Basic Action Super Heroes!

I've been working on a crossover-heavy alternate universe Megapolis (hence, Earth-X) where there's an FF-style team (since that's our schtick) and the Defenders are replaced by the Freedom Ring.

The idea of borough-specific characters is interesting to explore, from the bright, hopeful Dorchester team to the South Town renegades.

Anyway, without further ado...

Future Force - Megapolis Edition
Black Viper, Rogue Vigilante
Gladiatrix, fearless Defender of Megapolis

Future Force Adventures:
Issue #1 To the Furthest Dimension! (Part One)
Issue #2 To the Furthest Dimension! (Part Two)
Issue #3 The Soul of Psyche

THE FUTURE FORCE is Megapolis' premier hi-tech super team. They live and work in a new headquarters building near the Megapolis University campus, where they share their discoveries with other scientists and engineers.

Headquarters Stats (12 points)

Powers: Sensor Suite: Scan 2 (Mind x5 for scanning) 2 pts, Holographic Computer Interface: Illusion 2 (visual, tactile) 2 pts, Stun Rays: Daze (5 sq range) 3 pts

Advantages: Garage/Hangar Bay, Heavily Defended, Laboratory, Staff¹, Super Computer, Workshop
¹Hovering robot assistant named Sammi (Self-Aware Mobile Mechanical Intelligence)

Disadvantages: Publicly Known

Flying Car (21 points)

B2, A2, M1 Powers: Size 1 (4 passengers, +5 Brawn & Soak, -1 dice penalty to Defense) 1 pt, Heightened Brawn 1 pt, Immunity (suffocation) 1 pt, Hovering (8 squares) 1 pt, Flight 3 [space enhancement] 4 pts, Super Swimming 1 (6 sq/panel, 60 mph top speed) 1 pt, Scan 2 2 pts



--------------------

CHROME (David Strong) grew up in Steel Town where he mostly kept to himself, concentrating on his studies while others played sports or joined gangs. He was awarded an engineering scholarship to Megapolis University, where he met a young Adam Austin. Together they built the experimental Nexus reactor, but when it malfunctioned during a test, the reactor's alloy casing fused with David's skin. The accident granted him superhuman strength and durability, but forever marked him as someone not quite human.

B4, A2, M2
Soak x7, Defense x2, Mental Defense x2

Powers:
Organic Metal Skin: Armor 3 3 pts
Heavy-Handed Brawler: Special Attack 2 (x6 dmg) 2 pts
Martial Arts Mastery 1 (grappling: +2x3 grab, +1 DM) 1 pt
Engineer: Skillful 1 pt
Vibratory Shock Wave: Push 2 (medium cone, x8 knockback) [extra effect: triggers effects of sound-based weaknesses or susceptibility] 3 pts

Skills: Craftsmanship x3 (Metalwork), Humanities x2 (Architecture), Science x3 (Metallurgy), Technology x2 (Repair)

Advantages: Fearless, Headquarters

Disadvantages: Freak, Public ID, Susceptibility (electromagnetic effects)

Mental Malfunction: A man of few words who will never back down from danger. Chrome is uncomfortable with fame but is learning to deal with his public notoriety.

25 points (16 stats, 10 powers, 2 advantages, -3 disadvantages)



--------------------

KID MARVEL (Adam Austin) was a wiz kid from a young age, and began taking university level courses when most of his classmates were trying out for little league. As a teenager Adam discovered an extradimensional energy source which he dubbed Nexus energy, and designed a reactor to help him tap into it. The project went awry, however, and the energy warped Adam's body into a rubbery form, allowing him to inflate himself into an acrobatic bouncing ball. Now as Kid Marvel he serves as Megapolis' resident super genius.

B1, A2, M4
Soak x3, Defense x2 (x3 bouncing dodge), Mental Defense x4+3

Weakness: x2 dmg from cutting/piercing weapons

Powers:
Big Brain: Heightened Mind 1 pt
Rubbery Body: Armor 2 2 pts
Immunity (falling dmg) 1 pt
Resistance (electricity, crush/joint locks) 1 pt
Bouncing Ball: Boost Brawn/Agility 1 (for bouncing) 2 pts
Super Jump (40 sq) 1 pt
Bouncing Attacks: Special Attack 3 [variable] 4 pts
-Body Slam (x3 hit, x5 dmg)
-Pinball Machine (medium burst, x3 dmg)
-Round Mound of Rebound (x3 hit, x4 dmg, Richocet 1)

Skills: Athletics x2 (Acrobatics), Computers x4+3 (Program), Pilot x2 (Control), Science x4+3 (Physics), Technology x5+3 (Invent)

Advantages: Gadgeteer, Super Vehicle

Disadvantages: Public ID

Mental Malfunction: Boy genius inventor and explorer. Kid Marvel loves the thrill of discovery and pushing the boundaries of human knowledge.

25 points (14 stats, 12 powers, 2 advantages, -1 disadvantage, -2 weakness)



--------------------

WILDSTAR (Jordan Rose) is an East View native and former photographer for the Grizzly Gazette, Megapolis University's student newspaper. She covered the test of the Nexus reactor, brainchild of two MU alumns, but her body absorbed massive amounts of energy during the accident that empowered the Future Force. Afterwards, Jordan discovered that she could channel and manipulate this energy, and became the super heroine known as Wildstar.

B1, A2, M2
Soak x1, Defense x2 (x4 with force shields), Mental Defense x2

Powers:
Flight 4 (20 sq) 4 pts
Force Power Focus: Boost Mind 2 (for hard light powers) 2 pts
Hard Light Multi-Power 8 pts
-Force Field Projection: Force Field 4 [variable]
-Force Weapons: Special Attack 4 [variable]
-Tractor Beam: Telekinesis 4 [enhanced range increment: 10 sq; limitation: power beam can't penetrate physical obstructions or force fields]

Skills: Athletics x3 (Aerobatics), Humanities x2 (Fashion, Photograhy)

Advantages: Appeal, Versatile

Disadvantages: Public ID

Mental Malfunction: Wildstar is outgoing and a bit of a daredevil. She enjoys the attention that comes from being a publicly known super hero.

25 points (10 stats, 14 powers, 2 advantages, -1 disadvantage)

BLACK VIPER (Angelique Morgan) hails from the mean streets of New Kingstown, where it was said that she inherited her grandmother's second sight - a sixth sense that helped her ward off evil. She also studied mixed martial arts to protect herself in her rough neighborhood. After getting a job as an investigator with the Megapolis DA's office, Angelique became frustrated by the number of criminals who beat the system through witness intimidation and corruption. She decided to make them pay for their crimes, even if it meant working outside the law to do so, and thus she took on the identity of the rogue hero Black Viper.

B2, A2, M2
Soak x2 (x4 v. hand-to-hand), Defense x4, Mental Defense x6

Powers:
Kick Boxer: Martial Arts Mastery 1 (tough style) 1 pt
Weapon Technique (unarmed +2) [variable] 3 pts
Danger Sense 3 pts
Strength of Purpose: Mind Shield 2 2 pts
Highly Trained: Skillful 2 2 pts

Skills: Athletics x3 (Acrobatics), Drive x2 (Acceleration), Investigation x2 (Questioning), Social Science x2 (Law), Stealth x3 (Prowling), Streetwise x2 (Crime)

Advantages: Contacts

Disadvantages: None

Mental Malfunction: Black Viper wants to bring justice to criminals who think they're above the law.

24 points (12 stats, 11 powers, 1 advantage)

Some tinkering with the setting idea. I thought it might be neat to tie in "the Blue" from Blue Beacon fame by having the Nexus energy be an alternate universe version of that phenomenon. Maybe in this universe there isn't a specific Lady Cosmic (or maybe there is) and the energy itself is more of a semi-sentient power source.

So Wildstar gets a blue energy makeover, and a bit of a character makeover as it was suggested maybe she could have a more creative skill/hobby that would tie into solid energy shaping, like Kyle Raynor as an artist (who was also a Blue Lantern at some point).

Second note, I reconsidered using the Defenders as the other big supers team in town, but I've come up with a hybrid roster featuring Megapolis and Freedom Ring characters:

Shockwave (team leader)
Moon Shadow
Min-Max
Itsy-Bitsy

The idea of the by-the-book Shockwave trying to teach/lead the anti-establishment Min-Max and Itsy-Bitsy is an appealing source of team conflict, even if they're not going to be the main focus of a game.

These are cool; but you might consider giving Kid Marvel the actual Bouncing power!

The Bouncing power is a better representation of what Kid Marvel does. The problem is, I find the slam rules confusing compared to normal combat. I have to keep looking it up and figuring out what modifiers to use. It becomes like a Hero System game.

So due to my limited brain power, I prefer not to involve slams on a regular basis if it can be helped.

A new hero for the Defenders roster...

GLADIATRIX (Renee Washington) was just an innocent bystander on a day when Shockwave was trying to foil a bank robbery, and the Game Master suddenly appeared to "increase the difficulty level". Shockwave was pushed to the limit, and for a moment the villains seemed to have him at their mercy. That's when Renee leaped in to shield Shockwave from a looming coup de grace, impressing the Game Master with her courage and selflessness. The Game Master spared Renee and Shockwave, and granted Renee the strength and agility of a peak human athlete. He also bestowed on her an impenetrable unobtanium shield with which to protect the innocent, and she joined the Defenders as the new super heroine Gladiatrix.

B2, A2, M2
Soak x2+3, Defense x2+3, Mental Defense x4

Powers:
Superb Athlete: Heightened Brawn/Agility 2 pts
Fleet of Foot (run 8 sq, jump 5 sq) 1 pt
Strong-Willed: Mind Shield 1 pt
Weapon Technique (unarmed +1 hit, +1 DM) 2 pts
Super Shield Multi-Power 4 pts [easily taken gadget]
-Deflect 3 (Defense x5+3)
-Shield Bashing/Throwing: Special Attack 3 [variable]

Skills: Athletics x3 (Throwing), Commerce x2 (Accounting), Medicine x2 (First Aid)

Advantages: Fearless, Membership (Defenders)

Disadvantages: Public ID

Mental Malfunction: A patriotic American who firmly believes that being a hero is more about what's on the inside than what's on the outside.

23 points (12 stats, 10 powers, 2 advantages, -1 disadvantage)

How are you drawing these things? I find it strange that they all have the same pose.

I'm just using Hero Machine. That's the standard pose.

Here is a link for Hero Machine, if you want to give it a try.

http://www.heromachine.com/heromachine- ... t-creator/

I looked it up myself, and made a character with it. Well, the free one anyway. It doesn't look quite like what I wanted, mostly because I couldn't change the shape of the head. I really should just learn to draw.

Yeah, I run into that problem too. Kid Marvel, for instance, should not look so buff, but there wasn't a less buff male body option. He should look more like this old pic

To the Furthest Dimension! (Part One)

Megapolis' newest super heroes, the Future Force, are participating in the New Year's Day parade when a shadow falls over the festivities - literally. It appears to be a solar eclipse. The problem is, no solar eclipse is scheduled for months.

After further investigation, the team discovers that the apparent eclipse is actually caused by a dimensional portal opening up high in Earth orbit, bending sunlight around it.

Kid Marvel has theorized about clusters of alternate universes which branch off, like speciation in evolution. And it turns out that this spatial portal leads back to the oldest parallel universe in our local cluster - the previously hypothetical Dimension Zero.

The Future Force are planning an exploratory mission to Dimension Zero when a sudden surge of energy from the portal drags the International Space Station into it! The exploration now turns into a rescue mission, as the Future Force prepares to follow the space station into this alternate universe in the hopes of retrieving the trapped scientists aboard...

Very nice job on Gladiatrix!

BASHMAN wrote:Very nice job on Gladiatrix!

Thanks. I started out trying to do a Wonder Woman style pic that didn't look like an underwear model, but she ended up more as a Captain America type.