Builds by a Geek
-
Nintendogeek01
- Posts: 309
- Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:42 pm
Builds by a Geek
With the Green Ronin Forums facing the threat of closure it was best to save my sheets elsewhere, plus this'll be a good chance for me to test the waters with this new place, after all I'm not sure what the code here is like just yet. Either way it's time to revisit builds by a geek!
-
Nintendogeek01
- Posts: 309
- Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:42 pm
Re: Builds by a Geek
One of a handful of active characters out there. I normally don't presume to create an explicit "leader" character, after all we're all in these games to play as awesome characters. However the GM needed a leader character for story reasons and felt that it'd be a good compliment in game terms so here was my attempt at it. While Dusk has only just been integrated into the game she's currently active in I think she'll hold out well in combat and supportive roles thanks to her advantages. I've already hit the realization that out-of-combat she has very select skills that means she won't always be immediately useful, but I hope that her teamwork advantage can at least ensure she isn't lacking something to do in non-combat situations. If not... well there's always role-playing.
Colonel Dusk
Colonel Dusk Bio
Colonel Dusk Crunch
Power Level 10
Abilities = 52pts *Due to enhanced trait
Mag'Nar Physiology: Growth 2 (+2 Mass, STR +2, STA +2, +1 Intimidate, -1 Dodge & Parry, -2 Stealth; perm, innate) = 5pts
Fast: Speed 3 (16mph), dynamic = 4pts
Elemetal Shield: Removable (-3pt) = 12pts Total
Advantages: accurate attack, all-out attack, benefit 1 (ambidexterous), close attack 3, defensive attack, fearless, improved disarm, improved feint, improved initiative, inspire 5, interpose, leadership, luck 5, power attack, quick draw, set-up, startle, takedown, teamwork = 29 points
Skills: Acrobatics 1 (+3), Athletics 0 (+7), Close Combat: Blades 2 (+10), Close Combat: Others 0 (+8) Deception 0 (+1), Expertise: Soldier 5 (+6), insight 3 (+10), intimidation 13 (+15), perception 3 (+10), persuasion 0 (+1), Ranged combat: Throwing 10 (+10), stealth 0 (+0), technology 4 (+5), vehicles 4 (+4) = 17 points
Defense = 15 points
Descriptors
Mag'Nar Physiology: [Physical] [Innate]The Mag'Nar are physically imposing humanoids; both males and females tower over average humans and have matching strength and endurance to boot. They also possess pointed ears and skin-tones that range from a stone-like brown to many shades and hues of red or orange, purple blood, and hair and eye colors of wider ranges.
Fast: [Physical] [Movement] Mag'Nar such as Ab'Ril are capable of sustaining speeds of 30 MPH, more if they sprint.
Elemetal Shield: [Metal] [Blunt] Shields made from Elemetal afford their wearers extra protection and are magnetically bound to an arm brace on the shield-bearing arm, used to help fasten the shield to the bearer's arm. Ab'Ril likewise uses the shield for protection though she isn't afraid to bash someone with it when the situation calls for it, she's even gotten quite handy at throwing the shield and then using the magnetic pairing to bring it back to her arm.
Elemetal Sword: [Cutting/piercing] [Metal] This sword made from Elemetal is exceptionally sharp and well-maintained by Ab'Ril; the blade is capable of good cutting power that can even pierce all about the absolutely toughest defenses. Despite possessing blaster technology there is still a large number of Mag'Nar who prefer close-range combat with weapons such as these, but with their prodigious strength it's a small wonder.
Translator Headband: [Comprehension] Since the Mag'Nar have assembled a large empire in the cosmos they necessitate translation technology. Ab'Ril's headband enables her to read and understand other languages while also translating her words with accurate meaning. That said the headband does require some time to adapt to a new language and this has given Ab'ril trouble before.
Beyond all of this Colonel Dusk is a trained fighter and a fearless leader who inspires troops to victory, fights well with others, and has more than a little luck on her side.
Complications
Motivation - Liberation: After fighting for the wrong side more times than she cares for Ab'Ril is dedicated to freeing herself from those mistakes and her enemity with the Empire, while also enabling others more freedom.
Alien: Ab'Ril is a Mag'Nar, her stature, skin-color, and other alien features make her stand out like a sore thumb; moreover she has very limited knowledge of some aspects of Earth culture.
Soldier and Fighter: First as a gladiator who struggled for her life, and then a soldier who lead from the front-lines. If Ab'Ril is not fighting, training, or planning she tends to become restless and irritable unless she can be distracted.
"Piece of Kjnu!": The headband is not perfect, if there is a language Ab'Ril has not encountered yet the best she can give and receive are garbled communications of unfamiliar language to both parties.
Honor: Despite combat methods that would seem pragmatic or even outright brutal to some Ab'Ril has developed a sense of honor. She is a front-line fighter (though not above playing distraction if necessary), she does not kill already beaten foes, prefers clean deaths if such are necessary, and finds endangering non-combatants infuriating. Ab'Ril's military history has often taught her that sometimes ugly choices have to be made, but that doesn't mean honor should be abandoned outright. More importantly so long as her associates maintain similar levels of honor she is steadfastly loyal to them (part of what made her treason below so heart-breaking).
Traitor to her Homeworld: Ab'Ril committed treason and fled the Mag'Nar Empire before going on to raise resistance movements on other planets, placing her firmly among the Empire's most wanted. Deep down Ab'Ril's feelings are not as straight-forward, as she still considers the Empire her home and part of her hopes that the Empire can find a new sense of integrity without the mindless conquest its military seems to have devolved into.
Arachnos: Her first contact with humans were with the clandestine terrorists known as Arachnos. Taking advantage of her confused state and imperfect understanding of Earth languages the Arachnos deceived her into assisting them with a number of operations requiring a more "head-on" solution. She has since learned better and vowed to destroy the organization.
Colonel Dusk Backstory
She didn't even have a name at first, she was just one of many children born to slaves who were unlucky enough to survive a childhood of slavery to make it to adulthood. Though luck would be on her side, ironically enough, when she was passed over as a concubine for the soldiers to be selected for the gladiatorial arena where the number of slaves who survived it could be numbered on one hand. No weapons? The beasts had fangs she could rip out to use. No armor? Just kill them first. No chance? Dead wrong. Eventually an observing General decided that it would be a waste for her to die and had her selected to receive training as a soldier. It was as a soldier she adopted her name Ab'Ril, "Harbinger."
As her prowess grew and her expertise with elemetal equipment, the unique mineral of the Mag'Nar system that reflects the colors of a sunset, she climbed the ranks. Ab'Ril wasn't the strongest or the swiftest, she wasn't event the most intelligent or the most charismatic; but few could lead as well as she could. She would pick up her allies when they fell down, she would take risks knowing others were watching her back, Ab'Ril would unite soldiers behind her to claim new planets for the Empire! It was upon becoming Colonel that she was given her full name Ab'Ril Dusk'Chosar "Harbinger of the End Hunt."
Like many officers Ab'Ril enjoyed privileges within the Empire, including access to their slaves, and for a while she reveled in it as much as any officer - after all she climbed up from the bottom with her own strength, so should they. A hierarchy was only the natural way of things no matter how its looked at, especially when you yourself led the conquest that burned homes, killed families, and made off with the spoils. It was all to bring glory to the Mag'Nar Empire. Things only changed when she took charge of a failing corp.
Colonel Dusk, shortened of course, turned around their operations and forged those soldiers into a success but unlike the men she'd led and served with for so long these men and women knew no restraint. Those who surrendered were butchered instead of imprisoned, those who were defenseless were brutalized before being tossed aside, groups that were corralled were burnt instead of being reeducated. It was in that inferno that Colonel Ab'Ril Dusk'Chosar saw a shade of what she could become, what she was already becoming... not a soldier but a monster. Thusly in an effort that nearly killed her, and broke her heart, she turned against her own soldiers and killed them, a bloody and tearful way to commit treason.
So it was that "Colonel" Dusk would flee to other worlds, attempting to rally resistance against imminent invasions from the Mag'Nar; at first she was lucky they didn't kill her, but eventually they listened. Unfortunately every resistance only bought time against the mighty Empire, forced the Empire to commit more resources than normal but otherwise little changed as they expanded. Hopefully one day there will be a world that can fight back, and hopefully by then the Empire's expenditure will not be made up for by the resources gained. Unfortunately a navigation error caused Ab'Ril Dusk'Chosar to crash land on a strange planet in a far-flung solar system.
Colonel Dusk was for the longest time, simply fighting off the wildlife and trying to survive. Eventually she was found by a strange group of aliens, and with the language freshly encountered her translator could only gather a few bits and pieces of what they said, but eventually communication was established and they reached an agreement; she would aid her rescuers, The Arachnos, and they would enlighten her about Earth. It was almost a return to her days as a soldier, a comfort of old habits for a while - but once her translator had adapted to the language Ab'Ril proved less "savage" than the Arachnos expected of her and their partnership ended violently (as a few destroyed bases can attest).
Since then Colonel Dusk has been working with Aegis, directing field troops to any Arachnos bases she knew of, or that which Aegis could find, and leading the charge against their defenses. Though Ab'Ril respects the professionalism of Aegis there was still a lack of a true rapport between her and these small, well-equipped yet normal, humans; as though slightly alienated. A small part of her worries they may not have taken her warnings on the Mag'Nar too seriously (though admittedly the Mag'Nar weren't likely to reach this planet before other worlds ripe for conquering), and lately she has also sensed that something big is going on with the Arachnos - finding them and rooting them out has become almost too easy; they've been more active, and something's brewing.
Colonel Dusk knows that if this becomes a hidden war she's going to need more than an agreement between herself and some agency she's barely a part of, she needs real allies who she can trust and can trust her to lead them into battle. If Colonel Dusk is going to succeed against the Arachnos it is going to take a team as loyal to her as she is to them, and may the stars have mercy on anyone who gets in their way.
Colonel Dusk
Colonel Dusk Bio
- Former Rank: Colonel (NOTE: closest equivalent to common Earth military ranks)
- Name: Ab'Ril Dusk'Chosar
- Gender: Female
- Age: 30
- Height: 7'9"
- Weight: 537 lbs
- Eye Color: Purple
- Hair Color: White
Colonel Dusk Crunch
Power Level 10
Abilities = 52pts *Due to enhanced trait
- Strength: 7*
- Stamina: 7*
- Agility: 2
- Dexterity: 0
- Fighting: 5
- Intellect: 1
- Awareness: 7
- Presence: 1
Mag'Nar Physiology: Growth 2 (+2 Mass, STR +2, STA +2, +1 Intimidate, -1 Dodge & Parry, -2 Stealth; perm, innate) = 5pts
Fast: Speed 3 (16mph), dynamic = 4pts
- Alt; Strong Legs: leaping 3, dynamic = 2pts
Elemetal Shield: Removable (-3pt) = 12pts Total
- Alt; Shield Attack: strength-based damage 3 (ranged 10; throwing), feature 1 (returns to thrower) = 14pts
- Shielding: enhanced defense 6 (dodge 3, parry 3), improved defense = 1pt
- Sharp: improved critical (elemetal blade) = 1pt
- Elemetal Blade: strength-based damage 3 linked to weaken toughness 6 (affects objects also) = 15pts
Advantages: accurate attack, all-out attack, benefit 1 (ambidexterous), close attack 3, defensive attack, fearless, improved disarm, improved feint, improved initiative, inspire 5, interpose, leadership, luck 5, power attack, quick draw, set-up, startle, takedown, teamwork = 29 points
Skills: Acrobatics 1 (+3), Athletics 0 (+7), Close Combat: Blades 2 (+10), Close Combat: Others 0 (+8) Deception 0 (+1), Expertise: Soldier 5 (+6), insight 3 (+10), intimidation 13 (+15), perception 3 (+10), persuasion 0 (+1), Ranged combat: Throwing 10 (+10), stealth 0 (+0), technology 4 (+5), vehicles 4 (+4) = 17 points
Defense = 15 points
- Dodge: 7/10
- Parry: 7/10
- Toughness: 7/10
- Fortitude: 10
- Will: 10
- Initiative +6
- Unarmed, +8, close, damage 7 (DC22)
- Elemetal Blade, +10, close, Damage 10 (DC25), Weaken 8 (DC18), crit 18-20
- Elemetal Shield, +8/+10, close/range, Damage 10 (DC25)
- Throwing, +10, range, Damage 7 (DC22)
Descriptors
Mag'Nar Physiology: [Physical] [Innate]The Mag'Nar are physically imposing humanoids; both males and females tower over average humans and have matching strength and endurance to boot. They also possess pointed ears and skin-tones that range from a stone-like brown to many shades and hues of red or orange, purple blood, and hair and eye colors of wider ranges.
Fast: [Physical] [Movement] Mag'Nar such as Ab'Ril are capable of sustaining speeds of 30 MPH, more if they sprint.
- Strong Legs: Their leg strength allows them to leap impressive distances in a single bound.
Elemetal Shield: [Metal] [Blunt] Shields made from Elemetal afford their wearers extra protection and are magnetically bound to an arm brace on the shield-bearing arm, used to help fasten the shield to the bearer's arm. Ab'Ril likewise uses the shield for protection though she isn't afraid to bash someone with it when the situation calls for it, she's even gotten quite handy at throwing the shield and then using the magnetic pairing to bring it back to her arm.
Elemetal Sword: [Cutting/piercing] [Metal] This sword made from Elemetal is exceptionally sharp and well-maintained by Ab'Ril; the blade is capable of good cutting power that can even pierce all about the absolutely toughest defenses. Despite possessing blaster technology there is still a large number of Mag'Nar who prefer close-range combat with weapons such as these, but with their prodigious strength it's a small wonder.
Translator Headband: [Comprehension] Since the Mag'Nar have assembled a large empire in the cosmos they necessitate translation technology. Ab'Ril's headband enables her to read and understand other languages while also translating her words with accurate meaning. That said the headband does require some time to adapt to a new language and this has given Ab'ril trouble before.
Beyond all of this Colonel Dusk is a trained fighter and a fearless leader who inspires troops to victory, fights well with others, and has more than a little luck on her side.
Complications
Motivation - Liberation: After fighting for the wrong side more times than she cares for Ab'Ril is dedicated to freeing herself from those mistakes and her enemity with the Empire, while also enabling others more freedom.
Alien: Ab'Ril is a Mag'Nar, her stature, skin-color, and other alien features make her stand out like a sore thumb; moreover she has very limited knowledge of some aspects of Earth culture.
Soldier and Fighter: First as a gladiator who struggled for her life, and then a soldier who lead from the front-lines. If Ab'Ril is not fighting, training, or planning she tends to become restless and irritable unless she can be distracted.
"Piece of Kjnu!": The headband is not perfect, if there is a language Ab'Ril has not encountered yet the best she can give and receive are garbled communications of unfamiliar language to both parties.
Honor: Despite combat methods that would seem pragmatic or even outright brutal to some Ab'Ril has developed a sense of honor. She is a front-line fighter (though not above playing distraction if necessary), she does not kill already beaten foes, prefers clean deaths if such are necessary, and finds endangering non-combatants infuriating. Ab'Ril's military history has often taught her that sometimes ugly choices have to be made, but that doesn't mean honor should be abandoned outright. More importantly so long as her associates maintain similar levels of honor she is steadfastly loyal to them (part of what made her treason below so heart-breaking).
Traitor to her Homeworld: Ab'Ril committed treason and fled the Mag'Nar Empire before going on to raise resistance movements on other planets, placing her firmly among the Empire's most wanted. Deep down Ab'Ril's feelings are not as straight-forward, as she still considers the Empire her home and part of her hopes that the Empire can find a new sense of integrity without the mindless conquest its military seems to have devolved into.
Arachnos: Her first contact with humans were with the clandestine terrorists known as Arachnos. Taking advantage of her confused state and imperfect understanding of Earth languages the Arachnos deceived her into assisting them with a number of operations requiring a more "head-on" solution. She has since learned better and vowed to destroy the organization.
Colonel Dusk Backstory
She didn't even have a name at first, she was just one of many children born to slaves who were unlucky enough to survive a childhood of slavery to make it to adulthood. Though luck would be on her side, ironically enough, when she was passed over as a concubine for the soldiers to be selected for the gladiatorial arena where the number of slaves who survived it could be numbered on one hand. No weapons? The beasts had fangs she could rip out to use. No armor? Just kill them first. No chance? Dead wrong. Eventually an observing General decided that it would be a waste for her to die and had her selected to receive training as a soldier. It was as a soldier she adopted her name Ab'Ril, "Harbinger."
As her prowess grew and her expertise with elemetal equipment, the unique mineral of the Mag'Nar system that reflects the colors of a sunset, she climbed the ranks. Ab'Ril wasn't the strongest or the swiftest, she wasn't event the most intelligent or the most charismatic; but few could lead as well as she could. She would pick up her allies when they fell down, she would take risks knowing others were watching her back, Ab'Ril would unite soldiers behind her to claim new planets for the Empire! It was upon becoming Colonel that she was given her full name Ab'Ril Dusk'Chosar "Harbinger of the End Hunt."
Like many officers Ab'Ril enjoyed privileges within the Empire, including access to their slaves, and for a while she reveled in it as much as any officer - after all she climbed up from the bottom with her own strength, so should they. A hierarchy was only the natural way of things no matter how its looked at, especially when you yourself led the conquest that burned homes, killed families, and made off with the spoils. It was all to bring glory to the Mag'Nar Empire. Things only changed when she took charge of a failing corp.
Colonel Dusk, shortened of course, turned around their operations and forged those soldiers into a success but unlike the men she'd led and served with for so long these men and women knew no restraint. Those who surrendered were butchered instead of imprisoned, those who were defenseless were brutalized before being tossed aside, groups that were corralled were burnt instead of being reeducated. It was in that inferno that Colonel Ab'Ril Dusk'Chosar saw a shade of what she could become, what she was already becoming... not a soldier but a monster. Thusly in an effort that nearly killed her, and broke her heart, she turned against her own soldiers and killed them, a bloody and tearful way to commit treason.
So it was that "Colonel" Dusk would flee to other worlds, attempting to rally resistance against imminent invasions from the Mag'Nar; at first she was lucky they didn't kill her, but eventually they listened. Unfortunately every resistance only bought time against the mighty Empire, forced the Empire to commit more resources than normal but otherwise little changed as they expanded. Hopefully one day there will be a world that can fight back, and hopefully by then the Empire's expenditure will not be made up for by the resources gained. Unfortunately a navigation error caused Ab'Ril Dusk'Chosar to crash land on a strange planet in a far-flung solar system.
Colonel Dusk was for the longest time, simply fighting off the wildlife and trying to survive. Eventually she was found by a strange group of aliens, and with the language freshly encountered her translator could only gather a few bits and pieces of what they said, but eventually communication was established and they reached an agreement; she would aid her rescuers, The Arachnos, and they would enlighten her about Earth. It was almost a return to her days as a soldier, a comfort of old habits for a while - but once her translator had adapted to the language Ab'Ril proved less "savage" than the Arachnos expected of her and their partnership ended violently (as a few destroyed bases can attest).
Since then Colonel Dusk has been working with Aegis, directing field troops to any Arachnos bases she knew of, or that which Aegis could find, and leading the charge against their defenses. Though Ab'Ril respects the professionalism of Aegis there was still a lack of a true rapport between her and these small, well-equipped yet normal, humans; as though slightly alienated. A small part of her worries they may not have taken her warnings on the Mag'Nar too seriously (though admittedly the Mag'Nar weren't likely to reach this planet before other worlds ripe for conquering), and lately she has also sensed that something big is going on with the Arachnos - finding them and rooting them out has become almost too easy; they've been more active, and something's brewing.
Colonel Dusk knows that if this becomes a hidden war she's going to need more than an agreement between herself and some agency she's barely a part of, she needs real allies who she can trust and can trust her to lead them into battle. If Colonel Dusk is going to succeed against the Arachnos it is going to take a team as loyal to her as she is to them, and may the stars have mercy on anyone who gets in their way.
Last edited by Nintendogeek01 on Sun Nov 06, 2016 5:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.
-
Nintendogeek01
- Posts: 309
- Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:42 pm
Re: Builds by a Geek
Interesting one here; first in that unlike the majority of my characters this guy is actually a male. The game he was made for was advertised for being a bit darker than most 4-color modern games with a supernatural bend, and I know there was at least one person raising an eyebrow at the flavor of my submission given the game description; a paragon who honest-to-goodness is out to make the world a better place for truth, justice, and love. But I think what really makes him an interesting character is that he himself still feels jaded by the world but for deeply personal reasons is working hard to overcome that. There was also the overall myth arc of his power source - that was pretty fun to write.
Ardent
Ardent Bio
Ardent Crunch
Power Level 10
Abilities = 42pts *Due to enhanced trait
Power of Love: 24pt array
Flying: flight 6 (120mph) = 12pts
Advantages: Inspire 2, luck 2, power attack, all-out attack, interpose, attractive, takedown 2, eidetic memory = 11 points
Skills: Athletics 0 (+12), Close Combat: Unarmed 3 (+8), Deception 0 (+0/+2*), Expertise: Psychology 5 (+5), insight 4 (+8), intimidation 6 (+6), perception 4 (+8), persuasion 8 (+8), Ranged combat: Ardent Power 8 (+8), stealth 0 (+2) = 19 points
Defense = 15 points
Descriptors
Power of Love: [All powers have descriptor [Magic] [Emotion] [Love] on them.] Jean Lovelace hosts the mysterious power dubbed the Ardent Heart, which imbues its bearer with tremendous power that fluctuates based on its host's own heart. Jean's power has fluctuated considerably over the two year period he has carried the power due to battling with grief over his lost love, though it is currently stable at its current level.
Flying: [Magic] [Emotion] [Love] [Movement] Jean is capable of flying through the power of the Ardent Heart
Super-Speed: [Magic] [Emotion] [Love] [Movement] While on the ground Jean doesn't need to focus so much of his attention on keeping himself aloft, as such he can dedicate that attention to more mundane tasks with incredible alacrity.
Empathy: [Magic] [Emotion] [Love] [Sensory] [Mental] Jean has made good use of this power as a psychologist. The Ardent Heart allows him to know what most targets are feeling, and even those who can hide their feelings he can try to read by using his trained insight. Outside of aiding him at his job he has used this to read other's emotional states so that he can know the best way to talk them down from doing something they might regret.
Complications
Motivation - Responsibility: Ardent feels he needs to carry on the torch his predecessor and deceased lover, to safeguard the world and its people from those who would hurt it, and cultivate love in a world that desperately needs it.
Power Loss: The Ardent Heart conveys power to its user proportionate to how much they believe in love. If Jean loses hope in love or it is tainted by hatred his powers and stamina can weaken or even outright disappear. Inversely there have been times where Jean's love empowered him well past his normal limits (OOC: Basically GM plot device to be used strictly at GM's discretion).
Secret Identity: Ardent has powerful enemies and he does his best to keep his double-life secret for their sake.
The Lost Lenore: Jean's deceased fiance, Laura Edney, was the previous Ardent and she passed her power onto him as she lay dying to pass on the literal strength of her love to him. He keeps going for her sake but there are still days where it hurts more than others and this can affect his powers and/or performance.
Relationship: Sarah Turner is one of his closest friends and there is a spark between them. Jean has yet to act on it though as he still hasn't fully recovered from Laura's tragic death.
Relationship: Is friends with intrepid reporter Kent Wellington. Kent's the one person close to Ardent who has figured out his secret but out of respect for Ardent keeps that secret to himself. Now if only the guy could keep his nose out of trouble.
Honor: The Ardent Heart has conditioned Jean to always try to forgive and move on, he will never kill a living thinking creature, and even the mindless ones or even undead he tends to save their destruction as a last resort. This has bitten him before.
Enemy: No one truly knows about the entity called Malice. Is it an antithetic force to Ardent Heart in that it just empowers a person through hatred? Or is it a sentient entity all on its own? Either way Malice has plagued all bearers of the Ardent Heart since the first. Immune to each other's emotional effecting powers such contests tend to comedown to raw clashes of might. Rarely is Malice content to simply kill its sworn enemy, but to torment them and those close to the bearer of the Ardent Heart. Like Ardent, Malice's power fluctuates based on hatred rather than love and this has resulted in times where Malice would have an overwhelming advantage only to suddenly be driven back by an Ardent finding new hope and empowerment. A few years ago Malice mortally wounded Laura Edney after torturing Jean Lovelace to lure her out. However Malice was beaten back when Jean, newly empowered by his overwhelming love for his Laura, and still hoping, in vain as it turned out, he could save her, managed to seemingly destroy Malice. Malice would return a few times over the years to challenge the new Ardent in its quest to sow hatred. Previous Ardents have hoped that Malice wasn't completely beyond redemption, but Jean does not share that opinion (which is one thing holding back Jean from his full potential).
Ardent Backstory
Jean Lovelace, a British youth of mixed ancestry, grew up fascinated by people, he always wondered what made them tick as they grew up, and what pushed them to good or evil. Jean grew up frequently babysitting for others and learned responsibility from them, coming to care for a large number of people and make many friends, with that the young man became dedicated to becoming a psychologist so he could help ease the turmoil most felt, and steer them towards a brighter future. It was in college he met Laura Edney.
The two were fast friends in their shared interest in helping people. Laura would always get strangely dodgy on the topic of the mysterious flying woman calling herself Ardent, a super-hero Jean was growing to be a fan of much to Laura's rather confusing bewilderment. Soon though Laura, who was in fact Ardent, was forced to save Jean's life and confess her secret to him, and though hurt by her keeping such a secret for a bit Jean eventually came around and fully supported his girlfriend.
College was hard and Jean had become more cynical on the whole, making it to graduation with Laura's emotional support. Things seemed to be turning around though as Jean was already lined up to work under a mentorship; it was soon after this news he proposed to Laura, vowing to share his life with her, a proposal she happily accepted. Unfortunately tragedy would strike soon. Malice, a being who had plagued Ardent and her predecessors in a no-longer existent history, had managed to discover Ardent's affection for Jean. Malice didn't know or care who Jean was, all that mattered to it was that "Ardent loves that man."
Jean was coming back from a bad day at the practice and Malice kidnapped Jean, tormenting the lad to make him hate the hate entity while serving the dual purpose of using the emotional connection between Jean and Ardent as a beacon to lure Ardent into its trap. An epic battle ensued, and for the first time since gaining her power Ardent began to hate Malice just a little bit, and that was enough to weaken her enough to where Malice could deliver a mortal wound!
Jean cried out in despair for Laura who looked and Jean, smiled with tears in her eyes, and recited the words said to her in a history no one remembers, "Know you are loved and raise your hands, not in anger, but to raise light to the dark; take my love within you and carry on with my Ardent Heart," the light of the Ardent Heart passed from Laura and entered Jean, and thus the first male Ardent was born, and carrying both Laura's feelings coupled with the feelings of love that surged forth in grief, Jean, the new Ardent vanquished Malice!
Unfortunately it was too late to save Laura no matter how he used his powers. And in the months that followed he could barely summon up the power of Ardent, let alone the will to use it due to being resentful that the world felt his beloved was too good for it. But in time, and with the help of friends such as Kent and his mentors at the practice Jean began to heal from the worst of his grief. Though even today he has not moved on fully, he vowed one day that he would carry on for Laura's sake, and more importantly keep her belief in life and love alive, and thus as the new Ardent he finally turned to super-heroism!
Jean usually presents himself more meekly in public and wears clothes larger than he is along with glasses, which helps separate his personality from Ardent. It didn't fool his close friend and reporter Kent Wellington, but the man has kept his secret and even helped cover for him in some cases. Jean's super-natural empathy has expedited his time under a mentor-ship and recently opened his own practice. Sarah Turner, a girl he met while at the old practice, became his secretary and another source of emotional support for Jean at his worst times. Jean does have feelings for Sarah, but he still hasn't fully moved on from Laura, and also fears what would happen if Malice found out about her, as the thing is still out there somewhere. Still Ardent is also here, and he will do whatever it takes to safeguard this world and save it from the fear it is embroiling itself in.
History of the Ardent Heart
One of Gunter Glas's aids in his myraid studies, Agata Roth, worked on many a ritual and artifice in order to perfect a way to tap mystical power. It was hard research and largely fruitless for a long time, but thoughts of a world where mankind might live in peace, love, and understanding sustained her, and her newfound love in a dashing British soldier inspired her passion, hoping for her research to bear fruit so that her love may come home safe. It was when news of his capture reached her ears that she poured ever more of her heart and soul into a ritual she hoped would grant her the power to save him - and for the first and only time it worked! Whether it was truly drawn from her intense love of humankind, or an otherworldly force lured by it even Agata never knew, but the fact is that by the end of the ritual that had nearly spent her energy a magical red-spectrum light flickered with such ardent intensity before her when it then flew into her chest and imbued her with power beyond mortal ken. Thus the first Ardent was born!
Ardent would save countless lives in the fighting, and always find room in her heart to forgive even the most heinous crimes. All who knew Ardent, and some who knew Agata, believed that she was the purest light in a world embroiled in war. She never gave into hate, only pity and a tearful hope that even the most wicked soul could be redeemed. Agata eventually married and had children, but continued to don the costume of Ardent to fight evil wherever it may appear. Ardent's career lasted well through the silver-age, but even she grew old. Eventually there came a time she felt it was time to pass on the Ardent Heart, the light she had summoned forth, to another, so that the world will never lose it's champion of love and peace.
The second Ardent served admirably for a time, but during the bronze age political division wore away at the girl's hope, and eventually planted the seeds of loathing. It was the second Ardent who first learned the hard way that the Ardent Heart is weakened by feelings of hatred. After a short career she tried to pass it on to her teenage daughter, who she reasoned was still young enough to hold youthful naivete, but as is typical with teenagers her emotional instability resulted in a very dangerous career that eventually cost her her eyes when Malice, the sworn enemy of the Ardents, decided to take away the girl's love of art.
The third Ardent passed on the power to another; the fourth Ardent served with the SDO for some time but eventually retired, she too decided to pass on the mantle, and in 1996 a girl named Laura Edney received the Ardent Heart. It was almost like Agata was reborn, though more fiery than Agata ever was Laura too held a uniquely unconditional love for the world and in turn the Ardent heart gave Laura power not seen since Agata bore the mantle of Ardent. Ardent V would do her best to safeguard the world even when the Dark Age came about, even against the overwhelming force of the alien invasion she fearlessly threw herself into danger to save the lives of others.
Then someone or something re-threaded a few strands of history.
The Power of Love held by the Ardent Heart protected Laura from the effects, though few else ever remembered that there were previous Ardents. Though dismayed by being "The only Ardent," when she remembers otherwise this changed little for Laura herself and she resumed her duty, and her civilian life. It was during college she met Jean Lovelace...
Ardent
Ardent Bio
- Secret Identity: Jean Lovelace
- Gender: Male
- Age: 28
- Height: 6'1"
- Weight: 200 lbs
- Eye Color: Blue
- Hair Color: Blonde
Ardent Crunch
Power Level 10
Abilities = 42pts *Due to enhanced trait
- Strength: 12*
- Stamina: 10
- Agility: 2
- Dexterity: 0
- Fighting: 5
- Intellect: 0
- Awareness: 4
- Presence: 0
Power of Love: 24pt array
- Ardent Strength: enhanced strength 12 = 24pts
- Ardent Blast: ranged damage 10, accurate 1, precise, affects insubstantial 2 = 1pt
- Ardent Love: ranged cumulative affliction 11 (resisted by will; impaired, disabled, controlled), limited to hostile actions (cannot take any on 3rd degree), affects insubstantial 2 = 1pt
- Ardent Hands: restorative healing 8, move action, limited to others = 1pt
Flying: flight 6 (120mph) = 12pts
- Alt; Super-Speed: speed 6, quickness 6 = 1pt
Advantages: Inspire 2, luck 2, power attack, all-out attack, interpose, attractive, takedown 2, eidetic memory = 11 points
Skills: Athletics 0 (+12), Close Combat: Unarmed 3 (+8), Deception 0 (+0/+2*), Expertise: Psychology 5 (+5), insight 4 (+8), intimidation 6 (+6), perception 4 (+8), persuasion 8 (+8), Ranged combat: Ardent Power 8 (+8), stealth 0 (+2) = 19 points
Defense = 15 points
- Dodge: 8
- Parry: 8
- Toughness: 12
- Fortitude: 10
- Will: 10
- Initiative +2
- Unarmed, +8, close, damage 12 (DC27)
- Ardent Blast, +10, range, Damage 10 (DC25)
- Ardent Love, +8, range, Damage 11 (DC21)
Descriptors
Power of Love: [All powers have descriptor [Magic] [Emotion] [Love] on them.] Jean Lovelace hosts the mysterious power dubbed the Ardent Heart, which imbues its bearer with tremendous power that fluctuates based on its host's own heart. Jean's power has fluctuated considerably over the two year period he has carried the power due to battling with grief over his lost love, though it is currently stable at its current level.
- Ardent Strength: [Physical] The main use of this power is imbuing Jean with incredible strength, currently he is able to lift 100 tons!
- Ardent Blast: "Love hurts," He once joked during his emotional lows. A joke he has long dropped using but the fact is that channeling his powerful feelings into a concussive blast. Previous users have been able to make this hurt the spirit of their targets by damaging the taint in their souls, but Jean has only managed this feat with extreme effort or at the rare times his power elevated.
- Ardent Love: Cynics would think this power toys with the feelings of others by giving them a "false sense of love." Though it does manipulate emotions rather than forcing people to love others this power instead draws on a target's compassion and empathy to make them want to hurt others less, essentially opening their hearts to love. Targets hit by this effect struggle to take actions that directly hurt others, and eventually make them incapable of hurting others (though this hasn't stopped targets from fleeing to escape justice or for being wary of danger and avoiding attacks, etc.). Though the effect itself is temporary Jean considers one his greatest accomplishments being when he encouraged a crook to remember this surge of empathy, and the crook turned his life around. Hasn't had much luck with others yet but progress is progress.
- Ardent Hands: [Healing] The power of love can work miracles, and by channeling this love into an injured person he can help relieve their wounds. It works pretty quickly though as it is empowered by love for others it cannot be used on himself. It also cannot bring back the dead, he knows this, he's tried.
Flying: [Magic] [Emotion] [Love] [Movement] Jean is capable of flying through the power of the Ardent Heart
Super-Speed: [Magic] [Emotion] [Love] [Movement] While on the ground Jean doesn't need to focus so much of his attention on keeping himself aloft, as such he can dedicate that attention to more mundane tasks with incredible alacrity.
Empathy: [Magic] [Emotion] [Love] [Sensory] [Mental] Jean has made good use of this power as a psychologist. The Ardent Heart allows him to know what most targets are feeling, and even those who can hide their feelings he can try to read by using his trained insight. Outside of aiding him at his job he has used this to read other's emotional states so that he can know the best way to talk them down from doing something they might regret.
Complications
Motivation - Responsibility: Ardent feels he needs to carry on the torch his predecessor and deceased lover, to safeguard the world and its people from those who would hurt it, and cultivate love in a world that desperately needs it.
Power Loss: The Ardent Heart conveys power to its user proportionate to how much they believe in love. If Jean loses hope in love or it is tainted by hatred his powers and stamina can weaken or even outright disappear. Inversely there have been times where Jean's love empowered him well past his normal limits (OOC: Basically GM plot device to be used strictly at GM's discretion).
Secret Identity: Ardent has powerful enemies and he does his best to keep his double-life secret for their sake.
The Lost Lenore: Jean's deceased fiance, Laura Edney, was the previous Ardent and she passed her power onto him as she lay dying to pass on the literal strength of her love to him. He keeps going for her sake but there are still days where it hurts more than others and this can affect his powers and/or performance.
Relationship: Sarah Turner is one of his closest friends and there is a spark between them. Jean has yet to act on it though as he still hasn't fully recovered from Laura's tragic death.
Relationship: Is friends with intrepid reporter Kent Wellington. Kent's the one person close to Ardent who has figured out his secret but out of respect for Ardent keeps that secret to himself. Now if only the guy could keep his nose out of trouble.
Honor: The Ardent Heart has conditioned Jean to always try to forgive and move on, he will never kill a living thinking creature, and even the mindless ones or even undead he tends to save their destruction as a last resort. This has bitten him before.
Enemy: No one truly knows about the entity called Malice. Is it an antithetic force to Ardent Heart in that it just empowers a person through hatred? Or is it a sentient entity all on its own? Either way Malice has plagued all bearers of the Ardent Heart since the first. Immune to each other's emotional effecting powers such contests tend to comedown to raw clashes of might. Rarely is Malice content to simply kill its sworn enemy, but to torment them and those close to the bearer of the Ardent Heart. Like Ardent, Malice's power fluctuates based on hatred rather than love and this has resulted in times where Malice would have an overwhelming advantage only to suddenly be driven back by an Ardent finding new hope and empowerment. A few years ago Malice mortally wounded Laura Edney after torturing Jean Lovelace to lure her out. However Malice was beaten back when Jean, newly empowered by his overwhelming love for his Laura, and still hoping, in vain as it turned out, he could save her, managed to seemingly destroy Malice. Malice would return a few times over the years to challenge the new Ardent in its quest to sow hatred. Previous Ardents have hoped that Malice wasn't completely beyond redemption, but Jean does not share that opinion (which is one thing holding back Jean from his full potential).
Ardent Backstory
Jean Lovelace, a British youth of mixed ancestry, grew up fascinated by people, he always wondered what made them tick as they grew up, and what pushed them to good or evil. Jean grew up frequently babysitting for others and learned responsibility from them, coming to care for a large number of people and make many friends, with that the young man became dedicated to becoming a psychologist so he could help ease the turmoil most felt, and steer them towards a brighter future. It was in college he met Laura Edney.
The two were fast friends in their shared interest in helping people. Laura would always get strangely dodgy on the topic of the mysterious flying woman calling herself Ardent, a super-hero Jean was growing to be a fan of much to Laura's rather confusing bewilderment. Soon though Laura, who was in fact Ardent, was forced to save Jean's life and confess her secret to him, and though hurt by her keeping such a secret for a bit Jean eventually came around and fully supported his girlfriend.
College was hard and Jean had become more cynical on the whole, making it to graduation with Laura's emotional support. Things seemed to be turning around though as Jean was already lined up to work under a mentorship; it was soon after this news he proposed to Laura, vowing to share his life with her, a proposal she happily accepted. Unfortunately tragedy would strike soon. Malice, a being who had plagued Ardent and her predecessors in a no-longer existent history, had managed to discover Ardent's affection for Jean. Malice didn't know or care who Jean was, all that mattered to it was that "Ardent loves that man."
Jean was coming back from a bad day at the practice and Malice kidnapped Jean, tormenting the lad to make him hate the hate entity while serving the dual purpose of using the emotional connection between Jean and Ardent as a beacon to lure Ardent into its trap. An epic battle ensued, and for the first time since gaining her power Ardent began to hate Malice just a little bit, and that was enough to weaken her enough to where Malice could deliver a mortal wound!
Jean cried out in despair for Laura who looked and Jean, smiled with tears in her eyes, and recited the words said to her in a history no one remembers, "Know you are loved and raise your hands, not in anger, but to raise light to the dark; take my love within you and carry on with my Ardent Heart," the light of the Ardent Heart passed from Laura and entered Jean, and thus the first male Ardent was born, and carrying both Laura's feelings coupled with the feelings of love that surged forth in grief, Jean, the new Ardent vanquished Malice!
Unfortunately it was too late to save Laura no matter how he used his powers. And in the months that followed he could barely summon up the power of Ardent, let alone the will to use it due to being resentful that the world felt his beloved was too good for it. But in time, and with the help of friends such as Kent and his mentors at the practice Jean began to heal from the worst of his grief. Though even today he has not moved on fully, he vowed one day that he would carry on for Laura's sake, and more importantly keep her belief in life and love alive, and thus as the new Ardent he finally turned to super-heroism!
Jean usually presents himself more meekly in public and wears clothes larger than he is along with glasses, which helps separate his personality from Ardent. It didn't fool his close friend and reporter Kent Wellington, but the man has kept his secret and even helped cover for him in some cases. Jean's super-natural empathy has expedited his time under a mentor-ship and recently opened his own practice. Sarah Turner, a girl he met while at the old practice, became his secretary and another source of emotional support for Jean at his worst times. Jean does have feelings for Sarah, but he still hasn't fully moved on from Laura, and also fears what would happen if Malice found out about her, as the thing is still out there somewhere. Still Ardent is also here, and he will do whatever it takes to safeguard this world and save it from the fear it is embroiling itself in.
History of the Ardent Heart
One of Gunter Glas's aids in his myraid studies, Agata Roth, worked on many a ritual and artifice in order to perfect a way to tap mystical power. It was hard research and largely fruitless for a long time, but thoughts of a world where mankind might live in peace, love, and understanding sustained her, and her newfound love in a dashing British soldier inspired her passion, hoping for her research to bear fruit so that her love may come home safe. It was when news of his capture reached her ears that she poured ever more of her heart and soul into a ritual she hoped would grant her the power to save him - and for the first and only time it worked! Whether it was truly drawn from her intense love of humankind, or an otherworldly force lured by it even Agata never knew, but the fact is that by the end of the ritual that had nearly spent her energy a magical red-spectrum light flickered with such ardent intensity before her when it then flew into her chest and imbued her with power beyond mortal ken. Thus the first Ardent was born!
Ardent would save countless lives in the fighting, and always find room in her heart to forgive even the most heinous crimes. All who knew Ardent, and some who knew Agata, believed that she was the purest light in a world embroiled in war. She never gave into hate, only pity and a tearful hope that even the most wicked soul could be redeemed. Agata eventually married and had children, but continued to don the costume of Ardent to fight evil wherever it may appear. Ardent's career lasted well through the silver-age, but even she grew old. Eventually there came a time she felt it was time to pass on the Ardent Heart, the light she had summoned forth, to another, so that the world will never lose it's champion of love and peace.
The second Ardent served admirably for a time, but during the bronze age political division wore away at the girl's hope, and eventually planted the seeds of loathing. It was the second Ardent who first learned the hard way that the Ardent Heart is weakened by feelings of hatred. After a short career she tried to pass it on to her teenage daughter, who she reasoned was still young enough to hold youthful naivete, but as is typical with teenagers her emotional instability resulted in a very dangerous career that eventually cost her her eyes when Malice, the sworn enemy of the Ardents, decided to take away the girl's love of art.
The third Ardent passed on the power to another; the fourth Ardent served with the SDO for some time but eventually retired, she too decided to pass on the mantle, and in 1996 a girl named Laura Edney received the Ardent Heart. It was almost like Agata was reborn, though more fiery than Agata ever was Laura too held a uniquely unconditional love for the world and in turn the Ardent heart gave Laura power not seen since Agata bore the mantle of Ardent. Ardent V would do her best to safeguard the world even when the Dark Age came about, even against the overwhelming force of the alien invasion she fearlessly threw herself into danger to save the lives of others.
Then someone or something re-threaded a few strands of history.
The Power of Love held by the Ardent Heart protected Laura from the effects, though few else ever remembered that there were previous Ardents. Though dismayed by being "The only Ardent," when she remembers otherwise this changed little for Laura herself and she resumed her duty, and her civilian life. It was during college she met Jean Lovelace...
-
Nintendogeek01
- Posts: 309
- Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:42 pm
Re: Builds by a Geek
The first character above PL10 I got to play. Crystal was born out of the idea of "someone with paragon powers, who is not a paragon." Crystal is vain, shallow, and spoiled. She kick-started her superhero career as a publicity stunt. However the difference between her and say... the Plutonian (besides the, superficial, fact that Crystal isn't anywhere NEARLY as broken as Plutonian is) is that for all of Crystal's undesierable personality traits she's not actually a bad person. She knows better than to hurt people for no reason, she takes her career seriously, and most importantly has people she loves and cares for - it helps keep her human, in a sense (after all the GM and I never got far enough to decide what the actual truth behind her origins was). Had the game lasted longer I would've loved to see how Crystal's character developed, whether she'd always be an actress first and hero second, or if she would grow into the superhero role.
The Marvelous Crystal
Crystal Bio
Crystal Crunch
Power Level 10
Abilities = 48pts *Due to enhanced trait
Super Power: 28 point array = 32 points total
Super Healing: regeneration 3 = 3 points
Super Vital: immunity 9 (all environment effects, starvation & thirst, aging, (disease & poison; half-effect)) = 8 points
Super senses: senses 4 (low-light vision, extended hearing, ultrahearing, extended vision) = 4 points
Super Movement: 18 point dynamic array = 21 points total
Skills: athletics 8 (+14), close combat: unarmed 3 (+10), deception 5 (+10), expertise: modeling 1 (+6), expertise: acting 1 (+6), insight 0 (+0), intimidation 5 (+10), perception 8 (+8), persuasion 5 (+10), ranged combat: light blast 10 (+12), stealth 0 (+0) = 19 points
Defense = 25 points
Descriptors:
Super Power: Crystal is a powerful Empowered with strength and light-based powers. Unfortunately using her light-based powers drains her strength for a few seconds for some reason.
Super Healing: [Physical] "Whew... all cleared up now," Crystal can recover from injury faster than normal.
Super Vital: [Physical] "I guess I'm just blessed," Crystal is immune to harmful environments, resistant to diseases and poisons, and most importantly (as far as she's concerned) is that her powers maintain her good looks while other models are reaching for every skin treatment they can find.
Super senses: [Physical] [Sensory] "Hey! I heard that!" Crystal's vision and hearing are both able to pick up details from farther away, she can also see in lower light conditions and hear higher pitched frequencies.
Super Movement: "Ugh... so slow..." Crystal is able to run and fly at speeds around 1,000 mph, maybe faster if she tried really hard.
Complications:
Motivation - Thrills: On the surface Crystal is a superhero for more fame than being an actress or model would bring her, but in truth the rush of danger and the gratitude that comes with being a superhero feels great.
Relationship: Internet armchair critics and tabloids paint Crystal's relationship to her adoptive father, Kent Carson, as one where he keeps her around for the money she rakes in while she tries to twist him around her finger. In truth they really do love each other like father and daughter.
Relationship: Kent Carson's long-time friend that Crystal knows as Kohana-sensei is the only other person who has Crystal's full respect. Kohana-sensi taught Crystal self-defense, and is also the only person guaranteed to be able to get away with scolding Crystal.
Relationship: Jenny Owens is Crystal's current, and longest employed, personal assistant. Jenny is understandably annoyed and stressed by the demands of being Crystal's PA and copes with sarcastic comebacks. She still secretly respects Crystal and is one of the few who knows how hard being a superhero is on Crystal. For Crystal's part she at least acknowledges the fact that Jenny has lasted longer than previous PA's and puts up with her sarcasm as long as it's not in earshot of anyone else (a little too easy to do thanks to Crystal's superhuman hearing).
Fame: Model, actress, and now a superhero! She's quite easily recognizable.
Temper: Never mind that she's used to getting her way, despite the nigh-impossibility of suffering from permanent injuries Crystal was still raised on the mentality of caring for your good looks, so heaven help whoever leaves a visible mark on her face!
Enemy: Harold White, billionaire and CEO of White Inc. Having built his company from the ground up the ambitious Harold is bitter and fearful of those he believes don't deserve success and that includes Empowered. After Crystal offhandedly insulted his company White's anger reached a tipping point and has since engaged in many behind-the-scenes plots for the demise of Crystal Carson, all while successfully covering his tracks. Even now no one in Glimmer Bay suspects White of his crimes.
Rival: Crystal considers her greatest "enemy" to be a young low-level empowered tabloid photographer named Martin Bur, aka "Motion Blur." Once a petty thief who used his speed to shoplift and pickpocket, unfortunately Crystal was eager to catch her first empowered crook and the boy was out of his depth trying to outrun someone who could match his speed. He since took a job with the "National Peeper," tabloid and has primarily used his job to catch as many unflattering photos of Crystal as he can manage. There's very few inches of Glimmer Bay's streets that haven't been untouched by Crystal chasing after Motion Blur.
Secret: Crystal was found and adopted by Kent Carson under mysterious circumstances that he's kept hidden from her. The source of her powers, and who the other mysterious figure was when she was first found, any of these could come back to haunt her, especially now that she's public about her powers (GM decision).
Crystal Backstory
Kent Carson, an actor who tired of the limelight and instead made the shift to talent agent, was a successful man; this lucky trip to Vegas proved as much but something still felt missing in his life. Tired from driving in the Nevada desert for so long he didn't see the figure in the desert haze and only became aware when his care came to a dead stop! The airbag and seat-belt kept the accident from being life-threatening, though the sudden stop still injured Kent and he practically fell out of his car. He wasn't able to clearly see the blurry figure yelling at him about interrupting... something. The next thing Kent knew there was a flash of light and then the figure was sailing overhead to hit the pavement a ways away. A confused Kent looked to the apparent source and a little girl, maybe about five or six, was holding out glowing hands with tears in her eyes. Though confused and afraid the sight of this sad little girl touched Kent and he comforted the girl until emergency services arrived.
Kent never did figure out who the mysterious figure was nor what happened to him after the ambulance took him away, but as for the girl Kent decided to adopt the child, and that is how Crystal Carson entered his life. She seemed to forget the circumstances of how she first met "daddy-dearest," but it didn't matter that much to her.
Growing up in Glimmer Bay Kent spoiled Crystal, as many a personal assistant can attest to. Kent tried hard to keep the fact that she was empowered a secret but it was hard for a little girl to show restraint and so Kent had to enlist the help of an old friend of his who taught self-defense. Kohana-sensei disciplined Crystal and taught her to control her strength, and solidified her place as one of the few people Crystal outwardly respects.
Kent himself taught Crystal how to walk, talk, and use her developing good looks to make the world her oyster. It wasn't always easy, as Crystal wasn't the only pretty young star on the rise, and the temptation to use her powers to one-up them was great, but Kent and Kohana-sensei always reigned her in and she eventually became a resounding success! By the age of 16 Crystal had become one of Kent's biggest talents and much sought after for photoshoots and TV shows.
Years later Crystal was lined up for a major motion picture, while on her way out of the building though a few gun-wielding crooks suddenly pulled up in a convertible, leaped out and threatened just about anyone in a suit to hand over their money, including Kent himself. Crystal wasn't about to have that. In a flash of light everyone in the vicinity was blinded, and by the time they stopped seeing spots two crooks were unconscious on the ground, two were wrapped up in street posts and their getaway car was smashed hood-first into the pavement!
The movie deal fell through but arguably something better happened, the press was eating up the story of a celebrity turned superhero who showed crooks what happened when they thought they could do what they wanted. Merchandise sales shot through the roof, jobs for photo-shoots and guest appearances doubled overnight. Kent and Crystal talked about it at length before they agreed, The Marvelous Crystal was going public as an empowered.
Super-heroics proved to be more exciting than Crystal expected. The public attention, the thrill of throwing herself into adrenaline-pumping adventures, and finally having license to use her powers publicly touched Crystal deeply. If she was spoiled before the additional fame well and truly went to her head. Kent warned her to be more careful, after all he didn't want to see her get hurt. Crystal was largely heedless of this advice, after all the only empowered crook she'd run into went down after a little high-speed running.
Crystal would be in for a rude awakening when after turning down a product-placement deal from that nerd who runs White Inc. company. During the night Glimmer Bay's warehouse district was attacked by a small army of mechanized walkers hijacked from a White Inc. owned warehouse. The destruction forced Glimmer Bay's number one superhero to respond! The high-grade weapons wielded by the suits, and the danger they posed to property and civilians, constantly put Crystal in the way of beam weaponry and high-powered servo-motor blows in an effort to keep civilians from being blasted, burnt, or buried; very nearly failing to pull one civilian to safety out from under a collapsing structure! By the time Crystal could fight back she was beaten, bruised, bloody, and wearing an absolutely ruined outfit! In the end she managed to destroy the mechs and place the pilots in prison just before putting on a brave face and smiling for the cameras.
At home though Crystal bemoaned the torn outfit, and would wake up from nightmares of the horrified victims that she nearly didn't save, and stare in the mirror remembering the injuries that had faded from her face. Crystal manages to bury her doubts when around others and act like her normal self; she has to smile and look brave for daddy dearest, smile to the adoring public, and pose for the camera man after all.
The Marvelous Crystal
Crystal Bio
- Public Identity: Crystal Carson
- Gender: Female
- Age: 24
- Height: 5'9"
- Weight: 130 lbs
- Eye Color: Blue
- Hair Color: Blonde
Crystal Crunch
Power Level 10
Abilities = 48pts *Due to enhanced trait
- Strength: 14*
- Stamina: 12
- Agility: 0
- Dexterity: 0
- Fighting: 7
- Intellect: 0
- Awareness: 0
- Presence: 5
Super Power: 28 point array = 32 points total
- Super Strength: enhanced strength 14 = 28 points
- Light Blast: ranged damage 12 (light), accurate, precise, affects insubstantial 2 = 1 point
- Flashing Lights: perception area (visual) cumulative affliction 12 (resisted by fortitude; impaired, disabled, unaware) limited to vision; linked to environment control 2 (intense light - counter total darkness-based concealment) = 1 point
- Thunderclap: burst area cumulative affliction 12 (resisted by fortitude; dazed, stunned) limited degree = 1 point
- Hypnotic Strobe: perception range cumulative affliction 12 (resisted by will; entranced, compelled) limited degree, sense dependent (vision), insidious = 1 point
Super Healing: regeneration 3 = 3 points
Super Vital: immunity 9 (all environment effects, starvation & thirst, aging, (disease & poison; half-effect)) = 8 points
Super senses: senses 4 (low-light vision, extended hearing, ultrahearing, extended vision) = 4 points
Super Movement: 18 point dynamic array = 21 points total
- Flight: flight 9 (1,000 mph), dynamic = 19 points
- Super Speed: speed 9 (1,000 mph), quickness 9, dynamic = 2 points
Skills: athletics 8 (+14), close combat: unarmed 3 (+10), deception 5 (+10), expertise: modeling 1 (+6), expertise: acting 1 (+6), insight 0 (+0), intimidation 5 (+10), perception 8 (+8), persuasion 5 (+10), ranged combat: light blast 10 (+12), stealth 0 (+0) = 19 points
Defense = 25 points
- Dodge: 10
- Parry: 10
- Toughness: 14
- Fortitude: 12
- Will: 12
- Initiative +8
- Unarmed, +10, close, damage 14 (DC29)
- Light Blast, +12, range, Damage 12 (DC27)
- Flashing Lights, -, visual area, affliction 12 (DC22)
- Thunderclap, -, burst area, affliction 12 (DC22)
- Hypnotic Strobe, -, perception range, affliction 12 (DC22)
Descriptors:
Super Power: Crystal is a powerful Empowered with strength and light-based powers. Unfortunately using her light-based powers drains her strength for a few seconds for some reason.
- Super Strength: [Physical] "Who says women are the weaker sex?" Crystal is capable of lifting 400 tons! The only reason she had self-defense classes in the first place was to teach her how to avoid putting lethal force into each blow.
- Light Blast: [Light] "Like I need to touch you," if she needs to attack at range, or just doesn't want to touch someone, she can emit a colorful (usually magenta) laser of light that she is capable of firing with precision.
- Flashing Lights: [Light]"Hey! Eyes on me!" Time for her photo-op! Crystal strikes a pose and emits a bright glow that could potentially blind people! The real problem with this power comes with the potential to blind the camera man.
- Thunderclap: [Physical] [Vibration] "A little applause I guess," Summoning up her great strength Crystal claps her hands together with her incredible might; creating a shockwave that can disorient people.
- Hypnotic Strobe: [Light] [Hypnotic] "You know you want to..." Crystal discovered that making certain flashing patterns with her lights in front of someone makes them less resistant to her whims. Usually only reserved for bad moods, or combat, as it hurts her pride as a model to use this as a crutch to her own natural charms.
Super Healing: [Physical] "Whew... all cleared up now," Crystal can recover from injury faster than normal.
Super Vital: [Physical] "I guess I'm just blessed," Crystal is immune to harmful environments, resistant to diseases and poisons, and most importantly (as far as she's concerned) is that her powers maintain her good looks while other models are reaching for every skin treatment they can find.
Super senses: [Physical] [Sensory] "Hey! I heard that!" Crystal's vision and hearing are both able to pick up details from farther away, she can also see in lower light conditions and hear higher pitched frequencies.
Super Movement: "Ugh... so slow..." Crystal is able to run and fly at speeds around 1,000 mph, maybe faster if she tried really hard.
Complications:
Motivation - Thrills: On the surface Crystal is a superhero for more fame than being an actress or model would bring her, but in truth the rush of danger and the gratitude that comes with being a superhero feels great.
Relationship: Internet armchair critics and tabloids paint Crystal's relationship to her adoptive father, Kent Carson, as one where he keeps her around for the money she rakes in while she tries to twist him around her finger. In truth they really do love each other like father and daughter.
Relationship: Kent Carson's long-time friend that Crystal knows as Kohana-sensei is the only other person who has Crystal's full respect. Kohana-sensi taught Crystal self-defense, and is also the only person guaranteed to be able to get away with scolding Crystal.
Relationship: Jenny Owens is Crystal's current, and longest employed, personal assistant. Jenny is understandably annoyed and stressed by the demands of being Crystal's PA and copes with sarcastic comebacks. She still secretly respects Crystal and is one of the few who knows how hard being a superhero is on Crystal. For Crystal's part she at least acknowledges the fact that Jenny has lasted longer than previous PA's and puts up with her sarcasm as long as it's not in earshot of anyone else (a little too easy to do thanks to Crystal's superhuman hearing).
Fame: Model, actress, and now a superhero! She's quite easily recognizable.
Temper: Never mind that she's used to getting her way, despite the nigh-impossibility of suffering from permanent injuries Crystal was still raised on the mentality of caring for your good looks, so heaven help whoever leaves a visible mark on her face!
Enemy: Harold White, billionaire and CEO of White Inc. Having built his company from the ground up the ambitious Harold is bitter and fearful of those he believes don't deserve success and that includes Empowered. After Crystal offhandedly insulted his company White's anger reached a tipping point and has since engaged in many behind-the-scenes plots for the demise of Crystal Carson, all while successfully covering his tracks. Even now no one in Glimmer Bay suspects White of his crimes.
Rival: Crystal considers her greatest "enemy" to be a young low-level empowered tabloid photographer named Martin Bur, aka "Motion Blur." Once a petty thief who used his speed to shoplift and pickpocket, unfortunately Crystal was eager to catch her first empowered crook and the boy was out of his depth trying to outrun someone who could match his speed. He since took a job with the "National Peeper," tabloid and has primarily used his job to catch as many unflattering photos of Crystal as he can manage. There's very few inches of Glimmer Bay's streets that haven't been untouched by Crystal chasing after Motion Blur.
Secret: Crystal was found and adopted by Kent Carson under mysterious circumstances that he's kept hidden from her. The source of her powers, and who the other mysterious figure was when she was first found, any of these could come back to haunt her, especially now that she's public about her powers (GM decision).
Crystal Backstory
Kent Carson, an actor who tired of the limelight and instead made the shift to talent agent, was a successful man; this lucky trip to Vegas proved as much but something still felt missing in his life. Tired from driving in the Nevada desert for so long he didn't see the figure in the desert haze and only became aware when his care came to a dead stop! The airbag and seat-belt kept the accident from being life-threatening, though the sudden stop still injured Kent and he practically fell out of his car. He wasn't able to clearly see the blurry figure yelling at him about interrupting... something. The next thing Kent knew there was a flash of light and then the figure was sailing overhead to hit the pavement a ways away. A confused Kent looked to the apparent source and a little girl, maybe about five or six, was holding out glowing hands with tears in her eyes. Though confused and afraid the sight of this sad little girl touched Kent and he comforted the girl until emergency services arrived.
Kent never did figure out who the mysterious figure was nor what happened to him after the ambulance took him away, but as for the girl Kent decided to adopt the child, and that is how Crystal Carson entered his life. She seemed to forget the circumstances of how she first met "daddy-dearest," but it didn't matter that much to her.
Growing up in Glimmer Bay Kent spoiled Crystal, as many a personal assistant can attest to. Kent tried hard to keep the fact that she was empowered a secret but it was hard for a little girl to show restraint and so Kent had to enlist the help of an old friend of his who taught self-defense. Kohana-sensei disciplined Crystal and taught her to control her strength, and solidified her place as one of the few people Crystal outwardly respects.
Kent himself taught Crystal how to walk, talk, and use her developing good looks to make the world her oyster. It wasn't always easy, as Crystal wasn't the only pretty young star on the rise, and the temptation to use her powers to one-up them was great, but Kent and Kohana-sensei always reigned her in and she eventually became a resounding success! By the age of 16 Crystal had become one of Kent's biggest talents and much sought after for photoshoots and TV shows.
Years later Crystal was lined up for a major motion picture, while on her way out of the building though a few gun-wielding crooks suddenly pulled up in a convertible, leaped out and threatened just about anyone in a suit to hand over their money, including Kent himself. Crystal wasn't about to have that. In a flash of light everyone in the vicinity was blinded, and by the time they stopped seeing spots two crooks were unconscious on the ground, two were wrapped up in street posts and their getaway car was smashed hood-first into the pavement!
The movie deal fell through but arguably something better happened, the press was eating up the story of a celebrity turned superhero who showed crooks what happened when they thought they could do what they wanted. Merchandise sales shot through the roof, jobs for photo-shoots and guest appearances doubled overnight. Kent and Crystal talked about it at length before they agreed, The Marvelous Crystal was going public as an empowered.
Super-heroics proved to be more exciting than Crystal expected. The public attention, the thrill of throwing herself into adrenaline-pumping adventures, and finally having license to use her powers publicly touched Crystal deeply. If she was spoiled before the additional fame well and truly went to her head. Kent warned her to be more careful, after all he didn't want to see her get hurt. Crystal was largely heedless of this advice, after all the only empowered crook she'd run into went down after a little high-speed running.
Crystal would be in for a rude awakening when after turning down a product-placement deal from that nerd who runs White Inc. company. During the night Glimmer Bay's warehouse district was attacked by a small army of mechanized walkers hijacked from a White Inc. owned warehouse. The destruction forced Glimmer Bay's number one superhero to respond! The high-grade weapons wielded by the suits, and the danger they posed to property and civilians, constantly put Crystal in the way of beam weaponry and high-powered servo-motor blows in an effort to keep civilians from being blasted, burnt, or buried; very nearly failing to pull one civilian to safety out from under a collapsing structure! By the time Crystal could fight back she was beaten, bruised, bloody, and wearing an absolutely ruined outfit! In the end she managed to destroy the mechs and place the pilots in prison just before putting on a brave face and smiling for the cameras.
At home though Crystal bemoaned the torn outfit, and would wake up from nightmares of the horrified victims that she nearly didn't save, and stare in the mirror remembering the injuries that had faded from her face. Crystal manages to bury her doubts when around others and act like her normal self; she has to smile and look brave for daddy dearest, smile to the adoring public, and pose for the camera man after all.
-
Jabroniville
- Posts: 24793
- Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm
Re: Builds by a Geek
Wow, these are actually pretty interesting. Very long backstories, and I like some of the "behind the scenes" notes on them. I hope you continue to post here, no matter what they do with the RA forums!
-
Nintendogeek01
- Posts: 309
- Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:42 pm
Re: Builds by a Geek
Thanks, coming from a prolific character builder such as yourself it really feels good for that feedback. Anyways, yeah I think I might set up shop here (not to GM unless I move a game here, I've already got two going) but yeah you can expect me to copy over the builds I have over on GRF as well (even the ones I'm no longer proud of, live and learn eh?)Jabroniville wrote:Wow, these are actually pretty interesting. Very long backstories, and I like some of the "behind the scenes" notes on them. I hope you continue to post here, no matter what they do with the RA forums!
-
Nintendogeek01
- Posts: 309
- Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:42 pm
Re: Builds by a Geek
Jury's out on whether the latest game I submitted her to will take off the ground or not (the shut down possibility actually seems to have ground all the games I'm in to a halt more or less), but either way the game did inspire me to revive an old character concept who started as a PL10 powerhouse.
So what happens when you give a luchadora superpowers? The potential for awesome that's what! Though as to keep her from being one note I did my best to put in some tragedy in her past, something she's on the mend from but not fully moved on. This allows me to have as much fun with her as I want in a fight (I'm still awaiting the chance for her to fly through the air shamelessly shouting a wrestling mood in Spanish), and yet still have a character who knows what it's like to make a mistake. Visually she was a challenge for me to be satisfied with; on one hand her old profession practically demands an outfit that leaves little to the imagination, yet it didn't sit well with me to oversell it like is so common with other superheroines; I am personally satisfied with where she ended up but I hope that I actually succeeded in the delicate balance between fanservice and being tasteful. I will not apologize for the colors though, she's a luchadora after all! Oh and shout out to Evolución for correcting my Spanish on this sheet.
La Armadura
La Armadura Bio
La Armadura Crunch
Power Level 8
Abilities = 32pts *Due to enhanced trait
Súper Fuerza: enhanced strength 7 = 14 points
Súper Resistencia: enhanced stamina 5, immunity 4 (critical hits, vacuum, pressure) = 14 points
Armadura: impervious toughness 9 = 9 points
Dureza: immunity 8 (starvation & thirst, disease, poison, all suffocation, heat, cold, radiation; limited to half effect) = 4 points
Regeneración: regeneration 2 = 2 points
Lucha Libre: 10pt array; all are alternate effects of strength-based damage = 3 points total
Skills: Athletics 0 (+10), Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+6), Deception 0 (+0/+2*), Expertise: Super-humans 4 (+5), insight 4 (+5), intimidation 5 (+5), perception 4 (+5), persuasion 5 (+5/+7*), Ranged combat: Throwing 6 (+6), stealth 0 (+2) = 15 points
Defense = 11 points
Descriptors:
Súper Fuerza: [Physical] La Armadura is super-humanly strong, capable of lifting around 25 tons! Armadura has had to practice checking her blows so as not to accidentally kill people.
Súper Resistencia: [Physical] La Armadura is afforded a great deal of endurance by her powers, being able to take powerful blows, and even withstand changes in pressure easily. Even the most powerful of blows are of less effectiveness against her.
Armadura: [Physical] True to her namesake Armadura can effortlessly shrug off blows from most normal humans, and all but the highest caliber of ordinary firearms.
Duro: [Physical] Armadura is so tough that many things that would test the endurance of most people are only about half as effective on her.
Regenerar: [Physical] Armadura has noticed that she heals slightly quicker than a normal person, even when not at rest.
Lucha Libre: [Strength] [Talent] Already a wrestler before getting her powers, Armadura has been slowly improving on and adding new tricks to her fighting techniques... with the flair expected of a luchadora of course.
Complications:
Motivation - Responsibility: La Armadura believes in using your talents, and owning your mistakes.
Secret Identity: As a luchadora Armadura feels honor-bound to keep her identity as Amalia Belmonte a secret. Only her immediate family knows who she is.
Fame: A champion luchadora turned Ultra, Armadura was and still is very famous in Spain as its premiere super-hero. Her fame, for better and for worse, became more world-wide when she became an outspoken activist criticizing the current "class-system" that the world's super-community is currently under.
Secret: La Armadura's agency has covered up the fact that in her last official match, against La Pantera, the unexpected development of La Armadura's powers led to La Pantera becoming crippled! La Armadura is almost constantly haunted by this mistake and wants to make up for it, but the agency and their contract with her forbids any open acknowledgement of this; and after being a secret for so long admitting to it now could potentially destroy her credibility as a hero.
Addiction: With help from counseling La Armadura doesn't consume near as much alcohol as she used to drink in order to cope with her depressive episodes. However whenever she does drink she does tend to drink hard enough to test even her super-human endurance.
Relationship: Mamá named Ofelia and brother names Juesús live in Spain. Ofelia runs a restaurant while Juesús is studying history in college.
Relationship: Papá named Eduardo and a sister named Doris live in the United States. Doris is married with a kid and a homemaker, while Eduardo is a mechanic; Amalia and Eduardo are currently estranged.
Rival: A "freak" named El Gran Toro. The relationship between the two is complicated. They started off foes, then after he turned a new leaf the agency encouraged their rivalry. Then they became, highly controversial, lovers, but had differences of opinion on super-humans among other things and split. How the two interact whenever they meet depends on the kind of day both of them have had.
Temper: People failing to own their mistakes is a major pet peeve for Amalia, this has led her to opening her mouth when she should've kept it shut or doing otherwise unwise things. This sometimes makes her feel like a hypocrite in regards to her greatest mistake and may instead lead her to suffer a bout of depression.
La Armadura Backstory
Amalia is the oldest of three children born to Ofelia and Eduardo Belmonte, Spanish immigrants to the United States. Amalia, her sister Doris, and her brother Juesús were never really what Eduardo wanted from any children of his, dismissive of the girls for being girls while Juesús was more intellectually inclined than the masculine Eduardo wanted. He was thus distant at his best and sometimes even outright abusive. Amalia had to grow up tough to live in her neighborhood and bear the brunt of their father so that her siblings wouldn't have to; still, as tough as she was she was still a girl to her father and nothing was ever enough for him. Finally enough was enough and Ofelia took the children to Spain with her where they could grow up without their misogynistic father.
Amalia was unfortunately embittered already by the time under her father's roof. Just to prove her father wrong Amalia continued to be athletic rather than more feminine as her mother hoped, thankfully though Ofelia never let it ruin their relationship in spite of the exasperation, and Amalia's siblings were always grateful to know that their sister always had their backs, even if they got on her nerves sometimes. Besides sports Amalia's main escape from reality was stories about super-heroes. Amalia was fascinated by the stories of the Justice Alliance and the successors that followed, eagerly eating up news stories and tall tales of her favorite super-heroes. Unusual for a "norm" perhaps was that Amalia identified with the "freaks," (a name she hates to this day), they usually had to work so much harder than "Ultras" for a fraction of the respect, something Amalia identified with and she would quietly fume or even cry anytime a "freak" turned to super-crime in response to this.
When she graduated high-school Amalia was good-looking, talented in contact sports, and secretly desiring to be more like the colorful heroes she always looked up to. Higher education was neither readily available due to how hard money would be on the family, nor even an interest to the young girl. Almost as soon as she turned eighteen Amalia went into a career as a luchadora! It was the life for "La Armadura!" As La Armadura she was excellent at wrestling and pleasing the crowd, and after an adjustment period to get over her body modesty even came to enjoy the costumes. La Armadura eventually became a champion and enjoyed a successful career, a part of her wished she could be a hero like the super-heroes she idolized, but even though this was as close as she could get it was enough.
La Armadura's last time in the ring would be against a fierce luchadora known as La Pantera. At first things were going just fine; Armadura could endure anything Pantera could bring, but then Pantera was beginning to hold Armadura in grapples even she couldn't break out of! Pantera was prepared to pull the ultimate heel move a luchadora could perform, unmask Armadura! In an instant Armadura could see everything she loved going up in smoke! The money she was sending to her family, the adulation of the crowd, the empowerment she felt wearing that costume. In an unexpected surge of strength Armadura suddenly stood back up to full height, twirled around and around with enough force to stir wind before hurling La Pantera clear out of the ring and into the corridor the challenger came in from! Everyone was stunned silent, but Armadura's manager was a savvy man and quickly spun this into a new revelation, "La Armadura es un Ultra...!!!" Despite being stunned at what she just did a quick flourish for the crowd and a well-acted smile sealed the deal.
Unfortunately for La Pantera her collision with the wall in the hallway shattered her bones and damaged her nerves, ending her career prematurely. The agency was quick to cover this up and compensate the ex-luchadora, even settling things legally, but La Armadura herself was horrified at what she had done! To this day La Armadura still donates what money she can to the nursing center La Pantera resides in. Amalia was ready to hang up the mask for good and turn herself into the police but her manager and the agency as a whole managed to convince La Armadura that this was an opportunity, both for her career, and to do real good. Amalia reluctantly agreed and soon received training from a more experienced super-human with similar powers to control her strength. After which she gave up her championship, and became Spain's premiere superhero!
La Armadura's career as a superhero eclipsed her career as a luchadora; Spain had few superhumans and even fewer ultras, and La Armadura's tendency to approach heroics with much the same loud persona she had as a luchadora made her very popular. Merchandise sales skyrocketed, news outlets ate up her appearances at festivals and events, and no super-villain she thwarted ever escaped unflattering photos for news outlets and social media. La Armadura herself loved it, finally her she was living the life she always dreamed of, however there were times that her guilt at injuring La pantera would eat away at her, and the agency often had to work hard to spin or hide La Armadura's depressive episodes. Fortunately therapy, using her money to help her brother's education, donations to charity, and her life saving heroics helped shore up her self-esteem and kept her from downing all of the alcohol in Spain.
A major turning point in La Armadura's career was after confronting a disgruntled freak named El Gran Toro, a bull-like freak who had decided enough was enough regarding the treatment of freaks. La Armadura had a destructive battle arresting him, but sympathizing with his plight and her guilt pushing her to disobey her agency's objections, La Armadura publicly came to his defense to battle the trumped up charges he faced, calling them prejudiced and unfair for just being who he is! This launched Armadura into fame, or infamy, worldwide for her outspoken opinions for superhuman rights and strong criticism of the labels of "Ultra" and "Freak." Toro himself, after serving his sentence, ended up being scooped up by La Armadura's agency and billed as her rival in order to cool some of the controversy that La Armadura stirred up. And for a while it seemed to work, despite some philosophical agreements they still both had stubborn personalities and a competitive streak, but then this publicity stunt backfired when the two secretly began dating, which did not stay secret for long.
The relationship ultimately did not survive, in part due to the controversy, but also because while they shared similar opinions on the treatment of "freaks," Toro ultimately believed that superhumans, freaks especially, needed to assert themselves and become a power in the world in their own right that earned respect from other nations. Armadura knew that Toro meant well but also knew his temper sometimes got the better of his judgement, besides that she believed that their needed to be more mutual cooperation and an outright end to the social mindset of subdividing that the world seems stuck in. Toro struck out solo from then on, garnering a reputation as being a bit of a destructive super-hero. The two would meet every now and again since then, sometimes clashing, sometimes enjoying a nice lunch together, debate their views, or even a nice quiet (or not) evening together.
Right now La Armadura remains an activist for superhuman equality and a superhero. The superheroic luchadora certainly raises awareness of the issues and garners supporters, but like any hot-topic issue she has plenty of detractors too among norms and superhumans alike, and there are those who haven't forgotten the major controversies of her history. La Armadura is currently touring Western Europe, with plans to head to the UK and then to the United States, both on a mission to speak up for superhuman rights and to thwart villainy on the way. Amalia has often found herself wondering if she's really doing the right thing, but giving up hasn't been her style yet, and she still has letters from her family to support her. Amalia has to believe that if anyone is strong enough to do this, it's La Armadura!
So what happens when you give a luchadora superpowers? The potential for awesome that's what! Though as to keep her from being one note I did my best to put in some tragedy in her past, something she's on the mend from but not fully moved on. This allows me to have as much fun with her as I want in a fight (I'm still awaiting the chance for her to fly through the air shamelessly shouting a wrestling mood in Spanish), and yet still have a character who knows what it's like to make a mistake. Visually she was a challenge for me to be satisfied with; on one hand her old profession practically demands an outfit that leaves little to the imagination, yet it didn't sit well with me to oversell it like is so common with other superheroines; I am personally satisfied with where she ended up but I hope that I actually succeeded in the delicate balance between fanservice and being tasteful. I will not apologize for the colors though, she's a luchadora after all! Oh and shout out to Evolución for correcting my Spanish on this sheet.
La Armadura
La Armadura Bio
- Code Name: La Armadura
- Secret Identity: Amalia Belmonte
- Gender: Female
- Age: 25
- Height: 5'11"
- Weight: 149 lbs
- Eye Color: Brown
- Hair Color: Black
La Armadura Crunch
Power Level 8
Abilities = 32pts *Due to enhanced trait
- Strength: 3/10*
- Stamina: 5/10*
- Agility: 2
- Dexterity: 0
- Fighting: 4
- Intellect: 1
- Awareness: 1
- Presence: 0
Súper Fuerza: enhanced strength 7 = 14 points
Súper Resistencia: enhanced stamina 5, immunity 4 (critical hits, vacuum, pressure) = 14 points
Armadura: impervious toughness 9 = 9 points
Dureza: immunity 8 (starvation & thirst, disease, poison, all suffocation, heat, cold, radiation; limited to half effect) = 4 points
Regeneración: regeneration 2 = 2 points
Lucha Libre: 10pt array; all are alternate effects of strength-based damage = 3 points total
- Agarre Adormecedor: progressive affliction 10 (resisted by fortitude; dazed, stunned, incapacitated), grab-based, resistible (better of strength & fortitude rolls) = 1 point
- Aplastamiento: burst area damage 8, limited to targets on same surface = 1 point
- Pisotón el Suelo: burst area affliction 8 (resisted by dodge, overcome by fortitude; dazed & vulnerable, stunned & prone), extra condition, limited degree, limited to targets on same surface = 1 point
- Alt; Corrida: speed 4, dynamic = 2 points
Skills: Athletics 0 (+10), Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+6), Deception 0 (+0/+2*), Expertise: Super-humans 4 (+5), insight 4 (+5), intimidation 5 (+5), perception 4 (+5), persuasion 5 (+5/+7*), Ranged combat: Throwing 6 (+6), stealth 0 (+2) = 15 points
Defense = 11 points
- Dodge: 6
- Parry: 6
- Toughness: 10
- Fortitude: 10
- Will: 6
- Initiative +2
- Unarmed, +6, close, damage 10 (DC25)
- Throwing, +6, range, Damage 10 (DC25)
- Agarre Adormecedor, +6, grab, affliction 10 (DC20)
- Pisotón el Suelo, -, burst (DC18), affliction 8 (DC18)
- Aplastamiento, -, burst (DC18), damage 8 (DC23)
Descriptors:
Súper Fuerza: [Physical] La Armadura is super-humanly strong, capable of lifting around 25 tons! Armadura has had to practice checking her blows so as not to accidentally kill people.
Súper Resistencia: [Physical] La Armadura is afforded a great deal of endurance by her powers, being able to take powerful blows, and even withstand changes in pressure easily. Even the most powerful of blows are of less effectiveness against her.
Armadura: [Physical] True to her namesake Armadura can effortlessly shrug off blows from most normal humans, and all but the highest caliber of ordinary firearms.
Duro: [Physical] Armadura is so tough that many things that would test the endurance of most people are only about half as effective on her.
Regenerar: [Physical] Armadura has noticed that she heals slightly quicker than a normal person, even when not at rest.
Lucha Libre: [Strength] [Talent] Already a wrestler before getting her powers, Armadura has been slowly improving on and adding new tricks to her fighting techniques... with the flair expected of a luchadora of course.
- Agarre Adormecedor: [Suffocation] Once Armadura has established a grip on someone she begins applying pressure to their airways to cut off their breathing until they pass out. While Armadura is strong enough and skilled enough to normally not need to pay too much extra attention to someone in this sleeping grip once she's started, strong-enough targets can weaken her grip enough to allow airflow once again.
- Aplastamiento: [Vibrations] Armadura strikes the ground with enough force that the shockwaves (and rubble most times) will cause surrounding targets pain!
- Pisotón el Suelo: [Vibrations] By stomping on the ground Armadura creates a tremor that travels across the ground and up targets, throwing them off balance, disorienting them, and even knocking them to the ground.
Complications:
Motivation - Responsibility: La Armadura believes in using your talents, and owning your mistakes.
Secret Identity: As a luchadora Armadura feels honor-bound to keep her identity as Amalia Belmonte a secret. Only her immediate family knows who she is.
Fame: A champion luchadora turned Ultra, Armadura was and still is very famous in Spain as its premiere super-hero. Her fame, for better and for worse, became more world-wide when she became an outspoken activist criticizing the current "class-system" that the world's super-community is currently under.
Secret: La Armadura's agency has covered up the fact that in her last official match, against La Pantera, the unexpected development of La Armadura's powers led to La Pantera becoming crippled! La Armadura is almost constantly haunted by this mistake and wants to make up for it, but the agency and their contract with her forbids any open acknowledgement of this; and after being a secret for so long admitting to it now could potentially destroy her credibility as a hero.
Addiction: With help from counseling La Armadura doesn't consume near as much alcohol as she used to drink in order to cope with her depressive episodes. However whenever she does drink she does tend to drink hard enough to test even her super-human endurance.
Relationship: Mamá named Ofelia and brother names Juesús live in Spain. Ofelia runs a restaurant while Juesús is studying history in college.
Relationship: Papá named Eduardo and a sister named Doris live in the United States. Doris is married with a kid and a homemaker, while Eduardo is a mechanic; Amalia and Eduardo are currently estranged.
Rival: A "freak" named El Gran Toro. The relationship between the two is complicated. They started off foes, then after he turned a new leaf the agency encouraged their rivalry. Then they became, highly controversial, lovers, but had differences of opinion on super-humans among other things and split. How the two interact whenever they meet depends on the kind of day both of them have had.
Temper: People failing to own their mistakes is a major pet peeve for Amalia, this has led her to opening her mouth when she should've kept it shut or doing otherwise unwise things. This sometimes makes her feel like a hypocrite in regards to her greatest mistake and may instead lead her to suffer a bout of depression.
La Armadura Backstory
Amalia is the oldest of three children born to Ofelia and Eduardo Belmonte, Spanish immigrants to the United States. Amalia, her sister Doris, and her brother Juesús were never really what Eduardo wanted from any children of his, dismissive of the girls for being girls while Juesús was more intellectually inclined than the masculine Eduardo wanted. He was thus distant at his best and sometimes even outright abusive. Amalia had to grow up tough to live in her neighborhood and bear the brunt of their father so that her siblings wouldn't have to; still, as tough as she was she was still a girl to her father and nothing was ever enough for him. Finally enough was enough and Ofelia took the children to Spain with her where they could grow up without their misogynistic father.
Amalia was unfortunately embittered already by the time under her father's roof. Just to prove her father wrong Amalia continued to be athletic rather than more feminine as her mother hoped, thankfully though Ofelia never let it ruin their relationship in spite of the exasperation, and Amalia's siblings were always grateful to know that their sister always had their backs, even if they got on her nerves sometimes. Besides sports Amalia's main escape from reality was stories about super-heroes. Amalia was fascinated by the stories of the Justice Alliance and the successors that followed, eagerly eating up news stories and tall tales of her favorite super-heroes. Unusual for a "norm" perhaps was that Amalia identified with the "freaks," (a name she hates to this day), they usually had to work so much harder than "Ultras" for a fraction of the respect, something Amalia identified with and she would quietly fume or even cry anytime a "freak" turned to super-crime in response to this.
When she graduated high-school Amalia was good-looking, talented in contact sports, and secretly desiring to be more like the colorful heroes she always looked up to. Higher education was neither readily available due to how hard money would be on the family, nor even an interest to the young girl. Almost as soon as she turned eighteen Amalia went into a career as a luchadora! It was the life for "La Armadura!" As La Armadura she was excellent at wrestling and pleasing the crowd, and after an adjustment period to get over her body modesty even came to enjoy the costumes. La Armadura eventually became a champion and enjoyed a successful career, a part of her wished she could be a hero like the super-heroes she idolized, but even though this was as close as she could get it was enough.
La Armadura's last time in the ring would be against a fierce luchadora known as La Pantera. At first things were going just fine; Armadura could endure anything Pantera could bring, but then Pantera was beginning to hold Armadura in grapples even she couldn't break out of! Pantera was prepared to pull the ultimate heel move a luchadora could perform, unmask Armadura! In an instant Armadura could see everything she loved going up in smoke! The money she was sending to her family, the adulation of the crowd, the empowerment she felt wearing that costume. In an unexpected surge of strength Armadura suddenly stood back up to full height, twirled around and around with enough force to stir wind before hurling La Pantera clear out of the ring and into the corridor the challenger came in from! Everyone was stunned silent, but Armadura's manager was a savvy man and quickly spun this into a new revelation, "La Armadura es un Ultra...!!!" Despite being stunned at what she just did a quick flourish for the crowd and a well-acted smile sealed the deal.
Unfortunately for La Pantera her collision with the wall in the hallway shattered her bones and damaged her nerves, ending her career prematurely. The agency was quick to cover this up and compensate the ex-luchadora, even settling things legally, but La Armadura herself was horrified at what she had done! To this day La Armadura still donates what money she can to the nursing center La Pantera resides in. Amalia was ready to hang up the mask for good and turn herself into the police but her manager and the agency as a whole managed to convince La Armadura that this was an opportunity, both for her career, and to do real good. Amalia reluctantly agreed and soon received training from a more experienced super-human with similar powers to control her strength. After which she gave up her championship, and became Spain's premiere superhero!
La Armadura's career as a superhero eclipsed her career as a luchadora; Spain had few superhumans and even fewer ultras, and La Armadura's tendency to approach heroics with much the same loud persona she had as a luchadora made her very popular. Merchandise sales skyrocketed, news outlets ate up her appearances at festivals and events, and no super-villain she thwarted ever escaped unflattering photos for news outlets and social media. La Armadura herself loved it, finally her she was living the life she always dreamed of, however there were times that her guilt at injuring La pantera would eat away at her, and the agency often had to work hard to spin or hide La Armadura's depressive episodes. Fortunately therapy, using her money to help her brother's education, donations to charity, and her life saving heroics helped shore up her self-esteem and kept her from downing all of the alcohol in Spain.
A major turning point in La Armadura's career was after confronting a disgruntled freak named El Gran Toro, a bull-like freak who had decided enough was enough regarding the treatment of freaks. La Armadura had a destructive battle arresting him, but sympathizing with his plight and her guilt pushing her to disobey her agency's objections, La Armadura publicly came to his defense to battle the trumped up charges he faced, calling them prejudiced and unfair for just being who he is! This launched Armadura into fame, or infamy, worldwide for her outspoken opinions for superhuman rights and strong criticism of the labels of "Ultra" and "Freak." Toro himself, after serving his sentence, ended up being scooped up by La Armadura's agency and billed as her rival in order to cool some of the controversy that La Armadura stirred up. And for a while it seemed to work, despite some philosophical agreements they still both had stubborn personalities and a competitive streak, but then this publicity stunt backfired when the two secretly began dating, which did not stay secret for long.
The relationship ultimately did not survive, in part due to the controversy, but also because while they shared similar opinions on the treatment of "freaks," Toro ultimately believed that superhumans, freaks especially, needed to assert themselves and become a power in the world in their own right that earned respect from other nations. Armadura knew that Toro meant well but also knew his temper sometimes got the better of his judgement, besides that she believed that their needed to be more mutual cooperation and an outright end to the social mindset of subdividing that the world seems stuck in. Toro struck out solo from then on, garnering a reputation as being a bit of a destructive super-hero. The two would meet every now and again since then, sometimes clashing, sometimes enjoying a nice lunch together, debate their views, or even a nice quiet (or not) evening together.
Right now La Armadura remains an activist for superhuman equality and a superhero. The superheroic luchadora certainly raises awareness of the issues and garners supporters, but like any hot-topic issue she has plenty of detractors too among norms and superhumans alike, and there are those who haven't forgotten the major controversies of her history. La Armadura is currently touring Western Europe, with plans to head to the UK and then to the United States, both on a mission to speak up for superhuman rights and to thwart villainy on the way. Amalia has often found herself wondering if she's really doing the right thing, but giving up hasn't been her style yet, and she still has letters from her family to support her. Amalia has to believe that if anyone is strong enough to do this, it's La Armadura!