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 »

Kreuzritter

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Ernst Rauchenberger (born 1940) is the only known son of Milo Rauchenberger, a founding member of the Thule Society. By the start of World War II, it was clear to Milo that his status within the Thule Society had fallen in comparison to rising stars such as Wilhelm Kantor, and he was desperate to find some way to reverse his fortunes. When a suit of runed armor was discovered by a submarine mission in the North Sea, Milo seized the opportunity presented to him, and became the elementally powered Kreuzritter, one of the most potent members of the Ubermenschen.

He met his end in 1944, in battle with the Centurion and the British heroine Dover Angel. Though the Dover Angel did not survive the encounter, she and the Man of Adamant were able to provoke Kreuzritter into drawing more elemental force than he was able to control, creating a momentary volcano that consumed the German elementalist, drowning him in lava. The Centurion sadly buried the Angel near the site of the battle.

Ernst grew up in a humbled West Germany, taught by his mother that his father had been a great man, no matter what lies were told about him by the Americans. Wanting to be just like his father, he struggled to recover the occult knowledge that Milo had possessed. In his late teens, this brought him to the attention of SHADOW, who found it quite easy to recruit him. However, Ernst felt only amused contempt for SHADOW's methods and goals, and primarily used them as resources in his own schemes.

By 1968, he had uncovered enough information to understand what had happened to his father, and developed the suspicion that the armor had actually kept Milo alive even under those circumstances. Ernst descended into SubTerra to discover the truth, eventually making his way to where the armor lay. He was disappointed to see that it contained only bones. It seemed that the armor had protected his father, but it had not been able to heal the injuries he had sustained, which proved fatal.

Determination to outdo his father, to be the true champion of the Aryan peoples, filled Ernst's breast. He, too, seized the opportunity presented to him. Faking his death, he abandoned SHADOW and flew, then swam, to a certain point in the North Sea. Exerting the armor's elemental powers to their utmost, he raised 1,399 square kilometers of land to the surface, creating an island he dubbed Thule, which he claimed as his kingdom, open to immigration from any ... appropriate nations.

Thule soon became known as a safe haven for criminals of all stripes, as the newly created nation refused to extradite any visitors to its shores for any reason. It also became a tax haven for various corporations, spurring a great deal of economic growth. There were rumors that terrorists of a variety of stripes were given training in Thule, the better to weaken other nations for the eventual conquest of the world. But even though the ruler of the nation was an armored superbeing, it was difficult to credit such notions.

Ironically, Ernst was aware that he had come perilously close to his father's fate in raising Thule, and that the power that he could safely draw upon was much less, now. For the next decade, he acted from behind the scenes, avoiding personal conflict with superheroes at all costs. After all, he enjoyed eternal youth, thanks to the changes the armor had bestowed upon him, but not actual immortality. As such, he had all the time in the world to pursue his goal of world domination.

Not until 1982 did he take a personal hand in affairs, having built up his powers once more. In conjunction with a number of other supervillains, he attacked and brought about the death of Lady Starbright, who had successfully opposed him quite a few times over the previous decade and had had the nerve to do so while being a contemptible miscegenation. This had the unexpected consequence of creating a team of superheroes who would continue to successfully oppose Kreuzritter, and so he considered it a lesson learned.

He outlived the Centurion, and celebrated that "victory" over his father's nemesis. Not long after, he ended a decades long cold war with SHADOW with an agreement to allow its Overthrow front organization to headquarter itself in Thule. Continuing to grow richer and richer, Kreuzritter faced the dawn of the twenty-first century stronger than ever, and certain that this would be his age.

In 2008, however, the original owner of his armor came calling, seizing control of it, and forcing Kreuzritter to use up much of his accumulated resources and entirely too much of his power in a fruitless assault against the Ultima. The Destroyer spirit was eventually dispatched, but Ernst was dismissed as fundamentally irrelevant by the surviving Ultima. "You exist at our sufferance, Rauchenberger," said the Ultima Prime. "This is the true Thule."

The entire affair was a serious shock to his worldview. He'd always envisioned himself as a master of the universe, but he'd just been shown that the universe was much larger, older, and more dangerous than he'd ever imagined. For many years afterward, there was only silence from Thule. Criminals kept coming, as did businesses who wished to have operations in Europe that didn't suffer from EU restrictions, but the schemes of Ernst Rauchenberger seemed to have come to an end.

In 2015, however, he contacted his old associates, Janus and Mister Matthews, and recruited them to a scheme ostensibly directed at the Old Guard. Unbeknownst to either of them, Kreuzritter is aiming at bigger prey. His plan is to use the captured members of the Old Guard to lure the Freedom League into a trap which will destroy them, leaving the world without powerful protectors. However, the rest of the plan does not call for the conquest of the world, but rather its exploitation to transform Thule into a space vessel which can escape this doomed planet ... under Kreuzritter's enlightened leadership, of course. Who knows, he may even let the rest of the villains come along for the ride ...

Kreuzritter -- PL 11

Abilities: STR 7 | STA 7 | AGL 3 | DEX 4 | FGT 9 | INT 5 | AWE 4 | PRE 6
Powers: Armor of the Destroyer (Immunity 10 [fire effects]; Impervious Protection 6; Impervious Will 12; Variable 6 [elemental powers], Free Action; Removable), Bodily Reconstruction (Immunity 11 [aging, life support]).
Advantages: Assessment, Benefit 6 (Billionaire, Status [ruler of Thule]), Equipment 20, Languages 4, Ranged Attack 4, Power Attack, Ritualist, Second Chance (Insight checks)
Skills: Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+13), Deception 9 (+15), Expertise: Magic 10 (+15), Insight 12 (+16), Intimidation 12 (+18), Investigation 8 (+13), Perception 12 (+16), Persuasion 9 (+15).
Offense: Initiative , Unarmed +13 (Close Damage 7), Elemental Command +8 (Variable Effect).
Defense: Dodge 9, Parry 9, Fortitude 10, Toughness 13/7, Will 12.
Totals: Abilities 90 + Powers 89 + Advantages 38 + Skills 38 + Defenses 17 = 273 points.
Complications: Megalomania--Motivation. Reputation (much more powerful than he actually is). Responsibility (ruler of Thule).

Variable Settings

Fire: Array (Ranged Damage 14, AP: Ranged Burst Area Damage 9, AP: Ranged Line Area Damage 9).

Earth: Enhanced Strength 2; Enhanced Strength 8, Limited to Lifting; Immunity 20 (bludgeoning damage), Limited to half-effect; Regeneration 16, Limited to when in contact with the earth.

Water: Ranged Damage 11, Indirect 2; Swimming 6.

Air: Flight 12; Move Object 6, Limited to pushing.
Last edited by Davies on Mon May 14, 2018 4:23 am, edited 2 times in total.
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MacynSnow
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by MacynSnow »

Every hero group needs at least a Dr.Doom-type Villian,and it's good to see The Old Guard with one.Especially one with the History to back him up .... :)
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by Voltron64 »

MacynSnow wrote: Mon May 14, 2018 12:32 am Every hero group needs at least a Dr.Doom-type Villian,and it's good to see The Old Guard with one.Especially one with the History to back him up .... :)
The difference being this Doom expy is explicitly pathetic and lately has been prone to insecurity-fueled attacks of anxiety rather than the old insecurity-fueled acts of compensation he used to do.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by Davies »

<nod> My portrait of Kreuzritter is very much influenced by the later Gruenwald take on the younger Baron Zemo, hence the change of his origins. (In Silver Age Sentinels, he actually is Milo, with Ernst as a guise he uses to interact with civilization.)
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by Davies »

Taking a short break to read Jacob Blackmon's Super Powered Legends Sourcebook, now that I finally have a copy with pictures, so no update today. Tomorrow: the wicked witch of Boston's west end.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

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Snow White

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In the words of the young lady herself: "Once upon a time there was a beautiful and very chemically stimulated woman who wished for her daughter to have hair as black as ebony, eyes as blue as the sky, and skin as white as snow. Happily, since albinism doesn't actually do that, and is incompatible with dark hair anyway, she only got two-thirds of her wish. Three-quarters if you count the fact that she had no way of knowing whether I would be a girl or not. Nevertheless, she named her daughter Snow, and as our family name was already White, I was duly known as Snow White. Incidentally, having labored under this name since I was born, I have no sense of humor whatsoever."

Despite her somewhat uncharitable view of the woman who gave birth to her, Snow's understanding of her history is more or less correct. Her mother did consume a number of alchemical reagents while pregnant with her, and they did have a narcotic effect. But the point of the exercise was to stimulate the child's magical talents, and it was a successful one. Snow cast her first spell when she was barely able to walk, animating the toys in her room, and quickly demonstrated that she was a magical prodigy.

Of course, rather than do anything foolish like allowing her to develop her magical talents in her own way and at her own pace, her father -- one of the leading mages of Boston, the secret mastermind behind the razing of Boston's West End -- set her on a course of study that bordered on the sadistic. Any deviation from this curriculum, even in the form of discoveries of more efficient ways of doing things, was harshly punished. Snow quietly accepted this, doing her best to kill her own emotions and become as cold as her name.

In Snow White's fourteenth summer, the Master Mage vanished from the Tellurian. This was immediately apparent, through a variety of divinatory methods, and in her opinion, it says all that is needed to be said about the man's character that it took two years for the Nemean, ruler of Boston's mage community, to decide to send someone to investigate the matter. Not to mention what it says about him that, rather than go himself, he asked for someone else to go poke their head in the hornet's nest that is Freedom City.

Snow surprised herself when she volunteered. She's still not sure what prompted the decision. The opportunity to get out from under her father's hand -- since he couldn't refuse the Nemean -- was certainly a factor, but it can't have been the only reason. She has done some auguries since, and they differ about whether favor or folly will come from this journey ... but those that speak of favor also hint that she might be walking a path which will see her become the new Master Mage. The notion of winning magical might greater than the Nemean's, to say nothing of her father, is rather appealing.

Of course, he can perform those auguries, too, and has insisted that she not walk this path alone. It's bad enough that she's been saddled with the company of one Nick Grey, who at least has some useful talents. But she was also commanded to use an ancient ritual to call up a magical bodyguard out of the Immateria, and the lout actually giggled when she revealed her name to him. "I reckon that makes me the Huntsman," he said, tapping the shaft of his spear against his shoulder.

So annoying.

Snow White strives to behave with a calm detachment from all affairs, which frequently seems like callous cruelty. This is entirely a façade. The truth of her heart is that she has more than her fair share of compassion, and hates to see others injured unnecessarily. However, she has been carefully taught that this is a weakness which will bring about her downfall if she allows anyone else to realize it. Whether she will ever be able to question that teaching remains to be seen.

Snow White -- PL 8

Abilities: STR 0 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 5 | INT 3 | AWE 5 | PRE 3
Powers: Blast Spell (Ranged Damage 5, Accurate 3), Mystic Sense (Senses 1 [magic awareness]), Shield Spell (Enhanced Dodge 4; Enhanced Parry 4), Trained Strength (Strength-based Damage 1).
Advantages: Attractive, Benefit (Independently Wealthy), Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll, Fearless, Grabbing Finesse, Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Improvised Weapon, Languages 3, Ranged Attack 2, Ritualist, Skill Mastery (Expertise: Magic).
Skills: Athletics 4 (+4), Close Combat: Unarmed 5 (+10), Expertise: Magic 12 (+15), Insight 5 (+10), Investigation 5 (+8), Perception 5 (+10), Stealth 4 (+6).
Offense: Initiative +2, Unarmed +10 (Close Damage 1), Blaster Spell +11 (Ranged Damage 5).
Defense: Dodge 10/6, Parry 10/6, Fortitude 5, Toughness 4/2, Will 11.
Totals: Abilities 46 + Powers 24 + Advantages 17 + Skills 20 + Defenses 14 = 120 points
Complications: Pride--Motivation. Dark Secret (a kind and caring person). No Sense of Humor, But A Keen Sense of Irony. Power Loss (cannot use Blast Spell or Shield Spell if unable to speak or gesture).
Last edited by Davies on Tue May 15, 2018 1:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by MacynSnow »

I like this character and concept a lot(Fairy tales come to life).
Any chance of you writing up The Big Bad Wolf or Red Riding Hood?
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

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MacynSnow wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 10:55 am I like this character and concept a lot(Fairy tales come to life).
Any chance of you writing up The Big Bad Wolf or Red Riding Hood?
I intend to do at least one more that draws on fairy tales, but this version of Snow is actually an expy of a character from Japanese media, as are her companions.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by kreuzritter »

Davies wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 1:51 pm
MacynSnow wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 10:55 am I like this character and concept a lot(Fairy tales come to life).
Any chance of you writing up The Big Bad Wolf or Red Riding Hood?
I intend to do at least one more that draws on fairy tales, but this version of Snow is actually an expy of a character from Japanese media, as are her companions.
"Article 1; Those command Seals aren't candy. Use too many and Baeber disappears. You want Baeber to disappear? I don't. I like Baeber. She's my Baeber. Frankly, you should give Baeber to me!

"Article 2: Give me Baeber!"

EDIT: Hopefully I'm interpreting right that Snow's based on Tohsaka Rin for the FSN-verse
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by Davies »

kreuzritter wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 2:05 pm
Davies wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 1:51 pm
MacynSnow wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 10:55 am I like this character and concept a lot(Fairy tales come to life).
Any chance of you writing up The Big Bad Wolf or Red Riding Hood?
I intend to do at least one more that draws on fairy tales, but this version of Snow is actually an expy of a character from Japanese media, as are her companions.
"Article 1; Those command Seals aren't candy. Use too many and Baeber disappears. You want Baeber to disappear? I don't. I like Baeber. She's my Baeber. Frankly, you should give Baeber to me!

"Article 2: Give me Baeber!"

EDIT: Hopefully I'm interpreting right that Snow's based on Tohsaka Rin for the FSN-verse
Yes, that's right, and you should have more confidence in your interpretations.
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kreuzritter
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by kreuzritter »

Davies wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 3:44 pm
kreuzritter wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 2:05 pm
Davies wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 1:51 pm

I intend to do at least one more that draws on fairy tales, but this version of Snow is actually an expy of a character from Japanese media, as are her companions.
"Article 1; Those command Seals aren't candy. Use too many and Baeber disappears. You want Baeber to disappear? I don't. I like Baeber. She's my Baeber. Frankly, you should give Baeber to me!

"Article 2: Give me Baeber!"

EDIT: Hopefully I'm interpreting right that Snow's based on Tohsaka Rin for the FSN-verse
Yes, that's right, and you should have more confidence in your interpretations.
To be fair, Rin normally has a fairly iconic appearance befitting her being the platonic ideal of the Tsundere. with the hair down, that picture of Snow could be anyone
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by Davies »

kreuzritter wrote: Tue May 15, 2018 3:48 pm
To be fair, Rin normally has a fairly iconic appearance befitting her being the platonic ideal of the Tsundere.
Yes, and that's why Snow is an expy and not a blatant rip-off, like some of the other characters in this thread.
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

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Nick Grey

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Don't ever tell her, because you just know that she'd take it the wrong way, but Nick actually has a fair amount of sympathy for the amount of teasing that Snow White must have endured because of her name. While it's only been in the last couple years that people have been saying, "Oh, like in the book" or "like in the movie" when they hear his family name -- and why are they referencing a dirty book/movie to a teenager, anyway? -- he has always lived in perpetual fear that people will find out that his name is not short for Nicholas, but rather Phoenix. He really wishes he knew why his dads named him that.

(His dads named him that to always remind themselves, if not their traumatized and amnesiac son, that they and he had been given a second chance. All three members of this little family were born on a different world now lost to the Terminus, and were part of the wave of refugees that arrived on Earth-Prime in 2008, when the boy was about nine years old. The two men met and fell in love in the Belarussian refugee camp, and adopted Phoenix there. How they made their way from that place to Boston is another, even longer story.)

One of his fathers is a practicing alchemist who is peripherally involved in Boston's magical society. It was somewhat inevitable that one of his customers would notice that the boy who helped out in the shop had the aura of a magician, and she helpfully offered (for which read demanded) to instruct him. Thus began a very uncomfortable time in Nick's life, as he struggled to balance magical instruction, school work, working for his dad, and another part-time job to help with the family's income. Somehow, he managed without losing his mind.

His mentor came perilously close, on the other hand. Nick's talent for magic was profound, but very strange. Things that were extraordinarily difficult for most mages, like spells of healing, came easily to hm, while the simplest bits of thaumaturgy, like spells of blasting and shielding, were completely beyond his ability to learn. Perhaps the only spell that Lady Gracelinde was able to successfully impart was a charm spell, taking advantage of the way that Nick was already able to speak in a language anyone could understand to enable him to talk nearly anyone into nearly anything, given about a minute. (Nick doesn't like doing this; it feels like stealing.)

Over the last year or so, Nick's jobs (and indeed most of his classes) have been replaced by a never-ending series of tasks that the mages of Boston ask of him. He only turns down requests that go against his moral code -- or that come from people who have in the past tricked him into going against it -- and so he's always busy. That's part of the reason that he was happy when the Nemean himself asked him to accompany (and send him reports about) Snow White's journey to Freedom City -- despite how difficult it is, it's practically a vacation.

The other reason is that Nick really admires superheroes, unlike the majority of the magical community, who do their level best to pretend such creatures aren't real. (Or, as Nick is uncomfortably aware, identify more with supervillains.) Probably the most thrilling moment of his life to date was when his middle school class was rescued by Boston's major superhero, Splotch. Heading somewhere that offers him the opportunity to meet more people like the Invincible Ink is great!

And, to be honest, spending time with a rather attractive member of the opposite sex is great, too! But please don't tell Snow White that, you know she'd take it the wrong way ... actually, there's no real right way to take that, is there?

"Nick" Grey -- PL 8

Abilities: STR 2 | STA 2 | AGL 2 | DEX 3 | FGT 4 | INT 1 | AWE 3 | PRE 2
Powers: High Speech (Comprehend Languages 3), Mystic Senses (Senses 9 [magic awareness, postcognition, precognition]), Unusual Magic (Array: Affects Objects Restorative Healing 8, Limited to Others, AP: Burst Area Nullify Magic 8, Broad, Simultaneous, Tiring, AP: Protection 8, Affects Others Only At Perception Range, AP: Enhanced Strength-based Damage 8, Affects Others Only At Perception Range, AP: Speed 8, Affects Others Only At Perception Range, AP: Cumulative Perception-Range Affliction 8 [Resisted by Will; Dazed, Compelled, Controlled], Hearing Dependent)
Advantages: All-Out Attack, Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Defensive Roll 2, Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Improved Initiative, Jack-of-all-Trades, Trance.
Skills: Athletics 6 (+8), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+8), Expertise: Magic 5 (+6), Insight 6 (+9), Investigation 6 (+7), Perception 6 (+9), Persuasion 5 (+7), Stealth 4 (+6), Technology 4 (+5), Treatment 8 (+9).
Offense: Initiative +6, Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 2).
Defense: Dodge 9, Parry 10, Fortitude 8, Toughness 5/2, Will 8.
Totals: Abilities 38 + Powers 47 + Advantages 10 + Skills 27 + Defenses 24 = 146 points
Complications: Doing Good--Motivation. Overly Self-Sacrificing. Responsibility (spy on Snow White).
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Re: World of Freedom 3.2 - Freedom Legion Members! And Enemies! The Old Guard!

Post by MacynSnow »

Intresting character,what does his other dad do for a living,if the one runs a shop?
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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 »

MacynSnow wrote: Wed May 16, 2018 1:05 am Intresting character,what does his other dad do for a living,if the one runs a shop?
Janitorial work.

If it was interesting, I'd have mentioned it in the article. :)
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