The DK-verse: Dr. Lee, Joseph Maxwell, Dr. Quantum

[Dark Koala]

SPECTRUM

The distant world of Ceruleus had been at war for generations with the insect-like Merghul. While the Merghul had the Ceruleans outnumbered by nearly a thousand to one, and were far more aggresive and trained for combat, the Ceruleans had one powerful advantage. Every one of them, man woman and child, possessed some extraordinary power, which they called Talents. Among them, Kalin Tak was one of the most powerful, able to study the power signature of other's Talents, and use them himself--even several at a time. Kalin Tak fought bravely against the Merghul hordes for years, until the traumatic day came in which his entire unit was ambushed and slaughtered. Only he remained, but he could no longer bear the senseless violence, the prejudice and intollerance between his people and the Merghul. He and his wife Shinari left their homeworld, and traveled to a place called earth, whose inhabitants looked remarkably like Ceruleans, albeit without Talents (mostly...). Here he adopted the earth named Eli Washington, as well as the alter-ego Spectrum, to fight to preserve the relative peace of this world.

[Dark Koala]

DANTE

Centuries old, Dante and his sister, Abriana, inherited strange powers from their family bloodline. Attacting the interest of the Illuminati, their parents were killed in order to bolster their own abilities. The Illuminati then trained them both in the use of their powers, but when Dante discovered that they were simply being measured to find out which was more powerful, and that the other would be killed to increase the former's power, he took his sister and tried to make an escape. They were badly wounded in the chase, however, and would have died in an old waterway of blood loss had they not been discovered by the vampire Amadeus. Amadeus turned them, but vampiric blood reacted strangely with their family's innate talents. More alive than typical vampires, they had no vulnerability to sunlight or holy artifacts, but also reduced healing abilities and a lack powers such as domination and transformation. They did, however, retain their family bloodline powers of energy projection and teleportation. Since that day, they have disappeared into the shadows, combating the Illuminati when able, but only as long as they can remain hidden.

[Dark Koala]

ARCANIA

Isabella LaCroix comes from a long line of powerful magic-users. For centuries, these witches have concealed their pressence, manipulating others and using their powers in a perpetual war for power against other families. Isabella has always been the black sheep of the family...or perhaps more accurately, the white sheep in a family of black sheep. Uninterested in her family's Machiavellian plots, her life is that instead like that of a typical college socialite, at least until recently. Having her rumors of other heroes in the city, she decided to give superheroing a try herself, and found it to be a thrilling experience. Conjuring an appropriately mystical and mysterious costume, she dubbed herself Arcania and became a defender of truth, justice, and the right to party.

[Shock]

Incidentally, can someone with experience tell me how to link to a specific post in the forums? I managed to slap something together using the search feature, but it's...imperfect, to say the least...

There's a little link next to the "by Dark Koala" bit on each post. Click on that and it will put that URL into your address bar, which you can then copy into your index.

[Dark Koala]

DR. LEE

A graduate of Hargrove University, Dr. Lucas Lee was hired almost immediately by a genetic research company called Dyne Genetics. Little did he know at the time, but Dyne Genetics was a subsidary of Project 51. Lee was quickly singled out for his expertise and signed on as a member of the Project itself. Experimenting with alient DNA, Dr. Lee developed a procedure that he believed would alter the DNA of ordinary humans to give them powers similar to those of the aliens whose DNA they were splicing in. Being authorized to test the procedure on living humans would have taken years, however, and Dr. Lee tested the serum on himself. It was a success, in a manner of speaking. He was indeed endowed with superhuman powers, but the sudden physical change triggered a psychotic attack, and he lashed out with his newfound pyrokinesis, slaughtering most of the facility. When the cleanup crew arrived, they wiped the memories of Dr. Lee and the remaining survivors. Because of his flaming form, no one was aware that it had actually been Dr. Lee, and not the alien whose body still lie in the lab (and was also nearly incinerated in the incident). Lee has since rediscovered his powers, and occasionally has flashbacks and attacks of extreme guilt, which have driven him to using these powers to help others.

[Dark Koala]

Incidentally, can someone with experience tell me how to link to a specific post in the forums? I managed to slap something together using the search feature, but it's...imperfect, to say the least...

There's a little link next to the "by Dark Koala" bit on each post. Click on that and it will put that URL into your address bar, which you can then copy into your index.

Oh yeah! I actually did figure that out eventually, but thanks for the help. I'm really suprised that isn't mentioned anywhere in the forums FAQ...

[Libra]

Interesting tidbits so far Dark Koala - please keep them coming!

[Dark Koala]

AGENT JOSEPH MAXWELL

One of STORM's top agents, Joseph Maxwell operates mostly out of the United States east coast, and has recently been the liaison between STORM and Project Justice. Maxwell is a highly trained and intelligent individual, capable of putting up a good fight even against most metahumans in one-on-one combat. Despite this, he rarely works in the field, instead organizing and planning, keeping his eye on the "big picture." His primary concern is with metahuman organizations, such as the Pantheon and Crossfire--he tends to leave the isolated incidents of metahuman-related crimes and disasters to lower-ranking STORM agents...or to Project Justice, if he can.

Maxwell is sort of this universe's version of Nick Fury, although he's a bit more helpful and cooperative, and less likely to bust balls. He makes an excellent representative to get the players involved in STORM activities, either for a single adventure or on a long term basis.

[Dark Koala]

DR. QUANTUM

Marcus Mächtiger always knew he was smarter than everyone else. His parents were his intelectual inferiors since grade school, and he knew more than his teachers about any given subject. His peers were not even worth considering. Despite his misanthropic attitude and cold aloofness, he blazed through his schooling, and began attending his first college courses at age 14. By the time he earned his doctorate in quantum physics, he realized that his intellect was virtually without peer. He knew he must be destined for great things, but it wasn't until a government contract came along that he realized what these things were. The contract involved studying the powers of a metahuman teenager with the ability to generate electrical charges fro his body. Mächtiger's research discovered a unique energy signature that could affect physical reality in a number of ways. Further metahuman research lead to the creation of a formula, one that only Mächtiger himself seemed to fully grasp. He used it to manipulate matter on a molecular level, effectively making himself a metahuman as well. At last, his destiny was clear to him.

Mächtiger believed that he and other metahumans represented the next step in the evolutionary process--that they would take the place of orinary humans in much the same way that the Cro-Magnons replaced the Neandrethals. After using his powers to produce an armor of ultra-dense fibers, he donned a hood and cape and renamed himself Dr. Quantum. He began an organization called the Brotherhood of Transhumanity (later nicknamed The Pantheon by others), and began collecting supporters for his quest for global domination.

Dr. Quantum is the Big Bad of my campaign, a sort of mix of Dr. Doom and Magneto, with powers similar to those of Dr. Manhattan. Yeah, he's not someone you really want to mess with.

Mächtiger is german for "powerful." What? C'mon, it's still more clever than "Victor Von Doom."

[Libra]

"DOOM may let you survive that remark if you suggest that DOOMS biographers are to blame for that lack of imagination!"

In all seriousness you've done very fine work so far, Dark Koala.

(Though for some strange reason I keep imagining Dante as being the poet Alighieri, turned by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, despite that sentance making absolutely no historical sense!).

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

(Though for some strange reason I keep imagining Dante as being the poet Alighieri, turned by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, despite that sentance making absolutely no historical sense!).

"This is superheroes, it doesn't have to make sense!"

[Dark Koala]

*LOL* Well, when you've got vampires and the Illuminati involved, I suppose it's really not that much of a stretch.

Of course, it's really just a matter of the guy who plays Dante having a hard time coming up with names and using Google. I think Dante is probably the most "out there" concept that's come across my table so far, mixing elements of Blade, Sasuke from Naruto, and quite possibly Disney's Gargoyles, I'm not really sure.

You get this kind of stuff when most of your gaming group is still in high school. But hey, it's fun, and it's certainly not any more absurd that some of the stuff I've seen in Marvel and DC.

[Libra]

True - but that's why we love them when that absurdity is as shameless and entertainingly well-used as Batman the Brave and the Bold.