Y's characters

[Ysariel]

Wow, thanks! It would be great to know what you liked about her.

Characters are like chocolate. A good character should bring pleasure to everyone!

[Shock]

Wow, thanks! It would be great to know what you liked about her.

I'm not really sure. The whole package I guess and how the powers come together. I've got a soft spot for reformed troublemakers.

Seeing she's a COH veteran helps for sure ;}

[Ysariel]

Arilyn (PL 5; 75PP)
Concept: Wandering wizard
Tradeoffs: Attack -1 / Save DC +1; Defense -1 / Toughness +1


Art by Mitch Foust

There really aren't many career choices for a failed mage. Fail the Test and you stay on as a lowly assistant, maybe; spend the rest of your life slaving away in labs, watching youngsters scoot by on the way to the destiny that was never yours. Or pack your bags, go home and confess your failure, try to make something else of your life; admit that the years of toil, courage and determination were all for naught...

Arilyn ended up chosing a different path.

It wasn't a conscious choice, really. One evening, loitering at the gates of the High Arcanum, she started walking down the path for some inexplicable reason, away from the vast towers and domes of the continent's foremost center of learning. A friend stopped to ask her where she was headed. "To the town for dinner," she lied. But she didn't stop; she kept going on to the next town, and the next after that, without any real destination.

Every step away from the site of her failure felt hopeful. Every day on the road seemed to bring her closer to the bright summer of possibility. Where was she headed? To find a new master willing to teach her? Or to find some other cause to live for than magic? Even Arilyn didn't know - but she wasn't stopping until she found out.


Complications

Secret: Arilyn masquerades as a true wizard when she isn't really one

Failure: Arilyn isn't a full-fledged wizard. She can't cast without the help of her staff; properly trained wizards can. In areas where magic is regulated she may not be allowed to use magic (and face punishment if she does it anyway), and proper wizards may look down on her (attitude at least 1 step lower than normal).

Miscast: Arilyn didn't master her studies, and her spells occasionally go haywire. They may hit someone other than the intended target, do something other than intended or go crazy in new and interesting ways that invariably involve collateral damage.

Culture: Arilyn spent most of her childhood immersed in the culture of the High Arcanum, which says that if you have to rely on mundane tools you're obviously too feeble to be in the magic business. No self-respecting mage would light a torch when you had light spells, or buy a horse when one could walk the Wizard's Way (teleportation). Some exceptions apply (e.g. mages still live in houses, sleep on beds and eat real food), but a good rule is she shouldn't be allowed to own or use Equipment. When Arilyn has to power stunt to cover something that other characters can trivially duplicate with Equipment, and when the stunt is actually less effective, consider giving a hero point.

Responsibility: Ever year thousands of hopeful young apprentices depart for the High Arcanum, seeking to master its secrets for the good of the mortal world. Arilyn never let go of that youthful idealism, and she'll intervene whenever she sees someone in trouble - mundane or magical.


Abilities (20pp): Strength -1, Stamina 0, Agility 0, Dexterity 2, Fighting 0, Intellect 4, Awareness 2, Presence 3

Powers (41pp):

"Ars Arcana" ARRAY 18pp + 5pp (Easily Removable -10pp) 13pp
BASE "Magna Evocans" Create 5 (Continuous +1, Precise, Variable Descriptor 2 [any magical])
-- AE "Oculus Deorum" Remote Sensing 8 [visual, auditory 3*r pp] (Defenseless when using -1, Subtle)
-- AE "Phantasma Superba" Illusion 4 [visual, auditory, 3*r pp] (Independent +1)
-- AE "Mens Agitat Molem" Move Object 5 (Perception +1, Precise, Subtle)
-- AE "Lapis Philosophorum" Transform 3 [Mass: 6 lbs; anything to anything, 5*r pp] (Accurate 3, Continuous +1, Distracting -1)
-- AE "Lux Divina" Senses 6 Vision (Counters Concealment, Counters Illusion) (Affects Self and Others +1, Area: Burst +1)

"Mysteria Adclaro" Senses 2 Magical Awareness [mental] (Acute) 2pp
"Levitas" Flight 1 (Subtle, Easily Removable -2pp) 1pp

"Robes" Protection 6 (Removable -1pp) 5pp
"Girdle" Enhanced Fortitude 4, Enhanced Will 4 (Removable -2pp) 6pp
"Bracers" Enhanced Dodge 4, Enhanced Parry 4 (Removable -2pp) 6pp
"Staff" Blast 6 [magic] (Accurate, Affects Insubstantial 2, Activation [move action] -1pp, Easily Removable -6pp) 8pp

Advantages (2pp): Artificer, Eidetic Memory

Skills (10pp / 30r): Expertise: Magic 6 (+10), Insight 7 (+9), Investigation 5 (+9), Perception 5 (+7), Persuasion 6 (+9), Treatment 1 (+5)

Offense: Initiative +0

• +4 Staff (Ranged, Damage, DC 21 Toughness; Affects Insubstantial)
• -- Magna Evocans (Ranged Area, Create, DC 20 Toughness [dropped object])
• -- Phantasma Superba (Perception, Illusion, DC 19 Will)
• -- Mens Agitat Molem (Perception, Move Object, DC 20 better of Str or Dodge)
• +6 Lapis Philosophorum (Close, Transform)

Defense (0pp): Dodge 0 (+4), Parry 0 (+4), Toughness +6, Fort 0 (+4), Will 0 (+6)

Abilities 20 + Powers 41 + Advantages 2 + Skills 10 + Defense 0 = 73

Arilyn is a heavily device-dependent wizard. Her Array represents spells that she knows, but can't cast without the help of a specially designed wizard's staff. Her staff itself is also imbued with some magic of its own (Blast 6). Disarming her strips her of both powers, although there's the off chance that she may be able to find and use another wizard's staff for spellcasting which doesn't have the Blast spell in it.

Create: This represents conjuration magic and is also Arilyn's main area attack. Created objects can be dropped on enemies for damage, although the book doesn't say what kind of area it is; I'm assuming it depends on the shape of the object. I requested the GM allow me to interpret Variable Descriptor liberally and include such things as fire and lightning as "created objects", so that she can conjure up blizzards, flaming meteors, lightning storms and more as attacks. This lets me get that wizardy feel of lots of blasts without massive arrays with an AP each for fire blast, ice blast, etc.

Senses, Area Affects Others: My idea for this was to make a sort of 'Light of Truth' spell that shines magical light in an area, revealing everything in it. Originally I had Environment: bright light linked to this, but now I suspect I don't need it since that Effect counters Concealment from darkness, which the spell already does.

Transform: The spell name hints at alchemical transformation, but I asked the GM to allow me to use this spell to simulate the effect of various cantrips, e.g. Transform broken sword > new sword to repair a weapon, or Transform unlit candle > lit candle to light a candle.

I see the High Arcanum (Arilyn's wizard college) as a center of learning and scholarship, and her Eidetic Memory reflects her wide range of studies here.

Arilyn's Expertise: Magic is costed as follows. The first 4 ranks have their normal cost of 1 skill point per rank. The remaining 4 ranks are Unreliable, costing 1 skill point per 2 ranks. The total cost is 4 sp + 2sp for 6sp. So she can either roll at +8 normally or +12 with a 50% chance of failure.

As customary for my mystic characters I've tried to provide grammatically correct (or at least, not hilariously wrong) Latin spell names. Corrections are very welcome if anyone actually knows some Latin:

Ars Arcana - Secret Art
Magna Evocans - Great Summoning
Oculus Deorum - Eye of (the) Gods
Lux Divina - Divine Light
Phantasma Superba - Superb Apparition
Mens Agitat Molem - Mind moves mass (i.e. Mind over matter, Telekinesis)
Lapis Philosophorum - Philosophers' Stone
Mysteria Adclaro - I reveal mysteries
Levitas - Levitation

[Ysariel]

Specter (PL 10; 261PP)
Concept: Ghost-themed psychic
Tradeoffs: Attack -3 / Save DC +3; Defense -3 / Toughness +3



Wealthy immigrants from China, Jolenne and Michael Huang's baby girl was born an albino. Despite their love for their only child, both parents considered it an evil omen - white being the color of death in their culture. They had no idea how correct they were.

Vivian's psychic abilities first manifested at age five, when she realized she could pick up objects by force of will alone. One of her earliest memories is scaring a group of children by levitating their toys before their eyes, convincing them that she was a "ghost". These early experiments made her realize she was special, unique and gave her a taste of the obsession that would haunt the rest of her life: the exercise of power over others.

With her parents busy managing their billion-dollar financial empire, Vivian was left to a series of nannies and minders, on whom she practiced her fledgling powers. She soon developed the power to read minds, which she turned into a hobby, browsing people's memories like books. Glimpsing humanity's fears, desires and insecurities in all their raw, ugly glory would colour her attitude to the world forever. They would also give her unparallelled insight into manipulating people. She glided through prep school with flawless grades, terrorizing teachers and students alike with her ability to pluck secrets from minds, and won admittance to Harvard. Wherever she went, tales of haunted classrooms and poltergeists soon followed...

By now, Vivian had grown bored of petty cruelty and was looking for bigger, better things in life. On one hand, she craved the influence and power that her parents had; on the other, the minutae of business bored her. Chancing upon a fledgling supervillain group turned out to be just what she needed. For the first time she was able to use her powers openly and loved the adrenaline rush of battling heroes, the ill-gotten gains that resulted, and the media furore over her success. She adopted the moniker "Specter" after her childhood exploits and it wasn't long before charismatic, persuasive Vivian had ousted the group's former leader.

Specter's streak of success didn't last long. Celebrating after a successful operation, she got herself hopelessly drunk and her powers went haywire, injuring several. The resulting police investigation uncovered her involvement in several crimes as well as her secret identity. Michael Huang struck her out from his will, hoping to put some sense in her. Specter replied by way of attacking Huang International HQ in broad daylight, severely wounding over a dozen employees and guards and causing millions of dollars in damage before she was driven off by a team of superheroes. Cut off from the privileged life her family had provided her and with her compatriots in jail, Specter has struck out on her own to get back the life of riches and power she feels is her due.


Complications

Power Loss: Specter's powers demand mental focus to work. At the GM's discretion, effects that hamper mental concentration (nausea, drowsiness, hallucinogens etc.) may reduce the ranks of her powers or make them go Uncontrollable.

Enemy: Michael Huang cooperated with the police to bring his daughter to justice, and many believe that Specter's attack on Huang International Finance was in revenge for this. He doesn't hate his daughter, but feels that a little 'tough love' is long overdue. Huang can provide considerable personal information on Specter and may be willing to provide heroes with financial and material assistance in exchange for a promise not to hurt his daughter.

Enemy: Dreadnought is - was - the leader of Specter's last supervillain group. As far as he's concerned, they were doing just fine on their own. Letting that Chinese ghost-girl join was a complete mistake, though. She had everyone eating out of her hand within a month, probably thanks to some psychic mind voodoo, and they actually told him to step down! The gall! Well, he certainly taught her a good lesson when he slipped her something 'extra' in her drink that night. Oh, sure, they all landed in jail when she blew their cover, but that's probably a blessing in disguise, too. As far as the others concerned, they made a mistake trusting her in the first place and are going to get some payback once they escape from jail - under his leadership, of course.

Abilities (46pp): Strength 0, Stamina 0, Agility 3, Dexterity 4, Fighting 3, Intellect 2, Awareness 5, Presence 6

Powers (129pp):

"Haunting" ARRAY 55pp + 5pp
BASE "Poltergeist" Move Object 10 (Area: Burst +1, Perception +1, Precise, Selective +1, Subtle, Throwing Mastery 3)
-- AE "Doppelgänger" Remote Sensing 9 [all senses] (Simultaneous +1, Subtle)
-- AE "Banshee" Weaken Awareness 10 (Area: Cone +1) linked to Damage 10 (Alternate Resistance: Will +1, Area: Cone +1, Subtle)
-- AE "Spook" Weaken Attack 10 (Broad [close and ranged] +1, Perception +2, Simultaneous +1, Subtle)
-- AE "Nightmare" Mental Blast 10 (Secondary Effect +1, Subtle)
-- AE "Possession" Affliction 10 [Will vs Entranced/Compelled/Controlled] (Insidious, Perception +2, Progressive +2, Subtle)

"Séance" 24pp + 1pp
BASE Communication 3 (Area +1, Feature [two-way], Selective +1, Subtle 1), Comprehend 2 [languages]
-- AE Mind Reading 10

"Ghostly Flight" Flight 5 [Speed: 900 ft/rnd] (Subtle) 11pp
"Hour of the Wolf" Luck Control 1 [force reroll] (Limited [only Will saves, only vs this character] -2) 1pp
"Phantasmal Aura" Force Field 13 (Subtle), Concealment 10 (Resistable: Will -1) 24pp
"Spectral Vision" Senses 13 Detect Minds [mental] (Accurate, Acute, Penetrates Concealment, Radius, Ranged), Psychic Awareness (Acute), Tracking [mental] 13pp

Advantages (14pp): Accurate Attack, Attractive, Fascinate: Persuasion, Improved Initiative 2, Languages 2 [English, Mandarin; base: Cantonese], Luck 5, Taunt, Ultimate Will

Skills (44pp / 88r):
Acrobatics 9 (+12), Deception 12 (+18), Expertise: Business 4 (+6), Expertise: Psychology 16 (+18), Insight 13 (+18), Perception 10 (+15), Persuasion 12 (+18), Ranged Combat: Throwing 3 (+7), Stealth 9 (+12)

Offense: Initiative +11

• +7 Move Object thrown attack (Ranged, Damage, DC 28 Toughness)
• -- Poltergeist (Perception Area: Burst, Grab, DC 20 better of Strength or Dodge; Selective)
• -- Banshee (Close Area: Cone, Weaken Awareness, DC 20 Will linked to Damage, DC 25 Will)
• -- Spook (Perception, Weaken Attack [close and ranged], DC 20 Will)
• -- Nightmare (Perception, Damage, DC 25 Will; Secondary Effect)
• -- Possession (Perception, Affliction, DC 20 Will vs Entranced/Compelled/Controlled)

Defense (23pp): Dodge 4 (+7), Parry 4 (+7), Toughness +13, Fort 7 (+7), Will 8 (+13)

Abilities 46 + Powers 134 + Advantages 14 + Skills 44 + Defense 23 = 261

Here's Specter. She's really good against anything not will shifted, and can support them team with communications and scouting. Specter doesn't have Insubstantial since she's not literally a ghost, but I'm thinking of adding some sort of resistable concealment effect.

Move Object: Specter's telekinesis is both precise and powerful, allowing her to manipulate multiple targets with fine control and fling objects at supersonic speed. Area Perception attacks don't allow for a dodge save to reduce the DC. Precise and Subtle allows her to do a lot of haunted-house tricks e.g. phones ringing themselves, the furniture rearranging of its own accord, etc.

Remote Sensing: Specter conjures a faint psychic 'double' of herself which she can use to scout in relative safety. The Doppelgänger generally can't be seen except by people with Mental or Psychic awareness.

Weaken Awareness linked to Damage: This is a 'psychic scream' attack.

Weaken Attack: Specter conjures a persistent, eerie sense of 'wrongness' that causes them to be constantly on edge and misjudge attacks. This is the only of her offensive powers that is not Subtle - others can feel the sense of spooky wrongness coming from her too, even though they're not affected.

Mental Blast: Specter floods the victim's mind with horrific images. So traumatic is the assault that it causes psychosomatic damage and lingers for some time even after she has ceased the attack. Fearless or Immunity to Fear/Emotions protects from this power.

Affliction: Specter injects a victim with a fragment of her psychic presence, bringing him/her under control. Mental attacks on the controlled victim affect Specter, not the victim.

Luck Control: Specter's psychic power is so potent, she can spend luck points to make enemies reroll Will saves versus her attacks.

Senses: Detect Minds allows her to sense sentient beings at range and attack them with her perception range powers. She can do so through concealment provided by objects (but not the Concealment effect). Specter can also track others through the psychic imprint they leave on areas they've been through.

Without her psychic powers, Specter is still a capable social combatant with high perception and insight, and good acrobatics and stealth.

[Ysariel]

I think this was one of those submissions where the character just wasn't good enough to stand a chance of being selected, despite lacking glaring problems.

Miss Miracle (PL 10; 150PP)
Concept: Light controller
Tradeoffs: None



Even at a young age, it was apparent that Claire Mackenzie was an unusual girl, demonstrated when she showed up to her school's science fair with a diesel-powered, motorized wheelchair for her amputee father. The Mackenzies did their best to accomodate their daughter's unusual abilities, but school bored her and - acutely aware that she was different - she was somewhat lonely. Claire dived into academics to while away the time; she studied calculus when others were studying algebra.

One day, talking with her father about his service in World War II that caused him to lose both legs, she asked him on a whim why anyone would go to war if it was so horrible. "Because some things are worth fighting for," he replied. That answer colored her view of the world around her forever and set the direction of her life. Science and mathematics slowly changed from things of academic interest for her to tools for bettering the world.

Young, energetic Claire graduated from Princeton at a time when most people her age were graduating from high school, went on to get her doctorate in physics, and set out to make a difference. She soon distinguished herself as a scientist with strong multidisciplinary expertise, but the pace of theoretical work, and its distance from real-world problems, frustrated her. In the late sixties she turned away from theoretical research into applied science, working on revolutionary new solar cells with efficiencies of nearly 95% and vast energy storage capacity, promising a world of abundant energy free from fossil fuel pollution. But the science was still untested and the nanotechnology needed to realize her ideas lay decades in the future. Despite some promising starts, funding was difficult to find.

The research, however, caught the eye of the Soviet government which feared the possibility of a US economy powered by limitless, free energy. One rainy night, sleeper agents in the US abducted her and several top scientists on the program and brought them to a secret base in Siberia where they were ordered to continue their work for the benefit of the Soviet Union instead.

Despite little hope of freedom, Claire fought to keep morale among the scientists high and continue working towards escape. One team member suggested using the solar cell technology to signal US spy satellites. In a flash of insight Claire realized that the self-replicating, self-assembling properties of DNA could be used to build the microscopic light-capturing devices they needed, and fashioned a drug which induced cells to produce the nano-scale solar cells right in the subject's body.

After waiting out the Siberian winter, Claire volunteered for the injection, not willing to risk any of her teammates lives. But the drug had much different effects than anticipated. The solar cells - literal light-absorbing biological cells - produced integrated fully into her metabolism, storing light energy and allowing her to re-emit it in controlled fashion. Claire found she could manipulate it in ways that defied conventional physics, forming it into solid 'force fields' of light, projecting it in blinding, destructive pulses of energy, and flying through radiation pressure exerted on the ground. Overpowering the guards, she escaped and carried the scientists thousands of miles to safety in Japan.

Many things have changed since then. While Claire still works to perfect her solar cell technology and understand her abilities, she's been attacked more than once by villains trying to steal the drug that gave her powers. The US military has discovered - to its dismay - that said drug apparently functions as designed in every other test subject, doing nothing but inducing the production of microscopic light-absorbing cells in the bloodstream. Most of all, beyond her labwork, Claire now has a means to change the world personally. As a superhero, she takes the fight to those who oppress the innocent in person. Whether it's a planet-menacing tyrant or muggers in back alleys, the scum of the world tread lightly when Miss Miracle is in the house.


Complications:

Motivation (doing good): Long before she was a hero, Claire believed in bettering humanity's lot by whatever means she could. She still holds to utopian ideals of solving the world's problems with science and reason in a postmodern age. It is the driving force behind her research, her heroics, and everything she does.

Enemy: Science and technology are to be used for the benefit of mankind. Claire despises those who would use them for selfish gain at the expense of others, and counts them all as her enemies.

Public figure: Miss Miracle's civilian identity is in the public record (her escape, a major embarassment for the Soviets, was widely reported). Her friends, family, colleagues and research are open to attack by those who lack the means to harm her directly.

Power Loss: Miss Miracle's main source of light energy comes from the sun. After 24 hours of exposure to indoor lighting only, her powers operate at half ranks, round up. After 24 hours without exposure to direct sunlight, she suffers Power Loss of all powers. Either may also happen if she uses her power too much in combat, draining her energy reserves.

Weakness: Nullify (Light) and Weaken (Light effects) also inflict Damage of the same rank as the base effect on her. Effects with a Darkness descriptor work at +2 effect rank against her.

Responsibility: Claire conducts cutting-edge research and has all the demands on her time that a busy scientist has - supervising experiments, presenting her findings at scientific conferences, fighting for grants and more.

Mystery: The origin and function of Claire's power remain poorly understood and attempts at reproducing it have failed. While she tries to understand her powers,


Abilities (42pp): Strength 0, Stamina 0, Agility 2, Dexterity 1, Fighting 2, Intellect 8, Awareness 5, Presence 3

Powers (60pp):

"Light Control" ARRAY 30pp + 3pp
BASE "Glitter Blast" Blast 10 linked to Visual Dazzle 5 [fort resists]
-- AE "Ray of Hope" Healing 10 (Perception +2)
-- AE "Lightshaping" Create 10 [hard light construct] (Movable +1, Stationary +0)
-- AE "Seraphic Seal" Affliction 10 [Dodge vs vulnerable+dazed/defenseless+stunned] (Alternate Resistance: Dodge +0, Cumulative +1, Extra Condition +1, Limited Degree -1, Ranged +1)

"Wings of Light" Flight 5 10pp
"Luminous Aura" Force Field 10, Environment 1 [30ft bright daylight], Immunity 5 [one type of damage: light] 17pp

Advantages (3pp): Benefit: Fame, Inventor, Power Attack

Skills (14pp / 28r): Expertise: Science 7 (+15), Insight 5 (+10), Investigation 1 (+9), Perception 2 (+7), Persuasion 3 (+6), Ranged Combat: Light Control 9 (+10), Technology 1 (+9)

Offense: Initiative +0

• +10 Glitter Blast (Ranged, Damage DC 25 Toughness linked to Affliction DC 15 Fort vs visually impaired/disabled/unaware; Cumulative)
• +10 Lightshaping (Ranged Area, Create, DC 25 Toughness)
• +10 Seraphic Seal (Ranged, Affliction, DC 20 Dodge vs vulnerable+dazed/defenseless+stunned; Cumulative)

Defense (31pp): Dodge 8 (+10), Parry 8 (+10), Toughness +10, Fort 8 (+8), Will 7 (+12)

Abilities 42 + Powers 60 + Advantages 3 + Skills 14 + Defense 31 = 150

[Ysariel]

Witchgirl (PL 10; 150PP)
Concept: Mystic
Tradeoffs: Attack -2 / Save DC +2; Defense -2 / Toughness +2



Sixteen-year-old Gabriella led a happy if unexciting teenager's life free of abusive parents, cosmic rays and radioactive spiders - until the fateful night she found a witch in her hat. Mugged on the way home from a Halloween party, Gabriella tried to fight back, which would've ended horribly for her had not the hat of her witch costume contained a spark of real magic: the dormant spirit of Miss Mercedes, an ancient witch looking for a heir to her magical mastery. Deciding that trying to fight off a mugger with a costume-prop broom demonstrated sufficient moxie, Mercedes trounced the petty criminal and adopted Gabriella as her protege.

Thrown into a strange new world of magic and the superhuman as the teenaged crimefighter Witchgirl, Gabriella has to try to juggle her dual life, navigate the dangers of the paranormal and learn the meaning of heroism. In between homework and fighting horrors out of a Stephen King novel, Witchgirl studies magic under the watchful eye of Miss Mercedes. While she originally only wanted to pass on her legacy before passing on, Mercedes and Gabriella have grown to be very close friends, to the point that Mercedes now wonders if she can ever truly let go of this world. For her part, Witchgirl has grown to love the life of a costumed crimefighter - and the local bogeymen are quick to get out of the way when the Witch in Green comes calling.


Complications:

Secret: Witchgirl is Gabriella Mackenzie

Miscast: As a not-quite-fully-trained witch, her spells occasionally go haywire in noisy, spectacular ways with plenty of collateral damage.

Relationship (Mercedes): A disembodied spirit imbued into Witchgirl's pointy hat, Miss Mercedes is all that remainds of an ancient witch looking for a heir to her vast magical knowledge. Wearing her witch hat allows Witchgirl to speak mentally with Mercedes, and for the latter to see the world through her eyes. As the only one she can share her crimefighting life with, Witchgirl is extremely close to Mercedes, and her word carries plenty of weight. If the hat is ever destroyed, Mercedes will be gone - forever.

Responsibility (Bogey Alert): Witchgirl is responsible for keeping her corner of town free of supernatural nuisances - bogeymen, nightmares, goblins and more. Unfortunately, her detection charms aren't reliable, and she sometimes only shows up after the problem has grown to hideous proportions, as well as having to deal with her fair share of false alarms.

Code of Honor: Witchgirl is sworn not to use her magic for personal gain (money, homework, love potion for the teenage crush, solving personal problems etc), although self-defense is allowed.

Teenager: Witchgirl must abide by curfew, do homework, maintain good grades, show up for school, stay out of age-restricted establishments, etc.


Abilities (28pp): Strength 0, Stamina 0, Agility 1, Dexterity 2, Fighting 1, Intellect 4, Awareness 4, Presence 2

Powers (69pp):

"Maleficarum" ARRAY 38pp + 5pp
BASE "Sagitta Magica" Blast 12 (Affects Insubstantial 2, Multiattack +1)
-- AE "Magna Maledictio" Affliction 12 [Will vs Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless] (Cumulative +1, Extra Condition +1, Limited Degree -1, Ranged +1)
-- AE "Trucidatrix Titanos" Affliction 12 [Will vs Entranced/Compelled/Transformed into small animal] (Cumulative +1, Ranged +1, Reversible)
-- AE "Auspicium Superba" Remote Sensing 12 [Range: 16 mi; visual, auditory 3*r pp] (Subtle)
-- AE "Transmutatio" Transform 5 [Mass: 25 lbs; anything to anything, 5*r pp] (Continuous +1, Ranged +1)
-- AE "Tempestas Irae" Environment 9 [Radius: 2 mi; impede movement 1, visibility 2] (Selective +1)

"Obex Impervia" Force Field 12 (Ultimate Toughness) 13pp
"Mysteria Adclaro" Senses 2 Detect Magical Creature (Radius, Ranged, Extended) (Unreliable -1), Magical Awareness (Acute) 4pp

"Broom" Flight 4 [Speed: 30 mph] (Platform -1) 4pp
"Hat" Enhanced Expertise: Magic 8, Feature 3 [Internal Compartment, Mentor, Quick Change] (Easily Removable -2pp) 5pp
"Witchgirl's Chantry" Headquarters [as Sanctum Sanctorum, Toughness 8] 10ep

Advantages (6pp): Artificer, Equipment 2, Languages 1 [Latin; Base: English], Luck 2

Skills (17pp / 34r): Deception 3 (+5), Expertise: Academics 2 (+6), Expertise: Magic 4 (+8/16), Expertise: Nature Lore 4 (+8), Insight: 5 (+9), Investigation 2 (+6), Perception 3 (+7), Persuasion 3 (+5), Ranged Combat: Magic 6 (+8), Treatment: 2 (+6)

Offense: Initiative +1

• +8 Sagitta Magica (Ranged, Damage, DC 27 Toughness; Affects Insubstantial 2, Multiattack)
• +8 Magna Maledictio (Ranged, Affliction, DC 27 Will vs Impaired+Vulnerable/Disabled+Defenseless; Cumulative)
• +8 Trucidator Titanos (Ranged, Affliction, DC 27 Will vs Entranced/Compelled/Transformed into frog; Cumulative, Reversible)
• +8 Transmutatio (Ranged, Transform, DC 15 Dodge to prevent item being transformed)
• -- Tempestas Irae (Ranged, Environment, -1 rank to movement and -5 to perception checks; Selective)

Defense (30pp): Dodge 7 (+8), Parry 7 (+8), Toughness +12, Fort 8 (+8), Will 8 (+12)

Abilities 28 + Powers 69 + Advantages 6 + Skills 17 + Defense 30 = 150

Witchgirl can do most of witches were traditionally accused of (curses, turning milk sour, storms) minus the more sinister stuff like spreading disease and speaking to the dead. Her mystic tradition focuses mainly on transformations and probability control, with a dash of nature magic.

Affliction (Impaired, Disabled): Witchgirl has the -2/-5 to all checks version of Impaired and Disabled, which I normally would not consider, but feels like a good way to do a persistent bad luck spell. I'm still on the fence whether this is too powerful, since with Defenseless as the 2nd degree condition it would probably spell doom for any equal PL combatant. We'll see how things work out in practice.

Transform: I requested the GM allow me to use this to duplicate many minor cantrips, e.g. Transform unlit candle > lit candle to light a candle, or transform closed door > open door to open a (unlocked) door.

Affliction (Entranced, Compelled, Transformed): This is the classic "turn people into frogs" curse witches have. Witchgirl's version has Variable Descriptor 2, allowing her to change the type of animal she turns them into, except creatures that can't survive in their current environment (e.g. into a fish on land). Entranced and Compelled represent having normal thought processes overriden by animal instincts.

Hat: Putting on her hat changes Gabriella into her Witchgirl costume and as a riff on stage magician hat tricks, she can store things (usually her broom) in the hat. The Mentor feature represents the benefits of Mercedes' advice. Once per adventure she can provide some useful insight, like a use of the Inspiration feature of HP.

Witchgirl has low Expertise: Magic for a mystic, and can only match more experienced mystics with Mercedes' help (through the hat). Her Nature Lore, Artificer and Treatment represent knowledge of herbology and potion-making, and she uses Latin as her spellcasting language. Some standard highschooler skills like Academics and Deception round her out.

As customary for my mystics I have tried to provide accurate (or at least not hilariously terrible) Latin spell names. Corrections are very welcome if anyone out there actually knows some Latin:

Maleficarum: Witchcraft
Sagitta Magica: Magic Arrow
Magna Maledictio: Great Curse
Tempestas Irae: Storm (of) Wrath
Transmutatio: Transmutation
Auspicium Superba: Superb Divination
Trucidatrix Titanos: Titan's Slayer
Obex Impervia: Impassable Barrier
Mysteria Adclaro: I reveal mysteries

[Ysariel]

Here is Vicky as a PL 11, 165pp (she took a level in badass after dying). She still has much the same powers and the same advantages. Major changes are:
No more Impervious Toughness.
She no longer has any flawed skills, and her combat-related skills - deception, insight and perception - are all much higher than before.
She now has Inspire 5 and her exotic defenses hit caps.
Her flight and enhance extra: multiattack are now dynamic, so she can use both at the same time.

Vicky Wu / Wu Weiqi (PL 11; 165PP)
Avatar of Sun Wukong, Great Saint Equal of Heaven, Handsome Monkey King, Victorious Battling Buddha
Concept: Trickster hero
Tradeoffs: None

Abilities (14pp): Strength 0 (3), Stamina 0 (3), Agility 0 (6), Dexterity 0, Fighting 0 (6), Intellect 4, Awareness 3 (6), Presence 0 (3)

Powers (107pp):

"Monkey King's Favor"
Enhanced Ability 28 [Strength 3, Stamina 3, Agility 6, Fighting 6, Awareness 3, Presence 3] 48pp
Enhanced Advantage 4 [Devious Plan* 5, Taunt] 6pp
Protection 8, Enhanced Fortitude 8 16pp
Extra Limbs 1 [tail] 1pp
* As Inspire

"Golden-Banded Wishing Rod" STR-Based Damage 8 8pp
"Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils" Senses 2 Vision (Counters Illusion) (Noticeable [eyes glow] -1pp) 1pp

"Monkey Magic"
BASE "72 Transformations" Morph 4 [any appearance, 5pp/r] 20pp + 7pp
-- AE "Miraculous Creation" Create 4 [real objects] (Continuous +1, Innate, Precise +1, Subtle)
-- AE "Perfect Duplication" Summon 5 [duplicate; powers/traits at half ranks] (Active +1)
-- DAE "Somersault Cloud" Flight 10 [Speed: 2,000 mph]
-- DAE "Three Heads, Six Arms" Enhanced Extra 11 [Multiattack 11], Enhanced Advantage 2 [Takedown 2]
-- AE "Body-Freezing Spell" Affliction 10 [Fort vs. dazed/stunned/paralyzed] (Limited [only vs minions] -1, Perception +2)

Advantages (8pp): Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, Improved Initiative, Move-By Attack, Languages 1 [English, Mandarin (free); Base: Hokkien], Power Attack, Uncanny Dodge [mental]

Skills (23pp / 46r): Acrobatics 4 (+10), Athletics 7 (+10), Close Combat: Staff 5 (+11), Deception 10 (+13), Expertise: Engineering 4 (+8), Insight 5 (+11), Perception 5 (+11), Persuasion 2 (+5), Technology 4 (+8)

Offense: Initiative +10
+11 Golden-Banded Wishing Rod (Close, Damage, DC 26 Toughness)

Defense (13pp):
Defense: Dodge 5 (+11), Parry 5 (+11), Toughness: +11, Fortitude: 0 (+11), Will: 3 (+11***)
** Includes +2 Will save from PRE ranks 1 and 3

Abilities 14 + Powers 107 + Advantages 8 + Skills 23 + Defense 13 = 165

[Jabroniville]

Interesting characters- I like Miss Miracle & Witch Girl. Some nice designs and pictures, too.

[Ysariel]

Thank you very much!

[Ysariel]

Amethyst / Michelle Hong (PL 9; 135pp)
Concept: Battlesuit
Tradeoffs: Attack -1 / Damage +1; Defense +1 / Toughness -1

"Move over, Dropbox. My cloud has miniguns in it."


Image is ENGAGE MODE: ON by KahoOkashii

"I never thought I'd become a superhero. I mean, the whole idea sounded stupid - how much can one person in spandex do, superhuman or not? I was going to do what they couldn't, to change the world through technology. And I was having the time of my life! Go to Stanford at fourteen: check. Drop out a year later to found a startup: check. Sell out to Google and make billions: check. Do it better the next time: hell yeah.

"Then the whole invasion thing happened, and when you're hiding in a bomb shelter without food or power trying to figure out if your family's alive, making an iPhone killer suddenly sounds a lot less important. And changing the world doesn't seem so grand when there's nothing you can change about people dying in the streets.

"After that, I couldn't go back to doing anything as inane as making new ways to share videos of cats playing pianos. I wanted to protect the things that really mattered. So I sold my stock in Google, moved back to San Antonio, took a crash course in high-energy physics - and Amethyst, Avenging Angel of the people was born! Okay, so I don't really know how this will work out, but we all have to start somewhere, right?"


Complications

Lost Connection To Server (Power Loss): Nullify Teleport effects make Amethyst's Hyperspace Arsenal array Easily Removable and prevent her from switching it, since she can no longer warp in new weapons. Nullify Super-Movement [Dimensional] effects make all her powers function at half ranks, rounded down, as she's cut off from her power source and has to use battery power instead.

BSOD (power loss): Amethyst is still a newbie to crimefighting, and hasn't worked out all the kinks in her equipment yet.

Your Mom Is Not Impressed (relationship): Amethyst's family, to put it mildly, strongly disapprove of her giving up a highly lucrative life to go fighting crime, and have started resorting to increasingly drastic measures to make her stop. Because it's for her own good.

Trending On Twitter (fame): Amethyst's identity is public knowledge. There are videos of her battles on Youtube, she posts crimefighting updates on her Facebook, and is probably the only person in town with waist-length hair dyed pink.

Forget The Sugar Water (motivation - doing good): Amethyst gave up the life of a high-flying technopreneur to protect her city and family, and do some real good for a change.


Abilities (24pp): Str 10 (+0), Dex 10 (+0), Con 10 (+0), Int 26 (+8), Wis 14 (+2), Cha 14 (+2)

Skills (14pp / 56r): Computers 12 (+20), Craft: Electronic 7 (+15), Craft: Mechanical 2 (+10), Diplomacy 6 (+8), Disable Device 7 (+15), Knowledge: Business 1 (+9), Knowledge: Technology 12 (+20), Knowledge: Physical Sciences 2 (+10), Language 1 (Mandarin; base: English), Notice 6 (+8)

Feats (6pp): Attractive, Equipment 2, Inventor, Wealth, Ultimate Skill: Computers

Powers (74pp):

"Amethyst Battlesuit"
DEVICE 18 [90pp of effects, hard to remove 4pp/r] (Restricted 2) 74pp

"Hyperspace Arsenal" ARRAY 20pp + 2pp
BASE "Beam Cannon" Blast 10
-- AP "Smart Missiles" Blast 5 (Area: Burst +1, Selective Attack +1)
-- AP "Railgun" Disintegrate 10 (Distracting -1, Instant Recovery* -1, Full Action -1)

"System Core Uplink" ARRAY 11pp + 1pp
BASE "Interface" Datalink 6 [radio; 20mi] (Machine Control, Subtle), Quickness 6 [x100] (Limited [only mental tasks] -1)
-- AP "Netwar" Mind Control 9 (Limited [only AI] -1, Mental Link, Subtle)

"Warp Fields" Force Field 8, Immunity 5 [all environmental] 13pp
"Reactionless Drive" Flight 5 10pp
"Bio-Stabilizer" Enhanced Fortitude 5 5pp
"Predictive AI" Enhanced Reflex 5, Enhanced Defense 3 (Dodge Focus 5) 16pp
"Tactical Computer" Enhanced Attack 2 (Attack Specialization 2: Hyperspace Arsenal) 6pp
"Sensor Array" Super-Senses 4 Radio (Accurate, Extended [-1/100ft]) 4pp
"Onboard Systems" Feature 2 [Computer, Improvised Tools] 2pp

* Instant Recovery -1: this makes the victim recover from the Drain Toughness effect immediately after this power is used. Effectively, the Drain Toughness only ever benefits the linked Damage component of her Disintegrate. This hopefully makes it a hard-to-resist super attack that doesn't floor the villain's Toughness for the rest of the combat.

"Villa" Headquarters (Toughness 5 (+10), Size +2 [Large], Communications, Computer, Living Space, Pool, Power System, Security System [DC 20], Workshop) 10ep

Offense (4pp): 2 (+4) Base Attack; 0 Initiative

• +8 Beam Cannon (Ranged, Damage, DC 25 Toughness)
• -- Smart Missiles (Ranged Area: Burst, Damage, DC 20 Toughness; Selective Attack)
• +8 Railgun (Ranged, Damage linked to Drain Toughness, DC 25 Toughness + DC 25 Fort; Distracting, Instant Recovery, Full Action)
• -- Netwar (Perception, Mind Control, DC 24 Will or Technology or Power Level; Limited [only AI])

Defense (13pp): Defense 2 (+10; Flat-footed +3), Toughness +8, Fort 1 (+6), Ref 4 (+9), Will 4 (+6)

Abilities 24 + Skills 14 + Feats 6 + Offense 4 + Defense 13 + Powers 74 = 135

Amethyst isn't as good at miniaturization and mechanical engineering as most super-science types, so her suit relies on forcefields instead of armor. Over 99% of the suit's mass - computers, reactor, engines and shield emitters - resides in a hyperspace pocket, connected to our universe by a fist-sized wormhole in the backpack of her suit (hidden from view in picture). What she wears is just the emitters and sensors for the various components.

Unlike the core book Battlesuit, she doesn't have the Normal Identity drawback, since her suit is compact enough that she can wear it all the time, under her street clothes if she wants to.

Amethyst is slightly damage and defense shifted to represent someone who hits hard, but is somewhat fragile. Her super-science strengths lie in computing, force fields and hyperspace technology. The Business and Diplomacy skills represent her skills as an entrepreneur.

her Hyperspace Arsenal array represents handheld weapons that Amethyst warps in from her base. It is hard to remove since if you disarm her, she just warps in new weapons, but if you knock her out you can remove the uplink that lets her do this.

[Ysariel]

A slightly older, more experienced version of Amethyst for Arthur Eld's Vanguard Mission Team Alpha.

Amethyst / Michelle Hong 洪 美 珍 (PL 11; 165pp)
Concept: Battlesuit
Tradeoffs: Attack -1 / Damage +1; Defense +1 / Toughness -1

"Move over, Dropbox. My cloud has miniguns in it."


Image is ENGAGE MODE: ON by KahoOkashii

"I never thought I'd become a superhero. I mean, the whole idea sounded stupid - how much can one person in spandex do, superpowers or not? I was going to do what they couldn't, to change the world through technology. And I was having the time of my life! Go to Stanford at fourteen: check. Drop out a year later to found a startup: check. Sell out to Google and make billions: check. Do it better the next time: hell yeah.

"Then the whole invasion thing happened, and when you're hiding in a bomb shelter without food or power trying to figure out if your family's alive, making an iPhone killer suddenly sounds a lot less important. And changing the world doesn't seem so grand when there's nothing you can change about people dying in the streets.

"After that, I couldn't go back to coming up with new ways to keep people staring at a 5-inch screen. I wanted to protect the things that really mattered. So I sold my stock in Google, moved back to San Antonio, took a crash course in high-energy physics - and Amethyst, Avenging Angel of the people was born!

"It took a year or so, but now that San Antonio's in safe hands and the sustainable resources research got off the ground, I'm going to start work on something bigger. I have more to offer this planet than another way to share videos of pet cats playing the piano. Yes, I'm joining UNISON. And I'm going to do what I couldn't back then: change the world for the better."


Complications

Lost Connection To Server (Power Loss): Nullify Movement [dimension travel] effects make Amethyst's Hyperspace Arsenal array Easily Removable and prevent her from switching it, since she can no longer warp in new weapons. Her other powers function at reduced ranks as she's cut off from her power source and has to use battery power.

Now Trending On Twitter (fame): Amethyst's identity is public knowledge, she's one of very few people in the tech industry well-known to laypeople, and is probably the only 19-year old, smoking hot billionaire genius with hip-length hair dyed pink in the world.

Not A Hardware Person Amethyst isn't as good at mechanical engineering and miniaturization as she is at other areas of super science. Reduce her Technology skill and disable her Ultimate Skill: Technology in appropriate situations.

Forget The Sugar Water (motivation - doing good): Amethyst gave up the life of a high-flying technopreneur to protect the world, and do some real good for a change.


Abilities (52pp): Strength 0, Stamina 0, Agility 2, Dexterity 2, Fighting 2, Intellect 10, Awareness 7, Presence 3

Powers (87pp):

"Amethyst Battlesuit" 110pp (Removable -22pp) 88pp

"Hyperspace Arsenal" ARRAY 25pp + 3pp
BASE "Blaster Pistols" Blast 12 (Split [2 targets])
-- AE "Strike Drones" Blast 6 (Area: Burst +1, Selective Attack +1)
-- AE "Gatling Laser" Blast 12 (Activation [Move] -1, Improved Critical [19-20], Multiattack +1)
-- AE "Railgun" Disintegration 12 (Activation [Move] -1, Distracting -1, Instant Recovery -1)

"System Core Uplink" Variable 2 [10pp of effects] 14pp

"Gun Drones" Enhanced Extra 12 [Multiattack 12] (Quirk [not more than +2 DC] -2pp) 10pp
"Quantum Computer" Mental Quickness 10 5pp
"Signal Booster" Communication 1 (Feature: Operate machines remotely) 5pp
"Auxiliary Drive" Flight 2 (Move-By Action) 5pp
"Advanced Sensors" Senses 5 Vision (Infravision, Ultravision, Microscopic Vision 3) 5pp
"Hardened Shields" Force Field 2 (Interpose), Impervious Toughness 11, Enhanced Dodge -2, Enhanced Parry -2 10pp

"Hyperdrive" Flight 5 [60 mph] 10pp
"Warp Fields" Force Field 10, Immunity 7 [all environmental, all suffocation] 17pp
"Tactical AI" Enhanced Parry 8, Enhanced Dodge 8 16pp
"Bio-Stabilizer" Enhanced Fortitude 8 8pp
"Fire Control" Enhanced Ranged Combat: Hyperspace Arsenal 6 (Power Attack) 4pp
"Sensor Array" Senses 3 Radio (Accurate), Enhanced Perception 2 4pp
"Onboard Systems" Feature 2 [Computer, Improvised Tools], Mental Quickness 4, Communication 1 (Subtle) 9pp

Advantages (9pp): Attractive, Beginner's Luck, Benefit: Fame, Benefit: Wealth, Inventor, Languages 1 [Mandarin; base: English] (free), Ranged Attack 2, Speed of Thought, Ultimate Skill: Technology

Skills (9pp / 18r): Expertise: Business 1 (+11), Expertise: Science 1 (+11), Insight 0 (+7), Perception 0 (+7/9), Persuasion 6 (+9), Technology 10 (+20)

Offense: Initiative +10

• +10 Blaster Pistols (Ranged, Damage, DC 27 Toughness)
• -- Strike Drones (Ranged Area: Burst, Damage, DC 21 Toughness; Selective Attack)
• +10 Gatling Laser (Ranged, Damage, DC 27 Toughness; Activation [Move], Multiattack)
• +10 Railgun (Ranged, Damage linked to Weaken Toughness, DC 27 Toughness + DC 22 Fort; Activation [Move], Distracting, Instant Recovery)
• -- Netwar (Perception, Affliction, DC 21 Will or Technology or Power Level; Limited [only machines])

Defense (7pp): Dodge 2 (+12), Parry 2 (+12), Toughness +10, Fort 0 (+8), Will 3 (+10)

Abilities 52 + Powers 88 + Advantages 9 + Skills 9 + Defense 7 = 165

Amethyst's a 21st-century twist on Tony Stark. She's not as good at miniaturization and mechanical engineering as most super inventors, so she designed her suit with force fields instead of armor and warps in handheld armament instead of using built-in weapons. And instead of insanely compact technology, over 99% of her battlesuit's mass resides in a hyperspace pocket, connected to our universe by a fist-sized interface in her backpack (just out of view in the picture).

What she wears is only the emitters and interfaces for the various systems. Her suit's compact enough that she can wear it all the time, under street clothes. In 2e this was represented by not having the Normal Identity drawback that most battlesuits have, in 3e just have her suit malfunction or get damaged instead of needing to be put on.

Hyperspace Arsenal consists of weapons produced in vast robotic factories hidden in hyperspace and teleported to her location. It's not easily removable since if you disarm, damage or destroy her guns, she just warps in new weapons.

Netwar allows her to attempt to control intelligent constructs (those with a will save), like AI systems and such. Against non-intelligent constructs she uses a combination of Technology skill and mental quickness to hack them.

This is Amethyst after she's had a year or two of experience and upgraded her suit a little. Here she doesn't have her Headquarters that her 2e version had, since it's not easily accessible worldwide. Unusually, Amethyst is both damage and defense shifted, to represent someone who's fast hits hard but isn't very tough - more jet fighter than walking tank. Her super-science strengths lie in computing and hyperspace technology. Her Expertise: Business and Diplomacy skills represent her skills as an entrepreneur.

Amethyst is of Han Chinese ethnicity, but was born in the U.S. and holds American citizenship. Her parents are 1st-generation immigrants originally from Singapore.