EBB
(Power Level 10)
Real Name: Alexander Rodriguez
Status: In-hiding on Oubliette-137
Height / Weight: 5’9” / 148 lbs.
Hair / Eyes: Brown / Green
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California—Oubliette 731 (June 21, 2009)
Team Affiliations: The Society Scelerati
First Appearance: Tabula Rasa #2
Tags: #neosapien, #oubliette731, #societyscelerati
Physical Description: Wearing a suit of lean muscle and a mop of shaggy brown hair, Ebb looks to be in his late teens. He typically wears dark colors, and is never seen without his black trench coat.
Powers and Abilities: Ebb’s Neo-Sapien ability allows him to distort matter on a molecular level, letting him move through solid matter by disabling binding forces. In this state, Ebb’s touch deteriorates matter. Further, in this form, he is more difficult to hit as he can easily separate himself around attacks. By breaking down the atoms of what is around him, he is able to sustain himself in this state.
Relationships: Sebastian Rodriguez (Black Tie; father), Simone Rodriguez (mother), Kara Rodriquez (Iago; sister), Aisha Stein (ex-girlfriend), Matt Baker (enemy), Derryl Isaacson (enemy), Gene Stevenson (enemy), Eric Vaughn (enemy)
Biography: Little is known of Ebb’s past prior to his first encounter with the New Vindicators, other than that he fled a DEA sting, leaving his girlfriend, Aisha Stein, behind to face the music on his behalf.
In order to put distance between his daughter and her boyfriend, Aisha’s father enrolled her in the New Vindicators Academy. Ebb followed Aisha to New York and tried to abduct her. Though he proved resilient enough to avoid Cyndi’s powers entirely, the presence of several former Vindicators on staff detoured him from all-out attacking the school. (TB #2)
A handful of New Vindicators—the training squadron called The New Guys—were the next to encounter Ebb. Ebb began trying to encroach on the territory controlled by Kapisanan, the Filipino mafia. Taking advantage of the only weakness they knew—Ebb’s fear of spiders—the boys were able to physically harm Ebb before he retreated. (TB #6)
Ebb next surfaced as a member of the Society Scelerati. During their opening salvo, Ebb spirited Quake and Baron Malevolence into the New Vindicators Academy, resulting in the abduction of Drew and Josie Loder, and Derryl Isaacson. Ebb next placed Derryl into a sensory deprivation chamber, and buried it in an unmarked grave. With Ebb the only person able to access the boy’s inescapable prison, he attempted to use Derryl as a hostage, demanding Aisha be turned over to him. (TB #16-17)
Blackmailed into working for mob boss Sebastian “Black Tie” Rodriguez, Eric Vaughn was tasked with abducting the man’s daughter, Kara, from the boarding school her mother had sent her to. Black Tie declared that his son, Alex, would accompany Eric, only for the New Vindicator to realize Ebb was Black Tie’s eldest child. In attacking the Avalon Academy for Young Ladies, Ebb was taken prisoner by the headmistress, and Eric fled, leaving Ebb’s fate unknown. (TB #20)
Ebb escaped, only to rejoin the Society Scelerati. When the Vindicator Simulacrum moved to resurrect the ancient Nephilim Apocatastasis, the Vindicators moved to stop him--an act which cost all of them save Lodestone their lives. In an effort to save their world, the Society Scelerati formed a temporary alliance with the New Vindicators and worked to try and stop this new threat. Their efforts were cut short, however, by the arrival of the Elpis, bridging their world with two others: Oubliette-137 and Oubliette-720.
Ultimately, the decision was made to sacrifice the world to stop both Apocatastasis and the Armada. An evacuation was performed, with Ebb being counted among the refugees. Shortly after arriving in Oubliette-137, he and the Society Scelerati fled before the New Vindicators from their world could move to detain them. (NVAE #24-25)
- STR 13 (+1), DEX 14 (+2), CON 13 (+1), INT 14 (+2), WIS 12 (+1), CHA 12 (+1)
SKILLS: Acrobatics 4 (+6), Computers 2 (+4), Concentration 4 (+5), Craft (chemical) 4 (+6), Disable Device 8 (+10), Drive 4 (+6), Intimidate 8 (+9), Knowledge (current events) 3 (+5), Knowledge (streetwise) 4 (+6), Language 1 (English [base], Spanish), Notice 2 (+3), Search 2 (+4), Sleight of Hand 4 (+6), Sense Motive 4 (+5), Stealth 6 (+8)
FEATS: Attack Focus 2 (ranged), Contacts, Defensive Roll 2, Equipment 2, Startle
POWERS: Corrosion 5 (Extras: Affects Corporeal [+1], Aura [+1], Duration [Continuous, +2]), Immunity 9 (life support), Insubstantial 4 (microwave vulnerability), Regeneration 9 (Recovery Rate 9 [Bruised {no action}, Injury {no action}; Power Feats: Regrowth), Shield 13, Teleport 3 (Flaws: Action [full round, -2])
Equipment: cell phone, leather jacket; 8 free points of equipment
COMBAT: Attack +2 (+4 ranged), Grapple +3, Damage +1, Defense +15 (+1 flat-footed), Knockback -1 (-0 without leather jacket), Initiative +2
SAVES: Toughness +4 (+2 flat-footed), Fortitude +4, Reflex +5, Will +8
COMPLICATIONS: Enemy (The New Guys), Obsession (Aisha Stein), Phobia (Spiders)
Abilities 18 + Skills 15 (60 ranks) + Feats 8 + Powers 88 + Combat 8 + Saves 13 = 150 points
Michuru wrote:Ebb was created to be a pretty major thorn in the PC's side--someone who could easily be a recurring problem for them. I wanted someone they couldn't just punch away, and Insubstantial 4 seemed like the best fit. From there, I brainstormed until we have... all that.
Still, I don't like the idea of a villain the heroes can't beat. Ebb has a pretty big vulnerability (that the players still don't know about, hence the redacting), and a major fear of spiders. Other than that, the players have found ways of manipulating Ebb. You can't punch him, but you can trick him, and reason with him. As Eric found out during Ebb's last appearance, Ebb's also pretty susceptible to mental attacks...