Concept:
The Sphinx is a character that is akin to a mix between a Costumed Hero and a Mystic (think Nightwing crossed with Dr. Strange). He is a competent fighter with some skill diversity due to a broad education and changing locations. With the amulet, his Int and Wis are increased, and he has expanded senses (such as the ability to see invisible, sense magic, retcognition and precognition), and an expanded knowledge of languages. In addition, he has a very base knowledge of Magic (like a magic-themed utility belt at the moment, a variety of useful, but not overtly powerful, spells).
In exchange for these powers, he is forced to serve the will of Thoth and the Egyptian gods, which, for the moment, demand he use his powers to deal with the corrupt and criminal elements of his city. At the top of this list, his father, who will seek to recover his amulet, and, though he has no powers of his own, he has access to a large personal cache of ancient Egyptian artifacts (which may include those empowered by more sinister Gods), as well as a great deal of money and personal underworld connections. Finally, having been privileged for his entire life, some of the more basic elements of a 'normal life,' like worrying about paying the rent, are new challenges to Walter, all of which he must strive to overcome.
Background:
Walter Mathis was born into a family that had no time for a son. His mother, an heiress to a family with olden robber-baron roots, was far too interested in society to raise a child, and his father, having founded an antiquities and art exchange with his wife's money, was too busy with expanding his business. Walter found himself under the care of a nanny nearly from birth, and was attending a very prestigious boarding school, far away from his home and parents, as soon as he was old enough.
Walter was interested in the east from a young age, and, due to his father's extensive contacts in that part of the world, was able to study abroad in India, China, Nepal, and Japan. His interests, as he aged, strayed into the more esoteric aspects of the eastern cultures, and he became well versed in their religions and both their martial and mystic traditions. This, of course, in addition to being educated and groomed for taking his place in society and business.
In his third year of college, his mother took ill, and he was called home. His father's business was now very large, and he had gained a form of obsession with ancient Egyptian culture and artifacts. His family's new home was like a museum, with beautiful and rare pieces from every era of Egyptian history.
While attempting to care for his ailing mother, Walter was given a position in his father's company, mainly for show. His title was impressive, but his duties were minimal, and he had time to delve into the business's inner workings in a hope to impress his father and finding ways of furthering the family's goals.
As the weeks went on, Walter had reason to be disturbed. His mother's illness continued, and Walter was discovering discrepancies in the company's books, with some items simply going missing while others were sometimes duplicated inexplicably. It took nearly two months, after having first come home, for Walter to discover the source of the discrepancies in his father's company. One of the employees, a man who Walter had never met or heard of, was using the company as a front to smuggle stolen goods, weapons, and even drugs into the country. The steps taken to cover these activities had left an obscure paper trail, that would have been missed by anyone taking a more casual look into the ledgers.
With a sense of adventure in his heart, and a desire to see the person brought to justice, Walter tracked one of the contraband shipments himself and waited to find out who the person behind these activities was. He waited in a warehouse near the docks, crouched low in the shadows, and discovered that the mystery man responsible for these acts was none other than his own father, working through an alias in the computer system. Walter was so dismayed by this discovery that he fled, never letting his father, or the shadowy figures he was dealing with, see who had observed them.
When he arrived home, Walter was in near panic. His father was a smuggler, his mother was dying, and he had no idea what to do about it. In this moment of distress, he had a vision. In his mind's eye, a strange bird-headed man appeared to him, telling him that the time had come for the God's to be appeased in a language that Walter had never heard, yet could still understand. Walter feared he had gone mad, the stress of these past weeks culminating in this night's discovery had finally driven him over the edge.
Within his mind, the bird-headed man continued to address him. He told him that his father's actions were disgraceful to the God's, from his desecration of ancient tombs to the illicit activities that followed. Walter was shown a vision of the unearthing of an ancient priest of Egypt, and the shipment of his sarcophagus to America, where it was delivered to his father. Ancient symbols, that should have been unreadable to him, clearly warned Walter of the danger of opening the antediluvian coffin, but his father was unaware of their meaning, and opened it any way.
Entombed with the priest was an amulet of clear blue stone, shone from within with seven star-like patterns of silvery-white. The star-sapphire was the size of a man's eye, and valuable beyond measure. The amulet was taken by his father, and given to his mother, as a gift. The ancient warnings unheeded, the God's wrath was to be inflicted on his mother, and he knew that now, the sickness that plagued her would erupt into a horrible wasting disease that would infect everyone that had come in contact with the amulet.
The strange man told Walter that the sickness would continue until both of his parents, and all that had profited from the desecration, were dead, or until the God's of ancient Egypt were appeased. Walter asked him what could be done to appease them, and the man said that the God's must be served in order for their lives to be spared. Without hesitation, even for parents that never showed him much love, Walter told the man that he would serve the God's to spare their lives. The man nodded, and led Walter to the amulet, locked away by his mother. Momentarily, the man imparted ancient magical knowledge onto Walter, so that he was able to open even a locked safe with a magical incantation.
Once he had the amulet, the man told him to wear it. Reluctantly, Walter did so. The amulet flashed a vibrant blue, and centuries of ancient knowledge flowed into Walter's mind. He cried out in pain, as the knowledge of Egyptian history and of God's seldom remembered swirled in his mind, unlocking unknown floodgates of understanding and possibility. Magic, the ancient power of the God's, was now within his grasp, but he had much to learn.
The bird-headed man was revealed to be Thoth, Egyptian god of wisdom, knowledge, and magic. The amulet, the Eye of Thoth, was an ancient repository of Thoth's knowledge, gifted to his faithful priests several millennia hence. Thoth demanded this power be used for justice and the first demand of the Gods was that Walter's father be brought to justice for his crimes. Reluctant to work against his father, but fearing it was the only way to save the life of both of his parents, Walter agreed.
Creating a disguise out of the collected Egyptian artifacts of his father's collection, Walter took to the streets, intending to gain first hand knowledge of his father's accomplices and associates. He ran away from home, knowing that he could never face his father while working against him. Cut off for the first time from his family's wealth, Walter began to wonder what he would do when his small stipend of savings ran out, how he would live, or what the God's would demand next.
Appearance:
Walter Mathis is a slightly tall man (5'11") of average build. Though he is in his early twenties, he has a baby face which makes him look several years younger, and which doesn't support facial hair well. He has well groomed dark hair, and, his most striking feature, gray eyes.
As the Sphinx, Walter sports a headdress modeled from the image of the hawk-headed God Horus. It leaves his face visible, which he covers only with a simple domino mask he attained from a costume shop. He wears a royal blue cape, and a simple tunic of white cotton, which he covers with the golden armor of a long forgotten pharaoh. He wears clawed, lion-like gauntlets and carries a chariot whip, which is similar to a bull whip, and wears dark pants and modern boots.
The SphinxWalter Mathis
PL 10, 161 PP
Attributes: [34 PP]
STR 16 [6 PP]
DEX 16 [6 PP]
CON 16 [6 PP]
INT 16 [6 PP]/ 20 w/
The Eye of ThothWIS 16 [6 PP]/ 20 w/
The Eye of ThothCHA 14 [4 PP]
Combat: [42 PP]
Attack +12 [24 PP]
Defense +3 [6 PP]/ +12 w/ Dodge Focus (+2 Flat-Footed)
Toughness +3 [0 PP]/ +8 w/ Defensive Roll and
Armor of the SphinxFort +4 [1 PP]
Reflex +8 [5 PP]/ +10 vs AoE w/ Defensive Roll
Will +9 [6 PP]/ +11 w/
The Eye of ThothFeats: [24 PP]
Defensive Roll 2 [2 PP]
Dodge Focus 9 [9 PP]
Eidetic Memory
Equipment 4 [4 PP]
Evasion
Improved Disarm
Improved Trip
Power Attack
Quick Draw
Ritualist
Sneak Attack
Trance
Uncanny Dodge (Hearing)
Skills: [17 PP] 68 ranks
Acrobatics +7 (+10)
Bluff +10 (+12)
Climb +2 (+5)
Computers +1 (+4/+6)
Concentration +4 (+7/+9)
Diplomacy +2 (+4)
Escape Artist +2 (+5)
Intimidate +2 (+4)
Investigate +2 (+5/+7)
Language 2 (Mandarin Chinese, Japanese; Default is English)
Knowledge: Arcane Lore +10 (+13/+15)
Notice +4 (+7/+9)
Profession: Executive +2 (+5/+7)
Search +3 (+6/+8)
Sense Motive +7 (+10/+12)
Sleight of Hand +1 (+4)
Stealth +6 (+9)
Swim +1 (+4)
Powers: [43 PP]
The Eye of Thoth: Device 5 (Limited Use {Those Chosen by the Gods}) [26 PP]
-Comprehend 4 (Speak, Understand, and Read All Languages at Once){8 PP}
-Enhanced Intelligence 4 {4 PP}
-Enhanced Wisdom 4 {4 PP}
-Super-Senses 13 (Counters Concealment {Normal Vision}, Danger Sense {Magical}, Magical Awareness {Extended}, Postcognition {Tiring}, Precognition {Uncontrolled}) {9 PP}
Craft of the Gods: Magic 6 (AP 6; Power Loss {When unable to Speak and Gesture Freely}) [17 PP]
-
Mystic Passage: Teleport 4 (Turnabout, Cargo Progression 1 {200 lbs]}) AND Flight 1 [Initial Power]
-
Light of Truth: Nullify 6 (Any Concealment, Illusion, or Obscure Effect) [AP]
-
Cloak of Fog: Concealment 3 (Normal Sight and Hearing) AND Obscure 3 (Normal Sight and Hearing {25ft Diameter Cloud}) [AP]
-
Sign of the Ankh: Healing 6 [AP]
-
Word of Binding: Paralyze 4 (Perception Area {Hearing}, Selective; Sense Based {Hearing}) [AP]
-
Landscape of the Mind: Telepathy 6 [AP]
-
Wrath of Thoth: Mental Blast 3 [AP]
Totals: Attributes [34 PP] + Combat [42] + Feats [25] + Skills [17] + Powers [43] = [
161 PP]
Equipment: {20 EP}
Armor of the Sphinx: Costume (Protection 3) {3 EP}
Claws of the Sphinx: Clawed Gauntlets (Strike 3; Mighty) {4 EP}
Tail of the Sphinx: Whip (Strike 0, AP 1, Mighty, Extended 2 {15 ft Range}; +2 to Disarm and Trip) {6 EP}
-(Super-Movement 1 {Swinging}) {AP}
Talons of Horus: Throwing Blades (Blast 2, Autofire) {6 EP}
Masterwork Ritualist Tools {1 EP}
Complications:
Device (
The Eye of Thoth): Hard to Lose Device.
Enemy (His Father): His father has no innate superpowers, but does have access to a large cache of ancient artifacts, some of which may be empowered by other, more sinister forces.
Responsibility (Bound to the Gods): In exchange for saving his mother's life, Walter has pledged himself to serve the will of the Egyptian Gods.
Secret (Identity): It isn't wise to let the villains know who the new superhero on the street really is.
Sheltered (Unused to Day to Day Worries): Walter is separated from his life of luxury for the first time, and has no experience with 'real life' expenses and responsibilities.
Tactics:
The Sphinx likes to collect information, if possible, before proceeding into combat. He uses his magics to move to a concealed position where he can observe his foes, and will obtain additional information from their surface thoughts whenever possible (with Telepathy) before actually engaging in battle (if circumstances permit).
Once committed to combat, his tactics depend on the perceived quality of his foes. If he is facing a group that he considers weak minded (i.e. minions), he will often begin with his Word of Binding power, slowing and/or immobilizing his foes before engaging in melee, usually while invisible through his Cloak of Fog power. If he can't get up close and personal, he will attempt to attack from the shadows with either his Talons of Horus or his Wrath of Thoth abilities, depending on which seems more effective.
Against more formidable foes, he will attempt to cause confusion with clouds of Mist, and then attack from a distance with hit and run attacks via his Mystic Passage power. He will attack from unexpected directions when possible, employing Power Attacks when they seem like they could be effective, and disarming and/or tripping foes when it seems to be tactically better than doing damage. If foes still seem too tough to crack (or unable to take by surprise), then he will try Feinting (with a Move Actions first, blowing Standard Actions if the penalties seem too daunting) and following up with strong uppercuts (high trade off Power Attacks), or attempting mental grapples and mental blasts.
I'd prefer bronze/silver age or four-color. Primarily heroic and altruistic, not disinclined to the occasional bit of silliness. I mentioned Exiles just as a shorthand for "you'll visit alternate worlds without a homebase" and to indicate that if we lose people, they can be easily replaced between sections.
The Subtle 2 is meant to reflect that the "suit" isn't actually a suit, that Quantum's powers do not obviously come from a Device. Given that the suit looks like a skin-tight costume, most villains will assume that his powers are innate and may not search for or attempt to remove a device (though if he is unconscious, they could do so.) When activated, the Quantum Field Emitter becomes a part of the "Q" symbol on his chest.
