World of Freedom 3.2 - Whatever Comes To Mind

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Davies
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by Davies »

Voltron64 wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 9:07 pm So the Carmarilla exist in your setting and Night Stalker’s a Ventrue.
The Camarilla sort of exists, though it has no real power save what the various princes grant it, but whether Pembroke was a Ventrue is anyone's guess. (Note that I specifically didn't mention that Fleming has any sort of dietary restriction.) Most vampires will just cheerfully assert, "Yep, you're one of us all right" if they find another vampire whom they decide to adopt, for whatever reason. Very few of them care about the clans, as such, and more reject the Cainite religion than accept it.

Also, the Clan Tremere explicitly doesn't exist, and New Orleans' Kindred are those described in GURPS Vampire the Masquerade rather than New Orleans by Night.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by Voltron64 »

Davies wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 9:56 pm
Voltron64 wrote: Wed May 23, 2018 9:07 pm So the Carmarilla exist in your setting and Night Stalker’s a Ventrue.
The Camarilla sort of exists, though it has no real power save what the various princes grant it, but whether Pembroke was a Ventrue is anyone's guess. (Note that I specifically didn't mention that Fleming has any sort of dietary restriction.) Most vampires will just cheerfully assert, "Yep, you're one of us all right" if they find another vampire whom they decide to adopt, for whatever reason. Very few of them care about the clans, as such, and more reject the Cainite religion than accept it.

Also, the Clan Tremere explicitly doesn't exist, and New Orleans' Kindred are those described in GURPS Vampire the Masquerade rather than New Orleans by Night.
Heck I doubt the first murderer himself is all that abiding of the Great Serpent either.
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The Centurion Through The Ages

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The Centurion

Image

The life and legend of Earth's first true superhero are too well known to be repeated here. What is perhaps not so well known is the fact that the Centurion did not possess the epic level of power he demonstrated in his final battle with Omega when he began his career as a hero. Most people do know that he was originally only able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, rather than fly, but they fail to appreciate that his other attributes were not quite as superlative as they would become. Hopefully, this series of portraits, illustrating his capabilities at various points in his life, and discussing how he grew in power to become the mythic being that he was by his end, will clarify matters.

Further, one of the Centurion's most significant weaknesses was entirely unknown to the public. Perhaps because of the way in which he acquired his powers, through exposure to energies beyond ordinary space and time, the Centurion's powers would weaken when he himself traveled in time. Had he, at the time of his final battle with Omega, travelled back in time to his youth, the time travelling version of him would be no more powerful than the version of him which existed natively in that time period. When he time travelled to periods prior to his birth, he possessed no powers whatsoever.

An interesting question, and one that can sadly no longer be answered, is what would have happened had he travelled into the future ...

Mark Leeds (1931-1936) -- PL 10

The child who would become the Centurion demonstrated his powers even in his cradle, and so there is literally no point at which he can have been considered a typical child. This information expresses the abilities he possessed in his early adolescence. While he didn't adopt a costumed identity until later, he often did find himself getting into adventures in these years. Unfortunately, it can be fairly said that young Mark Leeds was somewhat horrified by the potential for havoc that his strength, even restrained, could cause. He was particularly afraid of what his strength might do to a member of the opposite sex if he gave into his emotions around them, and often seemed timid around young women of his acquaintance as a consequence.

This stage of his life came to an end when, in 1936, both his adoptive parents passed away within a few weeks of each other. He was more than just saddened by this; it was fair to say that he was devastated by this loss, which left him alone in a world that he didn't fit. Almost immediately after the funeral, Mark Leeds left Freedom City and began heading north, intending to spend the rest of his life in the Northwest Territories of Canada, where he would encounter as few people as possible, and thus put at risk the same few. Fortunately for the rest of humanity, he did meet people there, and one of those encounters changed the course of his life.

Abilities: STR 12/3 | STA 12/3 | AGL 1 | DEX 0 | FGT 6 | INT 0 | AWE 1 | PRE 2
Powers: Invulnerability (Immunity 6 [cold, disease, heat, poison, pressure, radiation]; Impervious Toughness 10), Might (Enhanced Stamina 9; Enhanced Strength 9), Super-Senses (Senses 4 [extended vision 2, low-light vision, ultra-hearing]), Super-Strength (Enhanced Strength 3, Limited to lifting), Swiftness (Enhanced Advantage 1 [Improved Initiative]; Leaping 6; Quickness 4; Speed 5)
Advantages: All-Out Attack, Improved Initiative, Language 1 (Latin, English is native).
Skills: Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+8), Expertise: History 5 (+5), Insight 4 (+5), Intimidation 4 (+6), Perception 4 (+5), Persuasion 3 (+5).
Offense: Initiative +5, Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 12).
Defense: Dodge 5, Parry 6, Fortitude 12, Toughness 12, Will 5.
Totals: Abilities 32 + Powers 76 + Advantages 2 + Skills 11 + Defenses 8 = 129 points
Complications: Doing Good--Motivation. Afraid of His Own Strength. Family (parents). Minor. Secret. Weakness (time travel).

The Centurion (1938-1950) -- PL 12

It's been said that even if you travel as far away from your home as you can imagine, there's a good chance that you'll end up meeting someone from there. So it was with young Mark Leeds, who had journeyed far into the north of Canada only to run into a fellow Freedonian -- Dr. Thomas Osiris Prophet, the legendary Man of Marble, whose adventures Mark had read about without ever imagining he might meet the man behind them. Doc Prophet maintained a small laboratory in northern Canada to conduct experiments which might be too dangerous for civilization, and happened to encounter the young paragon in the course of one.

Amazed by the abilities that Mark demonstrated, the doctor invited him to make his home in this sanctuary, as it lay unoccupied when Prophet was busy elsewhere. The two men formed an odd friendship, and had many conversations about the world and their respective places in it. Under the Doctor's tutelage, Mark came to see that he could do many things with his strength that could help people, rather than place them at risk. On the other hand, he also realized that if he made himself available to do that work, as Doc Prophet did, he would be forever called upon at any and all hours, leaving him with no time to himself.

From these discussions came the idea of the secret identity that Mark would eventually embrace. Drawing on the Roman history his mother had taught him, he developed the identity of the Centurion with Prophet's help, as well as creating the false Mark Leeds -- a stammering coward -- to ensure that no one would link the two men. Doc also helped to train him in the limits of his abilities, so that he understood his exact powers and just how much control he had over them, ensuring that he no longer had much cause to fear them.

Eventually, Mark decided that he was ready, and returned to his hometown to begin the great work that Dr. Prophet had urged on him. While it may be true that, without the love and support of his adoptive parents, the boy might have grown up to be a tyrant, it can also be said that without the influence of Doc Prophet, he would never have grown up to become a superhero.

It should be said, however, that Doc Prophet's training alone cannot account for the increase in his superhuman abilities that occurred over the year and a half that they worked together. Such an increase suggests a hypothesis about the way that the Centurion's powers increased -- that it happened in response to frustrations or unhappiness in his life. This hypothesis also offers an explanation for the way that his ability to make enormous leaps transformed into the ability to defy gravity, coming as it did within a year of his earliest battles with the man who would become his nemesis, August Roman.

Abilities: STR 15/5 | STA 15/5 | AGL 1 | DEX 1 | FGT 7 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 2
Powers: Invulnerability (Immunity 8 [aging, cold, disease, heat, poison, pressure, radiation, starvation & thirst]; Impervious Toughness 10), Might (Enhanced Stamina 10; Enhanced Strength 10), Super-Senses (Senses 4 [extended vision 2, low-light vision, ultra-hearing]), Swiftness (Enhanced Advantage 1 [Improved Initiative]; Leaping 8*; Quickness 4; Speed 6).
* Becomes Flight 8 in late 1942.
Advantages: All-Out Attack, Improved Initiative, Language 1 (Latin, English is native), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6, Ultimate Effort (Strength checks).
Skills: Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+9), Expertise: Civics 4 (+5), Expertise: History 5 (+6), Insight 8 (+10), Intimidation 6 (+8), Perception 4 (+6), Persuasion 5 (+7).
Offense: Initiative +5, Unarmed +9 (Close Damage 15).
Defense: Dodge 6, Parry 7, Fortitude 15, Toughness 15, Will 7.
Totals: Abilities 48 + Powers 81/89 + Advantages 10 + Skills 17 + Defenses 10 = 166/174 points
Complications: Doing Good--Motivation. Secret Identity. Weakness (time travel).

The Centurion (1951-1968) -- PL 13

The next major increase in the Centurion's power may be tied to the great change in his life which occurred when he wed Laurie Lamont in 1950, having revealed his secret identity to her some time before that. Others have argued that the growth he demonstrated in the Atom Age came as a response to the fact that he realized that human beings could now move faster than he'd ever imagined possible, and that bursting shells could now do enough damage to destroy whole cities. Another factor might have been his ongoing frustration that, nearly a decade after he'd first clashed with Augustus Roman's criminal empire, he had proven unable to keep his arch-enemy behind bars.

This hypothesis that he experienced growths of power in response to changes, frustrations and tragedies in his life might seem contraindicated by the way that he didn't appear to experience any when his friends and colleagues in the Liberty League retired or disappeared. However, we know from other accounts that he wasn't particularly close to the most notoriously vanished Liberty Leaguer, the man called Midnight. Contrariwise, he was friends with the original Bowman and Arrow, and encouraged the young Arrow to take up his mentor's identity, just as Doc Prophet had encouraged the Centurion himself.

Something else that becomes apparent in these accounts is that the Centurion never considered himself to be a leader of his fellow heroes, but just part of the same team as them -- a team which included the law-abiding public and the police. He was faintly bewildered by the divisions that were beginning to demonstrate themselves in American society, and tried to ignore them as much as possible. He saw himself as encouraging others to do what they already knew to be the right thing, rather than telling them what that right thing was.

This was also the era where he formally took charge of Doc Prophet's laboratory, following the man's own retirement, and began to transform it into his Sanctum. He had first travelled to what seemed to be his original homeworld but was actually the world Terra-Roma in 1947, and used the Sanctum as a place where he could embrace Rome, where his home life with his wife was completely Americanized. Even with his wife in his life, he maintained a sharp division between his identity as the Centurion and the life of Mark Leeds -- and she was part of Mark Leeds' life, not the Centurion's.

Abilities: STR 16/5 | STA 16/5 | AGL 2 | DEX 1 | FGT 8 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 3
Powers: Invulnerability (Immunity 9 [aging, cold, disease, heat, poison, pressure, radiation, starvation & thirst, vacuum]; Impervious Toughness 10), Might (Enhanced Stamina 11; Enhanced Strength 11), Super-Senses (Senses 4 [extended vision 2, low-light vision, ultra-hearing]), Super-Strength (Enhanced Strength 2, Limited to Lifting), Swiftness (Enhanced Advantage 1 [Improved Initiative]; Flight 9; Quickness 4; Speed 6).
Advantages: All-Out Attack, Equipment 5 (Sanctum), Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Inspire, Language 1 (Latin, English is native), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7, Second Chance (mind control), Ultimate Effort (Strength checks).
Skills: Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+10), Expertise: Civics 4 (+5), Expertise: History 7 (+8), Expertise: Teaching 4 (+7), Insight 8 (+10), Intimidation 6 (+9), Perception 4 (+6), Persuasion 5 (+8), Technology 4 (+5).
Offense: Initiative +6, Unarmed +10 (Close Damage 16).
Defense: Dodge 7, Parry 8, Fortitude 16, Toughness 16, Will 8.
Totals: Abilities 54 + Powers 98 + Advantages 19 + Skills 22 + Defenses 11 = 204 points
Complications: Doing Good--Motivation. Enemy (Augustus Roman). Fame. Family (wife). Secret Identity. Weakness (time travel).

The Centurion (1969-1982) -- PL 14

Just a few years after the first Terminus Invasion, the Centurion met with Tomen the Archivist and learned from him the truth of what had become of his homeworld. It seems fairly likely that the stress, anger and grief of this realization were what spurred his development to yet another level of power, which he maintained throughout what was called the Bronze Age. For those who don't accept that hypothesis, it might be that he developed this increased power through his fairly common clashes with Omega's servants, the Annihilists.

This was also the era when the Centurion had the role of leader of the Freedom League forced upon him. He made a valiant effort to handle this task, but it proved to be beyond him, and he would ultimately preside over the end of the original League. It took the death of Lady Starbright to make him realize that he'd made a terrible mistake in disbanding the League, which led to him taking the initiative to form the Guard in response. This was a dramatic change from how he'd been in the past, and he ended up accepting the role of the Guard's leader as well.

Abilities: STR 18/5 | STA 18/5 | AGL 2 | DEX 1 | FGT 8 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 3
Powers: Invulnerability (Immunity 9 [aging, cold, disease, heat, poison, pressure, radiation, starvation & thirst, vacuum]; Sustained Immunity 2 [suffocation]; Impervious Toughness 10), Might (Enhanced Stamina 13; Enhanced Strength 13), Super-Senses (Senses 4 [extended vision 2, low-light vision, ultra-hearing]), Super-Strength (Enhanced Strength 2, Limited to Lifting), Swiftness (Enhanced Advantage 1 [Improved Initiative]; Flight 10; Quickness 4; Speed 6).
Advantages: All-Out Attack, Equipment 5 (Sanctum), Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Inspire, Language 1 (Latin, English is native), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 7, Second Chance (mind control), Ultimate Effort (Strength checks).
Skills: Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+10), Expertise: Civics 4 (+5), Expertise: History 7 (+8), Expertise: Teaching 4 (+7), Insight 8 (+10), Intimidation 8 (+11), Perception 6 (+8), Persuasion 5 (+8), Technology 6 (+7).
Offense: Initiative +6, Unarmed +10 (Close Damage 18).
Defense: Dodge 7, Parry 8, Fortitude 18, Toughness 18, Will 9.
Totals: Abilities 54 + Powers 110 + Advantages 19 + Skills 25 + Defenses 12 = 220 points
Complications: Doing Good--Motivation. Enemy (Augustus Roman). Fame. Family (wife). Secret Identity. Weakness (time travel).

The Centurion (1983-1989) -- PL 15

This change in power was unique, when compared to the others, as it was due more to the growth in the Centurion's skill in using his abilities than the growth of those abilities themselves. While the Guard was a more loose organization than the Freedom League had been, the Centurion made a genuine effort to learn from his new teammates, and practiced combat exercises with them as he had not done with any of his previous teams. The result was a Centurion who was more proficient in fighting than he had ever been, perhaps appropriate for this Iron Age.

Abilities: STR 18/5 | STA 18/5 | AGL 2 | DEX 1 | FGT 8 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 3
Powers: Invulnerability (Immunity 9 [aging, cold, disease, heat, poison, pressure, radiation, starvation & thirst, vacuum]; Sustained Immunity 2 [suffocation]; Impervious Toughness 10), Might (Enhanced Stamina 13; Enhanced Strength 13), Super-Senses (Senses 4 [extended vision 2, low-light vision, ultra-hearing]), Super-Strength (Enhanced Strength 4, Limited to Lifting), Swiftness (Enhanced Advantage 1 [Improved Initiative]; Flight 10; Quickness 4; Speed 6).
Advantages: All-Out Attack, Equipment 5 (Sanctum), Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Inspire, Interpose, Language 1 (Latin, English is native), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 9, Second Chance (mind control), Ultimate Effort (Strength checks).
Skills: Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+12), Expertise: Civics 4 (+5), Expertise: History 9 (+10), Expertise: Teaching 6 (+7), Insight 10 (+12), Intimidation 8 (+11), Perception 8 (+10), Persuasion 5 (+8), Technology 8 (+9).
Offense: Initiative +6, Unarmed +12 (Close Damage 18).
Defense: Dodge 9, Parry 10, Fortitude 18, Toughness 18, Will 11.
Totals: Abilities 54 + Powers 112 + Advantages 22 + Skills 31 + Defenses 18 = 237 points
Complications: Doing Good--Motivation. Enemy (Augustus Roman). Fame. Family (wife). Secret Identity. Weakness (time travel).

The Centurion (1990-1993) -- PL 16

Laurie Leeds, the wife of Mark Leeds, died in 1990. This data point provides some of the best evidence for the hypothesis concerning the Centurion's power level, as it was clear to both civilian witnesses and to his fellow heroes, that the Centurion in these last years had grown considerably in power even when compared to how he had grown after 1982. It was also clear that he was beginning to lose the connection he'd always had with his mortal life, spending most of his time in his Sanctum rather than living as Mark Leeds. He admitted to some of those he trusted that he was afraid of these changes, but felt helpless to stop them. Who can say what he would have become, had all the possibilities of his life not resolved into the sad certainty of its end during the Terminus Invasion?

Abilities: STR 20/5 | STA 20/5 | AGL 2 | DEX 1 | FGT 8 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 3
Powers: Invulnerability (Immunity 9 [aging, cold, disease, heat, poison, pressure, radiation, starvation & thirst, vacuum]; Sustained Immunity 2 [suffocation]; Impervious Toughness 10), Might (Enhanced Stamina 15; Enhanced Strength 15), Super-Senses (Senses 4 [extended vision 2, low-light vision, ultra-hearing]), Super-Strength (Enhanced Strength 2, Limited to Lifting), Swiftness (Enhanced Advantage 1 [Improved Initiative]; Flight 10; Quickness 4; Speed 6).
Advantages: All-Out Attack, Equipment 5 (Sanctum), Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Inspire, Interpose, Language 1 (Latin, English is native), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 9, Second Chance (mind control), Ultimate Effort (Strength checks).
Skills: Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+12), Expertise: Civics 4 (+5), Expertise: History 9 (+10), Expertise: Teaching 6 (+7), Insight 10 (+12), Intimidation 8 (+11), Perception 8 (+10), Persuasion 5 (+8), Technology 8 (+9).
Offense: Initiative +6, Unarmed +12 (Close Damage 20).
Defense: Dodge 10, Parry 10, Fortitude 20, Toughness 20, Will 11.
Totals: Abilities 54 + Powers 118 + Advantages 22 + Skills 31 + Defenses 19 = 244 points
Complications: Doing Good--Motivation. Fame. Fears Losing Touch With Humanity. Secret Identity. Weakness (time travel).

The Centurion (hypothesized) -- PL 18

What follows is a conservative estimate of what the Centurion might have been, by the present day, had he not died in 1993. It assumes that he would have undergone at least two rapid growths in power during the last quarter century, possibly in response to the Grue Invasion and the Silver Storm, but just as likely from the arrival of Centuria and the discovery that a world where his wife was still alive had just been destroyed. Of course, what he would have been doesn't tell us who he would have been.

It may be worth noting that this information accurately describes the Centurion of Earth-1165, who was up until 2014 the sole intelligent inhabitant of his world, which suffered a devastating nuclear war in the 1980s. Fortunately for his sanity, roughly a thousand refugees from a different parallel Earth destroyed by Collapsar have joined him in an attempt to rebuild this planet, thanks to the Alterniteens.

Abilities: STR 24/5 | STA 24/5 | AGL 3 | DEX 2 | FGT 8 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 3
Powers: Invulnerability (Immunity 9 [aging, cold, disease, heat, poison, pressure, radiation, starvation & thirst, vacuum]; Sustained Immunity 2 [suffocation]; Impervious Toughness 10), Might (Enhanced Stamina 19; Enhanced Strength 19), Super-Senses (Senses 4 [extended vision 2, low-light vision, ultra-hearing]), Super-Strength (Enhanced Strength 6, Limited to Lifting), Swiftness (Enhanced Advantage 1 [Improved Initiative]; Flight 10; Quickness 4; Speed 6).
Advantages: All-Out Attack, Equipment 5 (Sanctum), Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Inspire, Interpose, Language 1 (Latin, English is native), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 9, Second Chance (mind control), Ultimate Effort (Strength checks).
Skills: Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+12), Expertise: Civics 4 (+5), Expertise: History 9 (+10), Expertise: Teaching 6 (+7), Insight 10 (+12), Intimidation 8 (+11), Perception 8 (+10), Persuasion 5 (+8), Technology 8 (+9).
Offense: Initiative +6, Unarmed +12 (Close Damage 24).
Defense: Dodge 10, Parry 10, Fortitude 24, Toughness 24, Will 12.
Totals: Abilities 54 + Powers 126 + Advantages 21 + Skills 31 + Defenses 20 = 252 points
Complications: Unknown.
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Davies
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by Davies »

A year ago, on the last Friday in May, I started this thread.

To celebrate the anniversary, I'm going to take off to watch Solo. Possibly I'll have some characters from what's going on in the Stellar Imperium when I come back.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by Davies »

Author's Note: Once again, dedicated to John Biles, the original ...

Dread Space Pirate Bailesu

Image

Bai-Lesu was born (on the planet Arloceno, in the Lor Republic) with a gift of laughter, the sense that the universe was mad or at the very least run by rules very different than those taught him in grammar school, and the usual lack of parentage associated with these traits. His odd sense of humor often got him into trouble with the schoolmasters, as did his tendency to keep asking the wrong sorts of questions even after it was explained to him that they were the wrong sorts of questions.

After ten years of this, the schoolmasters were finally able to see the back of him, and did so with joy. None of the academies were interested in having him as a student, so he followed the only path open to him -- enlisting in the Republic's Navy as a common spaceman. He soon became the same despair of his new teachers as he'd been of the old ones, though he did manage to acquire some semblance of discipline after he learned the price of going too far -- when he witnessed the death by spacing of some mutineers.

During the Stellar Khanate's first wave of expansion, the ship on which Bai-Lesu was serving was attacked by pirates and captured. The pirate captain gave his captives a choice between either killing one of their shipmates or being killed themselves. Of course, the officers refused to play this sadistic game and ended up slaughtered. Then it came time for Bai-Lesu to either kill the ship's bosun or die at the hands of the pirates who'd just handed him a dagger.

Now, Bai-Lesu hated the bosun, thinking him an utter thug and blackguard. And the bosun returned the hatred in full, and stared at him in defiance as the younger man hefted the dagger. "Sorry, guv, but you gotta do what's right by yourself, nah?" Bai-Lesu asked. The bosun spat an unprintable reply.

And then, before anyone could blink, Bai-Lesu reversed his grip on the knife and stabbed backwards, into the throat of the pirate who'd handed it to him. And then, as the body collapsed, he turned to the other pirates who were standing over them and said, "Right, that's done, so now what?" And then, dragged before the pirate captain, he pointed out that the captain had said he had to either die himself or kill a member of the crew ... but he hadn't bothered to mention which crew!

A few minutes of blather later, the pirate captain was convinced that it had always been his own idea to give the captives the opportunity to join his crew, rather than simply picking them off one by one. He was also convinced that it was now in his best interest to put the rest of the captives into escape capsules and let them go, rather than letting them join en masse and become a potentially dangerous faction within the crew. It wasn't until nearly an hour later that he realized how badly he'd been conned, but he couldn't admit it in front of the crew or he'd risk seeming foolish.

Three decades later, nobody remembers the name of that once-famous pirate captain, but the Dread Space Pirate Bailesu (and he insists on being called that, in full, and talks about himself in the third person that way as well) is known to all who travel the spaceways of the Lor Republic. Only the Illthusian Captain Kra'ken and the mysterious Astral Queen are more feared. He has become legendary for his successes as a smuggler and raider, for the swiftness of his sword and the sureness of his blaster, and for his innumerable lively adventures which he will be happy to describe for you if you ask, or if you don't ask.

Of course, all legends grow somewhat in the telling, don't they? He is in fact, nowhere nearly as good a swordsman -- in either sense of the term -- as the stories make out. (He is a really, really, really good shot, though.) And while he has had a lot of adventures, most of them were not willingly embarked upon, but rather stumbled into and through. And he's absolutely terrified that his great weakness is going to become public knowledge, and will do absolutely anything to keep it a secret.

That weakness? He is hopelessly, utterly addicted ... to doing good deeds. He doesn't want to do them, he'd much rather be ruthless and mercenary like a pirate ought to be. But all it takes is one little act of benevolence, and within a few hours he'll be rescuing princesses, helping noble revolutionaries against corrupt tyrants, undoing the workings of evil masterminds, and even protecting small children! All the while, he'll be protesting that this is all just a big misunderstanding, that he expects to be richly rewarded for his pains, that he couldn't care less about damn-fool idealistic crusades ... but it never makes a lick of difference!

What Bai-- sorry, the Dread Space Pirate Bailesu most wants is what any pirate would want -- a not terribly risky but incredibly lucrative score that would allow him to hole up in a villa on a pirate run planet and live a life of sybaritic luxury till he drinks himself to death. In his unique case, of course, that holing up would allow him to avoid further temptations towards a life of righteousness. However, he's hampered by his own disdain for the sort of high-end jobs that would enable such a retirement -- like genocide for hire, breaking up planets for their mineral wealth, or stealing the DNA and memory records of entire cities.

The fall of the Republic and the rise of the Imperium didn't really change much for the Dread Space Pirate Bailesu. He sometimes pulled jobs for the Republic Alliance, but strictly as a hired gun, not as any sort of member. But then ... then ... no, the circumstances by which he was led to permanently tie his fate to the Alliance, thus ensuring that he's on the Imperium's hit list forever, are too ridiculous for him to remember. Go ask the kid about them, he'll be sure and tell you in vivid detail. Lately the Pirate spends most of his time getting very drunk and hoping that dying will hurt less if he's plastered when it happens. Oddly, the thought of betraying the Alliance has never occurred to him.

The Dread Space Pirate Bailesu -- PL 9

Abilities: STR 1 | STA 2 | AGL 4 | DEX 5 | FGT 8 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 3
Powers: None.
Equipment: Blaster Pistol (Ranged Damage 5), Laser Sword (Damage 6, Penetrating 6), Space Suit (Immunity 9 [life support]), The Jolly Vorriger (as Imperium Star Cruiser [Gadget Guide p. 121]).
Advantages: All-Out Attack, Assessment, Defensive Roll 3, Equipment 26, Evasion 2, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Move-by Action, Precise Attack 2 (Ranged/Cover and Concealment), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 6, Redirect, Set-Up, Ultimate Effort (Deception), Uncanny Dodge, Weapon Bind.
Skills: Deception 12 (+15), Expertise: Streetwise 8 (+9), Expertise: Survival 4 (+5), Insight 6 (+8), Intimidation 4 (+7), Perception 8 (+10), Ranged Combat: Blaster Pistol 2 (+7), Sleight of Hand 8 (+13), Stealth 8 (+12), Vehicles 10 (+15).
Offense: Initiative +8, Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 1), Laser Sword +8 (Close Damage 6), Blaster Pistol +13 (Ranged Damage 5).
Defense: Dodge 12, Parry 10, Fortitude 6, Toughness 6/2, Will 5.
Totals: Abilities 52 + Powers 0 + Advantages 51 + Skills 35 + Defenses 17 = 155 points
Complications: Addicted to Doing Good--Motivation. Enemy (oh so many). Hedonist. Reputation (crazy pirate).

The crew of The Jolly Vorriger are Space Pirates (see Freedom City, p. 203).
Last edited by Davies on Thu May 31, 2018 3:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by MacynSnow »

I love the Dread Pirate Rob--Er,i mean The Dread Space Pirate Baliesu. He has so many Pirate trope's it'd be fun to have him Accidentally run into Kraken on Earth....
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by FuzzyBoots »

:) I recognized that name straight off. I enjoyed his fanfiction.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by Davies »

FuzzyBoots wrote: Sat May 26, 2018 9:03 pm :) I recognized that name straight off. I enjoyed his fanfiction.
He and I go way back. :)
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Davies
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - The Geist! The Centurion Through The Ages! The Republic Alliance!

Post by Davies »

Hrolent Duceines
(That's "heh-ROLL-int DEW-cay-NEZ")

Image

Hrolent Duceines grew up on a nameless, numbered planet orbiting the star Terrestrial astronomers call Canopus, with three great certainties in his life. The first was that he lived on the most boring world in the entire inhabited universe. The second was that he was going to leave this place someday and never look back, and embark on a career of incredible space heroics. And the third, more or less instilled in him by his parents than a personal belief, as such, was that he was never going to tell the cops anything. Not just nothing about what mom and dad were growing in the silo out back, or who came around to buy the stuff, but nothing about nothing.

And then, just a little over a year ago, he was out riding around on his cycle to avoid being told to either do chores or study, when he saw a falling star in the middle of the day. His persocomp helped him work out the area where it was going to come down, and he quickly headed in that direction, hoping to find valuable metals that he could sell to get him that ticket off-world. He was genuinely surprised to discover that the "star" turned out to be a disc-shaped space ship that clearly looked like it had been in a fight. Not that he had much time to look at it before a robot snuck up behind him and knocked him out.

When he regained consciousness, Hrolent found himself looking up at the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. He promptly answered all of her questions -- the ones that he understood, anyway -- and found himself offering to deliver a message that she needed to send to an old hermit who lived out in the hills not far from his family's steading. When she smiled at him and told him that the future of the Republic was resting on his shoulders, he definitely believed her.

The old hermit turned out to be a "retired" mentat, whom the lady -- a senator! -- was trying to contact in order to convince him to lend his supposedly diminished powers to the cause of the Republic Alliance. The old man claimed that his powers were all but gone and that he'd be more of a hindrance than a help, and that he couldn't help her to get in touch with anyone who could fix her ship, either. At this point in their discussion, Hrolent spoke up and mentioned that his parents knew all sorts of people, some of whom would certainly be able to fix the ship. Seeming somewhat surprised that he was still there, the lady asked him to go take care of that.

He headed back to his parents and told them everything, and they in turn sent him into town to contact a certain mechanic they knew. Unfortunately, said mechanic was nowhere to be found, with only his chief laborer, a Cholaxian, in the building. Talking to the Cholaxian -- Hrolent learned a bit of their language as a grammar school elective -- revealed that his boss had received a frantic phone call just before Hrolent arrived, which had sent her running. In the vague hope that the Cholaxian might be able to do the job, the kid took him along when he headed back to the steading ...

... to find an Imperium troop carrier parked in front of the dwelling. Terrified of what might be happening to his parents, Hrolent snuck around back and listened in, and found out that his parents didn't actually practice what they preached about never talking to the cops. At least, not when it came to a bunch of Stellar Imperium cops who didn't care about the drugs and also had a healthy budget for bribes. Horror turned to disgust, and Hrolent fled with the Cholaxian in tow to warn the senator.

The senator, her droid and the old mentat decided to flee together in hopes of finding passage on a renegade space ship. Hrolent went along to show them the way, and also to help make up for what had happened. The senator thanked him, and gave him a blaster -- a blaster! -- so that if it came to a fight he'd have something more than his fists. (He didn't have the heart to say that he'd never even seen a blaster outside of the pictures in a graphic before this.)

The small band of rebels actually found a captain who was willing to offer them passage, and not just any captain, but the infamous Dread Space Pirate Bailesu his own bad self! Negotiations for the cost of their passage was proceeding quite well, it seemed, when the Imperium's troop ship showed up and started shooting up the taverna. The situation looked incredibly grim, as the old hermit took a blast right in the chest.

And then, as the old man's body was flung through the air, time seemed to slow down to a crawl as his head sort of flopped over to gaze in Hrolent's direction. There was a sound like breaking glass in the kid's head. And then he, who'd never used a blaster before that moment, stood up and began returning fire, with deadly precision. Somehow, he'd become a mentat, despite never having shown any aptitude in that area throughout his childhood. Between his own shooting and that of the Dread Space Pirate Bailesu, they were able to shoot their way out and escape on the Jolly Vorriger.

Quite suddenly, Hrolent has found himself living his dreams of incredible space heroics, as an important member of Senator Elaynu's cell of the Republic Alliance. There are vanishingly few mentats in the entire Alliance, and he's the only one who has apparently precognitive powers. Which would be great, you know, if not for the fact that his empathic powers are busily telling him that there's almost no one trustworthy in the entire organization of which he's a part, with the principal exception of the literal space pirate who spends his time getting drunk and crying into his liquor.

Holy Space Gods! What will become of poor Hrolent?

Hrolent Duceines -- PL 8

Abilities: STR 1 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 4 | INT 0 | AWE 3 | PRE 1
Powers: Empathy (Mind Reading 6, Limited to emotions), Predictive Defense (Enhanced Advantages 3 [Defensive Roll; Evasion; Uncanny Dodge]; Enhanced Dodge 8; Enhanced Parry 8), Predictive Offense (Enhanced Advantages 12 [Close Attack 4; Improved Initiative 2; Ranged Attack 6), Predictive Senses (Senses 1 [danger sense]).
Equipment: Blaster Pistol (Ranged Damage 5), Zipper Cycle (Size: Medium, STR: 5, Speed: 9 [ground], Toughness: 6, Defense: 10)
Advantages: Agile Feint, Beginner's Luck, Close Attack 4, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Equipment 8, Evasion, Improved Defense, Improved Initiative 2, Inspire, Language 1 (Cholaxan), Luck 4 [Fortune], Ranged Attack 6, Uncanny Dodge.
Skills: Acrobatics 6 (+8), Athletics 6 (+7), Expertise: Incredible Space Heroics 4 (+4), Intimidation 2 (+3), Perception 6 (+9), Persuasion 6 (+7), Ranged Combat: Blaster 2 (+5), Technology 6 (+6), Vehicles 8 (+11).
Offense: Initiative +10/+2 , Unarmed +8/+4 (Close Attack 1), Blaster Pistol +11/+5 (Ranged Damage 5).
Defense: Dodge 12/4, Parry 12/4, Fortitude 5, Toughness 4/2, Will 6.
Totals: Abilities 32 + Powers 39 + Advantages 12 + Skills 23 + Defenses 8 = 120 points.
Complications: Thrills--Motivation. Rogue Mentat.
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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Voltron64
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - The Geist! The Centurion Through The Ages! The Republic Alliance!

Post by Voltron64 »

Wonder what the relation with Bailesu and the Republic Alliance is with the Star Raiders?

I'm sure Captain Cutlass would certainly be aware of the uncanny similarities if anything. ;)
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Arkrite
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - The Geist! The Centurion Through The Ages! The Republic Alliance!

Post by Arkrite »

Davies wrote: Sun May 27, 2018 2:46 pm Expertise: Incredible Space Heroics 4 (+4)
I don't know what I regret more. That I never thought of this myself, or that I never used it... ;~)
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - The Geist! The Centurion Through The Ages! The Republic Alliance!

Post by Davies »

Arkrite wrote: Sun May 27, 2018 3:31 pm
Davies wrote: Sun May 27, 2018 2:46 pm Expertise: Incredible Space Heroics 4 (+4)
I don't know what I regret more. That I never thought of this myself, or that I never used it... ;~)
I can't claim it, I got it from the Mad Magazine parody of the original movie. :lol:
Voltron64 wrote: Sun May 27, 2018 3:08 pm Wonder what the relation with Bailesu and the Republic Alliance is with the Star Raiders?

I'm sure Captain Cutlass would certainly be aware of the uncanny similarities if anything. ;)
Cutlass and her crew have managed to avoid getting too entangled with the branches of the Alliance that they've had dealings with, and operate in a completely different sector of space. She knows about the Dread Space Pirate Bailesu by reputation, but has no idea of his habit.
Last edited by Davies on Mon May 28, 2018 12:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
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FuzzyBoots
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - The Geist! The Centurion Through The Ages! The Republic Alliance!

Post by FuzzyBoots »

I can't help but wonder, sometimes, if the expies in universes like this ever get called on it.
"Yeah, I met up with this wise guy in the desert to save a princess from the Empire and to help the Rebellion. After I found out the empire had found my parents while looking for me, we hooked up with a shady smuggler. My mentor died, but I got these nifty mental powers."
"So, like Luke Skywalker?"
"Huh?"

Of course, you could probably do the same thing with all sorts of mythology.
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Davies
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - The Geist! The Centurion Through The Ages! The Republic Alliance!

Post by Davies »

<Arkansas accent> "That's that guy with the laser sword, right? You're mixing me up with Bailes--"

<Johnny Depp> "Ah-he-he-hem."

"<sigh> -- with the Dread Space Pirate Bailesu."

"Much better. And this young man's not much like that character at all, he understands that hokey religions are best supported with a good blaster at one's side, don't you think so, m'dear?"

"Well, yes. Weird way of putting it, but yes."
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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