Builds (2E) of FuzzyBoots - Catseye, House Rules, Zdolność

[FuzzyBoots]

So, I was rereading the stories and I realized that, in my attempt to bring her up to PL 10, I'd greatly expanded upon Pretty Deadly's powers. A much closer PL 8 approximation. Basically, she uses regular guns to deadly advantage, has a fair amount of speed, leaping, and super-human stamina, and she can change outfits at will. Murray probably should just come under contacts, but I figured I'd go ahead and make him a full minion complete with his later role as The Finn, local arms-dealer:

Pretty Deadly

Power Level: 8; Power Points Spent: 120/120

STR: +2 (10/14), DEX: +4 (10/18), CON: +6 (10/22), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +1 (12), CHA: +2 (10/14)

Tough: +6/+8, Fort: +6, Ref: +9, Will: +5

Skills: Acrobatics 5 (+9), Bluff 6 (+8), Computers 1 (+3), Concentration 2 (+3), Drive 4 (+8), Knowledge (current events) 1 (+3), Knowledge (popular culture) 1 (+3), Knowledge (streetwise) 4 (+6), Knowledge (tactics) 6 (+8), Notice 6 (+7), Sense Motive 6 (+7), Stealth 2 (+6)

Feats: All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (ranged) 3, Attack Specialization 2 (Heavy Pistol), Chokehold, Defensive Roll 2, Diehard, Dodge Focus 3, Equipment 2, Evasion 2, Favored Opponent 2 (Magical Girls), Fearless, Fighting Style: Krav Maga, Grappling Finesse, Improved Block, Improved Disarm, Improved Grapple, Improved Trick, Improved Trip, Minions 3, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Precise Shot 2, Quick Change 2, Quick Draw 2

Powers:
Enhanced Trait 28 (Traits: Charisma +4 (14, +2), Constitution +12 (22, +6), Strength +4 (14, +2), Dexterity +8 (18, +4))
Guns don't run out of ammunition, but might jam (Features 1)
Leaping 4 (Jumping distance: x25)
Magical Girl Array (Array 5) (default power: blast)
. . Lovely Field Medic (Healing 3) (Array; DC 13; Total; Stabilize)
. . Pretty Can of Whupass (Blast 4) (Default; DC 19; Explosion Area (40 ft. explosion - General); Reduced Range 2 (max range 100 ft.))
Speed 1 (Speed: 10 mph, 88 ft./rnd)

Equipment: Binoculars, Cell Phone, Heavy Pistol

Attack Bonus: +3 (Ranged: +6, Melee: +3, Grapple: +7)

Attacks: Heavy Pistol, +10 (DC 19), Pretty Can of Whupass (Blast 4) (DC 19), Unarmed Attack, +3 (DC 17)

Defense: +8 (Flat-footed: +3), Knockback: -4

Initiative: +4

Drawbacks: Normal Identity, common (when deprived of magic Maglite)

Languages: Native Language

Totals: Abilities 6 + Skills 11 (44 ranks) + Feats 37 + Powers 45 + Combat 16 + Saves 9 - Drawbacks 4 = 120

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Murray

Power Level: 8; Power Points Spent: 45/45

STR: -4 (2), DEX: +2 (14), CON: +4 (18), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +0 (10), CHA: -2 (6)

Tough: +2, Fort: +4, Ref: +3, Will: +2

Skills: Knowledge (current events) 6 (+8), Knowledge (streetwise) 10 (+12), Profession (Arms Dealer) 12 (+12)

Feats: Benefit (common sense) (Always cuts to the chase), Benefit (organizational ties) (He's the Finn), Connected, Contacts, Equipment 2

Powers:
Flight 2 (Speed: 25 mph, 220 ft./rnd; Innate; Forward Only, Power Loss (Wings))
Shrinking 8 (-8 STR, -2 Toughness, -2 size categories, 1/2 movement speed; Permanent; Innate)
Super-Senses 9 (accurate: Detect Aika, detect: Aika 2 (ranged), detect magic, extended: Detect Aika 2 (x100), scent)

Equipment: HQ: Finn's Warehouse
HQ: Finn's Warehouse
Power Level: 8; Equipment Points Spent: 10
Toughness: +10
Features: Communications, Computer, Concealed 1, Garage, Gym, Living Space, Power System, Security System 1
Totals: Abilities 0 + Skills 0 (0 ranks) + Feats 0 + Features 8 + Powers 0 + Combat 1 + Saves 1 + Drawbacks 0 = 10

Attack Bonus: +2 (Ranged: +2, Melee: +2, Grapple: -12)

Attacks: Unarmed Attack, +2 (DC 11)

Defense: +2 (Flat-footed: +1), Size: Tiny, Knockback: +1

Initiative: +2

Drawbacks: Disability, common, moderate, No hands, Impatient, uncommon, minor

Languages: Native Language

Totals: Abilities 12 + Skills 7 (28 ranks) + Feats 6 + Powers 21 + Combat 0 + Saves 3 - Drawbacks 4 = 45


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[FuzzyBoots]

Modified version without Duplication for the Toledo Knights game

Buzz
Power Level: 8; Power Points Spent: 120/120

STR: +2 (14), DEX: +4 (18), CON: +1 (12), INT: +1 (12), WIS: +1 (12), CHA: +0 (10)

Tough: +5/+7, Fort: +4, Ref: +9, Will: +4

Skills: Acrobatics 11 (+15), Computers 2 (+3), Disable Device 5 (+6), Knowledge (current events) 4 (+5), Knowledge (popular culture) 6 (+7), Notice 6 (+7), Sense Motive 6 (+7)

Feats: Attack Focus (melee) 3, Attack Specialization (Club) 2, Attractive, Defensive Roll 2, Dodge Focus 4, Elusive Target, Equipment 1, Evasion 2, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative 3, Luck, Takedown Attack 2, Uncanny Dodge (Visual)

Powers:
Duplication / Super-Speed Array
. . AP: Duplication 8 (Survival, Heroic, Duration (Continuous); Limited (Cannot dismiss duplicates); Mental Link, Progression, # Duplicates 2 (5 duplicates))
. . AP: Super-Speed (Alternate Power; Container, Passive 7)
. . . . Enhanced Trait 3 (Feats: Improved Initiative 3)
. . . . Dynamic Speed/Quickness Array 4
. . . . . . Quickness 8 [Dyn: 1/r, +3max 0PP] (Perform routine tasks at 100x speed)
. . . . . . Speed 8 [Dyn: 1/r, max 6PP] (Alternate; Speed: 500 mph, 4400 ft./rnd)
. . . . Super-Movement 2 (wall-crawling 2 (full speed); Limited (While moving))
. . . . Super-Speed Attack Array (Array 7) (default power: climbing kick; All Subtle (subtle))
. . . . . . Climbing Kick 6 (Default; DC 23; Mighty)
. . . . . . Snare 7 (Array; DC 17; Transparent; Range (touch))
. . . . . . Strike 6 (Array; DC 23; Autofire (interval 2, max +3); Mighty, Precise)
. . . . . . Stun 7 (Array; DC 17)
. . . . Leaping 1 - Running 24 ft, Standing 12 ft, High Jump 6 ft
Protection 4 (+4 Toughness)

Equipment: Cell Phone, Club

Attack Bonus: +5 (Ranged: +5, Melee: +8, Grapple: +10)

Attacks: Climbing Kick 6, +8 (DC Stability/Tou +6/23), Club, +12 (DC 19), Snare 7, +8 (DC Ref/Staged 17), Strike 6, +8 (DC 23), Stun 7, +8 (DC Fort/Staged 17), Unarmed Attack, +8 (DC 17)

Defense: +9 (Flat-footed: +3), Knockback: -3

Initiative: +16

Languages: Native Language

Totals: Abilities 18 + Skills 10 (40 ranks) + Feats 21 + Powers 40 + Combat 20 + Saves 11 + Drawbacks 0 = 119 / 120

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-------

Buzz was a character in a 1E campaign I was in some time back. The basic concept was that Amalda Krull was caught at ground zero of a super-hero battle and after getting hit by two magical blasts at once, awoke to find she had super-speed powers. Naturally, she decided to become a superhero, there not being much else to do in Trafford, PA (the setting of our adventures, a small town just east of Pittsburgh), calling herself Buzz and dressing in a variety of thrift store purchases including baggy cargo pants with lots of pockets and a set of glasses with non-refractive lenses (going for the opposite of Clark Kent's usual method for disguising himself). One of the complications she faced in life was that while she could use her super-speed to somehow create a duplicate of herself, she lacked the ability to dismiss the duplicate. By the time she realized this, there were three of them, resulting in much comedic farce as she tried to hide this fact from her parents. One of the duplicates eventually decided to lead her own life, getting multiple piercings, dressing in black leather, and calling herself "Buzzkill". When the two heroines were seen contesting during a routine foiling of a bank robbery, the press decided that Buzzkill must be the mirror universe version of Buzz and both went along with that idea for the sake of avoiding having to come up with their own story.

There were a few other aspects of her backstory, including the fact that the original Buzzkill died in combat and one of the duplicates took her place. Although they'd lost track by that time, the first Buzzkill was also the original Amalda, now survived by her unwitting duplicates. Since the bodies don't disappear when dead, rumors abound that Buzz and Buzzkill have some sort of Phoenix-like ressurection ability since every body has gone up in flames shortly after death (The products of other duplicates, gasoline, and lighters).

----

I had to play a bit fast-and-loose with the Duplication. Really, it probably should be some variant on Independent, but that required adding many ranks of Slow Fade/Total Fade and it just wasn't worth the pain. She's a fragile speedster with a few tricks. A decent neophyte hero, but definitely needs some polishing.

[FuzzyBoots]

So, I got bored and started a single-elimination mini-tournament for my various characters. I've rolled out two battles, but the third one, I've rolled it out three times now and each time I make a mistake. It's Radar Doc versus The Plastic Hunchback. The first time, I realized that Radar Doc had one more Hero Point and therefore should have made an earlier save that involved broken equipment. He eventually won that fight... until I realized that I'd missed that The Plastic Hunchback actually has Impervious 13 (Ablative for 10 points of it). I rejiggered the characters a little to accomodate for lack of options, and was eight rounds into a re-match when I realized I was running Confuse wrong. *pulls hair* One more try... but until then, the brackets and the two fights I rolled out:

Gaea's Fist vs. Grappler Baki: Unplayed
Buzz vs. Clayface VII: Buzz wins!
Face Cook vs. Sailor H: Face Cook wins!
The Flaming Dwarf vs. Presto the Magician: Presto the Magician wins!
Michael Hangman vs. Lady TNT: Unplayed
The Plastic Hunchback vs. Radar Doc: Radar Doc wins in the... fourth rematch
Magical Pretty Princess Loli-Chan vs. Prinny Y: Unplayed
Mechanix vs. Pretty Deadly: Unplayed

Buzz vs. Clayface
Since Buzz is PL 8, I let her start with her duplicates out. That... turned out to be a mistake.
Round 1:
All five Buzzes attack in turn using Autofire punches: 14+8, 13+8, 5+8, 2+8, and 7+8 makes for three hits but they fail against his Impervious vs. Bludgeoning.
Clayfaces uses Corrosion on Buzz #3, the closest one. 10+10 hits. She makes her Fort with 19+3, but Her Toughness save of 4+7 would make her Staggered+Stunned. She'll HP reroll, getting 12+7 which is enough for just Injured/Bruised+Stunned. We'll rule no knockback for this one.

Round 2:
Buzz #3 is stunned. Buzz #5 tries a Snare. 16+8 hits. Clayface's Reflex save of 4+6 is insufficient enough that he is Bound+Helpless. He decides not to reroll, figuring he can readily break out. The other three pile in with a Combined Stun attack. One misses. That means a DC of 19. Clayface rolls a 1! Which... admittedly only Stuns him. He'll let them stun him, figuring it's not going to be a future problem.
Clayface is stunned.

Round 3:
The five Buzzes look to each other and nod before rushing in, tearing away at Clayface's body with clawed hands. All five are power stunting a Corrosion effect with the Drain targeting his Reflex save for getting away. Four of them hit. The last one crits... He avoids the first drain easily with 19+6 versus DC 17. The Toughness save is 2+12=14 (It's piercing this time, so no impervious) which Bruises/Stuns him again. His second Reflex save is 4+6 and he loses all of his Impervious (It was cheap impervious. Each pp bought 4 ranks) and 3 of his Toughness save. His Toughness save of 8+12-3-1=16 means another Bruised/Stunned. He gets the same Reflex save of 4+6 again and loses 7 more toughness. Toughness save of 15+12-10-2 is enough for another Bruised/Stunned. In the last pass, 14+6 means he only loses 1 more point of Toughness. 19+12-11-3 means Bruised/Stunned/Staggered... He makes his save against the Stun toughness save, but is still stunned from combat.
He burns his Hero Point to shake off the Combat stun and tries to break the snare. The snare's toughness save of 2+7 is insufficient against his Enhanced Strength 10 and he snaps it.

Round 4:
Again, the gauntlet of Autofire blows, this time not dulled by Impervious or much toughness. 20, 17, 16, 19, and 10... the dice do not favor Clayface tonight. That will be a DC 29, DC 24, DC 24, DC 24, and a miss (defenders win ties). His Toughness saves... the first one is a 1 and he's out cold. The rest are just humiliation.

Yeah... I should have realized that 5 PL 8 opponents are going to mop the floor with a PL 10 opponent. Plus, he heavily underestimated them with that first attack. Without the snare hampering him, some of those Corrosion attacks would not have hit.

Sailor H vs. Face Cook.
Round 1
Sailor H starts by trying to Startle. 1+19-5 is pretty bad and Face Cook's 14+8 (Will Save) resists it. Sailor H's Gimp hits with 19+8. Fortitude DC of 18. Face Cook easily makes that with 19+8
Face Cook responds with a Custard Pie to the face. 13+12 is more than sufficient to hit. Sailor H's reflex save of 8+18 is just enough to duck her head to avoid more than some custard hitting her. Face Cook closes in, Frying Pan at the ready.

Round 2
Sailor H strikes at Face Cook. 3+8 is insufficient to hit. Sailor H bounds back 50 feet to get distance between them.
Face Cook wings the frying pan at Sailor H. 13+12 is sufficient to hit. DC 23 toughness save. Easily done with 17+11.

Round 3
Sailor H elongates her whip and strikes. 5+8 fails as well.
Face Cook whistles and the frying pan flies up from the ground to strike at Sailor H again. This will be unexpected and considered to be a sneak attack. 5+12 is sufficient to hit flatfooted defense. 5+11 leaves Sailor H with a stunned/Bruised result! Face Cook closes 30 feet of the distance between them.

Round 4
Sailor H is stunned.
Face Cook runs the rest of the distance, letting the frying pan rebound into her hands, and starts hammering Sailor H. 17+10 hits enough for a DC of 29. Sailor H rolls a Toughness save of 17+11-1 and is merely Bruised again.

Round 5
Sailor H again tries to startle. 1 again! 1+19-5-1 versus 20+8! Face Cook is entirely unfazed. Strike for 7+9 and Sailor H misses again.
Face Cook hammers again with the frying pan. 16+10 is sufficient for a DC of 28. And Sailor H rolls 5+11-2! She'll use an HP to reroll for 2+10+11-2 and is merely Bruised/Stunned again. Face Cook uses Extra Effort and attacks again to take advantage of the Stun. 4+10 is only enough to hit for one extra point of damage for a DC of 26. 18+11-3 and Sailor H just avoids further damage.

Round 6
Sailor H tries again with the Gimp. 15+8 will hit but Face Cook's fortitude save of 16+8 avoids any damage. Sailor H leaps over Face Cook's head to the other side of the arena, a good 80 feet away.
Face Cook turns and runs 30 feet before throwing a soup tureen at Sailor H's head. 18+12 hits easily. Damage DC of 23. 5+11-3 and Sailor H is Staggered/Stunned/Bruised!

Round 7
Sailor H is stunned.
Face Cook runs another 30 feet and throws a coffee urn. 16+12 hits again for DC 23. 2+11-4 and Sailor H takes a second Staggered result, dropping her to Unconscious!

Yeah, that one was just bad rolls. Face Cook didn't even pull out her Regeneration or the Homing on her attacks...

[FuzzyBoots]

Presto the Magician vs. The Flaming Dwarf
If The Flaming Dwarf can avoid getting mind controlled, I think he has this one in the bag. It's kind of a Save-or-Die situation, though.
Initiative: TFD 16+4 PtM 5+2

Round 1
The Flaming Dwarf turns on his flame suit, and runs in to throw a punch. Due to his reduced movement speed from being short, he needs to use Extra Effort to be able to attack after the double move. 8+8=16 is readily foiled by Presto due to his Uncanny dodge based on vision.
Presto starts chanting his mantra for concealment. Presto steps back and disappears from sight. He then slips a few throwing knives out of his sleeves and launches them at TFD. 6+5 doesn't even hit the flatfooted defense.

Round 2
TFD is fatigued, but tries to figure out approximately where Presto is. His Notice check of 17+8=25 is good, enough to know the approximate location albeit still with a miss chance. Miss chance of 50% and 16 means the attack misses.
Presto again peppers TFD with knives while moving. 11+5 hits flatfooted defense. Toughness save of 10+3 (no defensive roll) versus DC 19 means Bruised/Injured/Stunned. Concentration check to maintain his aura/defensive roll is 7+14 which is quite sufficient.

Round 3
TFD is stunned.
Presto continues circling TFD and throwing knives. 12+5 will hit, but the Toughness save of 17+3-1 means no damage.

Round 4
TFD fails to locate Presto with a Notice check of 2+8. Total Defense wouldn't do him any good since it raises Dodge bonus, which is negated by the Concealment, so he'll Bluff as a Standard action, trying to convince Presto to reveal himself. 3+1 can't compete with Presto's Sense Motive.
Presto once again moves and throws his knives, trying to wear down TFD. 10+5 will hit. Toughness save of 9+3-1 means TFD is Bruised/Injured/Stunned again. 10+14 maintains his sustained effects.

Round 5
TFD is stunned.
Presto decides to drop the Concealment and try for a rapid hypnosis Mind Control effect. TFD's Will save of 11+6 fails. Presto tries commanding him to forfeit the fight which gives TFD an additional save at +2. 14+2+6 successfully saves and TFD breaks control.

Round 6
TFD rushes in and attacks Presto again. 15+7 just misses due to fatigue. TFD, knowing it's now or never, uses extra effort to surge. 9+7 fails, but he still has an HP, so he does a heroic re-roll. 2+10+7 will fail.
Presto switches back to Concealment and returns to his throwing knives. 13+5 will hit. Toughness save of 7+3-2 means TFD is Staggered/Stunned/Disabled.

Round 7
TFD is exhausted and yields, knowing that further exertion might kill him.

----

Yeah... Concealment versus all senses is just plain nasty. I don't think The Flaming Dwarf ever had a chance there.

[FuzzyBoots]

Radar Doc vs. The Plastic Hunchback
Given a good bit of Radar Doc's points are tied up in his craft skills, so we'll let him bring an Invention to the fight. He chooses a Ranged Drain Toughness 10 (Alt Save: Reflex) effect. His Craft check of 13+20+4 (Interface) +4 (Mechanical Genius) lets him jury-rig up his Radar Harness to be able to have this effect for the encounter for an HP.

Initiative: Radar Doc 19+2. The Plastic Hunchback 6+1

Round 1
Radar Doc fires off his invented Drain. 13+8 will hit. The Plastic Hunchback's Reflex save of 10+5 means it loses 5 points of Toughness. That will be three points of Reflective/Impervious, and two of Toughness. Radar Doc than backs up by 30 feet.
TPH moves forward 35 feet, and then another 25 to be adjacent to Radar Doc.

Round 2
Radar Doc frantically fires off his drain again. 10+8 will hit again. 13+5 means only two more points of toughness are lost. One of Reflective/Impervious and one of Toughness. He backs up 30 feet which puts him against the wall of the arena.
TPH wades in and strikes. 7+8 doesn't beat Radar Doc's defense.

Round 3
Radar Doc fires his Radar gun, attempting to irradiate The Plastic Hunchback. 7+10 is sufficient, causing a DC 25 save. 16+13-3 saves handily, but another point of Ablative Reflective is chipped off.
The Plastic Hunchback AoAs for 5. 16+5+8 will hit. Radar Doc initially saves for 8+12 which would result in Stun, but spends an HP for a reroll. 19+12 results in no damage.

Round 4
Radar Doc spends an HP to gain PA and again fires his Irradiation blast, aiming for TPH's head for PA 5. 10+10-5 will hit TPH's reduced defense for DC 30. 16+13-3 results in a Bruised/Injured condition.
TPH AoAs for 3 this time. 11+5+8 will hit. Radar Doc initially saves at 4+12, but HP rerolls for 20+12 for no damage.

Round 5
Radar Doc starts to wish that he'd picked up Power Attack as he fires again. 17+10 will hit easily. DC 25 Damage save. 3+13-4! TPH uses his sole HP to reroll. 15+13-4 means another Bruised/Injured.
TPH AoAs for 5. 19 hits and triggers a Crit. Radar Doc initially rolls a 4, but uses his last HP to get 17+12 for just a Bruised result.

Round 6
Radar Doc fires wildly. 19+10 hits. Toughness save of 7+13-5 means a Staggered result. Radar Doc uses his movement to get 30 feet away.
TPH uses his movement to close in and Extra Efforts to get a strike in with AoA 5. 15+8+5 will hit, but Radar Doc rolls 20+12-1 so save for no damage.

Round 7
Radar Doc again moves away, attempting to drain toughness this time. 19+8 will hit. TPH's Reflex save of 18+5 results in no drain.
TPH is Fatigued, but closes in and Extra Efforts to attack again with AoA 4. 14+7+4 hits for a DC of 27. Radar Doc rolls an unlucky 2+12-1 and is Staggered/Stunned with no HP. His Concentration check of 10+2 is insufficient to maintain his force field.

Round 8
Radar Doc is stunned.
TPH is Exhausted, but strikes again with AoA 2. 2+5+2 will miss!

Round 9
Radar Doc reactivates his Force Field and fires his Radar Gun at TPH. 20! Except... TPH is immune to critical hits. Still, it's a DC 25. And... 20+13-5 means it's for naught anyhow.
TPH strikes again with AoA 2. 10+5+2 will miss.

Round 10
Radar Doc realizes he's still more mobile than his opponent and retreats 30 feet for his action.
TPH gamely moves forward 17.5 feet.

Round 11
Radar Doc moves back another 30 feet.
TPH moves forward 17.5 feet. The crowd hisses and boos.

Round 12
Radar Doc fires his Radar gun. 7+10 will hit for DC 25. 13+13-5 will result in just another Bruised/Injured.
TPH moves forward 17.5 feet.

Round 13
Radar Doc backs away another 30 feet.
TPH moves forward 17.5 feet.

Round 14
Radar Doc fires his gun. 5+10 will just miss.
TPH moves forward 17.5 feet.

Round 15-16
Radar Doc moves back another 50 feet (he has to start circling the Arena wall).
TPH moves 35 feet.

Round 17
Radar Doc fires. 8+10 hits. 11+13-6 means another Bruised/Injured as well as a Stunned result.
TPH is stunned.

The match is called by the referree who rules that there is no way that TPH will ever catch up.

----
That was actually a very close match, albeit one where one lucky hit could have caused either side to win. Staggered can be a game-ender, especially if you also become Exhausted because the other person can then start outpacing you.

[FuzzyBoots]

^_^ And now, the narrative form of this.

-------

"And so I said to him, 'Leave the sheep behind, buddy, because I'm allergic to lambskin!'"
As laughter roared from the audience, Bella Hindman placed one hand up to her mouth and widened her eyes as if she were just now becoming aware of the social gaffe and the laughter doubled.
"Well, ladies and gents, I've had a wonderful time tonight, and I hope you have too. My act tonight is over, but I'll be helping to serve drinks along with our lovely bartender and his handsome waitresses. I'm told tonight's featured dish is Freedom sausages served with a side of Freedom cabbage. Eat up, hey?" She took her bow and gracefully descended from the stage and made her way to the bar, cracking jokes with patrons as she passed.
"How's the patronage tonight, partner?" she said to the bartender with a saucy smile.
"Eh, pretty good. Careful around that corner table tonight," he said with a slight nod in their direction, "Group of 'wise guys' out on the town. They've haven't made trouble yet, but watch your step." Bella leaned back against the bar and casually scanned the crowd, noting the location of the mentioned group.
"Well, you know I can handle myself, probably better than some of the new girls. Have they already made their order?" In short order, Bella was walking back to the table with a tray of drinks in-hand. As she approached, she caught a few fragments of whispered conversation.
"... docks are off-limits..." "... standard fee for usage, but I don't like it..." "... just until after tonight..."
As she set the drinks down, she made sure to bend over properly to flash her cleavage at the gangsters.
"Here are your drinks... is there any other way I can help you?" One of the men snickered and spoke.
"Oh, I dunno... name, address, any cute sisters... my friends and I are looking for some entertainment tonight. Y'know... if you're off the clock." Bella smiled pleasantly and pictured him with an M-80 stuffed up his nostril. Only after the imaginary explosive had gone off, taking off bits of his face did she reply.
"I'm afraid I've got another gig after this one, but thank you for being so kind," she said with a curtsey. Busy for the next several years if I need to be, buster... "Enjoy your night, gentlemen." She then walked over to one of the other nearby tables and started a conversation there with one of the frequent patrons, keeping half an ear to the conversation behind her.
"Yeah, that's one cute comedienne... bet she'll put a smile on your face, huh?" "Ah, you were shot down good and proper. Now how's the numbers gig?" As Bella circulated around the tables, she continued to try to overhear bits of their conversation, but got little more than that there was something going on at the docks that night and it didn't directly involve the local crime syndicates. She couldn't pin down a time, not being able to ask directly, but knew that it was happening some time just after midnight. An hour of schmoozing later, Bella raised her eyebrows at the bartender who nodded, indicating that her shift was officially up. With a half hour of overtime too, I hope! She walked out the front door and walked a bit down the street, checking for tails, before ducking down an alleyway and slipping into a convenient shadowed doorway. She popped open her communications radio.
"Radar Doc. Come in, Radar Doc," she spoke into it. After a few seconds of crackling static, a nasal voice came through.
"This is Radar Doc. Lady TNT? I take it you have a lead on some bad eggs?"
"Eh, not so much bad eggs themselves as a rotten basket. Word is, something's going down at the docks around midnight, some kind of shipment, no one local oddly enough. What do you say we get the team together, huh?" Her words were greeted by another burst of static followed by a muffled thud of metal against metal and then Radar Doc speaking away from the radio.
"Plastic Hunchback, settle down! Later tonight. Later! I wager the Golem of Prague never acted like an anxious puppy..." He spoke again directly into the device. "Hunchback is here helping me with one of my experiments. I'll drop the word to Michael Hangman and The Flaming Dwarf. I think Face Cook's off in the kitchen right now, cleaning up. Still kind of creepy, the way she insists on doing all of that menial work, but blood, or ink in her case, will tell, I guess. Shall we meet at 11:00 PM at headquarters?"
"I'll be there with bells on," said Bella, "We'll figure out a plan of action then." She closed her communicator and did a rapid costume change in the darkness before hopping over the back wall. Well, it will take me less than a half hour to walk to the HQ. Maybe I'll be lucky and run into some muggers...

Fortunately for the muggers, but unfortunate for her boredom, Bella ran into none such by the time she got to the building the city had supplied for the Defenders Six. It was a small brownstone painted with a large "D6" on the front. It's a bit of a dump, really, but hey, better than us trying to run headquarters out of my little one bedroom flat, right? She punched in her keycode on the panel Radar Doc had installed by the door when they moved in, waited for the door to acknowledge if, then walked in.
"Honey, I'm home!" she yelled up the stairs as she walked up. At the top, Face Cook stood, her head cut off coincidentally by the overhand of the ceiling at the top.
Face Cook cried back, "You better have clean shoes. I jus' washed da floor, child" Bella grimaced and removed her shoes, walking the rest of the way up in her stocking feet. By the time she was at the top, Face Cook had bustled off, cleaning another section of the house. The other way down the hall, Radar Doc yelled out, "Lady TNT, would that be you?"
"Yup," she yelled back, "I'm billing you guys if I get a hole in these socks, though." Radar Doc shuffled out of one of the doors, looking every inch the nebbish absent-minded professor in his fluffy bunny slippers.
"I see that she got you too," he said with a rueful grin, "Let's head to the meeting room before she decides to launder our socks as well." The meeting room was the former dining room, still sporting a long table down the center, although Radar Doc had done something to it that made the top nearly indestructible, a boon when things got too heated. In one corner, the half-melted form of the Plastic Hunchback stood, the components of a clock spread across his palms. He turned his head to her and nodded before closing his hands together for a few seconds, opening them again to show the rebuilt clock.
"Huh, getting good at that, Hunchback," she said. The Plastic Hunchback curved his ruined metal features in what was probably meant to be a smile, accompanied by the squeal of metal rubbing against itself. He then held the clock up and pointed at it, head cocked off to one side.
"They've still got another 10 minutes or so before they're later, right Radar Doc?" The man addressed glanced about distractedly, having been absorbed in readouts from his Radar Headset.
"The only one we're missing now is the Flaming Dwarf. Isn't that right, Michael?" As she finished speaking, a hooded figure materialized at the head of the table. Sweeping back his hood to show his dark features, Michael Hangman let out a few choice Punjabi oaths.
"One day, I will find a way to bypass your infernal devices," he said, his voice devoid of humor.
"One day, my friend, one day," Radar Doc said with a gracious nod and a sheepish smile. Downstairs, the series of beeps heralding someone entering in their keycode sounded. And then nothing. Another rapid series of beeps were followed by pounding on the door and muffled cursing.
"Radar Doc, how about you let Flaming Dwarf in before he batters down the door?" Bella said with a wry smile. Radar Doc rolled his eyes and walked down to the door. Soon, he and a red-faced Flaming Dwarf were seated at the table. Face Cook slipped in and stood by the door, broom in hand, waiting impatiently. Bella rose and started speaking.
"To make a long story short, folks, I've called you all here because there's something going down at the docks tonight."
"And let me guess, you don't know specifics," interrupted the Flaming Dwarf, "because you only caught part of the conversation." Bella smiled thinly at him.
"Yup," she said flatly, staring at him, "Although it's a damn sight more than the rest of you bring in, so I'm not exactly feeling bad about being slightly vague." She looked up at the rest of the group and continued, "As our fine fiery friend has said, we don't know specifics. All I know is that the mob got paid off to stay away from the docs." Michael Hangman raised one elegant eyebrow at her and motioned in the air to get to the point. Bella raised her own eyebrow at him and returned with a rude gesture. "The mob aren't mewling cowards neither, so something's got them scared off from this. That means it's probably significant enough that we'd better deal with it." She glanced up at the clock and added, "And with the time it took to get everyone gathered here and explicate this, we've got maybe five minutes to get there to deal with this and it takes at least twenty from here. Radar Doc, have you got the autogyro fueled up? Will it get us over there in time?" Radar Doc frowned and tapped his lip. "It will be a tight squeeze and we will likely be late to the party, but we'll be there before they can finish unloading everything at least, yes?"
"Yeah, sounds good," Bella said and turned to the rest of the group. "Unless, of course, there's any objections to us going out and kicking some butt?" A general chorus of half-hearted grunts and "ayes" murmured through the room. Bella sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose. Like herding cats, sometimes...
"Right, then let's get going, huh?"

As they neared the docks, Bella saw enough lights to indicate a substantial amount of activity.
"Set the autogyro a decent distance away, Doc," she said. Maybe we can still get some surprise out of this. After landing, she turned to Michael Hangman. "Now you and I don't always get along so good, but we're the only ones in this gang who have half a chance of sneaking in and out without sounding like we're leading a parade. Are you with me? If not, I'm sure I can handle this all on my little lonesome..." Michael Hangman grinned back, showing both rows of teeth contrasting against his dark skin.
"Anything you can do," he said, slipping the hood over his head and beginning to fade from sight, "I can do better." Bella snorted in a completely un-ladylike manner and turned to the rest of the team.
"If we can, we'll observe things and come back. If not, I'll give a yell over the communicator. Or maybe blow something up... that might make a better signal. Either way, be prepared to run in to our position when you hear the signal." She then slipped into the shadows and began making her way down to the docks, giggling quietly as she noticed a blur suddenly dart forward as Michael realized she was getting ahead of him and started pushing his mystical powers past the speed at which they could conceal him. She slowed her pace where necessary to let him keep up without blowing his cover, but the two of them easily made their way to the docks. Bella started to slip among the crates by the workers and she presumed Michael was doing so as well. We make a pretty decent team most of the time... shame that he's so hung up about women and their "proper roles"... Slipping among the workers, she noticed nothing terribly suspicious, just a group of workers offloading crates from a ship. They're kinda quiet, though... I don't think I've heard them say a word to each other this whole time. Well, might as well call in the cavalry. The rest of the team approaching will either scare up some trouble, or just cause trouble as we bother a bunch of innocent workers. She leaned against one of the crates and whispered into her communicator, "Things are oddly quiet down here. How about you guys come down and make a little noise. Nothing big or aggressive, just a friendly presence from the local heroes."
"Huh? You need us to come in aggressive? Alright, here goes," came Radar Doc's response. Bella snarled and fiercely whispered, "No... not aggressive! Hello? Hello?" She closed her communciator and slid up the side of the crate. "Damn," she said quietly, as she started to hear the loud thud of footfalls from the approaching team, particularly Plastic Hunchback's metallic clang. She started to step out of the shadows to assure the workers when one of them suddenly stood upright, and yelled, "Aufmerksamkeit! Jemand kommt! Bereiten Sie Ihre Gewehren vor!" and they started pulling up at their jackets to reveal an array of pistols and machine guns. Shit, Germans! That one's got a grenade. Huh, well they're not the only ones... She started to shake a low-yield explosive out of her sleeve when a palpable wave passed through her, causing her breath to catch for a moment. She shook it off even as the false dock-workers began to panic, some dropping their guns in the process. I really have to talk to him about "friendly fire" when he uses that thing... She stepped out from the shadows and flung the explosive into a small knot of frightened Krauts.
"Hey, Jerries! Welcome to America!" she yelled as it went off, tossing three of them into the crates nearby, blissfully unconscious. Amazingly, one of the soldiers had spotted the explosive coming in and had ducked behind a crate as it went off, and stood back up, entirely unharmed, but still shaken. Lady TNT saw a noose appear from nowhere and settle around the neck of one of the Germans, but he managed to get his hand underneath it, and pull it loose before it could strangle him. Two of the soldiers bolt, but two others raise their guns at the suddenly revealed Lady TNT and open fire. She agilely ducked under one blow and let another pass through her cape as she leapt back into the all-concealing shadows, hopping over various crates as she headed toward the ship. Michael and the rest should be able to handle the stragglers. I'd better make sure none of them reach the ship! She hurled a stick of dynamite onto the gangplank, but it rolled off before exploding, only blowing off a few small chunks. She started to settle back into the shadows when one of the soldiers yells, "Die Explosivstofffrau!" and points at her location. She's growled under her breath as she braced herself to dodge a hail of bullets, but they were apparently more concerned with escaping than trying to take her down. I feel almost like I should feel insulted... The crack of gunfire made her turn her head, where the revealed Michael Hangman standing impassively as bullets chewed up the dock to either side of him. Brave man... Stupid, but brave.

A loud cry of "Varmints!" split the air and Bella turned up to the front of the dock where her teammates approached, Face Cook loosing a saucepan while still some distance away which visibly curved to strike one of the Germans in the head, causing him to collapse and drop his gun. She saw Michael Hangman blur out again as one of the fleeing spies stopped and shook his head, pulling a potato masher from his belt as he did. A bit further down, Michael blurred back into view again, now holding one of the dropped grenades. He winged it at the gangplank, again causing little more than superficial damage.
"You idiot!" yelled Lady TNT, "Man with gun! Right in front of you!" The hood came to face her position and the sleeves move such that she knew he'd remembered her rude gesture at the meeting well enough to give it right back to her. Lady TNT heard a hiss and saw smoke start to wisp up from the gangplank. Probably Radar Doc directing his funny gun at it. Wood's too wet to go up, though! A blaze of light caught her view and the last remaining guard with a gun went down under the small fiery bulk of The Flaming Dwarf. She turned and pulled another stick of dynamite out, attaching a small spike to one end before ligthing it and lobbing it over the heads of the fleeing spies where it landed dead center on the gangplank. They couldn't check their speed quickly enough and all but the one remaining standing guard were piled on the gangplank when the explosive went off, disintegrating the gangplank and throwing chunks of wood and stunned Germans into the bay below. The one remaining guard stared shakily at the destruction and managed a whispered "Scheiße" before The Plastic Hunchback plowed into him and bounced him across the dock. Bella looked over the expanse of the dock, half lit with smoldering bits of wood, and sighed happily.
"I do love it when an explosion comes together..."

[FuzzyBoots]

As the last thug fell to the fist of The Flaming Dwarf, The Plastic Hunchback skidded to a stop on the dock, the boards creaking ominously under his weight.
"Is all well?" hollered Radar Doc, prompting a shushing from The Flaming Dwarf. "The enemy obviously knows we're here," says Radar Doc irritably.
"We're all clear down here, although we could use some help cleaning up," was the yell back from Lady TNT.
"See?" Radar Doc said, waving one hand dismissively at The Flaming Dwarf who just growled at him before dousing his flames and stalking toward the other end of the dock. Radar Doc happily pointed out the strongest boards for The Plastic Hunchback to walk across. Once they'd arrived, they started to fish out the drowning spies when a series of dark cars screeched to a halt on the other side of the dock. A quartet of men in dark suits exited, accompanying a gaggle of policemen.
"This operation is under our jurisdiction," said one of the dark-suited men in a bored tone, flashing a wallet badge, "Please vacate the premises in an orderly fashion."
"That's bull," said Radar Doc, hustling forward, "We're duly appointed costumed heroes in support of all non-war-related..." Radar Doc trailed off as several aspects of the fight suddenly came together for him. "Those were German agents... and if they were German agents then the fragments of fur wouldn't — just a second, gentlemen" He quickly hurried back to the rows of crates, locating a crate which had a patch of hair caught in the crack. He strode back and waved it triumphantly ans said, "If these people are German, then this patch of primate hair has no purpose here!" Everyone stared at him before Michael Hangman asked in his usual smooth baritone, "And this means what, Doc?" Radar Doc smiled widely and opened his mouth... and closed it again. "No idea. But... but it is important!" Bella sighed as the professor once more showed his overall flakiness.
"Wonderful," she said drily, then turned to the dark-suited men. "FBI, right?" When one nodded in assent, she smiled tightly and said, "With the Freedom Brigade missing, we are the primary team in place for super-powered threats. If you can assure us that this is not such a case, we would be glad to turn it over to you. If not, we will insist on being kept in the loop." The agents stepped back and conferred hurriedly before one of them stepped out and asked, "Am I speaking with the leader of the Defenders Six then?" Bella smiled tightly and said, "Such as it is... we're more of a loosely bound group of confederates than a proper super-hero group." She shrugged and added, "We were all operating independently until the Freedom Brigade disappeared and we were asked to step up into their place."

-------

After the federal agents arrive to take away the unsurprisingly unhelpful spies, Radar Doc argues that they should search the crates. Michael Hangman, Lady TNT, and The Flaming Dwarf argue that it's not a proper use of their talents. The Plastic Hunchback starts lumbering about, lifting boxes casually and shaking them slightly. After he does this to a container marked 'fragile' and the broken bits of a leg-shaped lamp are found, he is told to stand quietly by the edge of the dock, which he does. Michael leaves a note in the box stating that the lamp was broken in the event of defending the US against foreign spies and he encloses a coupon for a free repair at one of his competitor's antique shops that he'd picked up in the weekly poker game. Face Cook, for her part, starts sweeping and dusting and is soon out of sight, her position occasionally announced by a muffled imprecation at the state of the warehouse and how all it needs is a little elbow grease. Radar Doc becomes increasingly frustrated as he realizes that his Radar Harness will only let him look at one box at a time even if he doesn't have to open the box or even look in its direction (Obviously, his super-senses build needs Rapid to be of much use...). It's almost a relief when the air raid sirens go off and the flaming vehicle shoots across the sky.
"Thank God," mutters Lady TNT then speaks in a louder voice, "Come on, everyone, we have to investigate that! I'm sure that the nice policeman will have no problem dealing with sorting through all of the crates." She then starts loping toward the street to hail a cab for them. Radar Doc is about to suggest everyone piling into the autogyro before he realizes that a) not everyone will fit comfortably and b) flying across the cityscape when the air raid sirens are blaring probably is less than a bright idea. He applies the anti-theft devices to the autogyro and they argue over who pays the cab fare all the way over.

[Radar Doc's Knowledge (Civics) is 16+6=22 which means he knows who they are (FBI) based on the situation and his Conspiracy Theorist feat kicks in for an additional Investigate check for 6+8=14 which is sufficient for him to recognize that these are German agents trying to smuggle something in and he knows there's some kind of animal involved.] [Lady TNT's Diplomacy check of 13+4+3=20 takes the agents from Indifferent to Friendly]

Upon arriving at the State Forest, they start making their way toward the source of the fire. The Plastic Hunchback balks at the edge of the flames, recognizing his old nemesis of fire. Radar Doc extra efforts a Weather Control effect off of his radar harness, using energy beamed into the clouds above to cause it to rain. His roll of 19+10 versus the fire's 13+6 is sufficient to douse the flames. Radar Doc gets an HP for his quick heroic thinking which he uses to buy off the fatigue from Extra Efforting. At the site of the craft, they close in cautiously, wary on defense systems. Radar Doc and The Plastic Hunchback both realize the oddness of the craft, although of course, Radar Doc is the one able to express it more clearly. They also notice the superheroes strapped in, and start removing them to a safe distance from the craft and applying medical aid. Lady TNT happens to be the one dealing with The Invisible Agent, and her notice check of 9+11 is sufficient to notice the attache case beneath him and pick it up. Radar Doc uses his Eidetic Memory for Knowledge (Current Events) checks of 18+6, 19+6, 9+6, 2+6, 3+6, and 6+6 which is sufficient for knowing details about Commander USA and Doctor X (he has a bit of a geek squee over the good Doctor's unconscious body). He recognizes the rest as other members of the Freedom Brigade, but doesn't know much about them other than their allegiance. He uses his two rolls from Conspiracy Theorist to roll for Investigation and Knowledge (Current Events). His rolls of 13+8 and 1+6 means he correctly deduces that something is odd here but can't think of any recent events that would tie into it. Basically, short of complete incapacitation of the crew, the ship shouldn't have crashed like it did, and if it crashed like it appeared to, there should be more damage. As it is, it looks like the ship came to a more gradual descent at the last moment.

Face Cook begins applying lots of bright white bandages (her Healing power) to the fallen superheroes, but misses on their relative lack of injury with her Medicine roll of 3+8. While she's busy with that, Radar Doc scans the attache case. Seeing no traps, he empties the contents. Radar Doc can't miss either of the two rolls, and quickly divines the purpose of the transmitter. Neither of his two rolls trigger his Conspiracy Theorist feat.

As the fallen superheroes start to revive, Lady TNT is there to assuage their fears and explain the circumstances. They tell their tale of being turned away by the Japanese Navy and being shot down on their way in. Sense Motive checks of 6+8, 12-1, 9+13, 6+21, 16+2, and 3+3 leave Bella and Vash certain that something's not quite right here. They share a glance before turning back to eliciting more information. As they speak, The Invisible Agent brushes himself off and walks off. The Plastic Hunchback can see him with his True Sight, but sees nothing unusual other than the abrupt departure. It's not long before the local police and firefighters arrive and The Defenders Six are soon made to feel like chopped liver once more as they're largely ignored in the wake of the "real" superhero team's return. Afterwards, they head their separate ways, agreeing to meet briefly at headquarters before heading to the rally together.

The next morning, there's a message waiting for them from the Mayor thanking them for their services, but informing them that said services will no longer be needed now that the Freedom Brigade is back, and that they will soon be charged rent for their headquarters if they do not vacate it. Dispirited, they arrive at the rally to find that with the arrival of the Freedom Brigade, the city has pulled out all stops, bringing in celebrities from around the country to fête the returned heroes, and their position has been limited to opening remarks. Bella does her best, warming up the crowd with jokes with an 18+9 roll on Perform (Comedy) and Michael Hangman following it up with an eloquent speech on how much they've enjoyed the privilege of serving the City but how they would be happy to return the bulk of those duties to the Freedom Brigade (14+7+2 Diplomacy moves the crowd from Indifferent to Friendly) [an HP to both of them for good roleplaying and being good sports]. They're quickly upstaged by the Freedom Brigade arriving in their flying submarine, and are utterly gobsmacked when the Nazi gorillas (The adventure doesn't state the number of ape soldiers, so I'll assume two squads of 4) pile out. The heroes get an HP for the tricky situation dropped on their laps.

Initiative:
Lady TNT 15+5
* The Sea Hawk 17+2
* The Invisible Agent 16+2
The Flaming Dwarf 12+4
Radar Doc 14+2
The Aryan Ape 13+2
Face Cook 12+2
* Commander USA 8+4
Michael Hangman 9+3
(0) Storm Gorillas B 9+2
* Doctor X 10+1
* The Magister 3+3
* Madame Radium 2+2
(0) Storm Gorillas A 1+2
The Plastic Hunchback 2+1

Phew...

Round 1
Lady TNT has a reasonably free shot at dropping explosives at the feet of the Storm Gorillas with The Aryan Ape caught in the center (The Freedom Brigade are too far forward to get caught in it) without hurting the civilians. Reflex saves of 14+4, 1+4, 7+4, 8+4, 4+4, 11+4, 15+4, 11+4, and 9+7 mean only two of the Gorillas take half damage. They will save against DC 19 while the rest face DC 23. 17+4, 17+4, 11+4, 12+4, 10+4, 17+4, 6+4, 17+4, 9+6 means that all but one of the Gorillas are felled and The Aryan Ape is Bruised/Injured and Stunned. He suffers knoback of 5 (25 feet) and caroms off of the submarine. He initially rolls 3+6-1 but fiats a reroll for 15+6-1 to only gain another Bruised. Lady TNT gets an HP. Lady TNT uses her Move action to move back to by her teammates, specifically next to The Plastic Hunchback.
The Sea Hawk draws her gun and fires on Lady TNT. The Plastic Hunchback chooses to Interpose. Her attack roll of 15+8 hits, but fails to penetrate The Plastic Hunchback's metal skin (Impervious 10, now 9.) The Sea Hawk moves back to check on The Aryan Ape's condition.
The Invisible Agent fires his pistol at Lady TNT. She's unaware of him, meaning his 15+4 hits her flatfooted defense. She also lacks her Defensive Roll, so her 13+1 Toughness save is sufficient only to reduce the damage to a Bruised/Stunned.
The Flaming Dwarf ignites his suit and charges into the center of the Freedom Brigade, picking Commander USA as his first target with a PA 2 attack. 11+8+2-2 will hit, provoking a DC 29 Toughness save. Commander USA rolls 8+5 to become staggered/Unconscious! The Flaming Dwarf gets a second attack, this time taking a swing at Doctor X. 5+8-2 will miss even with the flatfooted defense. The Flaming Dwarf is at a Defense of 20 this round.
Radar Doc fires his Concussion Blast at the Freedom Brigade and the remaining simians behind them, trusting The Flaming Dwarf to evade its effects in his inimitable style. Reflex saves against DC 20 are: TFD 13+10 (no effect), Doctor X 6+4 (full damage), The Magister 5+6 (full damage), Madame Radium 3+6 (full damage), The Sea Hawk 7+4 (full damage), The Aryan Ape 14+7 (half damage), and Gorilla 16+4 (half damage). Ouch... Toughness saves of 6+4 (Unconscious), 10+6 (Bruised/Stunned), 13+6 (Bruised/Stunned), 20+4 (Bruised), 13+6 (Bruised), 15+4 (Minion out). The Magister and Madame Radium are blown back by Distance 9 (500 feet). They first run into the flying submarine facing the Damage DC of 24. 12+6 and 14+6 and both gain new bruises. The submarine Takes 10 on its save to just gain a Bruised status from each of them.
The Aryan Ape is stunned.
Face Cook hurls a beer stein at the one standing Freedom Brigade member (that she can see), The Sea Hawk. 16+12 will hit for a DC 23 Toughness save. 6+4-1 means Staggered/Stunned/Bruised. Knockback is only 6 (50 feet) and 11+4-2 only renews the Stun and adds another Bruised. The submarine is left undented. Face Cook walks out to the prone form of The Aryan Ape.
Michael Hangman activates his Concealment effect and stalks toward The Aryan Ape, looping his lasso around its neck. 11+9 will hit the flatfooted simian and force a DC 21 Fortitude check. 3+7! The Aryan Ape will fiat, granting Michael an HP. And... 12+7 still fails. The Ape is strangling.
The Plastic Hunchback activates his eyes and spots The Invisible Agent. He charges and swings with an AoA 5. 7+7+5+2 will hit! The Invisible Agent rolls 8+6 against the DC 28 attack and is rendered Staggered/Bruised. That's knockback of 10. We'll let him also run up against the sub. His second save against DC 25 for the knockback is 10+6-1 and he's rendered Staggered again and thus unconscious as the submarine develops a new dent.

Round 2
Lady TNT 15+5
The Flaming Dwarf 12+4
Radar Doc 14+2
The Aryan Ape 13+2
Face Cook 12+2
Michael Hangman 9+3
The Plastic Hunchback 2+1

Lady TNT is Stunned.
The Flaming Dwarf walks up to The Aryan Ape and punches him in the head with PA 5. Well he tries. 7+8-5+4 versus 15-1 will just miss as The Aryan Ape manages to squirm out of the way.
The Radar Doc will attempt to humanely take down The Aryan Ape with a single blast from his Radar Gun. 19+10-4 will hit for a DC 25 save. The Aryan Ape rolls a 2 and is knocked out, albeit not before pulling out his hidden remote control device, causing the robot to rise from the harbor about 4 miles away (at least according to my Freedom City maps).
"To the flying submarine!" cries Lady TNT and they quickly pile in. Hotwiring it will be either a DC 20 Mechanical check, or a DC 25 Eletrical one. The Plastic Hunchback beats Radar Doc to the punch, extruding a key from one metal hand and turning the submarine toward the robot.

Round 3
The Robot has an initiative of 20+0
The robot moves forward 100 feet, crushing cars beneath its feet. The submarine readily closes the distance with its speed of 5 which lets it travel half a mile closer each round. That means it will take 7 rounds to cut things down to a half mile of distance whereupon The Plastic Hunchback will take one more round to land the submarine (The two pilots in the group can do more damage than its weapons) and let everyone get off and scatter.

Round 12
The Robot moves forward another 100 feet, enough to smash one fist down on the (thankfully unoccupied) submarine. It's smashed flat.
Lady TNT hurls a block of her eponymous explosive at the robot. DC 18 Reflex save. The robot rolls 7+2 and suffers the full effect. However, it's Toughness save of 16+20 easily shakes off the explosion.
The Flaming Dwarf turns to Radar Doc and suggests a plan would be a good idea. He holds action.
Radar Doc realizes the resemblance between the Aryan Ape's device and the one they confiscated. He pulls the control out and rolls 16+20 on his Craft (Electronics) check. The robot stops dead on his commands.


^_^ OK... well, that was... I think that the adventure was mislabeled when it said for teams of 6-8 at PL 8-10. Of course, area attacks can do wonders. Only one of the Freedom Brigade even got a chance to take a shot, and I don't know that additional Fiat would have helped them.

[FuzzyBoots]

Built for the Ranger Corps game. Current build for the game available here (to be updated as we gain power points). Right now, we're just trained martial artists, but hopefully we'll be gaining Ranger-ish powers soonish... Basic concept behind the build is that he's slightly damage/defense shifted with a good bit of his damage being dependent on catching his opponent by surprise (Acrobatic Bluff). If free to stay in one place, he can use his Combat Concealment to create a miss chance against opponents he's engaged in combat with, a way of modeling how the constant movement of Capoeira makes them hard to target. He can also modify all of his caps except Toughness to employ a wide variety of possible attacks.

Xerxes Gregorson

Power Level: 5; Power Points Spent: 75/75

STR: +1 (12), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +3 (16), INT: +0 (10), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +1 (12)

Tough: +3/+4, Fort: +3, Ref: +6, Will: +3

Skills: Acrobatics 10 (+13), Knowledge (popular culture) 2 (+2), Knowledge (streetwise) 1 (+1), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 5 (+5), Language 1 (+1), Notice 4 (+6), Perform (dance) 6 (+7), Sense Motive 7 (+9)

Feats:
Accurate Attack
Acrobatic Bluff
All-Out Attack
Attack Focus (melee) 2
Attack Specialization (Strike 3)
Blind-Fight
Combat Concealment - W&W [modified], Move action Acrobatics check versus Sense Motive to gain Partial Concealment versus attacks this round. Full action to gain Total Concealment - Models the deceptive movement of the ginga which often causes an opponent to miss on what they thought was a sure hit.
Defensive Attack
Defensive Roll
Defensive Throw - Free trip attempt against a missed melee attack
Distract (Acrobatics)
Dodge Focus
Elusive Target
Equipment 1 (Smart Phone: Cell-Phone, Feats: Conspiracy Theorist, Jack-Of-All-Trades/Quickness 1 Limited to Knowledge Checks, Video Camera)
Evasion
Evasive Retreat - Move 5 feet as a reaction when missed in combat
Grappling Finesse
Improved Critical (Strike 3)
Improved Initiative
Improved Throw
Improved Trick (applies to Acrobatic Bluff)
Luck
Power Attack
Prone Fighting
Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Perform (Dance), Sense Motive, Notice)
Sneak Attack
Uncanny Dodge (Hearing) - It's closer to a form of situational awareness, but this was the closest sense.

Powers:
Strike 3 (DC 19; Mighty)

Attack Bonus: +0 (Ranged: +0, Melee: +2, Grapple: +5)

Attacks: Strike 3, +4 (DC 19, 21 with Sneak Attack), Unarmed Attack, +2 (DC 16, 18 with Sneak Attack)

Defense: +6 (Flat-footed: +3), Knockback: -2

Initiative: +7

Languages: Native Language, Portuguese

Totals: Abilities 20 + Skills 9 (36 ranks) + Feats 28 + Powers 4 + Combat 10 + Saves 4 + Drawbacks 0 = 75

Created With Hero Lab® - try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com!


BACKGROUND
Xerxes is a Theology student who settled on the major more because he enjoyed arguing than because of a vested nature in the subject. On his own, he's very much a live-and-let-live kind of guy. For the last few years, he's been studying Capoeira and has found that the philsophy of the style greatly appealed to him. He recently applied for the Ranger program, not so much for philosophical reasons as that he's come to realize that his major probably won't guarantee him much of an income.


PERSONALITY
Phleghmatic to the extreme. Oddly tense and rigid for a capoeiristra, but within the roda, or in the rare times he's gotten into fights, he becomes relaxed, able to easily dazzle people with his acrobatics and then strike from an opportune position.

Updates: We've done the ranger transformation, which apparently bestows the following:

Str +8
Attack +6
Defense +4
Protection 6 (Impervious)
Fort +5
Reflex +5
Immovable 1
Leaping 3
Super-Speed 3
Super-Strength 3

Furthermore, we've been told that we'll be gaining 3 pp to spend on our effects. I'm planning on upgrading his Combat Concealment by 1 to allow him to get Partial Concealment as a Free Action, adding Extended Reach to his Strike to model his ability to strike at a fair distance with his kicks, and considering Takedown Attack 1 just to make him more in-genre for minion sweeping.

Xerxes, Red Ranger


Power Level: 10; Power Points Spent: 150/150

STR: +5 (20), DEX: +3 (16), CON: +3 (16), INT: +0 (10), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: +1 (12)

Tough: +9/+10, Fort: +8, Ref: +11, Will: +3

Skills: Acrobatics 10 (+13), Knowledge (popular culture) 2 (+2), Knowledge (streetwise) 1 (+1), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 5 (+5), Language 1 (+1), Notice 4 (+6), Perform (dance) 6 (+7), Sense Motive 7 (+9)

Feats:
Accurate Attack
Acrobatic Bluff
All-Out Attack
Attack Focus (melee) 2
Attack Specialization (Strike 3)
Blind-Fight
Combat Concealment - W&W [modified], Move action Acrobatics check versus Sense Motive to gain Partial Concealment versus attacks this round. Full action to gain Total Concealment - Models the deceptive movement of the ginga which often causes an opponent to miss on what they thought was a sure hit.
Defensive Attack
Defensive Roll
Defensive Throw - Free trip attempt against a missed melee attack
Distract (Acrobatics)
Dodge Focus
Elusive Target
Equipment 1 (Smart Phone: Cell-Phone, Feats: Conspiracy Theorist, Jack-Of-All-Trades/Quickness 1 Limited to Knowledge Checks, Video Camera)
Evasion
Evasive Retreat - Move 5 feet as a reaction when missed in combat
Grappling Finesse
Improved Critical (Strike 3)
Improved Initiative
Improved Throw
Improved Trick (applies to Acrobatic Bluff)
Luck
Power Attack
Prone Fighting
Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Perform (Dance), Sense Motive, Notice)
Sneak Attack
Uncanny Dodge (Hearing) - It's closer to a form of situational awareness, but this was the closest sense.

Powers:
Strike 3 (DC 19; Mighty)
Protection 6 (Impervious)
Immovable 1
Leaping 3
Super-Speed 3 (No SS array defined yet)
Super-Strength 3

Attack Bonus: +6 (Ranged: +6, Melee: +8, Grapple: +23)

Attacks: Strike 3, +10 (DC 23, 25 with Sneak Attack), Unarmed Attack, +8 (DC 20, 22 with Sneak Attack)

Defense: +10 (Flat-footed: +5), Knockback: -8

Initiative: +19

Languages: Native Language, Portuguese

Totals: Abilities 28 + Skills 9 (36 ranks) + Feats 28 + Powers 41 + Combat 30 + Saves 14 + Drawbacks 0 = 150

[FuzzyBoots]

^_^ Submitted to the X-Men Reboot. Largely cribbed from Jabroniville's build.

Catseye

Hair: Purple, runs as a mane down her neck
Eyes: Purple, cat-slitted
Civilian identity: Sharon Smith

Power Level: 8; Power Points Spent: 120/120

STR: +5 (10/20), DEX: +5 (16/20), CON: +5 (12/20), INT: +3 (16), WIS: +2 (14), CHA: -2 (6)

Tough: +5/+7, Fort: +7, Ref: +10, Will: +5

Skills: Acrobatics 6 (+11), Climb 12 (+17), Escape Artist 4 (+9), Handle Animal 8 (+6), Notice 8 (+10), Search 3 (+6), Sense Motive 10 (+12), Stealth 6 (+11), Survival 6 (+8)

Feats: Attack Focus (melee) 4, Defensive Roll 2, Dodge Focus, Eidetic Memory, Endurance, Improved Grab, Improved Grapple, Improved Trip, Truth Sense

Powers:
Claws and Teeth (Strike 2) (DC 22; Mighty)
Enhanced Trait 22 (Traits: Strength +10 (20, +5), Dexterity +4 (20, +5), Constitution +8 (20, +5))
Leaping 2 (Jumping distance: x5) - running 75 ft, standing 37 ft, vertical 18 ft.
Mental void (Concealment 1) (other sense: Mental; Close Range)
Morph 1 (morph: broad group - cat forms, +5 Disguise)
Shrinking 8 (-8 STR, -2 Toughness, -2 size categories, 1/2 movement speed; Limited (Only during morph))
Speed 2 (Speed: 25 mph, 220 ft./rnd)
Super-Movement 1 (wall-crawling 1 (half speed))
Super-Senses 5 (extended: Scent 1 (x10), extended: Vision 1 (x10), low-light vision, scent, tracking: Scent 1 (half speed))
Tail (Additional Limbs 1) (1 extra limb; +1 to Grapple when not using Imp. Grapple, Feats: Improved Grapple)

Attack Bonus: +4 (Ranged: +4, Melee: +8, Grapple: +13)

Attacks: Claws and Teeth (Strike 2), +8 (DC 22), Unarmed Attack, +8 (DC 20)

Defense: +8 (Flat-footed: +4), Knockback: -3

Initiative: +5

Languages: English

Totals: Abilities 14 + Skills 16 (63 ranks) + Feats 12 + Powers 46 + Combat 22 + Saves 10 + Drawbacks 0 = 120

Created With Hero Lab® - try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com!

Complications
* Obvious mutant - Sharon has thick purple hair (it's an actual mane with hair follicles that proceed down to her lower back), slitted eyes, and slightly pointed teeth in her human form. She can hide most of her feline aspects, but doesn't always think to.
* Offputting - Sharon considers herself a cat and frequently acts like one. Among other things, she thinks nothing of rubbing up against people as a sign of affection.
* Family Ties - Sharon considers Doc her family and would fight to protect him and his ship.

History
Catseye vaguely remembers an early life involving a soft voice and a hard voice, soft blankets and milk until the day she was carried away in a basket and left in an alley. No matter how much she cried for the soft voice to come back, no one came, so she wandered the city until she accidentally wound up on the S.S. Aquarius, a small fishing boat on the Boston harbor. The captain, Doctor Ronald Smith (PhD in Fisheries), took a liking to her and made her the ship mascot. As Catseye grew larger, and showed signs of higher intelligence and opposable thumbs, the crew became more wary, but considered her one of their own and protected her existence. Then, one day, there was a frightened little girl in the cat basket. Nearly inconsolable over having lost her fur and claws, Doc discreetly sought help for a "strange child" and he was soon approached by Xavier.

Xavier found Sharon's lack of mental presence astounding, but was nonetheless able to use his advanced knowledge of psychology to guide Sharon into learning to resume her preferred form and how to shift back. Now, years later, he's returned to offer her a position on a new team he is forming to help protect mutants...

Background
As far as Sharon is concerned, she is a cat who can periodically turn into a human. Nonetheless, she is brilliantly intelligent in her own way, and she quickly forms fast friendships with those she meets (sometimes a bit too fast for Xavier, who's been trying to convince her that not every person she meets must become her friend).

Addendum: Since Catseye wasn't always the best fleshed-out in the official books, a good bit of her history is being drawn from Bottroff's "Go West" fanfic.

[Jabroniville]

Catseye- still the most under-utilized character in X-history. But hey, she died so that great characters like Trevor Fitzroy, Shinobi Shaw and The Acolytes could dominate the X-Books in the '90s, amirite?

[FuzzyBoots]

Catseye- still the most under-utilized character in X-history. But hey, she died so that great characters like Trevor Fitzroy, Shinobi Shaw and The Acolytes could dominate the X-Books in the '90s, amirite?

Oy... so many good characters get knocked off because they want to push someone. On the plus side of it, while she did die, at least she didn't get a completely cheesy resurrection scene other than Necrosha... so he exited with some dignity.

^_^ So, do you randomly check out my build thread, did a search for Catseye, had someone tell you I was ripping you off?

[Jabroniville]

Nope, I was just doing random searches of people's stuff and found her. It's not a rip-off if you ADMIT you're just copying things- it's an "homage" . I've "homaged" Taliesin & J-Mart's stuff for years!

[FuzzyBoots]

Shirtless and sweat-sodden, Xerxes was practicing his Capoeira moves in the deserted gym. He reflected on the nature of the organization he'd wound up with. Ranger Corp is a very strange place, he reflected, Guardians of the Earth and yet they hire college students for their work. Wouldn't they be better off hiring Black Ops or something like that? Or maybe it's something about the magic/ki nonsense. Templates are unsuitable or... what the hell? The gem on his wrist was flashing wildly and growing warm. Is this supposed to happen? Master Drake never said anything about thi- Suddenly, the gym was empty, one drop of sweat, having just cleared Xerxes's nose, splashing down to the mat to disappear among the fibers.

Xerxes is initially dumped into the midst of a tavern. The attitude of most of the tavern is Indifferent with three thugs being Unfriendly just from pure orneriness. He'll attempt a mass Diplomacy attempt to assuage everyone's fears. 14+1 gets most of the tarvern to friendly with the three thugs becoming Indifferent. He'll try a quick Gather Information on where he is with the barmad, a check of 14 (again)+1 which will get her talking about the history of Dry Gulch including the rumors of outlaws holing up here. She offers him a shirt left over from a prior patron and asks what he's in town for. Thinking quickly, he lies that he's a traveling acrobat who got separated from his troupe and has been walking for some time. His Bluff check of 20+1 versus her Sense Motive of 18+2 just barely squeaks by and she believes his story. She offers him a performance space for a share of the take and he agrees.

Sudden noise and relative darkness assaulted Xerxes's senses as he frantically looked about to find himself apparently in the middle of an Old West tavern, still shirtless, now garnering the stares of a rough crew. Shit, Xerxes said eloquently to himself as a few rough-looking fellows began to push their chairs back in preparation to rise. Thinking quickly, he tried to find words to calm the crowd.
"Hot damn but that was a drink!" he cried out, moving forward with a sudden lurch toward the bar. If nothing else, it will be good to cut down on the number of vectors people can approach from. "One moment I'm in my room and and I toss one back and the next moment I wake up here. Musta sleepwalked or something." Behind him, chuckles started to sound at the thought of the pale child that he was having had a bad encounter with the demon rum. He walked up to the bar and slammed his fist down. "So, anyone know where the wrong turn I took was at Albequerque?" The noise resumed behind him as everyone turned back to their business. Thank God people are willing to ignore strange things for the sake of a story.
"So, what'll you have, stranger?" a soft voice asked behind the bar, projecting past the noise. Xerxes looked down at the diminuitive barmaid — No... not actually diminuitive. They were a bit shorter back then, so she's just a little smaller than usual — and smiled widely and winningly.
"I'll have a big glass of 'Where the Hell am I' and thank you for your kindness in helping a lost soul like myself." The barmaid dimpled prettily and placed one finger on his muscled chest.
"Well now, a girl might ask first who you are before she helps you know where you are. You're a bit of a tall drink of water, aren't you? All lanky but muscly... no scars or sunburn either despite walking through the sun like a savage. Might think you're fae, part of the weirdness of the west, huh?" Xerxes's smile dimmed slightly at the prospect that this might not be his world at all but continued on gamely. He placed his hand on her finger and traced it over his heart, letting her feel the thrum beneath the skin.
"My heart beats like a man, I assure you," he said, lifting the hand and kissing the back of it, "All the move for a pretty thing like you." He kept her hand in his and spoke earnestly to her, watching her eyes, "I'm an acrobat of sorts, lost in town, got separated from the rest of the troupe in a sandstorm, caught my shirt on a cactus, and walked in here without anyone taking notice of me, strangely. Now, you know who I am. Now where am I?"
"Satan's Gulch," she said, recapturing her finger with a girlish giggle and adjusting her dress to show more cleavage for him, "Godforsaken hellhole, not that that don't describe half the towns 'round here. Not a safe place for a man to be walking 'round shirtless of course." Reaching below the bar, she pulled out a plain linen shirt. "This one got left behind by a drunk farmer, was gonna use it for rags, but you're welcome to it. Stranger." She handed it to him, placing her hands against his for a moment longer than necessary. "Your troupe'll probably come through here eventually. While you're waiting, we do have a stage up there. In exchange for half of what you get, you're welcome to entertain."
Xerxes slipped on the shirt and gave her a half salute. "I just might do that."

Taking 10 on his Acrobatics gets him a result of 23, which is very impressive indeed. Unfortunately, this is when Jeb walks in. Xerxes's strange motions catch his eye and he quickly sees that Xerxes doesn't belong here with his strange clothing and devices. From here, he jumps to the conclusion that Xerxes is the outlaw he's looking for, or at the least associated with him. We'll give Xerxes an HP for the misunderstanding. Jeb will begin by attempting to Intimidate Xerxes into coming quietly. Intimidate 5-1 versus Sense Motive 14+9 isn't even close. Sensing that his usual methods won't help here, Jeb charges in headlong. The thugs hang back for the moment, waiting to see who starts to come out on top.
Initiative rolls of 18+0 for Jeb and 9+7 for Xerxes. It's close, but Jeb starts first. Xerxes is not flat-footed due to his Uncanny Dodge.
Jeb will charge and attempt to Snare. 9+3+2 will miss. Xerxes forgoes his trip attempt for the moment.
Xerxes uses his Acrobatic Bluff with a Power Attack 2. 14+13 versus 15+11 is close, but Xerxes still gets Jeb flat-footed. 6+4 just barely hits due to the penalty Jeb has from his Charge. Toughness save of 16+3 vs DC 23 leaves Jeb just Bruised. This foreign attack does rouse the thugs to enter into combat. They'll come in at the bottom of the initiative count next turn.

Wheeling about, he cried out to the crowd, "Ladies and gentleman and all of the rest of you, presenting the acrobatic stylings of the lost tribes of Brasil!" before running for the stage, flipping and cartwheeling between people and over tables. Once on stage, he whipped off the shirt again and began, alternating acrobatic floreios with slower movements that emphasized the smooth muscle that let him hold in the necessary contortions. He was slowly lowering himself from a handstand to a queda de rins when a squat form burst through the door, stared at him for a moment, and then calmly flipped over a nearby table, scattering the patrons. Xerxes flipped over to his feet and waited for the attack that seemed imminent.

Jeb, for his part, had had a long and fruitless trek across a section of desert, trying to sniff out the trail of a bandito who'd been holding up stagecoaches. This man on stage did not fit. Jeb focused, letting his eyes go blank and clear as he saw past the attempts to distract and to the strange material of the stranger's pants, the bizarre device that trailed wires from one pocket, the alien movements. Got to be him, he thought to himself, Just don't fit in. Clearing his throat, he spoke, his voice grated out like a millstone crushing grain.
"Yer comin' with me, boy, gotta face Justice eventually." Xerxes, for his part, stood silently, unintimidated by the fireplug of a man who was addressing him.
"All of us must face Justice," he said solemnly, "But my time is not yet here. And I will be judged by God and not by man." On the floor, the patrons settled back, enjoying the theatre. Like magic, the crowd of people parted to provide a clear corridor between the two. Xerxes, ignoring Jeb, turned toward the barmaid and spoke, "I'll try to make sure not to muss anything up." He heard the steady series of clunks as the man by the door charged and kept the form visible from the corner of his eye. Much to his surprise, Jeb led with a piece of rope in hand, apparently trying to ensnare Xerxes's limbs. Xerxes leaned out of the way of the first attack and placed one hand on the ground, cartwheeling up to land a solid kick in Jeb's gut, driving him back a pace or two. In the crowd, three of a rougher sort started muttering about crazy chinaman fighters and pushing their chairs back.

Jeb, nothing if not stubborn, attempts his Snare a second time. 14+3 will hit. Xerxes's Reflex save of 8+6 leaves him Entangled for a –2 penalty to attack rolls and Defense, and a –4 penalty to Dexterity. Jeb will use his Move action to try to Demoralize as a Move Action. 19-1-5 fails versus 11+9.
Xerxes realizes the danger of becoming a sitting duck, but figures it's best to try to end things quickly. He'll begin his ginga and will do a PA 5 / AoA 5 attack versus Jeb. Unbenknownst to him, Jeb's True Sight will pierce the veil of the ginga's deceptive movements, but his roll of 14+13 is sufficient to make him Partially concealed versus the thugs. His attack of 19+4-2-5+5 hits and due to his Improved Critical and PA, is imposing a DC of 28! Jeb rolls a 7 (HP re-rolled to 18)+5-1 and he's Bruised/Stunned, knocked prone by the attack.
The three thugs wade in, one aiding the attack of his friend while the third attacks alone. Rolls of 1, 3, and 6 don't even justify bothering to do the addition.

Xerxes had a moment to curse his showboating nature when his opponent shot out another loop of rope which caught Xerxes's foot as he brought it down. Through supreme effort and no little amount of contortion, he was able to avoid several follow-up loops, but in the end, his feet were still partly fouled by a length of rope wound between them.
"Yer gonna be all trussed up like a suckling pig, boy," catcalled Jeb, but Xerxes could tell by the shifty gaze and slight quaver in his voice that his assailant had expected better results from the attack. One of the stories behind the foundation of Capoeira was that it emphasizes handstands to compensate for shackled legs. Let's see how that works out... Xerxes responded to Jeb's taunt by diving toward him into a forward handspring that brought his entangled legs down solidly on Jeb's collarbone. It was only through a lucky fall that Jeb avoided a shattered clavicle but was merely driven to the ground. Xerxes used the force of the blow to flip back to his feet and narrowly avoided a series of clumsy swings by three of the toughs in the bar by dropping to negativa and rolling under their attack, fanning his legs out in a set of preventative kicks to keep them at bay.
"Easy, guys," he said as he regained his feet, "Not looking for a fight here, really."

Jeb is stunned.
Xerxes attempts to break the snare (I'm assuming that with just Entangled, he can bring his Strike to bear). Its Toughness save of 4+5 fails by 9 against 15+3 but that's not enough to snap it, just enough to cause one penalty. He uses his Move action to use Acrobatics again, doing a routine check of 10+13-1.
The three thugs attack again. 4+2 and 2+2 fail to hit. 14+2 will hit. Miss chance of 16 means he'll still hit. Xerxes rolls 4 (HP re-rolled to 14)+4 and he weathers the attack with no damage. He'll make Trip attempts against each of those who missed. 17 and 10 will hit. 13+3 and 1+3 versus 13+1 and 1+1 means those two thugs are tripped. Xerxes takes the opportunity of the misses to move back 5 feet.

Xerxes leaned down to try to untangle his feet, but found himself unable to dedicate proper effort to it as a chair sailed towards his head. Hurling his body backward, he took the impact on his back and hands and windmilled his legs again as he came up, tangling the feet of two of his assailants and sending them crashing to the ground while trying to apply sufficient force to dislodge the rope. He was rewarded with the ripping sound of filaments separating right as he came back to his feet and straight into a fist coming toward his chin. With conditioned reflexes, he let his head swing back with the hit, robbing it of its force, but forcing him to roll backwards again, this time through a full roll, leaving him with his back literally against the wall.

Jeb will spend a Move action to stand and try to get a second layer of Snare on Xerxes. 17+3 will hit, ignoring the partial concealment. Xerxes rolls Reflex 19+6-2, though, and avoids further loops.
Xerxes again attempts to break the snare. A roll of 4+5-1 and it snaps! He then uses Acrobatic Bluff again on Jeb. 17+13-1 easily beats 10+9 and Jeb is flat-footed. Xerxes will use Extra Effort to attack PA 5/AoA 5 again. 10+4-5+5 is just barely sufficient for a DC 25 save. Jeb rolls 19+3-2 to be Bruised/Stunned again.
The two thugs on the ground spend a move action to stand. The third attacks for 6+2 and misses.

Jeb struggled back to his feet and shot out another loop of rope at Xerxes, his pale blue eyes seeing the truth of Xerxes's movements and striking true. The loop settled around Xerxes's shoulders, but as Jeb pulled to bring it taut, Xerxes somersaulted forward again to keep it loose, slipped out from underneath it. As he came to his feet, Xerxes cartweeled forward without using his hands, letting his leading foot pull the other forward, and finally separating the rope. Landing right in front of Jeb, Xerxes cartwheeled back again, his foot smacking into Jeb's chin, causing him to see stars once more. His feet freed, Xerxes deftly dodged the swing of the one ruffian still standing as the other two struggled to their feet.

Jeb is stunned.
Xerxes spends an HP to remove Fatigued and will attempt a PA 5 attack on Jeb. 17+4 easily hits for DC 23 hit. Jeb rolls 13+3-3 and is Bruised/Staggered/Stunned. Xerxes drops into the Ginga again.
The three thugs attack. 3 and 9 will miss. Trip attempts of 5 and 17 only hits on the second. 1+3 versus 8+1 means the thug doesn't go down. 15+2 will hit with a miss chance roll of 5. Xerxes's toughness save of 8+4 results in Bruised/Stunned.

With the close call of the thug's swing in mind, Xerxes hopped forward into two-legged jumping armada, landing with a stomp on Jeb's ribcage, causing the bounty hunter to sharply exhale in pain as a rib cracked. As he landed, Xerxes dodged two more attacks from the tavern ruffians, but lost his footing on Jeb's chest and got pasted by the third who swung a clay mug directly into Xerxes's gut, causing him to step back, winded.

Jeb is stunned as is Xerxes.
The three thugs take advantage of Xerxes being stunned and attempt again to attack him. Two hits with 18 and 15. Miss chances of 6 and 12 will both hit. Toughness saves of 3 (HP rerolled to 20)+4-1 and 12+4-1 results in another Bruised.

Dazed, Xerxes nonethless managed to duck away from another strike, but two of the ruffians connected and the best Xerxes could manage was to twist away with little more than a bloodied nose.

Jeb stands with his Move action.
Xerxes is realizing that he may need to take down his assailants hard and fast. He spends his last Hero Point for Takedown Attack and moves to PA 5 / AoA 3, Taking 10 on the minion thugs and hoping to drop them. He can hit them with that value for successive Toughness saves of DC 23. They can't make that, even on a 20, so he takes down all 3, then gets an attack on Jeb. 4+4-5+3 will miss cleanly. Xerxes backs away 15 feet before reaching a wall and he tries to beg his innocence with a Diplomacy check. 12+1 will be insufficient.

I can't keep this up... there's four of them and one of me. Sooner or later, they're going to get lucky, Xerxes thought to himself, Time to quite playing. With a loud cry, he leapt forward with a chapa pulada, doubling over one of the thugs with a solid side kick, using the momentum, he pushed himself backward into a roll backwards under a swung chair and pushed himself up into a handstand, both feet connecting with a chin. Returning to his neutral handstand position, he then rolled his body around into a dropping axe-kick into the juncture of neck and shoulder of the third. He attempted to continue the motion to roundhouse the rising Jeb in the face, but his momentum was spent and the blow missed.
"Look," Xerxes said as he regained his feet and backed up, "I don't know what your beef is with me, but I promise I'm not any trouble. I'm not even supposed to be here today, for Christ's sake." The impassive look on Jeb's face told Xerxes that his attempt at talking out of trouble had failed.

Jeb uses Extra-effort to gain an additional standard and charges in with his Snare again. 9+3+2 will hit due to Xerxes's use of All-Out-Attack. However, Xerxes's 18+6 again avoids the loops.
Xerxes will is going to attack PA 3 with intent of knockback (thrust kick). 17+4-3 will hit for a DC of 22. 14+5-4 means another Bruised/Stunned and Jeb will have to go through Knockback of 4-1 for 5 feet and a DC 18 toughness save. 15+3-5 adds another Bruised.

With a grunt, Jeb suddenly surged forward, pushing past his injuries to again try to loop Xerxes in his lengths of rope. Time and again the loops would land as Jeb and Xerxes danced around each other, but each time, Xerxes twisted and turned his way out before Jeb could pull tight. Finally, Xerxes caught hold of the swung rope and jerked Jeb forward into a hard thrust kick which knocked Jeb into the table opposite, landing on his hands and knees but still struggling to get up.

Jeb is stunned and now Fatigued.
Xerxes will charge forward in an all-or-nothing PA 5/AoA 5 attack, using Extra Effort to boost his Strike to 5. 16+4-5+5 will hit for a DC 25 hit. 16 (HP rerolled to 20!)+5-6 results in a Bruised due to the Impossible Toughness Save mechanic.

Xerxes was starting to get alarmed. What's it going to take to get this guy to go down? Seeking to end the fight quickly, he skipped forward and swung his right leg up in a ponteira that more resembled a place-kicker trying to land a field goal. Jeb's head snapped back and then down again, a drool of blood pooling on the floor, but he raised his head and smiled wide and bloody at Xerxes.
"Takes more than fancy kicks to take down Justice, boy," he said, "The wheels of just grind fine and sure, and I will bring you in."

Jeb doesn't bother standing, but attempts to ensnare Xerxes from the ground. 3+3-4-2 will miss.
Xerxes is fatigued, and chooses to walk away from Jeb, certain that he's not in the shape to follow. Jeb calls out a last threat that he will track Xerxes down and bring him to justice for his crimes. Xerxes waves his goodbye to the barmaid and walks out the door as Jeb struggles to his feet. We'll end the combat there.

Without warning or attempt to rise, Jeb swung his rope out, trying to catch Xerxes's ankles, but the capoeiristra simply jumped over it like he was skipping rope. As he landed, his arm cocked back and swung for a finishing punch, but stopped an inch away from Jeb's temple.
"You know what," Xerxes said with a sigh, "You're just a guy doing his job. I'm a stranger in a strange land. I need all the good karma I can get." And with that, he evaded Jeb's futile grab for him and walked up to the bar, dropping his bowl of coins in front of the barmaid.
"Payment for my sins," he said as the turned and walked for the door.
"Donchu run 'way an' make me chase you, boy," slurred Jeb as he leaned his weight against a table and brought himself to a standing position, "You know I can find you as easily as you can find yourself." At the door, Xerxes paused and turned, and spoke in an amused tone.
"I guess it's a good thing that I'm lost then," he said, and walked out into the sun.

End results: Xerxes (0 HP, Fatigued Bruised 2), Jeb (0 HP, Fatigued, Bruised 6, Staggered)
I expected Xerxes to win, being a PL up. Having those three additional thugs really did even things up, though. Dice being what they are, they had a good chance of connecting eventually and even at 3 PL below, a bad Toughness save can sink you. Jeb performed surprisingly well. I'd forgotten how tough Snares can be to get out of. Still not certain if I handled getting out of Entangled right... feels like it should be easier than when bound.

[FuzzyBoots]

There are a number of different house rules that have been proposed for 2E M&M. Below are some of my favorites:

Grappling Fixes
Reducing Bonus
One of the major issues is that, out of the archetypes, the best grappler had no chance of losing against the worst grappler. There've been a number of potential fixes including the 3E approach which removed adding the attack bonus and allowed defending using Dodge defense. Personally, I don't like this approach. It makes the grapplers much less powerful, to the point where they have about a 60% chance of succeeding in a grapple against their weakest foes. Yes, if The Hulk grabs hold of Dr. Strange, Dr. Strange will wiggle out almost half of the time. Against foes of approximately the same PL, the chances get worse.

Before 3E got released, one of the popular suggestions was to simply halve the bonus (and apply a reasonable upper level on grapple bonuses such as PLx3 to prevent someone from having 10 ranks of Attack Specialization (Grapple) or 15 ranks of Super-Strength). People with bonuses towards grappling still have an advantage against weaker opponents, but the difference is less marked for two characters at the same PL.

Improved Grab
This is a messy feat. It's one that makes sense from the perspective of how often the big guys in the comics universe throw a punch and follow up with a headlock, or hit someone and simultaneously grab with the same hand, but it opens up the possibility for things like double-damage. Easiest solution? Allow it to start a grapple, but not apply an effect. The character choosing to use Improved Grab gets to try to get their opponent into a grapple, but can't capitalize on it until their next round, during which time they're vulnerable to being attacked due to loss of dodge bonus.

Grappling Finesse
I have no problem with this feat allowing people to use their Dexterity bonus, since there are grapplers who succeed through dexterity rather than strength. The not losing one's dodge bonus is trickier since it makes Grappling Finesse very desirable even for strength-based grapplers.

A simple house rule fix for this is that when one retains dodge bonus, only Dexterity can be used, not Strength. And, to resolve an ambiguity in the rules, I'd say that pinning someone causes you to lose your dodge bonus due to the additional effort needed to keep them in place.

Devices
There are two major ways to lose a hard-to-lose device, sunder attempts and having it removed while you're unconscious. Easy-to-Lose devices add disarming to the equation. As has been occasionally pointed out on the boards, disarming generally requires only a Move action to pick up the device in question. Devices with many ranks have Toughness high enough that it's virtually impossible to scratch them (assuming they're not using the Indestructible Feat). And depriving a character of their Devices frequently results in them losing the entirety of their powers, making it an unattractive option. So, what is a GM to do?

Reducing cost benefits
Currently, Easy-to-Lose is a -2 flaw on the container and Hard-to-Lose is a -1 Flaw. One proposal is to make Easy-to-Lose a -1 flaw and to make loss of a device through fiated loss or through sundering a Complication. I originally was thinking Power Loss, but again, this is potentially the loss of a major aspect of the character, so it doesn't scale well.

Modifying Obscene Toughness
The base Toughness for an item is 10+Device rank. For an example, the Battlesuit Archetype has a Device Rank 19 battlesuit. That's a Toughness of 29(!), far out of the range of most PL 10 combatants. Add to it that an Easy-to-Lose device potentially has the Defense bonus of the defender plus possibly size bonuses. So, how does one account for the various ranks of devices so that it handles everything from a Rank 1 sword to a Rank 19 Battlesuit?

Capping Toughness
The easiest solution is to simply cap toughness. Perhaps toughness can't go above PL+5, or PL. Optionally allow the wielder's tradeoffs to apply (although this gets messy if they have multiple potential tradeoffs based on different stances/forms). This means that more complex devices will still be tougher than very simple ones, but only up to a point.

Modular Construction
Decide on an upper rank for Devices (The 5 above isn't a horrible one to pick IMO). Devices of a rank greater than that can choose to split between different components. So, for example, the Battlesuit of the archetypes might have Gloves (Device rank 5, holds his Blast and AP of enhanced strength, Jet Boots (Device rank 2 (12 pp so we round down), holds his Flight 6), Helmet (Device rank 3 (17 pp so we round down), holds his Super-Senses and Communication), Armoring (Device rank 4 (22 pp so we round down), holds his Impervious Protection), Reinforced backbone (Device 2, Super-Strength), and an Environmental Processing Unit (Device 2 (9 pp so we round up), holds his Immunity). Each Device can be targeted individually (optionally requiring a Craft or Knowledge check to know where to target a particular system), allowing someone to, say, try to knock out his flight capabilities. If one takes this option, it's worth noting that the rules do state that a damage result can result in a -1 Toughness penalty for further saves or the loss of one rank of capability.

Utility Belts / Arsenals
The Core book explicitly lays out rules for a "utility belt" which involves an array of equipment. People have used similar "arsenal" setups to model the idea that one has various weapons available to draw. Steve Kenson provided some guidelines on cost of switching and effects of disarming/sundering. I disagree with him. To me, even with equipment, it's far too cheap to allow a Free action to switch and yet also require multiple disarms/sunders to get rid of all of the equipment. It gets messier if someone tries to do the same thing with Devices. So, what does one do?

Personally, I believe that if disarming/destroying one element of the equipment array does not disable all of it, then one should enforce the Move action to draw/reload any easy-to-lose item. There are a few grey areas. Some weapons have different settings/uses, so I'd say it's a Free action still to, say, switch your machine pistol from single shot to full automatic, or to use the AP trip ability of your cane. Swapping from your gun to your knife, or changing your pistol's clip from regular bullets to incendiary rounds will cost you the Move action. Common sense will rule the day.

Quick Draw gives you the free action to draw initially or to change weapons loads, both at once as a Free action if they bought both ranks of Quick Draw.

For those characters who dual-wield, I think that the 1 pp cost of Ambidexterity is sufficient to allow drawing both weapons in the same Move action and "switching" between them is still a Free action since you're just alternating hands. Changing which items are in your hands still takes the Move action (pulling out a third weapon to replace one that was disarmed is a Free action with Quick Draw, but otherwise a Move action).

[FuzzyBoots]

Originally posted for badpenny's Sidekicks game before that folded. Basic premise was that we were sidekicks of established heroes and, at the beginning of the campaign, the main superhero bar gets bombed, leaving us to our own devices. Sadly, there was some confusion as to PL of characters and badpenny decided to scrap the campaign before it started.

Mary Marvel

Power Level: 8; Power Points Spent: 120/120

STR: +7 (12/24), DEX: +1 (12), CON: +9 (14/28), INT: +2 (14), WIS: +0 (10), CHA: +3 (16)

Tough: +9, Fort: +9, Ref: +3, Will: +6

Skills: Acrobatics 3 (+4), Climb 2 (+9), Concentration 6 (+6), Craft (cooking) 4 (+6), Diplomacy 7 (+10), Escape Artist 4 (+5), Knowledge (civics) 3 (+5), Knowledge (current events) 3 (+5), Notice 8 (+8), Sense Motive 8 (+8)

Feats: Accurate Attack, Attack Focus (melee) 4, Attractive (+4), Cult Hero (Future Homemakers of America), Dodge Focus 4, Eidetic Memory, Elusive Target, Improved Disarm, Improved Sunder, Interpose, Luck, Second Chance (Diplomacy Checks), Takedown Attack 2

Powers:
Enhanced Trait 26 (Traits: Strength +12 (24, +7), Constitution +14 (28, +9))
Flight 4 (Speed: 100 mph, 880 ft./rnd; Gliding, Enhanced Feat: Move-By Action)
. . Leaping 5 (Alternate; Jumping distance: x50)
Impervious Toughness 8 (Limited (Physical attacks))
Strike 2 (DC 24; Penetrating; Mighty)
. . Climbing Kick 1 (Alternate; DC 23; Mighty, Up in the Air)
Super-Senses 2 (extended: Hearing 2 (-1 per 1k ft))
Super-Strength 3 (+15 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 2.8 tons; +3 STR to some checks)

Attack Bonus: +3 (Ranged: +3, Melee: +7, Grapple: +14/+17)

Attacks: Climbing Kick 1, +7 (DC Stability/Tou +8/DC 23), Strike 2, +7 (DC 24), Unarmed Attack, +7 (DC 22)

Defense: +7 (Flat-footed: +2), Knockback: -8

Initiative: +1

Languages: English

Totals: Abilities 18 + Skills 12 (48 ranks) + Feats 20 + Powers 50 + Combat 12 + Saves 8 + Drawbacks 0 = 120

Background
Mister Marvel was a super's super. Able to outrun locomotives, pace jet engines, lift small buildings, and bounce bullets off of his toned pectorals, he excelled in almost every area. One of the areas he was bad at was public speaking. Whatever his background (he's downright cagey about where he got his powers from), he lacked eloquence and spoke with a bad stutter. For a long time, he tried to let his actions speak for him, but then along came Mary.

Mary was an orphan on a bus hijacked by the Mad Maven. After Mister Marvel foiled the evildoer's plans, he was besieged by reporters asking him question after question. As Mister Marvel got progressively redder in the face trying to frame his words, a golden-haired toddler somehow pushed through the crowd and hugged his leg, shouting, "Mister Marvel saved me. I love Mister Marvel!" Much to Mister Marvel's surprise, this entirely derailed the press as they proceeded to take picture after picture of the adorable moppet. Seeing the benefit of good press, Mister Marvel applied on the spot to adopt the child, naming her Mary Marvel (previously, the nuns of the orphanage had saddled her with the unwieldy name of Austerity). The actual raising of Mary was left to hired nursemaids, but Mister Marvel doted on her, and took to having her accompany him on his missions, depositing her on the sidelines while he battled evil. As she got older, she devoted her life to making sure that Mister Marvel's praises were properly sung, and she became quite good at it.

Somewhere in the passing years, Mary gained superpowers, and ones very similar to her benefactor. Again, Mister Marvel was surprisingly closemouthed about how this came to pass, even with his adoptive daughter. Despite growing evidence that her strength and resilience were beginning to approach that of her adoptive father, he still kept her on the sidelines and she respected his wishes, always trying to stay out of the fray and dressing in the manner he considered appropriate involving long-sleeve sweaters and angle-length dresses. She did refuse the idea of a head covering, citing that it would blow off far too easily. For a while, she was happy being Mister Marvel's spokesman, but then the Sidekick Project came into play.

Much to Mister Marvel's chagrin, he was forced to send Mary off to classes on how to fight and to defend herself. Much to her chagrin, she turned out to be quite good at it. She's currently in her "Junior" year phase, having learned much of what the school has to teach and now itching for a chance to gain some practical knowledge. Another side effect of her schooling is her exposure to a wider range of media. One of her roommates was a major fan of rock-and-roll and she's become a closet fan of Paul Revere and the Raiders. She's also amassed a small private collection of science fiction, particularly enjoying the works of Phillip K. Dick. Still, in all ways, she's the same blonde-haired, blue-eyed, soft-spoken Christian that Mister Marvel raised her to be.

Complications
* Secret (from herself) - Mary doesn't know who her parents were or where her powers come from.
* Secret (from others) - Abovementioned new choices in music and literature. Also, she nurses a strong crush on her adoptive father, although she'd never admit it to anyone and she prays nightly to be rid of it.
* Affiliation - Mary is a devout Christian of a fairly fundamentalist bent. An exposure to the wider world is leading her to think that there's a possibility she may have to decide whether her religious worldview can accommodate the changes the world is undergoing or if she'll be called to be a beacon of righteousness in a corrupt world.
* Dedication - Mary is dedicated to Mister Marvel. She'd do just about anything he'd ask. She's also firmly dedicated to helping the helpless. Before her training with the Sidekick Project, she'd thought of the latter in terms of helping to ferry goods to the needy, and serving as a symbol. Now, she knows that she can do so much more and is itching to prove herself.
* Reputation - Few people take Mary seriously, still seeing her as the "cute kid" that Mister Marvel picked up to distract reporters. Complicating matters, she still has a sizable contingent of people who feel she should continue to represent that sort of hapless sidekick despite her powers, especially since she's a girl.
* Peacemaker - Mary always wants to believe that there's a way to settle conflicts without violence and she'll do her level best to try to do so. She also can't stand discord among others and will actively try to help, even long after her efforts have been shown to be fruitless.

----

Mister Marvel is, of course, a Superman/Captain Marvel expy. Mary's powers are a toned-down version of his. Oddly enough, he has several weaknesses that Mary has not shown. I'm undecided as to how pure and selfless Mister Marvel really is and what secrets he's hiding about his past.