the devastation. "If we can find out what started this, maybe Callie will ease up on the temper tantrum. The Sheriff's Department will be here to cover things up shortly anyway." She walked over to the owner of the shop, and began talking to him. Jason huffed, shoving his hands back into his pockets. "Yeah, well...", then realized he was talking to air. Instead, he slouched the distance over to the broken window, and peered inside. "I didn't know a hamster could do that, Uncle Phil." The younger of the two customers fairly jumped and down in excitement. "That was awesome. Do it again." "Look, Will, I didn't do that." The older guy, maybe thirty with a bad complexion and glasses, looked at the destruction. "I don't think this is awesome at all." Jason thought as he made his way through the broken glass, "Destruction ain't cool, kid. People die from it." He stepped gingerly around a toppled D&D display, and turned towards the older customer. "But was that really a hamster?" he said. "I just figured I was just making jokes in the face of certain doom." "We thought it was a hamster." Uncle Phil rubbed his face. "We got it from the Ham Jam down the road. We didn't know it could do this." "It had that new protective device, Uncle Phil." Will jumped up and down. "Remember with the head lights and stuff." "That's right." Phil looked around the destruction. "Here's the box." He gave Jason a box that had a hamster about to be run over by a car. Ham Jam's Whammer Jammer screamed in bold yellow on the dark brown. "Wow." He peered closely at the box in his hands. "No, really. I mean, wow." He fiddled with the box a bit more, squinting inside for any obvious signs of nefariousness, before tossing it gently at his companion. "here y'go Velma. A clue. Hey," he said, turning back towards the older man, "Was there actually a hamster inside it, or was it just the ball running amok?" "Oh yeah we put Mike in there." Will looked down at the ground. "He was the best hamster ever." "I'll get you another one, boy." Uncle Phil rubbed an eye. "Let's go talk to the pet shop guy, Jason." Lorna hooked her arm through his. "Maybe there are more of these Whammer Jammers around." "There was a truck load, miss." Uncle Phil spread his hands out wide. "People were buying them like hot cakes when we left." *Aw, geez.* "Um, is that a metaphor, or was there an actual truck?" "Both." Uncle Phil looked up at the ceiling. "They were bringing the things in on dollies to be set out on the shelves." "Hey, um, we're planning on telling the cops about this whole Hamster Hellball thing, right?" Jason said as he allowed himself to be lead out the door. "What with their guns and badges and their promise to serve and protect, and all that stuff." "Let's look into it ourselves." Lorna smiled. "It might have just been one defective protector." Jason raised an eyebrow as the pair walked out. "Yeah. And here I was, thinking it was just MY balls that grew to enormous size when busted." As they walked back out onto the sidewalk , he not-so-casually looked around for some sort of mall map. "Uh, do you know where the pet store is?" "Yes." Lorna smiled. "Quit worrying. I'm not going to throw you down and have my wicked way with you, Tiger." The small double strip mall faced the road. On the left side and behind, an enclosed space held concrete bowls for skaters. Beyond that, Jason could see another building that faced the road the same as the mall. He could also see a sign that said PetSmart on the bottom half of the brick wall.

Re: Songs that inspire(d) you to make a Champions Character Before I even saw a game book I had an idea for a team based on eye of the tiger CES

Re: Notes from NSU Day Six Evan McCone, Dark Justice, investigated a house off the coast near the fish boiling. He found melted footprints and other clues that led him to enter the house. While he was talking to the owner who thought he was a robber, the Chemical Corps showed up. They had a running battle that destroyed the house. The kidnappers took the son living in the house for his power to turn to plasma. McCone followed them north across the border into Canada. He had several misadventures before tracking down their base. He followed the villains into the wilderness, engaged them, killed one, and was taken prisoner and brainwashed into obedience. Simon Poole and Ashlee Summer worked on the clean up, asked for a DNA sample from the dead woman at Arlington. They had a meal, then decided to work on the survivor of the theft in the hope that he was still connected somehow. The DNA test was a negative, telling them that the dead woman wasn't Johnstone. After a working a scam on Carter Nicholls, they ruled him out as having anything to do with the TROLL, or her attacks. Shana Goldstein and Will Blake tried to track Nathan Fellowes down. They followed his trail all over town until they reached Halo General. They were in time for Nathan to blow up in the operating room. Shana and Will investigated, figuring out that Nathan was constantly being monitored. They returned to the paper, finding they had a Belmont on their trail. They tried to ditch him as they flew back to Graham's hotel so they could talk to him. More Belmonts and Taylor Davidson, a wampyr, interrupted the conversation. The Belmonts were soundly beaten, but Graham decided to leave for points west. The trio split up and meet at the All Nite to talk about their plans. They decide to go to Happy's Island and at least try to rescue the others. They run into Dewer the Contract Demon. They flee across several dimensions before Taylor nullifies him. They pick up Dawson and return to the real world. Kendo Hitashi returned to his job and was taken by SRJ during a faked delivery. Nathan Fellowes woke up in the alley dressed in Patrick McGoohan's old suit again. He ran around town until he met a sailor who gave him some advice. He went to a clinic who referred him to Halo General Hospital. Initial reports indicated he was some type of artificial man with implants in his head. He took one call from Control, never guessing he was being monitored. Control blew him and the operation staff up. Frostburn went shopping at the River Mall. A commotion drew her to the tourist dock where she found the girl she had seen the night before had been turned into a dead old lady and staked in the river. She looked around and couldn't find Tam, but did find a bum who had seen the TROLL go in the river the day before after battling Frostburn and Inferno. Jui-Shen, Ninja Weasel, left the sewer Kingdom of Rats to avenge the damage done by the TROLL on Kenton. He ran into George Silver, a local bum. They found signs the armor had used the river to escape. They decided that the thing had gotten on the highway and gone somewhere out of town. The partners stowed away on a train east, stealing clothes and food. They got off in Temple City and fled from security. Pat Smith was asked to look into the strange aging deaths by Hound Roberts. He started asking questions, narrowed his field to the Aztec. He caught up with Tam on a pier and shot him. The killer got away by falling into the river. Pat went after him, encountering several of the secretive ninjas underground who directed him to Tam's lair. The killer had not returned.

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The Unnatural Inquirer by Simon Green: John Taylor has to get back a recording of the afterlife for a tabloid. CES

Re: Catgirls (and Catboys) for Fantasy I don't anything about making cat people, Mike, but it seems to me the two easiest ways of doing something like this is watching a cat and add human features. Or pick a cat person from a cartoon or manga and use that as a base model like Puss in Boots from Shrek. Just my first thoughts. CES

Re: Help: Mental Imagery into a Campaign World Also sometimes you don't need the whole background. You just need a start point. Once you have that one thing, you can add on. Take something like the Crow. The central premise is a man who comes back from the dead to avenge a wrong. If that is a start up, how many Crows are there, does anyone know about this, does the authorities use them as bloodhounds to make arrests? All kinds of things can be put on. I'm just saying that sometimes you just need that spine, that central idea. Then you can add on at will. CES

Re: Magistrate's end [story] epilogue Not far from where Jerry Silver had his accident before the second world war, a college campus had sprung. Its study of superhumans and the way they affected the world had become world famous. Hardware that wouldn't be ready for use by normal people came from its departments' skills and training. Among its student body, Jeff Bronze wandered, trying to figure out how not to flunk his classes. Jeff went with the rest of his class to a demonstration of a new accelerator that was supposed to let researchers catalogue more particles than he could remember the names. Professor Allen seemed to think they would be building the next generation of atom smashers in his class according to his syllabus. Jeff hoped not. The equipment geared up just as it was supposed to. Jeff had taken a position near the front of the tour so he could make notes. If he had to build one, he might as well write down how they were supposed to work. As far as he could see everything was going beautifully. Outside clouds gathered over the campus, promising rain for any who happened to be standing outside in the next few minutes. Imaginative observers claimed to see a face in the clouds to anyone who listened. A single stroke of lightning speared down from the cloud. Thunder was heard two miles away. Then the cloud bank broke apart. They had come to deliver that one shot of lightning and their job was done. Time to break it up and move on. Jeff stepped closer to the machinery, noting readouts and the chatter of the computers. He heard something that sounded like thunder. He put it down as impossible. He was underground, and right next to running machinery making a lot of noise. No way in the world would thunder reach where he was. Then the world decided he needed a lesson and exploded in his face. They told him later that electricity had formed a lightning bolt from one of the panels with a telephone hookup to the outside world. He had suffered some minor burns but had survived an event that axed through the nearby equipment like a barbarian. No one knew what had happened, but they wanted to do some tests to make sure he was really okay. Jeff decided it was better to go home and get some real sleep and skip getting tested. He didn't want to be a guinea pig for the brains. He could already see how they treated students who wanted to pass their classes. He was better off trying to figure out how he had survived such an event on his own. Jeff took the next few days off, worried about the constant noise in his ears, and the lights that hovered on the edge of his vision. Pain killers did nothing for that. They dulled his thinking which might have saved his life. It kept him down in a cloud until the day the scars on his body healed up instantly. He had wanted the throbbing to fade and the fading burns to go away faster. They did. That cut his fog instantly. Several times he had almost wished for himself to be gone. He could see that as accidental suicide. Jeff didn't know what had happened to him, but he had a power, and a responsibility. And if he used it wrong, it could blow him apart by mistake. Life wasn’t getting any easier. He just had to do the best he could.

Re: Magistrate's end [story] 12 They held the funeral for Jerry Silver two days after he had died. There wasn't a need for an autopsy, or any restrictions except for filing paperwork on what had happened. Kevin Reilly filed his own statement, and was back at his post within the day. He imagined bigwigs at the U.N. breathing a sigh of relief someone capable of nuking a city was gone for good. He also thought they wanted Enoch's body for something stupid and Frankensteinian. He cracked a beer himself when the Chemist reduced the corpse to two pounds of ash that would never bother anybody else. The Chemist scattered the ashes into the ocean before picking up an urn and filling it with all the ashes from Silver's cigarettes they could find. He sealed it and sent it over to the prison holding Scriptus. That should keep him from trying to find the real thing if he ever got out. The team decided that a crypt on Tower Island would be the best thing. The Chemist and Maker worked to expand the island, including her wards and protective systems before a small graveyard was built up out of stone. A statue of Silver marked where he would be laid to rest. A priest named Monahan came in to bless the ground as soon as it was ready for its first official duty. Everyone wanted to attend the funeral. It was a great photo op with a fallen hero. The Magistrates forbade it. The only people invited were Tower staff and family, Mr. Pletskin from the U.N., and various members of the hero community that wanted to attend. The ceremony wasn't televised, and Reilly actively discouraged anyone trying to sail or fly by to take pictures. John Public, Phaeton, the Chemist, Pointer, The Persian and Watcher acted as pallbearers. They walked the coffin out of the Tower and placed it on the straps to lower it in the ground at the end of the ceremony. They stood with the crowd as Monahan quietly read the eulogy and delivered his message. Then they lowered the casket into the slot carved from the rock. Monahan said a blessing, and then the Chemist sealed the grave from intrusion from anyone less skilled than he. They activated the security system as the mourners filed back to the Tower to get something to eat and drink before going home. The Magistracy were the last to leave. They had been repaired for the most part, and the Chemist had finally gotten his body back to the way it had been. The last few days had been put on taking care of immediate problems. Now they had to consider the future. "Mr. Pletskin wants to know what we're going to do." John Public stared at the grave. "Do we stay together, or break up?" "I'm for staying." Luna had an arm around Phaeton who held her with his own arm. "Phaeton and I have nowhere else to go." "I'm staying too." Quick brushed her dark hair from her eyes absently, holding her helmet with the other hand. "I like what we do for the most part." "Staying." John looked up. "We do some good so I don't see why we shouldn't keep trying. Maker, Chemist?" "I'll stay if you're staying." Maker let her armor return to a black dress and shoes. "The U.N. is helping me plan projects for assistance. I can't give that up, and I won't give you up now." Everyone looked at the Chemist. His face behind his sunglasses seemed stony and unreadable. He had placed more than few comrades in the ground around the world. Jerry had asked him to provide muscle and Jerry was gone. He could retreat to his hideaway and turn his attention to other things besides the mundane world. He found himself asking what would Jerry do if the positions were reversed. The answer was as obvious as it was painful. He would keep going no matter what. Could he do less than that? "I'll go along." The Chemist lit up a cigarette. "I have some things I have to do. Can we talk about this tomorrow?" "I thought you didn't smoke." John felt his expression match that of everyone else. It consisted of some surprise and confusion. "Just one for old time's sake." The Chemist wrote on the air, stepping through the fracture he had created. "What now, fearless leader?" Luna asked John. "We do what we can to make things better for people." John hugged Maker to him. "Let's see if any of the food is left."