WEAVER: Detroit - A Superhero RP With a Difference

[Hecatoncheires]

Parahuman
noun
A person who has undergone a Trigger Event and developed superpowers. Known colloquially as "capes".

Trigger Event
terminology
Also known as a crisis point or simply a trigger. A moment of extreme trauma that grants parahuman abilities to ordinary human beings.

Nothing in this life comes for free. And power costs more than anything.

This is a lesson that you have learned more brutally than most. It took the most traumatic moment of your life. The moment when you were pushed to the very edges of your limits... and then beyond them. In that moment, something snapped in you. Something triggered.

You emerged from this experience altered. Different. Possessing strange new powers you had no choice in being granted. You emerged parahuman, one of a growing population of ordinary human beings who have developed extraordinary abilities. A growing population that has emerged over the last three decades to permanently alter the landscape of your world.

Nothing in this life comes for free. And from this moment on, your life will never be the same. Your powers single you out, mark you as one of a rare breed. How you make use of them will mark you as hero or villain, regardless of the good intentions you may have. Powerful groups will seek to influence you, to bring you into their fold or destroy you depending on the choices you make. Even refusing to get involved is a conscious choice, one that carries repercussions. All too often, you may find yourself doing the wrong things for the right reasons.

Nothing in this life comes for free.

So just what sort of price are you willing to pay to stay in the game?

Games Master: @sticky
General Admin Monkey: @Childish Grumpino
Large Homosexual: @Asmodeus
Discord Link: here

'Weaver: Detroit' is an RP based in the world of the Parahumans web serials, written by John McCrae (aka Wildbow). Set in a world not unlike our own where humans with extraordinary powers have emerged to alter the landscape of society over the last few decades, Parahumans takes a more grounded and cynical look at the superhero genre. It is a world in which the heroes can just as easily be more unsavoury than the villains, where the consequences of superpowers and their effects upon society are heavily explored, and where the difference between life and death can come down to how creatively you can make use of unnatural abilities you had no choice in being given.

This is the world of Earth Bet. A world pretty much identical to our own… right up until 1982, when a mysterious golden-skinned man was discovered floating over the Atlantic. In the wake of his appearance, individuals with strange powers began to appear across the globe. The first superheroes emerged, and inevitably the first supervillains. The world has never been the same since: be it through the inventions of superpowered inventors, the geopolitical shifts, or the emergence of apocalyptic threats known as Endbringers that seem tied to the arrival of parahumans, Earth Bet now stands ever closer to the brink.

Unlike a number of Superhero RPs, where players decide on all aspects of their characters, 'Weaver: Detroit' works a little differently. Though players will decide on who their character is and what they're about, the process of deciding on their powers is a collaborative process between player and GM. The player describes the Trigger Event their character undergoes, and the GM describes the powers that come as a result of it. This is a game where characters don't get to choose the powers inflicted upon them: all they can do is make the best of it.

If you're familiar with Worm, Ward and the Parahumans setting as a whole, great. If not, don't worry: this is a self-contained story that people new to the world will have no problems jumping in to.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

For a brief, beautiful moment it looked as though the late 2000s might have been Detroit's moment.

Though the rise of automation and the increasing globalisation of markets were beginning to pinch at the Motor City's traditional industries of manufacturing and car-making, Leviathan's destruction of Newfoundland in 2005 changed everything. Faced with the continued threat of the waterborne Endbringer assaulting other coastal regions, industries began focusing their investments and shipping routes through more inland, protected regions. For five years Detroit saw considerable economic growth as wealth, jobs and opportunities flowed in from across the world.

Of course, it was not to last.

In April 2008, the Endbringer known as the Simurgh launched an attack on the city. It was to be her shortest one to date. After only thirty seconds of her screams being heard, an explosion erupted through the streets of Detroit near where she had emerged. What happened in it's immediate wake remains largely unknown, due to the damage it caused and the lack of survivors. But when the detonation receded, the Simurgh was gone and an entire section of Detroit and Windsor was sealed within a bizarre dome of crystal. It is believed that due to the short duration of the Endbringer's attack, she was unable to drive any potential victims insane. But that is one of the few silver linings on an otherwise devastating blow to the city.

The crystal dome that emerged in the explosion's aftermath has proven to be impregnable, even to the powers of capes and the latest tinker technology. The fate of those inside the wall is similarly unknown, despite flyovers from helicopters showing moving shapes inside, the faceted crystal distorting any attempts to look within. It is unknown just how many thousands were trapped within the crystal on the day of the attack, but some of the damage is far more quantifiable.

Of all the groups active in Detroit, the Parahuman Response Team suffered the most. Their offices were literally split in two by the emergence of the dome, and with it a sizeable proportion of their equipment, infrastructure and manpower: even more was lost trying to manage the chaos that followed in the wake of the attack. The criminal elements of the city, powered or otherwise, smelled weakness and seized the opportunity. Whole sections of the Motor City are now under the sway of parahuman gangs and organised crime groups, with the PRT being forced to call up young heroes from the Wards or else bring in capes from outside the region for much-needed support.

Detroit now balances on a knife's edge. Parahuman crime groups control a sizeable portion of the city, and more villains arrive every week having heard of the opportunities it holds for them. State, Federal, and PRT forces save their mettle for the most egregious offences, waiting for attrition and in-fighting to claim the various personalities that plague the broken Motor City.

2010 sees it still reeling from the global financial crash and the abortive Simurgh attack, and where the government does not hold sway, capes are there to own the day. As the cold war between different factions, groups and law enforcement agencies threatens to turn hot, another group is beginning to make its presence known. Whilst their legend is not quite so prolific, their resources not quite so potent, and their allies not quite so widespread, they do have one thing that the others do not. They have a tip-off from a corrupt middle manager within the PRT, himself a rogue cape. A tinker-designed drill has been brought in for some exploratory drilling into the crystal dome, and is being transported by armoured convoy to the new PRT headquarters. They want to open up a hole in their old offices, to see what is left. This lesser known team, however, has been given a bigger target by their benefactor. Through his analysis of deep-penetration scans of the dome, and his access to PRT intelligence reports, he's discovered a cluster of buildings within one of the outer sections of the intricate honeycomb structure inside.

A cluster of banks.

If this new band of capes can make good on this intel, stealing into a region of Detroit that has not been seen by the outside world for years, they might just walk away with enough of a payday to put themselves on the map.

And they might well make some enemies, too.

Michigan Ironworker's Liberation Front The Militia Movement The Erie Cabal Apex

• The slow decline of Motor City over the years put the squeeze on the trade unions and workers of Detroit, and factory closures, a rapidly declining population, and an exodus of capital did not help things. In the late 90s, as more capes hit the streets to make names for themselves, it was only natural that someone would rally the dispossessed, the downtrodden, the damned to their banner. The Michigan Ironworker's Liberation Front, a Stalinist organization that saw glasnost and perestroika as critical weakness and the collapse of the USSR as avoidable and counter-revolutionary absorbed many failing unions under the leadership of Stahl. A union man all his life, Karl Remer was hospitalized in 1986 in a terrible accident that cost him his arm. What it gained him, however, was a strange ability to strengthen those who stood with his cause. The MILF boasts a large non-cape contingent because of this, and their schemes to extort what businessowners remain in the city are greatly aided by his ability to make anybody a cape for a day.
• Few people benefited from Detroit's steady decline. The militia movements, however, found the recruiting easier with the economic fallout from the steady bleeding of the city, the demographic change, and the subsequent change in power dynamics as non-white capes became the leading figures both in the PRT and in the less legal sphere. The Oath Keepers, the 3%ers, and other militia groups ticked along slowly, buoyed by their own capes tied to the area, until The Westerner came along in 2007. Kim Garcia, a veteran of the Second Gulf War and the ensuing insurgency, became a controversial figure on social media for her views on God, capes, guns and country after she was dishonorably discharged from the military. Her trigger event managed to get more than a few American soldiers killed - but, as the event was covered up, the American far-right are more than willing to call her "our Miss Militia". While she is a leader amongst their numbers, she is not the only one jostling for power over America's armed and dangerous, and capes such as Racket, Slider and Castle hold significant sway over territories and movements.
• Far less political than many of the factions within Detroit, the Erie Cabal position themselves as a mystic group. Their attitude towards parahuman abilities are definitely unorthodox, but holds a certain popularity amongst the remaining wealthy of the city. Their true abilities are masked behind the constant layer of bullshit they spout, but the five core members of the cabal do not seem to be the traditional blaster kind of cape.
• Apex are a parahuman group who generally focus on high-end crime, like art theft and money laundering. Their numbers tend to shift as they are a loose coalition, but there is a total of seven members with a varied skillset, from tinkers to blasters to breakers.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

A brief guide brought to you by our GM, @sticky.

Part 1
For the first part of character creation, all we will need is a character outline of their life up to and including the point where they experienced their Trigger Event – when they became a parahuman. Focus on the different aspects of their trigger, from the emotional, intellectual, and physical ramifications: why was it so bad, why did it affect your character so much? Bear in mind these triggers can be nearly anything – being beaten and mugged, losing millions on the stock market, being lost in a plane crash.

But, I swear to god, if one of you edgelord chucklefucks decides to create "A Portrait of Rape: My experiences being cock-slammed by a very handsome fellow who is definitely not an author avatar" you are out on your ear. Spots are limited, I don't want to juggle too many people as the GM, and I'd prefer this to be a thoughtful consideration of emotional trauma, not "lmao, I said the N-word, aren't I cool?"

Part 2
If I like your concept, I'll assign you a power and Grumpy will draw 4 tarot cards for you. These tarot cards will introduce modifiers to your life, and to your power – both negative and positive. You should also make a copy of the character sheet from the Google Drive link.

From there you can fill it out! You can fiddle with your stats on a 1 for 1 basis (for example, removing one point of Wits to add it to Guts instead) but you do need a reason to drop it to either 1 or 5. Maybe you're disabled somehow, or a reigning marathon champion. Your wounds are based on your Guts score. Again, 1 for 1.

After this, you may put 2 times your Wits score into Skills, which can be viewed at this link.

Make sure to add the bonuses your skills provide to your character sheet as a helpful reminder to both the GM, and you. Mainly the GM. He's an idiot.

Part 3
Once all this terrible ordeal is over, you can fill out the rest of the sheet, including your history between your Trigger, and the present day, 2010. Then, perhaps, we can play some roles.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Introduction Timeline

• The following is a breakdown of global events on Earth Bet, from the moment it's timeline diverged with our own in 1982. Events have been seperated by year, and arranged in as close to a chronological order as possible.
• • May, 1982. An ocean liner travelling across the Atlantic Ocean discovers a mysterious golden man, floating above the water. In the wake of his discovery, rumours begin to abound that humans with mysterious and unnatural powers are being discovered across the globe.
  • 1983 to 1986. Rumours of vigilantes possessing superpowers continue to spread.
  • 1987. Five years after the golden man (now known as Scion) was first discovered, superheroes reveal themselves to the public in an official capacity. The Golden Age of Heroes is in full force.
  • 1989. Vikare, one of the first superheroes to reveal themselves in North America, is murdered whilst attempting to quell a riot in Michigan. The public are given a brutal lesson in the fact that parahumans, for all their strengths, are not invincible. The Golden Age of Heroes ends.
  • December, 1992. In the Marun Oil Fields of Iran, what is initially believed to be an earthquake turns into an outright catastrophe when a towering, monstrous entity capable of dynakinesis (the manipulation of all forms of energy, from radiation to electricity) emerges in the quake's aftermath. The destruction left in the entity's wake is unprecedented and only the presence of the Triumverate, a superpowered team comprised of some of the most powerful heroes alive, is enough to finally drive it off.
  • January, 1993. The entity is named "Behemoth". In response to this new and unprecedented threat, the United States forms the Parahuman Response Team and a formalised parahuman organisation known as the Protectorate.
  • 1993 to 1995. Behemoth re-emerges to launch a series of attacks on cities across the globe, culminating in the destruction of Moscow in June 1995. It takes the sacrifices of many parahumans and the arrival of Scion, whose power seems to trump even that of Behemoth, to stop the entity's assaults.
  • 1995. In San Francisco a group of rogues (parahumans who are unaligned with heroes or villains) form the organisation 'Uppermost', involving themselves in entertainment and production. Their success is meteoric. It creates enemies.
  • Early 1996. The Baumann Parahuman Containment Centre, a prison specially designed to house dangerous and violent parahumans, comes into operation in a remote part of Canada. It will later be nicknamed "the Birdcage".
  • June, 1996. A new threat sweeps in from the ocean just outside Oslo, Norway. In the wake of its first attack it is described as a scaled, reptile-like entity nearly thirty feet tall with clawed limbs and a massive prehensile tail, possessing devastating hydrokinetic powers. The entity is named "Leviathan".
  • November, 1996. Behemoth re-emerges to attack Cologne, Germany. The world's parahumans must now grapple with two such entities operating simultaneously. They receive the collective term of 'Endbringers'.
  • April, 1997. Leviathan attacks Busan, South Korea.
  • July, 1997. The lease of Hong Kong from China comes to an end.
  • September, 1997. Behemoth attacks Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • January, 1998. An attack by Leviathan on Sydney, Australia leaves the city uninhabitable.
  • March, 1998. The NEPEA-5 bill, which seeks to curtail parahuman involvement in business and media, gathers considerable support in the USA. Uppermost petitions the Parahuman Response Team for help in curtailing the bill, but the request is denied by the PRT head office. Later in the year the bill passes and Uppermost is forced to disband. Many former members join the Protectorate and their Wards (a training group for up-and-coming heroes). Others, however, choose to pursue a less legal path.
  • July, 1998. Behemoth attacks Jinzhou, China.
  • December, 1998. Leviathan attacks Madrid, Spain.
  • July, 1999. Behemoth attacks Ankara, Turkey.
  • November, 1999. Leviathan launches an attack on Kyushu, the third largest island in Japan. Over the course of a few days the island is largely submerged by the Endbringer's attack, devastating the rest of the nation. Japan will still not have recovered over a decade later.
  • January, 2000. Former members of Uppermost who rejected the PRT have formed an organisation known as the Elite, which has spread to numerous cities and forced the various organised crime groups in operation there into submission. They will quickly grow into the largest villain organisation operating in the United States, with their influence spreading all across the West Coast.
  • February, 2000. The Brockton Bay Brigade, a superhero team, successfully brings down the crime lord known as Marquis. In the wake of their success the Brigade publicly unmask themselves and begin to advocate for capes to live openly: they rename themselves New Wave.
  • April, 2000. Behemoth attacks Lyon, France.
  • January, 2001. A parahuman triggers in the small town of Ellisburg, USA, and rapidly consumes it. Of the 5,000 people residing in the town, there are no reported survivors. Several PRT response teams sent in to take out the parahuman responsible are wiped out, almost to a man: the survivors describe the town now filled with strange, inhuman creations. The one responsible is given the name Nilbog.
  • February, 2001. The PRT sets up a quarentine zone around the town of Ellisburg. Nilbog seems content to reside within his conquered territory.
  • February, 2001. Behemoth attacks Vanderhoof, Canada.
  • July, 2001. Leviathan attacks Hyderabad, India.
  • December, 2001. Behemoth attacks Lagos, Nigeria.
  • February, 2002. The PRT expands to incorporate Canada as part of its remit.
  • April, 2002. Leviathan attacks Shanghai, China.
  • August, 2002. Behemoth attacks Bogotá, Colombia.
  • December 27th, 2002. Over the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, a fifteen-foot woman, waif-thin and unclothed with asymmetric wings covering his body, suddenly appears in the sky. She hangs in the sky, inactive, for three days as authorities attempt to make sense of the situation.
  • December 30th, 2002. The winged entity above Lausanne suddenly lets out some form of psychic "scream", driving the residents of the city into deranged violence and insanity. Much of the violence is immediate and obvious, but not all victims of the entity are clearly antagonistic until much later: many people evacuated from the city will later commit acts of mass violence and domestic terrorism. The entity is declared to be an Endbringer, and given the name "the Simurgh".
  • Early 2003. The victims of the Simurgh's attack are declared to be incurable. Those remaining within the city of Lausanne are wiped out, and efforts to trace escapees before they can cause further damage begin.
  • March, 2003. The parahuman warlord known as Moord Nag seizes control of vast swathes of Namibia, Africa.
  • April, 2003. Leviathan attacks Seattle, USA.
  • August, 2003. The Simurgh reappears to attack London, UK.
  • October, 2003. Behemoth attacks Lyon, France for a second time. It is speculated that this is due to the number of nuclear facilities in its vicinity.
  • Early 2004. A group of murderous supervillains known as the Slaughterhouse Nine are growing in the public consciousness due to their attacks across North America, which leave hundreds dead.
  • May, 2005. Newfoundland is sunk and destroyed by Leviathan, leaving half a million dead.
  • Early 2006. The supervillain Lab Rat, notorious for his use of human experimentation to perfect his tinker serums, is captured and incarcerated in the Birdcage.
  • Early 2007. A power vacuum amongst villain groups operating in Boston creates an opportunity for many criminals and villains in the region, who flock to the city in a bid for control. The PRT and numerous hero groups work to try and contain the escalating violence and chaos: many villain organisations are eventually driven off, though some were still able to establish a foothold in the city.
  • Mid 2007. Fleur, a hero and member of New Wave, is murdered in her civilian identity by a white nationalist in the city of Brockton Bay. Several prominent members of the group retire, and the unmasking movement rapidly fizzles out.
  • Late 2007. The supervillain known as Jamestowner attacks a convoy carrying nuclear materials to a Pennsylvania nuclear facility.
  • April, 2008. The Simurgh launches another attack, this time on Detroit, USA. After her initial scream survivors report a sudden detonation that seals an entire section of the city and Windsor within a dome of seemingly unbreakable crystal. The fate of those within the dome is unknown, though flyovers report that there might be moving shapes inside. It is hoped that the Simurgh has perished in the explosion.
  • September, 2008. Jamestowner attacks another nuclear facility in the midwest USA, but is killed by a PRT response team.
  • April, 2009. The criminal tinker known as Blasto becomes crime lord of East Alston in Boston.
  • December, 2009. Defying optimistic reports that she might have perished in Detroit the year prior, the Simurgh launches an attack on Madison, USA. After her initial scream she appears to release strange parahuman that run amok through the rioting population. The PRT sets up a quarantine zone around the city after the Simurgh is finally driven off, opening fire on any survivors attempting to escape.
  • 2010. Current year in-game.

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Power Classifications and the accompanying number ratings are used by the Parahuman Response Team (PRT) to quickly identify parahuman threats and strategise accordingly, although the system is used in non-American countries as well, including capes in India. Each classification is matched with a number indicating severity, where higher numbers mean a greater threat to public safety.

In theory, power classifications are only intended to rate the threat posed by the power itself, and not the user's own skill or any other factors. Power classifications are also not intended to rate the "power level", usefulness, or raw strength of an ability, only measuring the threat the power poses to PRT personnel and civilians. However, in practice they are often used poorly, or simply to cut through "red tape" and justify treating a parahuman a certain way.

MOVER SHAKER BRUTE BREAKER MASTER TINKER BLASTER THINKER STRIKER CHANGER TRUMP STRANGER

• 
  Movers have the ability to transport themselves or others to other locations, using a variety of different methods to accomplish this.
  
  Mover is a common secondary rating, often in the form of flight: It's in fact so common that flying Brutes and flying Blasters have unique names to distinguish them: Alexandria-packages (named for the legendary member of the Triumverate) and flying artillery respectively.
  
  Takeoff, Transit and Terminus Movers have offensive potential through a Blaster or Shaker effect attached to their Mover power, while Slip and Hurdle Movers access their Mover powers through other enhancements. Tinkers, of course, express their Mover potential through their ability to create vehicles, or devices that replicate Mover effects, such as jet-packs or even hoverboards.
• 
  Shakers use their abilities to control the battlefield. They use several methods to accomplish this, including, but not limited to:
  
  • The creation and manipulation of forcefields in a variety of shapes and sizes.
  • Blasts with an area of effect, combining Shaker powers with a Blaster rating, similar to the old Nuker classification.
  • The manipulation of terrain, hampering the mobility of enemy forces.
  • The use of auras, either aiding allies or debilitating enemies.
  • The use of different forms of telekinesis.
  • The creation of environmental hazards, such as gasses and explosions.
• 
  A Brute classification typically indicates enhanced strength or durability, often both. There are no known Brutes without at least some form of self-protection or enhanced durability. Brute powers might manifest themselves in variety of ways. Most Brutes are either some combination of big, strong, and tough or possess some other method of self-protection.
  
  Muscle and Armor Brutes often fall close the Changer rating, have powers that morph their form and appearance. Flight is also a common secondary power for Brutes, to the point flying Brutes are known as Alexandria-packages.
  
  A rare subset of Transfiguration brutes is the Resurrection brute. Who are, as the name implies, able to come back from the dead when they die. however they usually lose something in the process.
• 
  Breakers have the ability to alter themselves to a different state in which they maintain different abilities, although Breakers with permanently altered states also exist.
  
  Nearly all powers have some small element of Breaker to them: the innate defences of parahumans that keep their own powers from harming them are generally Breaker powers. This does lead to some confusion however.
  
  Powers that earn a true Breaker rating are those that cause the user to alter their physical (and sometimes mental) state to something alien and power-generated. This altered state can have a singular benefit that breaks the defined laws of reality (as any power does, but centred around the parahuman's capabilities) or a state that contains a suite of powers.
  
  The altered state may have costs when adopting it, costs to maintain it, or costs and complications in other forms.
• 
  Masters are parahumans that are either able to manipulate others or to create minions to do their bidding. They can do this through a variety of ways, including, but not limited to:
  
  • The ability to create and control minions, with a large amount of variations in size, control, amount, and exact method:
    • The ability to control and sometimes enhance existing creatures, such as bugs, rats, or dogs.
    • The power to animate normally inanimate objects.
    • The creation of duplicates of oneself.
    • The power to create projections.
  • The ability to control other people actively or passively, either directly or by manipulating emotions or attitudes.
  
  Masters don't often have secondary powers, instead expressing them through their minions instead.
  
  One exception is the Master-Stranger combination: Master powers based around controlling or influencing others are often extremely useful for infiltration, while a more niche Master-Stranger can use self-duplicates as a distraction.
  
  Tinkers able to build drones or breed creatures, often fall under the Master classification.
• 
  Tinkers are distinct from other parahumans in that their powers don't work through them so much as they enable them to fabricate things: They can create devices or alter existing devices well beyond usual restrictions of education, knowledge, resources, or physics. Most Tinkers have a specialty, an area of technology in which they operate either exclusively or better than others. Some draw on real world technical knowledge while others rely more on instinct.
  
  Tinkers are among the most flexible parahumans, as a typical Tinker can artificially assume any number of other classifications depending on speciality, in addition to drawing inspiration from the powers of other parahumans or the work of other Tinkers.
• 
  Blasters are parahumans that have ranged offensive options. The majority of these powers are damaging, but this is not always the case.
  
  Blasters use their powers to attack their enemies from range, generally using deleterious blasts with a large variety of effects: Blasters involve one or more types, which determine the amount, range, accuracy and power, among other factors (essentially the 'gun' that the Blaster fires); and an 'element', which determines the type of damage and any special effects of the shots.
  
  Blasters commonly venture into the Shaker classification: Ruin Blasters through their ability to manipulate the environment, and Impact Blasters through the large radius of their blasts. Enchantment Blasters, on the other hand, cross over into the Striker classification.
  
  Flight is a common secondary power for Blasters: Blaster-Mover combinations with flight are so common they have their own name, often being called 'flying artillery'.
• 
  Thinkers have powers related to knowledge, skills and enhanced perception. Thinker powers do not necessarily make an individual smarter, although increased intelligence is considered a Thinker power.
  
  Thinkers might use their abilities to gather or receive information, such as various types of clairvoyants including post-cogs, pre-cogs, peri-cogs and more. Alternatively, they are able to process the world around them in a specific way.
  
  Thinker is an extremely common secondary classification, often in support of other powers, as such, Thinker is not truly tied to any other classification.
• 
  Strikers are parahumans that have powers that are touch-based or melee ranged. This includes a large amount of different abilities, including, but not limited to:
  
  • The ability to empower weapons or other objects, granting them unique qualities.
  • The power to impart some sort of changed state on a target through touch.
  • The power to create weapons.
  • Abilities that enhance melee strikes with a variety of effects.
  • Particularly short ranged forms of telekinesis, including pyrokinesis.
  
  It should be noted that enhanced strength is generally not a Striker power, but part of the Brute classification.
• 
  Changers can alter their form, appearance, or natural abilities through some form of manipulation of their own bodies. They exploit this in a various ways, including, but not limited to:
  
  • The power to grow extra weapons or armour.
  • The ability to streamline one's body, allowing for improved movement and evasion, often used for infiltration.
  • The ability to alter ones appearance or to alter one's human features, as found in the old Shifter classification.
  • The use of self-targeted biokinesis, possibly to heal oneself.
  
  The Changer rating does not include new powers beyond natural weapons, armour, or durability.
• 
  Trumps have powers that can manipulate powers in some capacity; altering, granting, strengthening, weakening or removing them entirely. It also includes parahumans that can adapt new powers. Some Trumps have powers that solely interact with the powers of others. Trump powers are very rare: only about three to five percent of parahumans have a Trump rating.
  
  A notable characteristic of Trump ratings is that they will always be connected to one of the other eleven classifications, albeit the exact relation can vary. Some powers can have a small Trump note, while others have the Trump aspect as the most noticeable, where the other rating is only a method of expression or even just a complimentary factor.
• 
  Stranger abilities might allow the user (and sometimes their allies) to bypass defences, mislead opponents, or to avoid notice. Some effects may not be patently obvious and can potentially be used in civilian guise. They can work through a variety of ways, including but not limited to:
  
  • Obscuring or altering the senses of others, including blinding, gas clouds, and holograms.
  • Affecting the target's mind to distract or debilitate, using things like hallucinations and perception filters.
  • Allowing the user to disable, deny or repossess enemy equipment (and objects in general).
  • Granting invisibility, stealth or different forms of camouflage.
  • Imitating others in appearance, voice and mannerisms.
  • Enabling or benefiting surprise attacks.
  • Granting or enhancing skills and abilities while unobserved.

 

[sticky]

I'm the GM! Hello!

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Name: Allie Hannigan
Alias: Breezeblock
At a Glance: A naive young film student with capefights in her eyes and the ability to glide through concrete. Please don't mind her if she starts speaking to buildings.

STATS
Brawn: ▮▮ (-1)
Athletics: ▮▮▮▮ (+1 from Power)
Dexterity: ▮▮▮▮ (+1)
Wits: ▮▮▮▮ (+1)
Social: ▮▮ (-1)
Knowledge: ▮▮▮
Guts: ▮▮▮

SKILLS
Sneak (Dexterity): ▮▮

• +1 to rolls made to remain unnoticed while moving or hiding, concealing objects, disguises or breaking away and disappearing.
• If Sneak 5+, cover tracks. Can give up One Pip bonus dice to guarantee no trace is left behind.

Acrobatics (Athletics): ▮▮

• When navigating the environment by way of jumping, climbing, hurdling or falling, roll an added die and take the highest (Short: +1 when rolling to jump, climb, hurdle, or fall)
• Fall rolls are treated as if the fall was half the distance (Short: Fall distance is considered halved)

Investigation (Know/Wits): ▮▮

• +1 to searching, finding or using clues. Applies to outfits, disguises or places
• With time, can make a 'snapshot' which can later be searched for clues

Awareness (Wits): ▮

• +1 when rolling for perceptions (only when standing still & unharassed)

Finesse (Dexterity): ▮

• +1 for Dex-based melee attacks

POWER
[Mover/Shaker] Allie has the ability to 'glide' through concrete, rebar, asphalt and other materials commonly used in the construction of modern buildings. Once inside, she is capable of manipulating and projecting parts of the building (such as wall tiles, ceiling fixtures, gas mains, etc.), though she cannot aim them without her head emerging from the surface of the building. Additionally, she is capable of absorbing electricity from power cabling within the walls of a building to empower any projectiles she launches or to release as bursts of power.

PERKS & FLAWS

• Celebrated [PERK]: Allie has built a non-inconsiderable following online and throughout the city through her film-making skills, and now has a team of production mooks and hangers-on to call upon should she ever need support or assistance.
• Apocrypha [FLAW]: Something went very, very wrong during Allie's trigger event, even by the lofty standards of these traumatic experiences. She emerged from the event in a highly unstable state, prone to hallucinations and apparent delusions wherein buildings and other structures 'speak' to her. In moments of high stress these hallucinations can kick into overdrive, leaving her debilitated.
• Enemy [FLAW]: The PRT-affiliated vigilante known only as the Shrike does not approve of Allie's documentarian activities. At all. So much so that he once ambushed her and threw her the beating of a lifetime. He's keen to finish what he started, should he get the chance.

EQUIPMENT
Costume (Tier 2): Breezeblock's costume looks less like that of an aspiring bank heister and more that of an urban exploration enthusiast... at least until you get to her mask. Tight fitting military surplus clothing, all of it in dark shades, with a black parka to keep the elements off her. It's not flashy and it certainly isn't armoured, but it's sure as hell practical when it comes to scrambling around buildings to find the perfect shot. [Movement]

Most of the effort in the costume's creation went into the mask she wears when out and about as Breezeblock. Made of black material that covers her whole face, it's equipped with both filters that protect from gas, smoke or clouds of black mould (ever a threat when crawling around old buildings) as well as eye goggles that protect from bright flashes and allow her to see more clearly through smoke. [Goggles, Mask]

Weapons:

• Combat Knife (baseline knife, with 'Armour Piercing' and 'Grip')

Assorted Kit:

Spoiler

• Backpack (sling pack, waterproof)
• Canon EOS 5D MkII, with assorted lenses
• GoPro Digital HERO3
• Spare camera batteries
• GorillaPod tripod
• Portable charger
• First-aid Kit
• Multi-tool
• Climbing rope, with carabiners
• Climbing harness
• Headtorch
• Flashlight
• Spare Flashlight
• Spare spare flashlight
• Batteries for aforementioned flashlights
• Snaplights, x5
• Roll of duct tape, red
• 1L water bottle (full)
• Burner phone
• Walkie-talkie set (two radios)
• Wet wipes
• Snacks (she's not sharing)

BACKGROUND

Spoiler

Allie Hannigan grew up obsessed with the power of the moving picture. It's ability to convey emotions and experiences, to speak truth and tear down lies. With the growth of digital film-making it was inevitable that she would pick up a camera herself, and her keen interest in discovering and conveying real experiences meant that she was invariably drawn to documentaries.

Successfully landing a spot on the film-making programme of Detroit's prestigious College for Creative Studies, the first year of Allie's college experience was marred by the Simurgh's attack on the city and the subsequent explosion that trapped entire sections of the city. Seeing a chance to put her training into practice, Allie was one of the first film-makers on the scene of the aftermath, documenting the chaos and escalating violence between the authorities and criminal elements seeking to take control of the city. Her videos, increasingly popular online, did little to paint either side in a good light: she highlighted abuses of power by the Parahuman Response Team and their Protectorate heroes as often as she showed the excesses of the villain groups. Whilst this grew her reputation throughout the country, it also made her plenty of enemies.

In the year following the Simurgh's attack, Allie continued to grow her presence online through her videos and occasional interviews with people from all walks of life in Detroit. Particularly popular, however, were her videos documenting fights and encounters between various different parahuman groups in the city. Though this led to some dismissing her as nothing more than a capefight channel owner, it nonetheless drew even more attention to her work.

Perhaps it was this focus on parahumans. Perhaps it was just a combination of too much risk and bad luck. But on the day it happened, Allie and her team were assembled in an abandoned factory to record a nearby conflict between the Protectorate and a group of recently arrived villains. Though they thought they were a safe enough distance from the engagement, they weren't fully aware of the powers in play. Their vantage point was ripped apart in the ensuing violence, trapping the team within the ruins and rubble.

Allie still isn't sure how long she was down there in the dark, listening to her friends slowly die from their injuries or from suffocation. The experience is something she refuses to speak on, but when she emerged it was as a parahuman no longer containable by such ruins and obstacles. Those who knew her were all too aware that she was changed by the experience, however. She dropped out of college, dedicating herself full-time to her film-making and cutting herself off from old friends. Those few who still saw her found her distracted, paranoid, prone to staring off into space as though listening to something no-one else could hear. Her new-found abilities only aided in her ability to acquire unfiltered, up close and personal footage that gave her videos the edge over any and all competitors.

The attack on her by the vigilante known as the Shrike is what finally drove her to become more involved in Detroit's parahuman scene. Apparently incensed by her unflattering portrayal of the PRT and the Protectorate, the Shrike ambushed Allie and very nearly put her in the hospital before she was able to escape. This drove her into the arms of a newly-formed group ready and willing to operate outside of the law and with access to a way into the trapped section of the city. For Allie, the matter is personal now. Not only is she out to prove the PRT's incompetence, she's also ready and willing to be the first person to record footage from inside the dome. The whole world's going to see the aftermath of the authorities' failure. And she might as well get rich whilst she's at it.

GOALS/MILESTONES

Spoiler

• "I want to release footage of the Dome's interior to the world."
• "I want to expose maniacs like the Shrike to the public (and get him the hell out of this city)."
• "I want to grow Capewatch into a respected independent media outlet online."

 

[Hecatoncheires]

First post has now been updated with a link to the RP's Discord channel, which I totally forgot to include initially cos I'm a fucking moron just created right now honest you guys. Feel free to jump in if you're interested in the game but have questions/queries. Sticky's nice and helpful. Me, less so.

 

[Asmodeus]

Name: Carl Greene

Alias: Stoneroller

At a Glance: When lizardmen paedophiles take your unborn children away to serve them up at a CDC bar mitzvah, you need a good guy with a gun to do what the Founding Fathers did and tell your local service worker to get fucked.

COSTUME
Flagstone

• Light Armor (1 point of armor and partial armor to one non-head body part. -1Athletics for all non-running activity Encumbrance 2)
• Protection (reduce severity of Bash damage by one step unless the attacker managed an attack result of 6+)
• Supply (costume includes containers for... snacks?)
• Helm (reroll or resistance roll vs 'confuse' effects stemming from physical sources)
• Mask (reroll vs gas, smoke, and choking effects ambient in air)
• Bulky (-1 Athletics. If armor would already penalize Athletics, then -1 Encumbrance. Changing costumes takes twice as long)
• Blemish - Costume is ugly or otherwise unappealing. Every 6 encounters, take one hit of negative rep)

WEAPONS
Heston

• Uses Dex to aim, 40' range increment.
• Fires ½ Dex shots a round at -1 to hit, delivers a moderate pierce on hit, headshot chance -25%.
• Box ammo, 6 shots total. Partial action to reload.
• Openly carrying a gun is cause for negative rep; 6 encounter cooldown.
• Each round of firing a pistol with perceived intent to harm or kill earns negative rep.

- Lost, but not forgotten. T__T

Seax n' Destroyz

• Can deliver [½ Dex] Dex-based attacks for moderate wound & slashing effect.
• Dual-wield with only a -1 to hit.
• Getting two or more ones in a combat round (attack rolls, wound rolls) means losing weapon.
• Ineffective vs. armor. Bypass one layer of armor on a 6+ attack roll, does not break armor.
• Easily concealed. Only apparent if looked for (5+ Wits), on pat-down (1+), or when drawn.
• Serrated - Can default to inflicting bleed instead of the rolled wound effect.
• Unconcealable - Loses concealment.

STATS
Brawn: ▮▮▮▮ (+1)
Athletics: ▮▮▮
Dexterity: ▮▮(-1)
Wits: ▮▮▮▮ (+1 from Power)
Social: ▮▮(-1)
Knowledge: ▮▮▮
Guts: ▮▮▮▮ (+1)

SKILLS
Grapple: ▮▮
Threaten: ▮▮▮
Willpower: ▮
Withstand: ▮▮
Computers: ▮

POWER
[MASTER] Carl has the ability to touch a weapon and make it into one of his "soldiers". These are weak, shadowy, stormy beta-cuck projections that, nonetheless, hit as hard (or shoot as straight) as a real patriot.


PERKS & FLAWS

• Deep Thought [PERK]: One additional skill point per two points of knowledge, rounding down. This comes at a small cost- it's twice as expensive in money and time to learn and develop new skills, or to retrain their existing skills. They're just that set in their ways. They may also be prone to going on at length about their fields of interest.
• Stand Tall [PERK]: Large individuals maintain the 'heavy' quality when it would be beneficial. 25% resistance to headshots and other instant kills, they're harder to push around, and they ignore encumbrance.
  
• Haunting Memories [FLAW]: Use of powers causes memories to drift to the surface, complete with hallucinations, typically of one's trigger event or major, negative events in passenger's recall. Tends to be balanced in duration, scale, and/or degree of accumulation so that character has to weigh cost vs. merit of using power. If hallucinations build up to a certain degree and are ignored and not acted on or actively fought, character may black out and 'lose time' while they go on autopilot and relive their trigger event.
• Livin' in muh Truck [FLAW]: Their home isn't the sort of place they could bring someone to. Their life situation may well be such that they just can't seem to set down roots, and are constantly on the move, to the point that they can only reliably keep what they can carry with them.

BACKGROUND

Spoiler

Carl Greene's mom was the best. A teacher in Royal Oak, a wealthy suburb of Detroit. She got those kids in shape - taught them the truth about Jesus and America, and all the things that were coming to destroy Jesus and America. The other teachers didn't like it. Local government didn't like it. Foreign parents with their shithole dreamer brats didn't like. They tried to get Carl's mom removed from her post. But Carl's mom knew people. She was a fighter.

Education was a way to fix what had gone wrong with these little sheeplings. But Carl - he wasn't broken. He was special. So Carl didn't have to go to school so much. Mom covered for him, while he went off with Dad into the woods, learning real things - things you couldn't learn in some libtard's textbook. How to live off the land, clean a gun, kill a deer, drive a truck. Carl and his Dad were getting ready. Cos all this - all of this freedom and the American Dream? It wasn't gonna last. Not with capes around.

Mom got killed when Carl was 13. A few days after she was fired from her post, she went back into the school, armed and ready. She had to get the kids out - the good ones - the ones they hadn't been completely brainwashed by the Satanists yet. A few of them died too, but most of the fire was from the cops and the security guards. Mom had good trigger discipline. She never woulda friendly-fired those kids. Not the good ones.

Anyway, the Mainstream Media came rolling in, and dragged Mom's name through the mud. She wasn't even cold in the ground and they were calling her a terrorist. A terrorist? She was descended from Irish slaves, for fuck's sake! Dad couldn't take it. He went off into the woods with some buddies, and he's still out there to this day, holed up in some compound, waiting for the storm.

As for Carl - he stuck around in Royal Oak, working as a delivery driver. Someone had to keep an eye on that school. He didn't know the names of the kids who Mom was protecting, but he could probably recognize them, if he got close enough. The pure ones. The ones with good genes. They would be eaten first by that fucking principal and those other cuck teachers. Perfect little food factory that school was. Too bad the cops and security guards were so trigger happy. They would've lit Carl up if he got too close. So he watched... for years he watched. He made contact a few times - some of the poorer kids, the ones who wouldn't talk. Shook them down for intel. Learned what he could.

He was ready to do Mom proud. He was gonna bring more ammo than she did, and some of Dad's grenades. Pop a few smokes so those security guards wouldn't get the drop on him like they did Mom. Of course, that would mean a certain 'fog of war', as they say in Iraq. So Carl had chosen six of them - six kids - photos, names and addresses. The six he would save. Perhaps he could get them out to Dad's compound, where no one could hurt them ever again. He had the truck ready, the zip ties, some cokes, pizza, and a Bible or two to keep them calm during the ride.

It was gonna be the best day of their little lives.

Then that Simurgh bitch ruined everything. Carl had to abort the mission. He turned the truck around and hauled ass away from the school, just as that scream flooded the city. He wasn't scared or anything. He just realized it had all been a setup. The Satanists had been watching him from the fucking start, and wanted to take him out like they did Mom. So Carl drove the fuck away - fast.

Then some crying snowflakes ran into the road, and Carl swerved to avoid them. Usually, if you stand in the road you deserve to get run down. But Carl was in a giving mood. So he wrenched the wheel, and flew off the fucking freeway into the lake. Pizza, coke, ammo and shit all over him. Plus the drowning in snow part. It's cold in the D., as the Antifas say.

Things ain't been the same since that crash. Sure, Carl crawled out and saved most of the cokes. But... y'know... Patriots have seen some shit.

And the kids? Yeah. He'll get round to it. It's all part of the plan. The Storm is coming.

GOALS

Spoiler

• I want to steal a shit load of money from those banks. Enough to buy me a tank.
• I want to find some evidence in these banks pointing towards the agenda of the globalist paedophile lizard cabal.
• I want to expose my teammates as the undocumented immigrants they are, and get them deported.

 

[kookyboy9]

Name: Casimir Pangari
Alias: Phantom Friend
At a Glance: A friendly chef with a problem with vigilantism. Engage in such actions at your own risk, lest he be the friend to "hold you accountable"

STATS
Brawn: ▮▮▮
Athletics: ▮▮▮
Dexterity: ▮▮▮
Wits: ▮▮▮
Social: ▮▮▮▮ (+1 from power)
Knowledge: ▮▮▮
Guts: ▮▮▮▮ (+1 from perk)

SKILLS
Finesse ▮▮
+1 for Dex-based melee attacks
Short: Bonus attack vs. disadvantaged, sans Finesse. KO/combat end refreshes.
Presentation ▮ ▮
+1 to checks pertaining to reputation or personal interaction with a larger group.
What you wear or own says something about you; pick one of three benefits.
Command ▮
+1 to Social with subordinates & when recruiting. Rally command.
Charm ▮
Short: +1 to first impression, appearance, seduction, acting & emo appeal.

EQUIPMENT
Costume
Phantom Friend
Tier 2

• Cloth: Grants armor that applies only to wounds to one body part. Lightweight, with no real penalty/bonus to anything; has ⅓ encumbrance, with no effect unless stacked with the armor quality, described below.
• Icon: Every [12 - Social, minimum 4] encounters, gain one general reputation point. Max of one such rep at a time.
• Unique: +1 to rolls to retain good reputation, -1 to rolls to shuck off bad reputation (this does mean bad reputation stays longer).
• Armor: Grants a partial unit of armor. If a character would have two partial units of armor (including partial units from base properties of costume), they instead just have one unit of normal armor. Partial armor covers one body part; usually the torso. Not available with 'Skin' costumes. Provides ⅓ encumbrance (round down, no effect until taken thrice).

Combat Knife x2

• Can deliver [½ Dex] Dex-based attacks for moderate wound & slashing effect.
• Can be part of an effective dual wield, with knife and another weapon. Suffers only a -1 to hit when being used as such.
• Easily dropped. Getting two or more ones in a combat round (attack rolls, wound rolls) means losing weapon. May get stuck in enemy or dropped in adjacent space.
• Ineffective vs. armor. Bypass one layer of armor on a 6+ attack roll, does not break armor.
• Easily concealed. Only apparent if looked for (5+ Wits), on pat-down (1+), or when drawn.
• Armor Pierce - Bypass a layer of armor on a 4+ attack roll. Damage armor on a 7+.
• Grip - Loses 'easily dropped' penalty.

Misc

• 5-hour energy shot. For use if his powers threaten to knock him out when he absolutely needs to be awake. Probably for the better if never used.
• Supplies for 3 days
• Flashlight

POWER
[Stranger/Trump] Casimir has the ability to make people see him as "one of the boys". When in close proximity to other parahumans, he also has the ability to borrow their power. The closer he is to them, the longer he can borrow the power for.

PERKS & FLAWS

• Soma[PERK]: Due to a healthy lifestyle, Casimir has a stronger-than-average body. He spends around 10 hours a week keeping himself fit.
• Teamwork [PERK]: Casimir's borrowed powers tend to mutate to benefit his teammates. Offensive powers often gain the ability to ignore friendly targets, and non-offensive powers tend to have other, secondary effects. This also tends to make power flaws less potent when around others he considers friends.
• Victus[FLAW]: Casimir has awful depth perception, and is nearly incapable of using a firearm. In fact, he's so bad with them that he tends to accidentally friendly fire a lot more than should be statistically possible. Allies would be well-advised to keep such devices well out of his hands.
• Drained by Power.[FLAW]: Using his powers tends to exhaust Casimir. The longer he borrows a power for, the more exhausted he becomes.

Goals

• I want to open my own restaurant (Personal)
• I want to establish a group to hunt down parahuman vigilantes who don't heed civilians around them. (Cape)
• I want to get my name out there (Cape)
• I want to retrieve the assets stored in the bank cluster inside the dome. (Story, possibly non-milestone)
  
  BACKGROUND
  
  Spoiler

  Casimir was born in Detroit in 1985. Growing up, he had a relatively uneventful life, although he found himself more and more interested in cooking, slowly starting to help more and more in the kitchen around home. During high school, he took electives centered around catering and cooking, and eventually went on to get a degree in culinary arts. Shortly after graduating, he found a job in a small kitchen in town, and began to work his way up.
  
  Unfortunately, in 2008, a roughly a year after he started employment, his workplace was caught up in Simurgh's attack and the ensuing dome. Fortunately, Casimir happened to be out for health reasons that day, and had made enough of a name for himself to find a new job in a larger restaurant in town.
  
  He continued to work there until he was caught up in a robbery a half-year later. The robbery had been going smoothly thus far, the robbers managing to gather up all of the various restaurant workers and patrons in a corner where they were keeping them hostage. The police had yet to be called, and the robbers were piling all of the cash into bags to carry out. Fortunately (or not), a passing cape vigilante happened to catch sight of what was happening and rushed in. Unfortunately for everyone involved, however, the robber group was lead by another parahuman, and in the fight that ensued, a stray fireball struck the unfortunate patrons and staff of the restaurant, killing most, and severely injuring the rest. Casimir lost consciousness at this point.
  
  When he came to, his injuries were being treated by the vigilante and his friends, who seemed to recognize him as an old friend, despite his never having met them, and them not knowing anything about his history. His injuries treated, Casimir started on his trip home, only to realize that he appeared to have picked up the speed power belonging to the vigilante.
  
  On arriving home, Casimir was struck by a wave of exhaustion, and ended up collapsing in bed. When he awoke, he once more had to struggle with the loss of his work environment, but eventually was able to find another new job. But now he'd seen one thing too many. The stories of accidents involving cape vigilantes were beginning to look more and more serious by the day.
  
  Eventually, nearly a year later, Casimir finally had enough. He went out to the streets and started practicing his powers as innocuously as he could. And as time went on, he became familiar with them. A few months later, he was finally ready to make his move. He targeted a small-time vigilante cape. One not powerful or influential enough to have major backers, but who had been involved in several accidents related to the vigilante justice he doled out.
  
  Casimir was able to kill the cape and get away, but to his dismay, he soon found that the world just hadn't cared. In fact, his act had only served to make the cape a martyr. After a period of long thought, Casimir came to a conclusion. He needed influence. He needed to make the wrongdoing of these bastards public before he offed them. No more false martyrs could be allowed to rise. But first, he'd need money to use in his plots. Preferably of the untraceable variety. And as luck had it, word of mouth reached him of a perfect proposition to obtain vast amounts of just that.

 

[sticky]

Hi there! I'm deeply gratified by the interest people have been taking in this, so recruitment is temporarily CLOSED for now while I sort through you chaps.

 

[Amaranth]

​

Name: Nikita Melnik
Alias: Breathtaker
At a Glance: A doctor that pretends to be emotionless, but is actually as passionate as they come. May or may not be very bothered by comments on his height.


STATS
Brawn ▮▮ (-1)
Athletics ▮▮▮▮ (+1 from power)
Dexterity ▮▮▮
Wits ▮▮▮▮ (+1)
Social ▮▮ (-1)
Knowledge ▮▮▮▮ (+1)
Guts ▮▮▮


SKILLS
Evade▮
+1 to dodge vs. range.

Martial Arts▮▮
Focus on one human with equal or less Martial arts, +1 to certain attacks and defenses against them.
Hits target specific body parts. Can make Know punch/kicks.

Medical▮▮▮▮
+1 to healing others or self and medical knowledge. Can't worsen condition. Can suppress lesser wound for encounter.
Can spend 6 hours (at most) to reduce a moderate/lesser wound in severity. Requires successful roll.
Can make and administer a variety of drugs. [Medical check] free weekly allocation, bonus shots cost $100 each. Can suppress moderate wound for encounter.
+2 to healing/diagnosis. Can perform invasive surgery, heal one wound type wound (lesser/moderate) in a full round of concentrated medical attention.

Scrutinize▮
+1 to rolls for analysis of people, detecting lies, uncovering disguises.


POWER
[striker] Nika can curdle people's blood by attacking them physically, stripping the oxygen from the red blood cells. He can use this stolen breath to oxygenate his own blood.


PERKS & FLAWS
Victor [perk] Nika's medical knowledge taught him where to strike for a better effect. When he beats someone down, they take longer to get back on their feet. Wounds might take longer to patch up and heal, and those that succumb to them might have a harder time pulling themselves together for a second round.

Shattered Chains [perk] As a desperate measure, Nika can push his power to the extreme, causing the veins of his entire body to glow. For a while, he does not need any blood, as his cells are oxygenated by themselves, and so, he's not affected by blood loss. Additionally, he can project his power through other people's blood. If Nika succeeds at striking his target down, he can regenerate any damage taken by draining whoever caused his ire. If he fails, however, his wound are not healed, and the blood loss catches up to him.

Fettered [flaw] The triggering event that awakened Nika's powers is still fresh in his mind, and so, he cannot bear to hurt or allow anyone to be hurt in a family setting. Each time this happens means rolling three life flaws, with the GM picking the one to introduce to the character. If the rules are accidentally broken, roll a d6 and add a +1 for each prior 'accident' — he gets the flaw on a 5-6.

Emotional Shift [flaw] When in the breaker state, Nika's mind blanks and he becomes ruthless, refusing to let anything get in the way of ending his target.

BACKGROUND

Spoiler

There are many things from his childhood that Nika doesn't remember anymore, but one thing stuck with him: the snowy fields of Russia and the almost childlike excitement in his mother's voice while she told some story or another about a heroic deed of a random cape.

He doesn't remember how they met the man that would become his father, only that he was a cape, and his mom followed him back to the US, Detroit, taking Nika with her. He lost the fields of his home but gained a father and a sister six years younger than him. Life was good for a while.

Nika was 19 years old when he came home to his mother's body, mutilated, in the living room. He doesn't remember her face well, the memory tainted with only the smell of blood and the feeling of desperation. But he remembers the face of his father, eyes wide in madness, as he looked from his mom's body to him.

He tried to run, but his father was too quick. Nika remembers how much the impact of his father's heavy body against his hurt. The hands closing around his neck, blocking his airways, as he tried desperately to breathe. The feeling of skin being ripped off by fingernails as he scratched his father's arms.

And he remembers the brief relief of drawing a mouthful of air, followed by the horror of his father's body falling on top of his, lifeless, forehead opened by an exact shot.

As he pushed his sister away, refusing to talk about what had happened, he busied himself with his studies, trying to forget the everlasting sensation of hands closing around his neck. Eventually, Ulyana joined the Parahuman Response Team (PRT), he graduated, and both of their work drove them further and further apart, with his sister never finding out the truth about the death of their parents.

When Simurgh attacked Detroit, splitting the PRT building into two, his sister was lost. When no one could breach the dome, Nika lost all remaining faith he had in capes, in factions, in everyone. He pushed people away, focusing even more on his work, trying to drown the memories and nightmares. He took in some side jobs as a cape, honing his powers, not for the money but for the escapism it offered him.

When rumours of a way to breach into the dome reached his ears, he jumped at the chance of perhaps, just perhaps, finding out what happened to the last member of his family.

 

[foodforpigs]

Name: Hugh Spencer
Alias: Rhapsody
At a Glance: A dance instructor who wholeheartedly follows his passions, struggling to make loan payments to the Ironworkers Union who would break his limbs and burn his studio to the ground.

STATS
Brawn: ▮▮▮
Athletics: ▮▮▮▮ (+1)
Dexterity: ▮▮▮▮ (+1 from perk)
Wits: ▮▮▮
Social: ▮▮▮
Knowledge: ▮▮(-1)
Guts: ▮▮▮▮ (+1 from power)

COSTUME

Heavy Cloth - Grants one armor point. Penalizes Ath by 1 for all activities except running. Encumbrance 1.
Armor (torso) - Grants a partial unit of armor. Encumbrance 1/3
Coverage - Costume covers all skin. Provides protection against burns, as well as ambient environmental effects such as steam, bugs, and cold. Such things don't take effect unless wearer is wounded or power is directed. If user is wounded, there is 15% chance of effect working per wound sustained. If effect is power-directed, then attacker must pass a 6+ roll with most relevant stat (related skill potentially applying), getting a +1 to their roll per wound on the subject & per consecutive wound this is attempted. Is stripped away entirely with costume-damaging effects (rends, some burns).
Brace - Come in form of bracers or bands that protect joints and limbs. Protective sheaths provide reroll or resistance roll (if there was no initial roll) vs. 'disable limb' effects.
Strappy - Costume provides things to hold on to or grip. While worn, -2 to escape grapples/bindings.

WEAPONS
Rapier (Light, Deflection, Fragile)
Delivers Dex-based attacks instead of Brawn-based. (Light)
Uses Dexterity to determine number of attacks/round (½ Dex). Delivers user's choice of slashing or piercing attacks.
Can strike up to two foes in weapon's reach when slashing.
Each hit delivers a moderate wound & cut effect.
Can parry melee attacks from attackers. (without Deflection it's only from foes with equal or less Brawn)
Make attack roll as defensive roll instead of dodge/block. With Weapon Spec (Sword) ●●●, do this in addition to standard defensive roll.
+1 Social for purposes of costume factors that provide a bonus every [8 - social, minimum 3] encounters and for skills with similar effects, but do accrue threatening rep.
Weapon can't easily penetrate armor, requires 6+ attack roll. If two ones are rolled in a round, weapon loses a quality. (Fragile)

Combat Knife (Armor Pierce, Grip)
Can deliver [½ Dex] Dex-based attacks for moderate wound & slashing effect.
Can be part of an effective dual wield, with knife and another weapon. Suffers only a -1 to hit when being used as such.
Bypass a layer of armor on a 4+ attack roll. Damage armor on a 7+. (Armor Pierce)
Easily concealed. Only apparent if looked for (5+ Wits), on pat-down (1+), or when drawn.
Grip - lose 'easily dropped' effect.

EQUIPMENT (current)

Backpack, containing:
9 packs of food rations
3 1L bottles of water
1 rolls of toilet paper
a bar of soap
flashlight and batteries
map of the Detroit area with areas of banks marked
Dome shard

SKILLS
Evade (Athletics): ▮
+1 to dodge vs. range.
Endure (Guts): ▮
+1 to rolls regarding stamina, recovery, staying in fight. +1 Lesser Max.
Finesse (Dexterity):▮
+1 for Dex-based melee attacks.
Pinpoint (Dex): ▮▮
Pinpoint on difference of 3+ or against a helpless foe,+1 to roll wound effects.
(Spec) Strike Back: A hit on a foe who has hit you this turn is a pinpoint.
Riposte (Dex/Brawn): ▮
Can Guard: a block with option to re-use the die result when retaliating.

POWER
[Breaker/Brute] He can either be in Harmony, or Disharmony - the first is a defensive state that, firstly, helps him walk, but also makes him insanely durable. The second is an offensive state that makes his attacks more violent, tearing apart whatever they hit.

PERKS & FLAWS

Bent in the Head. [Perk] Outside influences on his mind are of the wrong resonance to the universal rhythm. On being affected by a mental, emotional, or control-based effect/power, positive or negative, they may choose to instead go berserk. They have to go full aggro at a target, but get a +1 to their highest stat and demoralize their target, forcing a reroll each round they sustain the attack. Max of one use per six hours, refreshed if they do something unnerving between encounters.
Minerva. [Perk] Your secondary power gives you a Thinker classification, and gives you even finer control over your movements. +1 Dexterity, and whenever you land a hit, you choose where on the body it lands.
Broke Hearts. [Flaw] Hugh opened a dance studio with a loan funded by the Ironworkers Union, and they make it their business to harass him and his clients whenever they pass by.
Always On. [Flaw] 'Pilot light' is always burning, power running at a low but noticeable level. Hugh intermittently hums the universal rhythm he hears in his head, or similar, such as drumming a table with his fingers. An inspection of his scarred right leg would reveal that he shouldn't be able to move normally at all, never mind dance. He always wears pants and has a crutch for 'comfortable movement' in his civilian form, but it is a flimsy disguise. He tries to keep contact with his collectors at a minimum because of it.

BACKGROUND

Spoiler

Hugh Spencer was born in Detroit in 1984 and an only child. Throughout his life, he has been described by others as both an eccentric and energetic young man. During his time at public school up to high school, he was singularly engaged with gym class, whereas the rest of his subjects suffered. After-school basketball practice and games gave him an excuse not to go home, though his true passion was in dance and acrobatics. When practice was over, he'd put out the mats from the gym storage to 'goof off' until his parents picked him up.

He never got approval from his parents. They tried to make him conform to a responsible life as either a tradesman or an office worker, but that only caused a further divide between them. His high school gym teacher had been the most supportive to Hugh, but left the school when he was in 11th grade. He never graduated high school, and left home when he was 18. He found himself drifting for a while, renting a tiny one room apartment with the income of dead end jobs and unemployment insurance. During his free time, he participated in as many community events as he could, and eventually taught himself through instructional videos to start his own classes in yoga and aerobic dance exercise. It took long years after that to build his reputation and though the years were stressful, Hugh pushed on to make enough money to make his passion a permanent gig. He eventually negotiated a loan with some shady individuals when the banks had denied him in order to open up his own studio, and though their interactions were terse, it was manageable, scraping by every pay period.

In 2008, Simurgh descended, and screamed. Hugh had been outside then, and close enough to the scream that it resonated through him as though he was a tuning fork. Crystal formations shot up from the ground, slicing through his right leg. Dark thoughts invaded as Hugh bled out, screaming in pain. He didn't have the coverage to pay for ambulance and hospital fees and would be a cripple for the rest of his life. Amazingly, however, Hugh remained standing in defiance, keeping the crystal from cutting into his leg further.

Despite the crystal digging into his leg, or perhaps because of it, Hugh began to hear a universal rhythm. Like a great celestial metronome. By listening to the beat, he was able to move himself free - though it cost him some terrible structural damage to his leg. So long as he kept to the rhythm, he was able to keep moving, seemingly ignoring his wounds.

He pressed on to continue his dream though the city of Detroit descended into violence and chaos. The Ironworkers Union had forcibly replaced his previous collectors and were more aggressive, demanding more money, and harassing him and his customers whenever they stopped by his studio.

Hugh suffered in silence, knowing it's be foolish to retaliate against the Union alone. He bought a sword through the black market. A sharp pain sometimes shot through his leg. He trained. During the midnight hours in his dark studio, he let the universal rhythm guide his blade. It sung as it glided through the air. He weaved a his own costume for the time when he would reveal himself to defend the citizens of Detroit and to be a shining light to inspire them to follow their dreams.

GOALS

Spoiler

* I want to rob the banks within the dome to finance better Cape equipment, promote my struggling dance studio, and temporarily appease the IU debt collectors
* I want to clear out the IU presence in the neighborhood where my studio is and protect it from further incursion
* I want to more deeply understand the universal rhythm so I can elevate it into a tangible dancing art

 

[sticky]

Dramatis Personae
PRT (and Wards)
Shrike: A tall man who wears a costume made of living roots and hard wood, topped with a stag's skull mask. Controls wood and is extremely dangerous. Notable nemesis of Breezeblock, who he half-killed for interrupting a fight he was having. One of the PRT's Big Three.
Kid Lemuria: A small teenage lad, wears an outfit reminiscent of an old-time pilot or explorer with silk scarves obscuring his facial features. A portal-focused Tinker who is directed down a path of maximum cost-efficiency.
Monitor: A woman of average height and athletic build who dresses like she's just another PRT goon - except for the carbon-fiber lizard mask. She's accompanied by two massive car-sized reptiles, each with six legs and six eyes. One of the PRT's Big Three.
Red Tape: A tall woman who dresses all in red. Apparently, she isn't a fighter, but rather an analyst.

Erie Cabal
Smokes: A slender figure who wears concealing robes and carries a lot of smoke grenades. Can control smoke and use it to create hallucinatory figures. One of the Cabal's core five members.

 

[Asmodeus]

I petition the GM for a final post in which we all get murdered.

 

[Tufty Bunny]

I'd love join this

is it okay if I start working on a character when I have time tomorrow?

 

[Asmodeus]

@sticky - we're back in business!

 

[flopflop122]

Ooh, is this still open? I'd love to play.

 

[Asmodeus]

Yep, still open. @sticky is hungry to continue.