[M&M] Blood of Emeralds

[Solid Snek]

Originally Posted by MrKinister

Avner, you are running? From what I remember, you liked darker, more gritty characters.

Ah, as always, my reading the entire thread like a weird stalker has paid off. I shall keep this insider knowledge in mind... *unnecessary evil laugh*

[Nightshade]

Originally Posted by Solid Snek

Ah, as always, my reading the entire thread like a weird stalker has paid off. I shall keep this insider knowledge in mind... *unnecessary evil laugh*

But don't forget that he wants the players to be Heroes.

[Solid Snek]

Originally Posted by Nightshade

But don't forget that he wants the players to be Heroes.

*Creepy, but ultimately harmless and merely eccentric chuckle?*

[Avner]

Most of all maker the character that drives you to tell their story. That will keep the game propelling forward and have everyone coming back consistently to add to a dynamic game.

[Drachenspirit]

Application Name: Tallulah Tuesday Tiverton Alias: Mistress Raven, or Raveness Description: Tuesday, as she goes by, stands at five foot eight inches tall and has an athletic build. She has raven black hair and is quite attractive. She keeps her hair up when not in her hero attire, and wears simple frame glasses that are actually clear lenses. She most often dresses in the colors of black and pink. Her hero outfit is something akin to a medieval suit of piecemeal armor with Raven feathers and a partially closed helm that covers enough of her face so as to not reveal who she is. Age: 31 Personality: She walks, talks, and carries herself with confidence, and it comes across in most things she does. Everything is black and white with her, there's no gray area. Her motivation is to do the right thing, and either you're on board with that, or you're not. She follows the law as any good citizen should, but when the law isn't "getting it done", she has no problem taking the law into her own hands. Greatest Fear: That someone or something will take control of her body and mind and she'll be powerless to do anything but watch/observe. Origin: Tuesday was born to parents who were both Superheroes. They were well known in the city, though it wasn't known that they had a child since they had secret Identities. Until recently, she had rarely come out in her hero persona, leaving things she uncovered to the law or in some cases her parents. Their deaths has shoved her into the limelight as Mistress Raven as the local press dubbed her sometime back. When asked, she says she is Raveness. Powers: Empath (Awareness, Mind Reading limited to Emotions, Tracking, Empathic mind attack, Tracking via Emotion sensing) Mimic, Psychokinetic Discharge (Ranged Damage: Emotions projected into Reality) Mental Projection: Teleport (500 feet, Subtle, Turnabout) Background: She is the only child of Crime Fighting heroes Psifusion and Raptora (sometimes called Raptor Red). Raptora had wings growing out of her back, colored red. She was a hand to hand combatant, using her wings like limbs to great effect in a fight. She'd often lift an opponent into the air so they'd surrender, or lift and drop them if they wouldn't. Her father had mental powers, and could project his thoughts into reality as objects, or to move objects. He often had translucent wings appear on his back and flew around like her mother, though not quite as agile as she did. They were both Public Defenders by day and a Crime Fighting Duo by night. She was raised to respect the law and authorities. When she was young, her parents lived out in a more secluded woodlands area, moving there when Tallulah started to move herself about, much like teleportation. Her mother took some time off to get young Tallulah used to her new abilities, not just how to control them, but how to hide them as well. When she was about twelve, and the rest of her powers began to show themselves, her parents shared what they did aside from work. They didn't dissuade her from such a life, just redirected her skills into other things. Her mental abilities enabled her to "find" people, which was attributed publicly to just doing research and having insight into people. With her parents approval and assistance, she opened her own private people finder business when she turned 18. She has assisted law enforcement on finding a lot of people as well as a lot of work for private citizens. She only charges what covers her expenses, needs, and keeps her small office open. It was something of a surprise when the local police called her and informed her that her parents had disappeared, suspected of being murdered by working on a criminal case against some super villains. At the same time, a video was sent to the local police showing several heroes slain and their bodies being burned in some undisclosed location. Raptora and Psifusion were among those in the video. Though those responsible weren't shown in the video, the voices speaking led Tallulah to believe that Lady Astrid and Aspect were involved. Now, she's come out of doing good by finding people, to show herself as the formerly rarely seen Raveness, or Mistress Raven and track down those responsible and bring justice to them. Writing Sample: It was her first time out on the hunt since her parents passing. She'd thought it would be therapeutic, but so far she felt worse. She pushed those feelings aside, and pressed on. Most of the time, the places she visited when tracking someone were a bit more seedy or places of lower income where people who wanted to hide would frequent. Today was not the case. This was an office building with dozens of companies spread out over forty-two floors. She had gained access by making an appointment with a manager at a "Day Trading" organization that took up almost a whole floor of the large building. The center of the building was open from floor to ceiling with escalators crisscrossing all the way up. Some went floor to floor, while others went up four or more floors at a time. Offices that faced this interior had floor to ceiling glass windows and doors on their levels. Some called it "the fishbowl" since people riding the escalators could look into all these offices. The "Day Trading" company had people with headsets walking up and down inside like some frantic display of office madness, but it was really just an echo of an actual stock market floor. Her appointment was a "follow up", simply dropping off information on an encrypted thumb drive about the location of his daughter who had stopped speaking to him. It wasn't a sad story really as she was alive and well, just had issues with her parents and severed ties. Had she spoken to the young woman since her own parents passing, she may have recommended reconnecting with her parents, even though it wouldn't have been professional. She chided herself for letting her mind sway from her purpose here once more. "What is wrong with you? Focus", she thought to herself. She had made a connection on Aspect and stumbled across his next bounty almost by accident. Her searches hinted that he and Astrid were responsible for her parents death, Aspect doing the deed, and Astrid paying him while enjoying the spectacle of their deaths. She stood still and tried to remain calm as she felt her heart start to race. She looked into the offices from her moving stance on the escalator, wondering what these people would do if they knew that Aspect was going to be in this building soon to kill someone. "And how are you so calm?", her inner voice questioned. "People die all the time", she said aloud, which got a look from a man passing on an escalator heading down. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, reaching out for the emotional tag of the man who she'd located last night in his hotel room. He was the largest stockholder on the board that owned the building, and would be here in less than an hour for a meeting. This man wasn't what she'd call a good person, having done business with anyone who made him money. Apparently, a recent business venture had upset someone enough to put a contract out on his head, and Aspect had taken that bounty. Reaching out, she didn't expect to sense the man yet, and if she did, he'd be approaching the building by a car since he wasn't expected yet. But there he was, in an office just down the way from the Building Management offices, and his emotions were running high. Figures, she thought. He's early because he's having an affair with someone who works here. And suddenly his emotions changed to anger and surprise. NO!, she said aloud, and searched for Aspect. He was here! She ran up the escalator, pushing people aside, almost projecting herself to the top and the entrance to the offices. But, she wasn't in Raveness' outfit and changing out in the open might be seen or caught on camera. She almost gave in, but held back as she knew her personal life would be over if she did that, and she'd have to stay in hiding from those who meant her harm as well. She reached the doors the moment the screaming started. People were running out and someone hit an alarm that started going off in the entire building. Reaching out for Aspect's target, she didn't sense him at all. She went in the direction people were leaving and found the man, alone, and gone. He'd been shot in the head and both hands as well as the crouch - maybe is was about more than just the money to whomever had put out the contract. Stuck in the man's chest was a letter opener, a note pinned to him that simply said, "You're too late. Sorry about your parents. - A" She stormed out of the room, trying to reach out to Aspect but couldn't form her thoughts properly to do so. She feel to her knees and gasped, a wave of Emotional Energy emanating from her, impacting an entire section of the glass offices on this floor and shattering them all at once. She slowly began to breathe easier as the tears flowed, building security seeing if she was okay as they passed. She was finally helped to her feet and gestured towards a service elevator. She stumbled along, outside the service entrance to the building, just walking with no particular destination in mind for a bit. Unknowingly, she walked past the limo that had brought Aspect's victim to the building. After she was a few paces past it, the window rolled down a crack and none other than Lady Astrid turned to watch her walk away with a smile on her face. Inside, video screens showed several views of the inside of the building - she had been watching. The window rolled up and the car drove away. Shaken, but not deterred, she finally made it to her car, and vowed to finally find out how she could join forces with others like herself and make things right. <Character Sheet Attached>

[Brian]

Originally Posted by Avner

I haven't gone over your character build in detail yet but here is a thought based on the high level gloss over. Why not link the two somehow? For example maybe he is getting his 'speed' from absorbing the micro-movements from the surrounding things in essence 'slowing them down' until he uses the accumulated speed which is why it doesn't have an effect while he is using super speed.

Maybe don't get caught up on the Luck effect but instead work out what really is happening, and then we can build a power around it.

That was essentially the idea. That his power affects probability. At rest, the power leeches out in a field around him. To run at superspeed, the probability energy is taken up in altering his probability to run at those speeds.

Potentially, he could channel that probability to other effects, but he doesn't understand the power and is still mostly afraid of it. To him, he has two separate effects: Superspeed he can control, and a luck field he can't. The luck field also worked against him in other ways, for instance, if he tried to move someone out of the way of an attack, his ability activating to make him avoid the attack would act as a penalty in helping the person he was attempting to save.

Since it seems to be problematic though, I will drop the probability aspects and change it to more traditional superspeed, I'm sure it will be easier to make as a new M&M player anyway! I'll have the character concept edited to reflect changes by the end of the day tomorrow

[Avner]

Yeah probability and luck get a little quirky so it might be a good idea to get a foundation of how all the bells and whistles work before you get into the more complex stuff. Also keep in mind you will get power points throughout the game and eventually we will increase power levels when we get there. Do the characters are meant to grow.

[Hound]

Heavy Hitter Name: Fiona O'Shea Alias: Heavy Hitter Description: Hero Uniform: (See Picture) In Fiona's day-to-day life, she sports darker fashion which is typically referred to as "goth." This includes black lipstick, black eyeliner and eyeshadow, and an outfit straight off the racks at Hot Topic. While dressed like Wednesday Addams, she is purposefully quiet and sullen to the point of anti-social to keep all those around her at distance in a vain attempt to keep them safe. With her super-speed, Fiona is not only able to change her clothes faster than the eye can see, but she also changes her make up. The black lipstick is replaced with a soft pink and the eyeshadow is wiped clean away giving her a more modest and natural look. Moreover, she stands taller with her chest puffed out while speaking with a more powerful and authoritative tone. With her brightly coloured uniform, drastically different make up, and wildly different speaking patterns, even people who have known her for a long time don't seem to recognize her. Age: 22 Height: 5'8" Weight: 120 lbs. Gender: Female Personality: Fiona enjoys a wide variety of music though her tastes tend to lean toward the more obscure or strange. Despite earning the nick name "Wednesday" in high school, she adores all things Addams family as they are the perfect example of a loving and kind family that should not be judged solely upon their appearance. Fiona is without a doubt a good person at heart. She has strong sense of justice and empathy which compounded her fear of hurting others. She will without hesitation put herself in the line of danger to protect others, though a portion of this is likely due to the simple fact that most things can't even scratch her, she genuinely believes she would be the same even without her powers. Thanks to stories from her father, Fiona has long prided herself in her ability to not judge people based upon their looks, though in truth this has never truly been put to the test either. Her favourite foods are, in no particular order, Pizza, Sushi, Tacos and cereal. Seriously, she could eat cereal for nearly every meal of every day. Greatest Fear: Fiona's greatest fear is losing control. Every minute of every day, she is constantly aware off, and trying to control her immense, other-worldly strength. Even a momentary lapse in concentration or anger can lead Fiona to accidently destroying what ever she is interacting with. This has become such an ingrained pattern in her daily behavior that it has resulted, in a mental block that is constantly holding back her true strength. In the rare event she can unlock her powers, she enters a near Zen-like state where all fear vanishes. With her limiters removed, her movements lose their rigidity, allowing her to exert her true strength while gaining newfound mobility.   The 60 points are used to increase her Strength, Speed, and Durability to new and impressive heights. The Drawback is for the GM to Decide. I would prefer falling inert (passing out into a coma-like state) for an hour, so that it truly is an all or nothing gamble at the climax of an event when it looks like we're going to lose. I don't feel the other options really match the character, but you're obviously the final decider. Weakness: Fiona's ears are especially good compared to a normal human, allowing her to hear perfectly sounds up to 10x further away then a normal human. Unfortunately, this also provides a nearly fatal weakness to her anatomy. Sound-based attacks are especially effective against her and ignoring the Impervious nature of her physical Toughness. Honour/Strong Sense of Justice: Fiona is not the type to lie or deceive, even if they are her enemies. She is straight forward and honest about everything but her secret identity and origin to protect her family. She knows the enemy won't play by the same rules, but even so, if a hero isn't willing to lead by example, then what good are they? Prejudice: Though uncommon, a problem Fiona may face one day is if her origins are ever publicly revealed. Alien invasions are just another day at work for Super Heroes, and this has caused many to be distrustful of Aliens regardless of their intentions or origins. For now, Fiona keeps her paternal heritage a secret allowing others to believe she was created during the Silver Storm (her first official appearance), but should the day this secret is revealed to the world, there may be some serious backlash. Relationships: Fiona has a living mother and father which is a bit of a rarity for super heroes. They are well aware she is the hero named Heavy Hitter, you can't fool a parent with a costume change and different makeup after all. They are not exactly happy about this, and are often insistent she gives up the dangerous life to continue her education. Poor: With her super speed, Fiona still lives at home, completing the long commute in seconds. Her parents have made it clear that while she is not attending higher education she has to pay rent to stay. Her main source of income is her part-time job as a barista. After paying her parents rent and keeping up on costume repairs from super-villain fights, she rarely has spare cash for fun. She still brown-bags her lunch every single day and eats out at a fast-food restaurant as a rare treat. Origin: Half-human, Half-Zidaialien hybrid with naturally born super powered abilities. Powers: Fiona is a paragon of strength, durability, and speed. She can lift most heavy machinery over her head without much difficulty, is unaffected by small firearms, and can break the sound barrier by running or flying. She can emit powerful lasers from her eyes. Her eyes and ears are more powerful than an average human while her skin can withstand any negative environmental condition. She can even hold her breath for extended periods of time, however, she must eventually breath. She must of course eat and sleep like any normal person. Background:   Her father is an alien from another world. He is professional Xenobiologist and was sent to earth to research the populace. While on earth, he met an Earth woman and fell in love. Fiona is their hybrid child. Visually she takes after her mother, however her powers are entirely from her father's side of the family. When Fiona was a young pre-teen, she lost her temper as teenagers often do, and hit a neighbor boy in the arm. The impact from her fist was so great, she shattered the arm to the point it had to be amputated to save the boy's life. The Doctors thought he had gotten it caught in heavy machinery. Naturally, they had to move, and her father had to do some "mind-tinkering" to keep things quiet. This was the incident that shocked and terrified Fiona to her core, causing her to live the rest of her life as if walking on eggshells. She began avoiding making friends. She dressed in goth to scare people away and to use as an excuse to avoid anything athletic. She became a shadow of her former self to slip through life undetected to cause no more harm. After four years of living her life of lies, she was turning 16. Feeling alone and isolated, she used her super speed to sneak out of her house to visit the big City. With her powers, the 1 hour-long drive was completed in minutes. She didn't really have a plan; she just wanted a change of scenery. She had no idea the Silver Storm was about to happen. That was just her bad luck. When the city fell into chaos and exploded into a warzone, she acted before she even realized what she was doing. With her super hearing, she was able to help locate people buried by rubble and with her super speed and strength, she was able to dig them out before the worst could happen. As she worked to save lives, she realized it felt natural to use her powers in this fashion, and for the first time in a long time, she felt useful, needed, and herself. She found purpose. As terrible as the loss of life was and terrifying as as the Silver Storm had been, Fiona discovered in the weeks since that she missed it. Not the death and destruction, but the feeling of being needed, of making a difference. Try as she might, she could never forget that feeling and when she graduated Highschool she took a gap year to move to the Emerald City. Her intention was to get some super-heroing out of her system before she went off to College. Like how some students backpack across Europe. She got a job as a barista at a coffee shop and began her heroic career in secret. It has been four years and though she still claims to her parents she is simply taking an "extended" gap year, she shows no signs of stopping.   Her father's alien race, the Zidai, possess a cornucopia of powers. Of course, their classic super strength, speed and durability were more than enough to make them serious threats. However, their arguable greatest powers were their ability shape-shift into almost anything and read minds of other alien races. This powerset resulted in a common fear of them throughout the galactic community. To combat this fear and promote peace, they signed a declaration of neutrality with any race they could, stating that they would never seek to expand outside their solar system, and they would not provide aide to any side during armed conflicts. All aide they would provide would be limited to humanitarian needs only. For a long time, this satisficed most of the Galactic community, though fear and envy of their powers remained among many. Her father, Qoin'ar (Pronounced similarly to Conner), was a Xenobiologist who specialized in pre-FTL species. After the Galactic Community discovered the Golden Record aboard the Voyager Space craft, Qoin'ar was dispatched to investigate their society and evaluate if it was ready to join the Galactic Community. While on Earth, Qoin'ar unexpectedly met and fell in love with a woman named Kayleigh O'Shea. The two experienced a whirlwind romance with the expectations that Qoin'ar would one day leave. This romance bloomed faster and harder than they ever expected, and they soon found themselves head over-heals in love. While far from home, a violent faction within the Zidaian populace began to grow inside and popularity. A lone individual with a uniquely charismatic presence began to persuade the people from their path of non-violence. Their goals were kept simple and easy for people to get behind. They blamed their planet's stagnant economy on their lack of growth because of "bad deals" made with the rest of the Galactic community. They believed their nigh-god-like powers meant they were chosen by the Gods to rule the Galaxy. As extremists began engaging in terrorists’ activities, it became apparent that this once democratic society was on the verge of transforming into something horrific and dangerous. As the terrorist acts intensified and spread to more worlds, fear grew rampant to the point of hysteria. Born from this fear, dozens of star systems rallied together to launch the largest fleet in Galactic History. The battle over the Zidaian home world was fierce and bloody. The death toll was in the trillions and the world was carpet bombed until the race was thought to be erased from the Galaxy. When Qoin'ar finally broke radio silence to make his report, he learned for the first time he was now a member of an endangered species. Of course, he was told a natural disaster had been the cause and was ordered to return. Qoin'ar had no reason to suspect they were lying to him, but he could not leave Kayleigh. He programmed his shuttle to return home and set it to "accidently" explode part way through the trip. A pre-programmed distress call was even prepared describing engine troubles. A few weeks after the shuttle was dispatched, Kayleigh discovered she was pregnant. Fearing for their child's safety as they expected her to look at least in part like her father (minus the shape-shifting control needed to disguise herself), they thus opted to have an at home birth to try and keep the child's origins hidden. To the parents and her mid-wife's relief, Fiona appeared as human as her mother. Though they had no way of knowing this, the unique interactions of their two Species caused the meta-morphic genes of the Zidai to become "locked" in the human form. Because her DNA included human DNA her morphing abilities naturally replicated a human's brain-shape locking her out of her mental abilities. While it is theoretically possible that some day Fiona might discover how to utilize these powers, it has thus far remained impossible for her even with her father's guidance. Writing Sample:   "2/3 caff triple ristretto affogato venti, 2 pump mango 1 pump classic, 2%, mango to the second line, 3 scoops protein, 3 scoops berries, 2 scoop matcha, add banana, double blended, with whip, caramel drizzle, salted caramel topping, vanilla bean frappuccino." Announced in a dead-pan tone, Fiona read out the order she had just completed and sat it down on the counter. The young man who had ordered such a complicated order flushed bright pink as he received death glares from the 50+ some-odd people in line who were waylaid due to this boys exceedingly difficult order. Many of them were openly tapping their toes or clicking their tongues waiting for their drinks. Of course, at any time Fiona could kick into high gear and complete every order in seconds, but that would be too obvious so she had to move at a normal person's speed. Unfortunately she didn't really understand normal, so in truth she was still pretty fast. So fast, in fact, she had achieved employee of the month more times in the past four years any one else on record for the whole franchise despite her strong attempts to go unnoticed. Every picture was the same, with her sullen, frowning, thousand-yard-stare beside the Manager grinning like a fool from ear to ear for the camera. The only things that changed was the calendar in the background matching the month the award was given. Michael, her co-worker, set up the next order on the counter and began calling it out as Fiona went about starting the next order. Crystal, another co-worker was in the middle of set of drinks and didn't even glance up as Fiona neared the station, but she knew the moment she was in for a normal personear-reach and began whispering. "I swear they are trying to make more complicated drinks on purpose just to test us. One of these days I'm just going to give them all black coffee and walk out while flippin' all off. I'll do it topless just to prove a point and make the internet. Be famous and everything." Fiona remained as dead-eyed as a fish as she started the prep work for her drink, "To get noticed, you'd have to be naked. On a horse. With the building on fire. Exploding as you exit. Minimum." Crystal sighed, "You're probably right. But its still fun to imagine." She put the finishing touches on her drinks before heading up. Michael was now on his way back to the work station when what sounded like a car back-firing echoed in through the open door. The man currently standing in the threshold pointed up and shouted "Up there! That planes on fire" People began turning to look up, people began gasping and clasping their hands over their mouths. This caused people to begin crowding the door as they tried to get a peak at what was going one. Finally someone shouted, "There goes the other engine!" By now everyone was pushing to get outside, even the employees. All except Fiona. Fiona had disappeared without anyone noticing, but not before completing every single order and setting them secretly on the counter with a note that said: Note On break. -F As thousands all around the city stared up into the sky witnessing a plane plummeting toward earth, a tiny caped figure flew up toward it at tremendous speeds. Now dressed as Heavy Hitter, Fiona's mind raced as she recalled preparing for such an occasion. Catching a plane was a common problem in the comic-book world, but it was rarely, if ever, done in a way that would work in real life. If she tried to literally brute strength push it from below or pick it up from above, due to the small area her hands would come in contact with, the result would simply be the cabin either being puncture or torn apart and thus resulting in the death of everyone on board. If she tore a door off, she would throw the trim off sending it into a spiral and there was the chance people could get sucked out. In a best case scenario, she could only carry two people at a time and she'd have to travel at a speed that wouldn't kill them which would mean there wouldn't be enough time to rescue everyone. With her powerset, there was really only one option. Placing herself the direct path of the plane, she began flying backwards matching the speed of the plane. She began to suck in all the air she could, filling her lungs to the absolute maximum. She began to blow with such force, not only were the fires extinguished, but also the plane began to experience the same effect of the jets engines providing propulsion. The Pilot began to understand what the woman in the cape was doing and gestured toward the nearby air field. With her super vision, Fiona was able to see the pilot's gesture. She made gave a thumbs up in a big dramatic way to make sure the pilot knew she understood. As the plane began experiencing lift thanks to the efforts of Heavy Hitter, the pilot began to turn the plane while gaining control. Fiona had to keep adjusting her flight path to make sure her breathing was providing the lift in the correct direction. It wasn't easy, even for Fiona who could, using super speed, take in new breaths so fast there was no interruption of flow for the plane. By the time the plane's wheels touched down, even Fiona was feeling a little winded, but the job wasn't over. She stuck around to make sure the doors all opened and the emergency slides properly deployed. She flew in through the main door and was greeted by applause and cheering. She raised her hands to single everyone to stop before she announced in a clear and friendly voice "Is everyone okay? Does anyone require immediate medical attention?" A young man stood up in the back, "My Ganny's been feelin' chest pains since this whole thing started and her arms gone tingly." Heavy Hitter nodded, "Alright, everyone remain seated while I get this woman some attention. Once I'm gone, listen to the staff and exit the plane in a calm and orderly fashion. I appreciate your co-operation." She worked her way through the isle and found the poor older woman crouched over and clutching her chest and the worried looking young man beside her. "What's your name?" "Tyrone." He responded quickly. "Tyrone Jenkins." "Nice yo meet you Tyrone." Fiona's tone was purposefully calm to instill confidence in the boy. "Can you tell me your Granny's name?" "Donna." She nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm going to take care of her. Step back now, Tyrone." The young man nodded and gave them space. Heavy Hitter knelt down, "Hello Donna, I'm Heavy Hitter. I'd like to help get you to the hospital, is it okay if I pick you up?" The older woman grunted and nodded rapidly, giving her consent. Fiona wasted no more time carefully picking the woman up into a princess carry. Moments later they were flying through the air, Fiona going at a speed that wouldn't harm the older woman but much faster and direct than any ambulance could ever hope. As they flew toward the nearest emergency room, Fiona continued to whisper reassuring things. Donna survived her brush with death only because of the speed at which she was brought to the hospital. Throughout her recovery, Heavy Hitter took time every single day to pay her a visit.   "Who am I? Why, I'm Lady Astrid you impertinent fool. Very well. The abridged version then. Born about 1200 years ago my mother was a shield maiden. My father was Odin. Frigg was not very understanding of her husband's earthly dalliance's, so I was forbidden to ever set foot in Asgard. At first, I wanted to be a good Odin’s daughter. I fought countless wars against heathens, slaughtering them all in Odin's name. When the sword got boring, I mastered sorcery, but one can only slaughter wholesale for so many years before it gets boring. I have played the roll as Queen, even ruling a nation or two, but the tedium and boredom of ruling minutiae is on a whole other level. I always got bored with the whole thing, which usually upset the masses. I tried cake once to solve the issue, but well... When the world began to evolve into the modern era, I saw opportunity. As humanity marched forward, there was weak souled individuals who could not handle progress. They craved a strong guiding hand. So, I tried running a cult or ten. I was worshipped as a goddess and for a while I finally was happy. But let us be honest, people are needy. They always want more, more, more. Eventually, every cult would get to be too much. So I'd have the whole lot drink some rat poison, jump off a cliff, or whatever then start over with some fresh faces that did not irritate me quite so much. As the world shifted again into what would only be called the Information Era, it became impossible to hide. My cults were often rounded up before I even got bored with them. I had to get new. Innovative. That was when I discovered Social Media. Oh, what a wonderful, torturous device humans have created. A beautiful breeding ground for misinformation and the fermentation of all those delicious negative emotions without any of that pesky morality to weigh you down. The false sense anonymity making them feel safe like a warm blanket. With my dazzling beauty and captivating charisma, I took the internet by storm. I have tens of millions of subscribers and fans coiled around my finger. Its utterly amusing and for the first time in a very long time I am no longer bored. But my fans are. They are always craving something new and interesting. Last year my highest rated video was when I lost my calm and berated a store employee of their lack of knowledge and curtsy. I enraged half my fan base while the other half sprung to my defense, wishing to see more. Amazingly, I did not lose even one subscriber, on the contrary, my count went higher. I began demonstrating my impressive wit and vast knowledge though more berating videos of fools who did not know their job properly. I am not sure how it evolved to... well this. But... I believe you're all caught up." A cruel smile began to curl on the lips of a fair skinned woman as she finished speaking. She had long silky hair the colour of rich recently tilled soil with matching eyes that twinkled with a vicious gleam. Her make up was done so perfectly she appeared flawless, with sharp beautifully angled features, she could make most models weep with envy. Standing just over six feet, her whole body was perfectly toned and while on the muscular side it maintained an enticing feminine shape. Everything about her outfit was perfectly tailored for her body to accentuate your femininity while being made from the finniest materials. This stunning woman was addressing a terrified little man as well as the millions of live streaming subscribers currently watching. Had that been everything, then perhaps this situation would have seemed like a prank being played by a person with an intense online persona. However, that was not everything. The reason the small man was terrified was simple, he knew she was not kidding about her origin story. Using her magic, she was currently causing the man to levitate upside down. All the blood was rushing to his face, making it look like a ripe red cherry close to popping. The little overweight man was Mister Tobias Schneider, and he was the owner and operator of Fairy Tale Dresses located downtown on Yellow Brick Row in Emerald city. Until recently it was the top-rated up-scale tailor and dress shop in the entire city boasting a solid five-star rating from movie stars, politicians, dignitaries, and the upper crust of society. Now, its burning corpse was the backdrop to Lady Astrid's little show as her magically floating camera streamed the entire thing. As the fire burned out of control, spreading to the neighboring shops, dozens of barnyard animals squealed and squawked, running around in a panic. The animals were at one point Mr. Schneider's employees. The pig squealing its head off was once his top salesman, while the panicking chickens had been his crew of master seamstresses. The goat had been a cop who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time as the chaos spilled out into the street. The little man struggled, trying his best to speak, "P-p-please. Don't kill me." Lady Astrid smirked, "I'm not going to kill you. Where is the fun in that? No, I think I will turn you into a little toad. You will look so adorable hoping around. Maybe if you are lucky, your wife will find you and give you a kiss." She cackled as a stream of red and white sparkly dust-like emissions began to flow from the tip of her index finger, flowing through the air like a living stream. It began to coil around the upside-down man, swirling in the shape of a vortex around his entire body. Before the eyes of millions of streamers, his entire body reconfigured itself into a large bull frog. The magic faded as the frog fell to the ground with a croak. Astrid paused. "Did I say toad? I meant frog. Oh well, who cares. What should I do next?" As Astrid turned to face the camera, she suddenly felt the impact of a fist to the side of her head. The impact was beyond anything she had experienced in centuries, and it lifted her off her feet. Like a rag doll, her entire body went with the momentum, flying off scene. In her place, a young woman wearing a white and blue outfit with a short blue cape now stood. The magic holding the camera in place continued to stream. The new arrival turned to the store and took in a deep breath before blowing. The force of the wind tunnel created by her breath put the flames out in seconds. The animals, which had been humans, began to gather around her, each one letting out their animalistic calls as if pleading for help. The woman did her best to calm them when suddenly she looked off in the direction she had sent Astrid flying. In a loud, serious tone, she commanded "Back up! Now!" The animals fled just as Astrid came flying into view. She slammed into the ground ten feet away from the newcomer, a large red mark was visible on Astrid's face where the caped woman had hit her. "Who the hell are you?" "Heavy Hitter. Hero." The woman grunted in an immediate response. "Undo your spell. Now. Only warning." Enraged, Astrid's nostrils began to flare, and her eyebrows looked like they might touch her scalp. "You dare! I'll turn you into a naked mole and feed you to my dogs!" Once again, a stream of magical sparkling dust flew from the tip of her index finger. The vortex of magic engulfed Heavy hitter, and as it faded... Heavy Hitter was fine. In that exact instant, the person most surprised was Astrid, making the most unflattering of faces. Not really sure what was happening, Heavy Hitter shot forward like a bullet and slammed her foot down on top of Astrid's toes, pinning her to the spot. "Wait, wait, wait!" Astrid called in a panic, but it was too late. A sharp, heavy left jab struck her in the face, knocking her head back. It was immediately followed by right straight to the gut which forced Astrid's entire body to curl forward. As her head moved down, Heavy hitter had already shifted her weight into a left Hook, slamming hard into Astrid's temple and releasing her from the pin. All three blows happened so fast; audiences would later only learn of the combo when they went over recorded videos going frame-by-frame. Astrid's entire body went rolling from the impact, tearing up cement like tissue paper as she skidded across it. As Astrid laid face up, she could not help but remark in the back of her mind, "Ah. What a beautiful blue sky..." before reality caught up with her. Her mind struggled desperately to comprehend the situation. With her immense god-like strength, Astrid could count the number of beings able to lay her out like this on one hand, but it was just her strength, it was her speed. She could move as quickly as lightning. Still, that shouldn't have been enough unless... Astrid sighed and whispered to herself "It’s really been too long since I last took a fight seriously. I'm all rusty." "Is that your excuse?" Heavy Hitter calmly retorted, having heard Astrid's words despite the distance and volume. This caused Astrid to raise an eyebrow. Just who is this girl? Another of Odins' bastards? The demi-god picked herself up out of the rubble and dusted herself off. She struck a fighting pose, "Try me again." In a blink, Heavy Hitter closed the distance and the two began swinging like boxers in a ring. The force behind each punch was enough to cause ripples through the air and destroy property in the way. The speed of the exchange was so high, it was little more than a blur. It was hard at first to tell who was winning, Astrid was landing more blows, but Heavy Hitters were clearly heavier. Astrid cursed after a liver shot nearly dropped her to her knee. 'What is with her strength? She hits with the thunder of Thor. Without my sword and armor, I’m going to lose...' In that instant, fear, hated, and anger boiled inside Astrid's heart. 'Did I just hear myself? Me? Lady Astrid? LOSE?! THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE! I never lose.' Astrid suddenly kicked back, creating massive distance between her and Heavy Hitter with a single bound. "You fancy yourself a hero, don't you? How about a hero's dilemma then? Catch the villain..." As she spoke, a powerful magic spell began to take shape in her left hand as an orb of pulsing light. The orb was rapidly growing in both its size, and the speed at which it was pulsating. "Or protect these foolish mortals!" She lobbed the ball toward a nearby apartment building, sending it flying with the speed of a high-powered rifle. As the same time, she took off, flying into the air at her own top speed. Heavy hitter did not hesitate for a second. A quarter second later she was standing between the building and the ball of energy, readying her body to take the blast head on, but before impact it split into thousands of tiny little spheres. The thousands of spheres began shooting out in all directions through out the city. Moving at speeds beyond the ability to film, Heavy Hitter began flying around, grabbing the spheres like she was playing a game. As her fingers coiled around the orbs, they immediately exploded with the force of a frag grenade, but it did not even slow her down. She was already reaching for the next light in rapid succession. It was like watching someone use their hands to play ping-pong with the rain. She managed to stop all the ones raining down on the city, but a few began to collide with the nearby apartment building before she could intercede. As the explosions began to ripple through the building, she went full Zen. Music began to play in the back of her mind, the whole world seemed to slow to a crawl. She could see the wave of explosive energy beginning to rip the building apart in multiple locations. Zooming into a nearby open window, she began rushing through the building. Thankfully, it was mid-day on a work week, so the building was at less than 20% normal capacity, but that was still dozens, perhaps hundreds of people. Starting in rooms closest to the explosion, she began checking every apartment, every room, she began scooping up people and pets alike. Supporting their necks, she ran them outside and deposited them a safe distance away, only to run back in and pick up some more people. As the explosion continued to grow, ripping more of the building apart, she expanded her search area until every person had been evacuated. Then as the building began to collapse, she cleared the area around the building of passing civilians. Lastly as the building began to come down, she began running in circles around the building, creating a powerful vortex that drew all the smoke high into the upper atmosphere instead of blanketing the city in a fine dust that could cause serious breathing issues. All of this happened in less than a minute. Astrid believed she had gotten away and had relaxed her pace a little once she had left the tri-state area. She was fusing with her make up mirror, trying to cover up the bruises left by Heavy Hitter when the paragon caught up to her. "Leaving so soon?" Astrid looked up from her mirror, a coy smile. "So, sacrificing lives to catch the villain? Pragmatic, but not very heroic." Heavy Hitter smirked. "Might want to check your phone." Confused, Astrid summoned her phone, which up till now had still been magically streaming everything. With a pop the phone appeared in her hand. The comments from her live stream were going crazy about how Heavy Hitter had saved everyone. "But... but that's... impossi-" Before completing her sentence, Heavy Hitter slammed home the hardest hit of the day, catching Astrid completely by surprise and shattering her perfect nose. The force behind the punch sent her arching over the entire city before crashing back down to earth, smashing through a farmer's barn, and landing in a pig sty. A stream of mud gushed into the air half a mile high before splashing back down on top of her ragged body. When Astrid awoke hours later in Super Max security designed to hold the worst and most powerful villains of them all, her first thought was 'Ugg, what an ugly grey ceiling.' Her second thought was about her broken and now crooked nose, but her third and most relevant thought was about how she would make Heavy Hitter suffer for this humiliation. Later reports revealed when she lost conscious, the curse that had polymorphed people into animals was reversed, turning them back into very confused humans.

[GleefulNihilism]

Piccy no worky, Hound.

[Hound]

Ya, I posted on my way out to do laundry, didn't realize my cookies were out of date till too late. Will get that fixed when I get home in 30 minutes. ��

[Attitude]

I'm a sucker for a game that emphasizes the story. I have a character in mind. I'll have to see what I can throw together.

[Drachenspirit]

Hmmm... I am toying with the possibility of dropping mimic power and going with something else for my character.

[Hound]

It might be better to really focus on the mental powers and go full telekinetic/telepath, though if you want to focus more on the "Raven" aspect of her, you could instead give her a sonic scream or the ability to mimic voices.

[Drachenspirit]

Originally Posted by Hound

It might be better to really focus on the mental powers and go full telekinetic/telepath, though if you want to focus more on the "Raven" aspect of her, you could instead give her a sonic scream or the ability to mimic voices.

I'm currently juggling something like telekinetic, maybe psycokinetic that uses either create or transform, or maybe both. She's a tracker, and a good one who can find just about anyone or anything, but I've done so many energy blasters in the past, I'm staying away from that and trying something new and different - for me at least.

[GleefulNihilism]

In my experience, DMs aren't fans of Power Mimics without a really, really good storyhook that goes with it.

Last time I got away with one, it was in a game where the timeline included the Nazis successfully conquering half the planet and the mimic was created to be the ultimate Nazi Super-Soldier; but her ability to mimic the skills, knowledge, and powers of those around her led to her revitalizing the White Rose resistance group instead.