Manticore's CADs

[Manticore]

I have to give credit to Wildknight for the character name, the basic motivations and giving me the idea. Thanks Wildknight!

Character Name: THE DEGENERATE
Secret Identity: Billy Rafalski

Abilities:
Int: 4
Str: 2
Agi: 3
Spd: 2
Dur: 3

Actions:
Close Combat: 4
(Agility Bonus or Weapon Modifier)
- Martial Arts Training
- Blades
- Fist Fighting
- Dirty Tricks

Ranged Combat: 4
(Weapon Modifier)
- Handguns
- Shotguns
- Non-lethal weapons
- Unusual or 'gimmick' weapons

Vigilante (as 'Thieving'): 4
(Agility Bonus)
- Breaking and Entering
- Hacking computers
- Gathering information
- Sneaking around

Fear: 5
- He became 'the Degenerate' to strike fear into the hearts of members of the criminal community.

Social Skills: 3
- Vigilante
- 'Persuasion'
- Underworld Culture

Vehicle Operation: 3
- Cars
- Light vehicles
- Military vehicles

Technology: 4
(Intelligence Bonus)

Climbing/Acrobatics: 3
(Agility Bonus)

Modifiers:
Human
Mental Defence: +4
Toughness: +1
Wealth: 3

Equipment:
Armour (+3), based on the armour used by the Professional. The following items are built in to the armour: the Cloak of Concealment (renders the wearer scentless and grants Invisibility: 3 when hiding in the shadows. It was taken from the villain, Nightshadow), Knuckledusters (+1), Suction Gloves (+2 to Climbing, taken from the villain, Gecko), the Mask of Fear (+2 to Fear, taken from a nameless crime boss), the Spotter's Goggles (+4 enhanced vision; infrared, telescopic, ultraviolet, night vision, microscopic. Taken from the villain, Spotter), Concealed Blade (+2), Communicator device.

The Ring of Levitation was taken from the hitman, Zero G. It grants Flight: 3 or Telekinesis: 5.

The Needler (+3, range: 3 attack vs durability to incapacitate). Used to belong to Cactus Pete. Ah... such a wasted talent. He was a real craftsman. He could have been rich. But instead he went around wearing a green foam rubber costume and trying to rob banks.

Web Gun (+4, range: 2 if you get through defence you web opponent). Taken from the Silk Spider.

The Executioner, (+4, range: 4, 2x dmg. Can be loaded with Explosive Shells (3x dmg), Scatter Shot (Area Effect) or AP ammo (Armour Piercing). It was the favoured side-arm of the assassin, the Professional.


Challenges:
Haunted Past: 3
(His wife and kids were murdered. He seeks to avenge them.)
Deadly Enemies: 5
(He has a great many enemies. From supervillains to crime lords to street-level thugs. For a long time his nemesis was the Professional, an assassin who prided himself on efficiency and success.)
Obsession with Justice: 2
(He will never harm the innocent. He has no qualms about roughing up criminals but he will only kill those who have done something horrible enough to deserve it. He will always try to reduce collateral damage to the minimum.
Obsession with Fairness: 2
(He will always try to right wrongs and help people who deserve help. He will always try to make sure his actions cause as little harm as possible to ordinary people. If he is, for example, forced to steal a car in order to save a life, he will return the car, and offer to pay for petrol, damage and for the loan of the car.)
Underlying Compulsion: 2
(He is driven on by a subconscious desire to save his wife and kids from a horrible death. They're long dead, but his subconscious doesn't know that.)
A Wanted Criminal: 2
(The police have a warrant out for his arrest. Vigilantism is illegal. However, the Degenerate refuses to fight the police or put them in danger, and most of the police aren't too keen to catch him.)


Background:

Billy Rafalski was an ordinary man. Just an ordinary man who came home one day to find that his wife and his two children had been brutally murdered.

He would never truly get over this loss. He had hoped that the police would catch the man who did this. But as the months passed, it became clear that the police had no leads. The mystery would go forever unsolved.

Perhaps it was then that Billy decided. It was the knowledge that did it; there was a killer out there who would never be punished; who would go on to commit worse crimes, to kill other people, destroy other families and ruin other peoples' lives.

All his life, Billy had believed, perhaps somewhat foolishly, that there was some fairness in the world. His parents had instilled in him a keen sense of morality; of right and wrong; he believed that good people would be rewarded in life and bad people would be punished. That's what should happen. Billy had great respect for the law and for those who tried to uphold the law, but all too often it seemed like guilty people got off scot free and it was only the ordinary decent folk who suffered.

So when it seemed like the world had revealed its true face to him; its true, callous, uncaring nature; he decided that he would redress the balance. He would take it upon himself to punish the guilty and protect the weak. No longer could evil people pervert the law to shield themselves.

Billy won his first few victories against criminals with luck, careful planning, and righteous fury. After winning a battle against his first supervillain, he thought: why not take their gadgets and use them myself? Soon, he had gathered an arsenal of stolen gimmicks and gadgets. He decided that he would no longer be a lone shotgun-toting vigilante.

Instead, he decided that he would build up his reputation to cause the same fear in criminals that they did in ordinary folk. He would become the Degenerate, a creature that seemed both human and somehow less than human; a dark legend; the terror of the underworld. He would be their monster. The bogeyman. He would show them that there were consequences to their evil actions. He was the hammer of justice, striking without mercy.

Of course, it didn't always go as he planned, but that's a story for another day.

[Manticore]

Character Name: THE FREEDOM FIGHTER (c. 1944)
Secret Identity: Franklin D. Johnson
Hair Colour: Blond
Eye Colour: Blue
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 200 lbs

Abilities:
Int: 5
Str: 3
Agi: 3
Spd: 3
Dur: 3

Actions:
Ranged Combat: 6
(Weapon Modifier)
- Rifles
- Pistols
- Assault Weapons
- Grenades
- Rocket Launchers
- Energy Weapons

Close Combat: 4
(Weapon Modifier or Strength Bonus)
- Army Rangers Training
- Knives
- Hand to hand
- Use of powers in combat

Black Ops: 5
- Sabotage
- Rescue Missions
- Covert Operations
- Infiltrations
- Survival Behind Enemy Lines

Leadership: 4

Social Skills:4
- Obfuscating Stupidity
- Friendly and Charismatic
- Speaks several languages fluently
- Military Protocol

General Knowledge: 2
(Intelligence Bonus)
- American Culture
- American History

Vehicle Operation: 4
- Cars
- Boats
- Military Vehicles
- Military Aircraft

Technology: 3
(Intelligence Bonus)

Modifiers:
Human
Wealth: +1
Toughness: +2
Mental Defence: +2
Team Affiliations: U.S. Military, U.S. Army Rangers, Liberators

'Sphere of Influence': 6
- The Freedom Fighter can warp reality. This power is limited only by his imagination and by its very limited range (no more than 3 inches away from him). In the past, the Freedom Fighter has used this power to enhance his physical abilities beyond what is humanly possible, giving him superhuman strength, agility, durability and/or speed. He has also used it to make his attacks especially damaging by warping his opponents' flesh as his fists connect (as Phase Attack, 3x dmg). He has used it bend bullets and energy beams away from himself (as Force Field), and to walk across walls and on water (as Wall-Crawling/Water-Walking.)


Equipment:
Mask
Cowboy Hat
Long, Drab Coat (+1 situational modifier when trying to hide)
Sturdy pair of combat boots
Body Armour: +1
2 Combat Knives +1

2 Turbo-Pistols (+4)
- Designed by the Gadgeteer
- 2x dmg
- He can use both pistols in one panel, as long as he attacks two separate targets. (+4/+2 when he uses them both together.)


Challenges:
Power and Responsibility:
- Frank has been given extraordinary power. He feels the weight of the responsibility to use that power for good, to make the world a better place.

Ideology:
- Frank genuinely believes in freedom, equality and justice for all. That means everybody.

Deadly Enemies:
- Nazis, Nazi Super-Soldiers... all kinds of racists, fascists and communists.

Despised By His Superiors:
- Many of Franks' bosses see him as nothing more than a useful symbol. Good for propaganda and little else. They think that his idealism is unrealistic and that he is a dangerous radical. They'd probably be happy if he were to die in some suitably heroic and inspiring way.


Background:
Franklin D. Johnson was a young soldier in the US army in World War II. In 1942, he was recruited for the 1st Ranger Battalion and began training, at which he excelled (in those days the Rangers and the British Commandos were more like special forces units, like the SAS) Later he would carry out many dangerous special operations, raiding the French coast, fighting in Italy and North Africa.

However, his life was forever changed with one special mission, deep into the heart of the German defences. It was effectively a suicide mission. He (and all the other brave men who agreed to go on that mission) knew that they had no chance of coming back from it. But there was no other choice. The Nazis were building a superweapon that could wipe entire countries off the map with a single blast. Unless they were stopped before it could be completed (and even then, they would still have to destroy the prototypes and the backup) the war was as good as lost.

The allies launched a daring air raid, dropping dozens of paratroopers on the factory under cover of night (and under the cover of a lot of bombs being dropped). After a brief, vicious battle, the factory was wrecked, the guards were dead, the (innocent?) scientists were dead, most of the paratroopers were dead, and the superweapon was activated. Frank had no way of knowing where it was aimed, or what it would do when it was fired, but he knew he had to try to shut it down. Thousands, maybe millions of lives were at stake if he didn't turn off the machine before it was too late.

Well, it worked. Sort of. The machine blew up, with a massive explosion that destroyed the entire factory and everything for several blocks around. Miraculously, Franklin Johnson survived, but not unscathed. The strange energies of the machine was changed him. Warped him. It gave him superpowers. After that, it wasn't exactly difficult to get back to Britain and join up with the army again.

Except now he was a superhero. Now, he was the Freedom Fighter! He would fight for freedom, justice and the American Way! He would fight for the liberation of Europe and the defeat of Nazi Germany! Johnson was a clever man. He knew how to use propaganda and how to inspire people. He fashioned himself into a patriotic symbol; he became an inspirational figure; a totem for all of the Americans fighting in Europe in World War II.

Joining up with other Allied "Superheroes", he formed a special group, pooling their resources against the Nazis. They were "The Liberators". And that's how this all began...


Description:
I imagine him thus: Blond hair, blue eyes. Muscular (this guy was special forces before he was a superhero). He wears a cowboy hat. A shirt with the stars-and-stripes patterned across it. His coat and pants are drab-coloured, so that he can hide and have at least some camouflage. A star-shaped belt buckle. At the moment he's carrying two pistols, but at other times he uses a rifle or combat knives. A good set of combat boots. He wears a cloth mask (a bit like Grifter's mask- except, again, it's patterned after the stars-and-stripes.) And he can walk on walls and water.

[Manticore]

"Justice, like lightning, ever should appear to few men's ruin, but to all men's fear. Of mortal justice if thou scorn the rod, believe and tremble, thou art judged of God."
- Milo Sweetman, Archbishop of Armagh (died in 1380 AD)


Character Name: STORMWARDEN (c. 1944)
Secret Identity: Lancelot Joseph Winters
Other Names: Hurricane, Weathermaster, Lightningbolt
Hair Colour: Dark Brown
Eye Colour: Brown
Height: 5'10
Weight: 176 lbs

Abilities:
Int: 3
Str: 2
Agi: 5
Spd: 6
Dur: 4

Actions:
Mastery of Weather: 9
- Immune to the effects of Weather
- Create/Manipulate Wind, Rain, Snow, Lightning etc
- Accumulate Energy
- Lightning Bolt (2x dmg)

Flight: 6
- Limited Maneuverability

Close Combat: 3
(Speed Bonus or Weapon Modifier)
- US Army Training
- Hand-to-hand
- Self-Defence

Ranged Combat: 3
(Weapon Modifier)
- US Army Training
- Rifle
- Pistol

Black Ops: 2
- Concealment
- Covert Operations

Technology: 2
(Intelligence Bonus)

Social Skills: 3
- African-American Culture
- New York City Culture
- Military Protocol

Vehicle Operation: 1
- Military Vehicles

Modifiers:
Human Cyborg (but he looks like a perfectly normal human)
Wealth: +1
Team Affiliation: US Army, the Liberators
Toughness: +3
- no 2x dmg from firearms
Reflexive Dodge: +2
Enhanced Vision: 5 (nightvision, infrared, electrical energy/fields)
Healing Factor (Cyborg)

Equipment:
Pistol: +2, 2x dmg (it's his back-up weapon)
Coat (+1 concealment)

Challenges:
He's a black man living in a time when racism was much worse than it is today. (3 white stones)

The device that gave him his powers has changed the insides of his body beyond recognition. He is afraid that he has lost his humanity. (3 white stones)

His brain is being rewired (literally). He is unsure of what will happen to him. Is the device trying to help him or is it trying to replace him? (2 white stones)

Deadly Enemies: Nazis, Nazi Super-Soldiers... all kinds of white supremacists, racists and fascists. (4 white stones)


Background:
Lance Winters was a young black man working in New York's scrapyards in the late 1930's, breaking up big ships into little pieces of scrap metal. He was perfectly ordinary; bright and intelligent, fascinated with machinery; but still ordinary. Until he found the 'device', and his life changed forever.

It didn't seem like much. Bob Sandler had kept it on his desk for decades, used it as a paperweight. It was a small, round ball-shaped object, flattened on one side. There were signs of intricate design work. Whoever had made the thing had put it together very neatly. It looked like it was designed to slot into something, as if this was just one piece of a puzzle; but nobody could find any of the other pieces. Lance was fascinated with the object. Every time he went past Bob's desk, he went inside to take a look and play around with it some more. He had the feeling that it was special, that it was unlike any machine he had ever encountered before.

Finally, he asked Bob if he could buy the 'device' from him. 'OK,' Bob said. 'Yes, if you like it so much.' And so, for the price of a few dollars, Lance was the proud owner of a mysterious 'device'.

He left it alone for a while after that. There were many other demands on his time. He was content just to own it. But he couldn't just leave well enough alone. He found himself tinkering with it, after hours. It called to him. He wanted to know what was inside.

One day, he managed to cut open the outer shell, exposing the intricate wiring inside. He marvelled at what he saw. It was obviously more sophisticated than anything he'd seen before. He doubted that even the maddest of mad scientists had ever made something like this. It was incredible. It was like nothing on planet Earth.

Thinking that the machinery was broken, he continued to mess around with it. But the 'device' was not broken; at least not entirely. Unwittingly, he activated one of its defence mechanisms. He was knocked unconscious.

When he woke up, the 'device' was gone, leaving nothing but the empty casing. There was a wound in his hand. A small, bloodless hole. Like a parasitic worm, the device had crawled inside him through the wound in his hand. He could feel it moving about inside his body, changing him. It had fused with him, turned him into a cyborg, without his knowledge and against his will. He screamed in terror, but there was no way out of this nightmare, and no one was coming to rescue him.

He soon realised that there were advantages to his condition. He was tougher, stronger and faster than before. The device was redesigning his body according to its own set of specifications. Soon, he discovered that he could control the weather. All he had to do was think: 'It would be nice if there was a cool breeze, round about now', or 'I wish it would stop raining' and it would happen. He quickly learned how to control this ability.

Indeed, it gave him a great deal of control; he could create massive storms, gale-force winds and searing blasts of electricity; but also he could control his clouds finely enough that they would rain on a single flower, or his winds with such delicacy that they could lift a plate up from one table, spin it high in the air, and then set it down again, gently, on another table. (He has Mastery of Weather: 9. That makes him unbelievably powerful.)

Lance Winters had all this power, but he wasn't sure what to do with it. He was afraid that at any moment someone might find out his secret. They would take him away to a lab somewhere and dissect him to find out more about the 'device'. He didn't want to die. So he kept to himself, and he kept his mouth firmly shut. He didn't use his powers, except when there was no one else around to see.

One night, he interrupted a mugging-in-progress. Without thinking, he put a stop to it. He knocked out the muggers and saved their victim from harm. Then he ran away, blindly, without accepting thanks or waiting for the cops. He was afraid that they would track him down.

He didn't become a hero. Not then. He used his powers to make the lives of people around him better in small ways that couldn't be traced back to him; a nice, sunny day for a parade, or a localised shower of rain to revive the sad, wilting flowers in a neighbour's window box. He continued to hide.

When the Second World War started, he joined up with the U.S. army. He was among the troops sent over to Britain to fight in the European theater of war. It wasn't until he was in battle, in North Africa, that he revealed what he could do. Single-handedly, he turned the tide of a battle. The German soldiers were pelted with hailstones, buffeted by the wind and blinded in the mist. Their tanks and gun emplacements were struck by lightning, drowned in pits of thick black mud, or else they were made too cold, damp and dangerous to use. Lance was a hero, credited with saving the lives of hundreds of men, and single-handedly responsible for winning a decisive victory.

As the Stormwarden, Lance proved himself in several battles after that. Then he met a man named Frank Johnson (otherwise known as the Freedom Fighter) who asked him to join a special team; a team of people with abilities as powerful and wonderful as his own... the Liberators!

[Manticore]

Character Name: Three-Fingers Rawley
Real Name: Patrick Rawley

Abilities: (15w 1r)
Intelligence: 2
Strength: 6
Agility: 3
Speed: 2
Durability: 5

Actions: (5w)
Close Combat: 3
(Strength Bonus or Weapon Modifier)
- Fists

Ranged Combat: 1
(Weapon Modifier)

General Knowledge: 1
(Intelligence Bonus)

Private Investigating: 2

Medical Healing: 2

Vehicle Operation: 2

Social Skills: 2
- Streetwise


Modifiers: (9w 2r)
Toughness: 4
- no 2x dmg from firearms

Enhanced Vision: 2
- he has a limited ability to see the 'Emerald' energy fields.


Challenges:
He feels no pain.
He's lost several fingers.
His sense of touch is dulled.
Most people think he is stupid.

Background:

As a child, Patrick Rawley was hit by a random blast of Emerald energy. It changed him. It made him big and strong. His skin became hard and leathery. However, his sense of touch was significantly dulled, and he completely lost the ability to feel pain. This wasn't as good as you might think. He ends up cutting himself by accident, and usually he has no idea that he has been cut. Sometimes these cuts get infected.

That's part of the reason why he has lost two fingers on each hand (also, he was rather unlucky in one of his previous jobs, back when he was working as a docker. He's lost a great deal of manual dexterity in his hands (which is why he can't shoot worth a damn), and he's covered in all kinds of unsightly scars.

He's not particularly intelligent, but he's not as stupid as most people seem to think he is. He seems dull-witted and slow of speech, but if you take the time to listen to him, you'll find out that he's actually quite well-informed. He's good at listening, and he's good at his job.

At least, he was... until the old firm closed down and he was laid off. Now, he's unemployed, currently wondering what to do with himself.

[Manticore]

Character Name: Oswald Gray
Nicknames: Mister Gray, the Grey Man
Species: Android

Abilities (12w)
Int: 4 (2w)
Str: 3 (1w)
Agi: 3 (1w)
Spd: 3 (1w)
Dur: 3 (1w)

Health 3

Energy: 4 (2w)
Energy Pool: 20

Regen: 4 (2w)

Wealth: 5 (3w)

Actions: (21w)

Detective: 5 (4w)
-Efficient (+1CL)
- Following a lead
- Questioning suspects
- Looking for clues
- Breaking and entering
- Opening locks

Technology: 5 (3w)
(Intelligence Bonus)

Close Combat: 4 (2w)
(Strength Bonus or Weapon Modifier)
- Hand-to-hand
- Grappling
- Brawling
- Disarming

Ranged Combat: 4 (2w)
(Weapon Modifier)
- Handguns
- Shotguns
- Futuristic Weaponry
- Energy Weapons

Social Skills: 7 (2w)
-GM cost discount
- longtime citizen of the Emerald Coast
- Charm
- Persuasion
- Old-Fashioned

Inventing: 4 (7w)
(Intelligence Bonus)
- In Alien Lab only

General Knowledge: 2 (1w)
(Intelligence Bonus)
- Rumours and Urban Legends
- Computer Archives of data inside his artificial brain


Modifiers: (3w)
Android endoskeleton
Toughness: +2
Wealth: 5


Equipment: (17 w)
-Alien Lab (free) +2 to Oswald’s Tech/Inventing skill

Energy Blaster (+3) (6w)
-RC weapon +1 CL(it's really just a custom pistol that fires different types of rounds, and anything +2 or above is +1 CL)
-x2 dmg +2 CL
-Exclusivity: must be charged by Gray, or disintegrates (charging occurs between issues) +1 CL

PDA/Notebook 2 (9w)
as "Biocomputing"
-Supplies own stones (+4)
-Adds to any "Investigative Actions" (+2)

Trenchcoat +3 Energy Defense (2w)
-Exclusivity, disintegrates after 1 week; only Gray's Machines can make another (+1CL)

Battered Old Car (ah... it contains a few surprises)


Challenges:
Mysterious Past (3 stones)
Deadly Enemies (2 stones)
A Man Out Of Time (2 stones) - he still looks and acts like a Private Detective from the 1930s.
Cynical (1 stone)
Addiction to cigarettes and alcohol (1 stone) - sure, he can give up any time he likes. Yeah right.
Sense of duty (1 stone) - he has been commanded to defend the city and keep its people safe. He will try his utmost to do just that.

[Manticore]

John Darkholme




Species: Mutant
Age: 12
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 110 lbs
Hair Colour: Blue
Eye Colour: Brown


Abilities:
Int: 4* (Intelligence-based Energy)
Str: 2
Agi: 2
Spd: 2

Hlth: 3
ER: 2
Stam: 2

Health: 3
Energy: 15
Regeneration: 5


Actions:
Close Combat: 3
(Agility bonus or Weapon Modifier; Hand-to-Hand, Brotherhood Training, Trained by Mystique)
Ranged Combat: 3
(Weapon Modifier; Trained by Mystique, Handguns, Sniper Rifle)
Stealth: 3
(Brotherhood Training, Urban Survival, Demolitions)
Technology: 2
(Intelligence bonus; Repair [as Medical Healing for Vehicles or Robotics])
Social Skills: 1
(Mutant Culture)
Invisibility: 5


Modifiers:
Mental Conditioning (Defense) (+3)
Invisible Force Field (Toughness) (+3) [nullifies Armor Penetration, only while Invisible]
Team Affiliations: The Brotherhood of Mutants
Reflexive Dodge (+1)
Wealth (0)


Challenges:
Mutant
Non-Human Appearance (3w)
Haunted Past (2w)
Mentally Unstable (2w)
Conflicting Interests (2w)
Tendency to stick up for the underdog (1w)


Background:
John Darkholme is the son of the mutant terrorist, Mystique. He has no idea of who his father is and his mother refuses to talk about it. Mystique has had many lovers, and John has always assumed that his father was one of her paramours; a man Mystique loved enough to bear his child, but who subsequently fell out of favour. That happened a lot¹. Many times, John has looked around at the older members of the Brotherhood wondering which (if any of them) is his father.

It was obvious that John Darkholme was a mutant from the moment he was born. His blue skin and hair was a dead giveaway. But it was years before his power of invisibility manifested. As a child, brought up by terrorists, he learned to hide and keep out of sight. Even before he could turn invisible, he knew how to go unnoticed. It was better that way. Some of the members of the Brotherhood were mean-spirited and vicious (well, most of them, to be honest). They saw nothing wrong with venting their anger on a small child; beating him, shouting at him, locking him up in dark cupbards; he was heavily punished for being "naughty" even when he had done nothing wrong. His mother did nothing to save him. Sometimes she was the instigator of these punishments.

When he was six years old (give or take a few months) John Darkholme had already realised that the best thing he could do was to keep out of the way. Out of sight, out of mind. He spent a lot of time exploring the attics and basements of the latest Brotherhood hideout, finding places where no one else would ever go, secret spaces where he could hide and play and be himself. It seemed ideal. There were no adults there to pinch him while he was trying to sleep², or bang his head into a wall when he didn't do what he was told (or when he did), or stomp on his toys³ while he was playing with them⁴. And they had done... other things. Things he would rather forget.

But he couldn't hide there all the time. Sometimes he had to come out to sneak food from the kitchens or get some clean clothes and bedding. Once, the Toad caught him in the act of loading up the washing machine full of stuff, seized hold of him, and (angrily) asked him where the hell he'd been for the past few weeks. Frightened, John tried to wriggle out of his grasp and run away, but his grip was too strong. Then, something happened. The Toad yelped in surprise and let go. Just for a second, but that was enough. John was already running as fast as he could, back to his hiding place.

It wasn't until much later (when he sneaked back out again to collect his stuff) that he was told what he had done (he found Mystique waiting patiently for him to come out of hiding). She told him that he had turned invisible (for about 10 seconds) to escape from the Toad and, with proper training, he could learn how to control this ability and to use it for his own purposes. She also mentioned that his mutant power would be very useful to the Brotherhood. John Darkholme seized upon this chance to gain his mother's approval and started training enthusiastically.

By the time John Darkholme was ten, he had already performed several missions for the Brotherhood. Sometimes they needed someone to creep into a building unseen and plant a bomb. Or maybe they wanted him to get through museum security without being noticed and steal a number of small, very valuable items that they could sell, and use the money to fund their next venture. On some of their missions, they needed a lookout, someone who could stay out of sight and keep watch. John Darkholme did all of these things, diligently⁵. He wanted to prove that he could be as useful as any of the adults.

However, as time went by, John Darkholme was getting increasingly disillusioned with the Brotherhood, with its ideology, goals and methods. Truth to tell, he didn't care about any of that. All he wanted was to stay alive. Often, he thought about deserting them, setting off out into the wider world and then... what? He wanted to leave them, but he had no idea where he would go or what he would do when he got there. Maybe he was better off with the Brotherhood. They were like a family to him and he felt like he owed them everything, but he couldn't forget the way they had (and still) treated him. In particular, he couldn't decide whether he loved or hated his mother, Mystique. Sometimes he wanted to thrust a knife into her heart and tell her how much he despised her and sometimes he wanted to hug her and thank her for all the good things she had done for him. He couldn't decide. His feelings for her were too confused.

Then, one day, John Darkholme was involved in a particularly ill-fated mission. And that's where our story begins...


Footnotes:
1 Yeah, the "falling out of favour part" at least, tended to happen a lot. Although... Mystique has a lot of children, doesn't she?

2 Yeah, apparently that was a "character-building" experience. What kind of character they were trying to build, I wouldn't like to say. An insomniac paranoid nervous wreck, perhaps?

3 Like almost everything else John Darkholme owned, his toys were all stolen, and some children somewhere were very upset about it.

4 The Toad had said that they were in his way. John Darkholme said (reasonably) that it was a big room and the Toad could easily have chosen a different way. Then the Toad had grabbed him by the throat and warned him not to be cheeky, or else. And that was that.

5 So... John Darkholme is probably a murderer several times over by now.

[Manticore]

Character Name: DAYSTAR (c. 1944)
Secret Identity: Sylwia Klosowska
Hair Colour: Dark Brown
Eye Colour: Brown
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 120lbs

Abilities:
Int: 3
Str: 2
Agi: 4/10
Spd: 3/10
Dur: 3/5

Actions:
Mastery of Light: 5
- Immune to effects of Light
- Create/Manipulate Light
- Accumulate Energy
- Force Blast (2x dmg, Area Effect, or Attack vs Durability to Stun)
- Can transform into a being of pure Light

Close Combat: 3
(Agility bonus or Weapon modifier)
- Self-defence
- Trained by the Freedom Fighter
- Knives

Ranged Combat: 3
(Weapon modifier)
- Handguns

Vehicle Operation: 2
- Cars

Black Ops: 2
- Concealment
- Covert Operations

Flight: 0/10

Social Skills: 2
- Bitterness
- Persuasion

Modifiers:
Human mutant
Toughness: 5 (when she's in her alternate form)
Enhanced Vision: 7
- every frequency of light
Team Affiliations: Liberators
Energy Battery: 6

Challenges:
Haunted Past (5 stones)
Deadly Enemies: Nazis, Nazi Super-Soldiers etc (4 white stones)
Vengeful (1 stone)

Background:
Sylwia Klosowska was one of the Freedom Fighter's team during the second world war. A Polish woman with the power to manipulate heat and light, who had chosen voluntary exile rather than live in a country that had been divided up and savaged by two other powerful countries, now her bitter enemies. The original idea was that her father was one of the many Polish officers murdered by Stalin just after the initial invasion (note: her mother survived and escaped with her to relative safety in Britain, where Daystar joined up with the Freedom Fighters).

Back then, she had dark brown hair with a slightly red tint. She was pretty, with good teeth, pronounced cheekbones and a cute nose. However, there was little friendship and cameraderie between her and the other Freedom Fighters. When they tried to involve her in their conversations and playful banter, she would answer as quickly and perfunctorily as politeness would allow. She was surprisingly ruthless and bitter (towards the Germans and the Russians) and she always kept her main goal to mind (restoring her country to freedom and making sure that there would never again be another country interfering in its destiny).

Single-minded, she took the deaths of some of her teammates (Revenant and the Maltese Falcon) in her stride. It was nothing that she hadn't seen before. She had endured all this at the start of the war, it was nothing that she couldn't endure now. She would walk past the piles of corpses, past the signs of torture, starvation and brutalization (note: on several occasions the Freedom Fighters released the Jews and the other prisoners from the Nazi Concentration Camps), uncaring and almost unseeing. Callously, she blocked it all out. None of it had the power to affect her.

Other members of the team were distraught and sickened by the things they saw. In the first camp Gadgeteer saw the gas chambers, the ovens, the starving children and the piles and piles of clothes and shoes and the other things that had been taken from the dead that he began to cry. Tears of disbelief, sorrow, pity, horror and anguish for everything that had happened. But there were some members of the team who were more disturbed and unnerved by Daystar's reaction to all this than to anything in the camps themselves. Later, Stormwarden admitted that he found her careless, neutral attitude "creepy".

After the war, Poland was seized as part of the expanding Soviet Union (Britain and the USA accepted this. They were wary of coming to blows with the might of Soviet Russia). But Daystar refused to accept this. She acted as a rallying point for the Poles who had fled their homeland. Busying herself with speeches, gatherings, petitions, pressure groups, campaigns, sending letters and calling as much attention to her demands as possible, feeling that everything she had fought for would mean little unless she managed to free her country (and her people).

Then she vanished.

Where did she go? Is she lying dead in a shallow grave somewhere? Is she still alive? Who was responsible for her disappearance? What really happened, so long ago?


__________________

(OOC: I've been planning a reunion of the remaining Freedom Fighters, with Euroteam as special guests because of the Time Travel adventure, and because some of them remember being friendly and are willing to resume cordial relations. I don't think Pgholland was keen on the idea when I suggested it to him though. Probably the Maltese Falcon will not attend (avoiding awkward questions?) this party.

Note: I'm writing this because I haven't had chance to develop Daystar's character much in "Into The Breach". I was afraid she would seem a little too bland and flat.)

[Manticore]

This is the (updated version of) 313 Blink:



"Ow, my spine!"


Character Name: Blink
Secret Identity: Clarice Ferguson
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 125 lbs.
Eye Colour: Green
Hair Colour: Magenta


Abilities: (Cost: 8 white and 2 red stones)
Intelligence: 3
Strength: 2
Agility: 5
Speed: 3
Durability: 3


Actions: (Cost: 43 white stones)
Teleportation: 7
- Efficient
- Her portals make a 'blink' sound when they open and close

Acrobatics: 4
(Agility Bonus)

Psi-Weapon (Javelins): 6
- Efficient

Assassin: 4 (actually Ninja by another name)
(Agility Bonus and Weapon Modifier, or two Weapon Modifiers)
- Javelins
- Assassination
- Stealthy
- Concentration

Social Skills: 4
- Mutant Culture
- Social Underclass
- Ex-Morlock
- Assassin


Modifiers: (Cost: 8 white and 1 red stones)
Mutant, bright pink skin, no visible pupils, pointed ears and facial markings

Wealth: 0
Deep Reserves: +3
Mental Defence: +1
Reflexive Dodge: +3


(TOTAL COST: 60 white stones)


Challenges:
Mutant (3 stones)
Non-human appearance (3 stones)
Survivor's Guilt (2 stones)
Haunted Past (3 stones)
"Property" of the Genoshan Government (3 stones)
Savagery (1 stone)


Background:
Clarice Ferguson (the mutant known as ‘Blink’) has had a hard life. When she was thirteen years old, a fanatical mutant-hater set fire to her house, killing both of her parents. After she’d lived on the streets for a while, Clarice found a new home and family among the ‘Morlocks’.

Then, the Morlocks were attacked, almost wiped out, by an army of strange men and machines led by Callista, herself a former leader of the Morlocks. It was mind-numbing, devastating, and Blink knew that she couldn’t stay. Before she had time to think about what she was doing her powers (which were always slightly out of control) had teleported her away.

She staggered around, not knowing what she was doing, for a while, until “they” found her. The Genoshans took her and moulded her into a weapon. They made her faster and stronger, bringing her powers under their control, pushing her to her limits and beyond. They taught her the arts of killing, striking from the shadows; she was their masterpiece. In just the blink of an eye, she could be anywhere, kill anyone; no one was safe!

Clarice is kept under mind control, forced to do horrible things against her will; her new masters were content to keep her as a mindless drugged-up slave; never knowing that although she might appear docile, she was chafing against her bonds, struggling to break free, increasingly savage and vengeful; a ravening wild animal straining to get loose.

But then...

[Manticore]

This was the first character I made for DK's Dark Heresy game. It's not MURPG. But still...


Character Name: Aphriel Stark
Player Name: Manticore
Home World: Imperial World
Career Path: Imperial Psyker
Rank: Sanctionite
Divination: "The wise man learns from the deaths of others."
Quirk: Faint Smell
Gender: Female
Build: Svelte
Height: 1.66m
Weight: 64kg
Skin Colour: Fair
Hair Colour: Dyed Black
Eye Colour: Green
Age: 41

Characteristics:
Weapon Skill: 34
Ballistic Skill: 23
Strength: 29
Toughness: 37
Agility: 27
Intelligence: 34
Perception: 31 (26+5)
Willpower: 44 (39+5)
Fellowship: 38

Skills:
Speak Language (Low Gothic) (Int)
Psygniscience (Per)
Invocation (Wp)
Trade (Soothsayer) (Fel)
Literacy (Int)
Common Lore (Imperial Creed) (Int)

Talents:
Melee Weapon Training (Primitive)
Pistol Weapon Training (Las)
Psy Rating (1)
Chem Geld
Meditation

Traits:
Blessed Ignorance
Hagiography
Liturgical Familiarity
Superior Origins
Sanctioned Psyker (Throne Wed)

Psychic Powers:
Minor Power (Precognition)
Minor Power (Unnatural Aim)

Melee Weapons:
Sword (Dam: 1d10R, Pen: 0, Balanced, Primitive, Wt: 3kg)
Staff (Dam: 1d10I, Pen: 0, Two-Handed, Balanced, Primitive, Wt: 3kg)
Knife (psykana mercy blade) (Dam: 1d5R, Pen: 0, Melee/Thrown, Primitive, Wt: 0.5kg)
(Note: she’s left-handed.)

Ranged Weapons:
Compact Laspistol and 2 charge packs (Range: 30m, RoF: S/-/-, Dam: 1d10+2E, Pen: 0, Clip: 30, Rld: Full, Reliable, Wt: 1.5kg)

Armour:
Quilted Vest (Body, AP: 2, Wt: 2kg)

Gear:
Tatty Robe (Poor Quality Clothing)
Book of Imperial Saints
Psy-Focus
Chattallium Ring (worth 100 thrones)
Sanctioning Brand

Wealth:
Throne Gelt: 42
Monthly Income: 70


Wounds: 12


Fate Points: 3


Corruption Points: 0
Insanity Points: 1


Background:
Aphriel Stark was born into a simple farming community on the Feudal World of Ragnar's Rock. She was brought up to be devout in the worship of the God-Emperor.

By the time she grew to adulthood, most people had noticed that there was a strange presence about this young woman. Some of them believed that she was especially blessed with the gift of farsight. They asked her to tell their fortunes. She was kind-hearted enough that she gave them the advice she thought they needed to hear.

In time, she acquired a reputation as a gifted Soothsayer. Soon she came to the attentions of the Imperial authorities. They saw that she had genuine psychic talents and she was handed over to the Black Ships. She was horrified to learn of this "taint" and before long her faith (always strong) had blossomed into zealous religious fervour.

She was thoroughly tested by agents of the Golden Throne. They were impressed by her devotion and she was duly sanctioned. Now she serves as an Inquisitor's Acolyte.

[Manticore]

(OOC: This was a character I created for a Dark Heresy game that never got up off the ground.)


Garit Harq
Underhive Scum

Appearance: Garit has spent a lifetime struggling to survive in the depths of Hive Sibellus. He's a rail-thin, wiry young man with murky grey eyes and a mop of mousy brown hair. He's twitchy, constantly on the lookout for danger; it never seems like he can relax. Though he's still quite young, he's picked up several nasty-looking scars. It's probably best that he doesn't tell anyone of how difficult it was to endure the years in the underhive, nor some of the things he was forced to do (or what he had to eat!). There are some things you don't want to know.

Background: There are many orphans who get stuck down in the underhive, scrabbling in the dirt, trying to stay alive. It's not unusual. Most of the kids die, of course. Some of the lucky ones get taken in by the gangs. There are stories of mobs of feral children roaming between the low-lying settlements; killing and looting whoever they can find. Rumours of hunters descending from the spire to harvest young children as a forbidden delicacy are almost certainly not true. But there are many other perils beneath the hive. Only the strong, quick, clever and the exceptionally lucky can survive for long.

Garit never knew his parents. At least he has no memory of them. He tends to keep quiet about his early life, but sometimes he makes oblique references to "scrabbling in the dirt" and "the old master" who he used to loathe. It seems likely that he did whatever it took to stay alive; living off the local flora and fauna when he could, stealing when he had to, fighting when he must. For the most part he managed to avoid the underhive gangs; he knew that the life of a ganger is horribly exciting, brutish and short. He was good at hiding, making himself inconspicuous. He found ways to make himself useful as a spiv or a go-between. Most of the gang leaders knew he wasn't worth the effort of killing.

Sometimes he'd offer his services as a guide to treasure hunters from the upper hive. Every so often some of them would descend into the depths in search of archeotech or the long-lost tomb of a forgotten nobleman. A few of them got lucky. Many of them returned home disappointed and a little wiser. Garit was happy to help rich folks with money to spend and a whim to indulge; it wasn't regular work, but the pay was very good.

Much later he was told that on one of these excursions he'd been guiding an Inquisitor and his retinue in their search for a powerful artefact. Perhaps the Inquisitor appreciated Garit's efforts. But it's more likely that he saw something in Garit that he could make good use of. When the mission was at an end, Garit was invited to join the Inquisitor as one of his acolytes. He didn't dare refuse. Besides, it was a chance to see foreign parts and kill interesting people. And that was something Garit had never even dared dream about.


Character Name: Garit Harq
Player Name: Manticore
Home World: Scintilla
Career Path: Scum
Rank: Dreg
Divination: "Know the mutant, kill the mutant."
Quirk: Bullet wound scars
Gender: Male
Build: Wiry
Height: 1.75m
Weight: 65kg
Skin Colour: Fair
Hair Colour: Mousy
Eye Colour: Grey
Age: 18

Weapon Skill: 35
Ballistic Skill: 36
Strength: 33
Toughness: 21
Agility: 38
Intelligence: 29
Perception: 35
Will Power: 32
Fellowship: 44

Skills and Talents
Basic Skills: Dodge (Ag), Deceive (Fel), Awareness (Per)

Advanced Skills: Speak Language (Low Gothic) (Int), Blather (Fel), Common Lore (Imperium) (Int), Charm (Fel)

Talents & Traits: Accustomed to Crowds, Caves of Steel, Hivebound, Wary, Unremarkable, Melee Weapon Training (Primitive), Pistol Training (SP), Basic Weapon Training (SP), Ambidextrous

Experience Points: 0/400

Experience Expenditures:
Fellowship Simple Advance (100)
Ballistic Skill Simple Advance (100)
Charm (100)
Ambidextrous (100)

Melee Weapons: Brass Knuckles (1d5+2 I; Primitive), Knife (1d5+3; Primitive, Melee, Thrown)
(Note: I've included my Strength Bonus)

Handedness: Ambidextrous

Missile Weapons: Shotgun (30m; S/-/-; 1d10+4 I; Pen 0; Clip 2; Reload 2Full; Scatter; Reliable), Autopistol (30m; S/-/6; 1d10+2 I; Pen 0; Clip 18; Reload Full)

Armour: Quilted Vest
Head (1-10): 0
Right Arm (11-20): 0
Body (31-70): 2
Left Arm(21-30): 0
Right leg (71-85): 0
Left Leg (86-00): 0

Thrones: 14
Gear: Shotgun Shells (12), Autopistol Clip (1), Rags (Poor Quality Clothing)

Wounds: 12/12
Critical Damage:

Fatigue:
Fate Points: (2/2)
Insanity Points: 0
Degree of Madness:
Disorder:

Corruption points: 0
Degree of Corruption:
Malignancies:

[Manticore]

Still waiting for approval for this one. I hope it's OK.


Character Name: Cain Keinemann
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 160lbs
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Bald (It’s shaved off. It would be black.)
Species: Human


ABILITIES: (Total cost: 18 white stones)
Intelligence: 4
Strength: 4
Agility: 4
Speed: 4
Health: 4

Energy Regeneration: 6
Energy Pool: 6


ACTIONS: (Total cost: 13 white stones)
Acrobatics: 4
(Agility Bonus)

Close Combat: 4
(Weapon Modifier or Ability Bonus)
- Hand-to-hand
- Mixed Martial Arts
- Blades
- Improvised Weapons

Leadership: 3

Ranged Combat: 4
(Weapon Modifier)
- Handguns
- Rifles
- Thrown Weapons
- Improvised Weapons

Social Skills: 5
- Manipulation
- Intimidation
- Lowlife
- Prison “culture”
- Loner

Technology: 3
(Intelligence Bonus)

Vehicle Operation: 3


MODIFIERS: (Total cost: 3 white stones)
Human, heavily scarred and with dozens of tattoos
Toughness: 2

(OVERALL TOTAL: 44 white stones minus 4 stones from Challenges)


CHALLENGES:
Non-Human Appearance (3 white stones)
- Cain has dozens of tattoos all over his body. Most of them are abstract shapes and symbols. Some of them are Latin phrases, mysterious clues to his past and his secret origins:
- Written just above his navel are the words “Ubi lapsis quid feci?” (Why have I fallen? What have I done?)
- On his right arm are the words “Aut viam inveniam aut faciam.” (I will either find a way or make one.)
- On his right shoulder are the words “Aut vincere aut mori.” (Either conquer or die.)
- Someone has used a blowtorch to remove the tattoos on his back. The scars are quite horrible.
- Only a few lines (on his back) were left alone, phrases from the Bible (Genesis, Chapter 4, Verse 15), written in plain English: “And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.”
- (Cain does not remember his real name. He calls himself “Cain” because of the tattoos on his back. He calls himself “Keinemann” because it translates as “no man” and the name “Nemo” was already taken.)
- Cain has other scars, on his face and all over his body. There is a deep slash across his left eye. Somewhere in the past, his nose was broken and then badly set.
- All these scars and tattoos make him instantly recognizable. It is very difficult for him to disguise himself.

Deadly Enemies (1 white stone)
- Cain makes enemies easily. Maybe it’s because of all the times he’s refused to back down. Several of the gang leaders in the prison hate his guts and would like to see him dead. He’s annoyed some of the prison guards. He’s spent a lot of time in solitary confinement.

[Manticore]

(This is another character from one of my Mythweavers Dark Heresy games.)


Devin Molikroth

A thin, sinewy man with pale blue eyes and a vivid forked scar across his face, Devin Molikroth is a vicious thug, a black-hearted knave who makes his living by killing people for money. He was born on the deadly dangerous, ill-omened world of Dusk, raised by grim, superstitious barbarians. In that place, only those who were strong, tough and ruthless could survive. Killing was a way of life. The dark forests bred all kinds of monsters, creeping horrors and demon-worshipping cults. But Devin never really concerned himself with the rightness of what he did. Some things just needed killing.

But it's useless to fight some of the things that breed in the festering swamps of Dusk; bacteria, viruses and a mystical madness that comes without warning. One day, Devin returned to their camp to find that the other members of his tribe had slaughtered each other in a berserk rage. He realised that he had to leave Dusk. If he didn't escape that nightmarish place, he would surely die.

So he made a deal with the Captain of a starship that had come to Dusk in search of rare herbs and fungi. Devin knew where the offworlders could find a goodly amount of what they were looking for. All he asked in return was that they take him with them. Perhaps they had intended to double-cross him, but something about the lean, hard-eyed warrior with the battle scars and the light of madness in his eyes made them anxious to treat with him fairly and honestly. They were wise to be cautious.

Later, staring out through one of the viewing ports at the home world that he was leaving behind, perhaps forever, Devin wondered why he felt no emotion. He gazed down at the murky globe until it vanished from sight. But still, in his head there was nothing but static; he felt numb. The reality of his situation had yet to sink in. It was as if he was wandering through a dream world.

Everyone must eat. Devin soon realised he must work for his keep. He busied himself with a few odd jobs around the starship. But then, when he reached port, there was a bureaucrat who the Captain hated, obstructing the traders in their business. Devin couldn't see what the problem was.

'I'll kill him for you,' he promised.

The Captain tensed. 'No you won't,' he said, quickly. 'I want nothing to do with it, you hear? I didn't ask that.'

Devin merely shrugged his shoulders. And then the next day, the bureaucrat was dead. The Captain disavowed all knowledge of the killing. He was always suspicious of Devin after that. But someone was watching, very interesting in hiring Devin's services, shaping him into a weapon. Devin never really knew who his new employers were. He didn't bother to ask why they wanted these people killed or whether they deserved to die. It was just a job. As long as they paid him on time, he didn't much care.

After a few 'little favours', Devin was getting to be quite wealthy. He never really understood money or what he could do with it. If he had enough to eat and a place to sleep, he was happy. He realised that it was good to make sure that the tools of his trade were always top notch; he acquired a fine set of armour and weapons. And yet he was uncomfortable with wealth and prosperity; he never felt truly alive unless he was evading terrible dangers, fighting for his very survival. Just as well the life of an assassin was always fraught with peril.

It seemed a mission like any other. Devin was given a role that he could inhabit until such time as he got close enough to his quarry. He was a scout, working with the Imperial Guard. That ought to fool them, so long as no one asked too many questions.

But then the transport ship crashed in the middle of a mutant-infested desert. Devin's life was utterly changed, once again.


Character Name: Devin Molikroth
Player Name: Manticore
Home World: Dusk
Career Path: Assassin
Rank: Nighthawk
Divination: "If a job is worth doing it is worth dying for."
Quirk: Forked Scar
Gender: Male
Build: Lean
Height: 1.75m
Weight: 60kg
Skin Colour: Fair
Hair Colour: Grey
Eye Colour: Blue
Age: 28

Weapon Skill: 41 (36+5 advance)
Ballistic Skill: 43 (33+5+5 advances)
Strength: 40
Toughness: 38
Agility: 40 (35+5 advance)
Intelligence: 36
Perception: 41 (38+3 from Bad Blood)
Will Power: 33 (30+3 from Bad Blood)
Fellowship: 25

Basic Skills: Awareness (Per), Dodge (Ag), Climb (Str), Swim (Str), Silent Move (Agi), Tracking (Int)

Advanced Skills: Speak Language (Low Gothic, Dusk Cant) (Int), Common Lore (Dusk Folklore) (Int)

Traits: Bad Blood, Dark Tales, Little Left To Fear, Primitive, Wilderness Savvy.

Talents: Frenzy, Melee Weapon Training (Primitive), Ambidextrous, Thrown Weapon Training, Basic Weapon Training (SP, Primitive), Pistol Training (SP), Catfall, Fearless, Mighty Shot

XP to spend: 50
Total XP spent: 1350

Advancements Taken:
Climb - 100
Swim - 100
Silent Move - 100
Basic Weapon Training (Primitive) - 100
Catfall - 100
Weapon Skill Simple Advance - 100
Tracking - 100
Agility Simple Advance - 100
Ballistic Skill Simple Advance - 100
Ballistic Skill Intermediate Advance - 250
Mighty Shot - 200

Melee Weapons: Mono Sword (1d10+4R, Pen: 2, Balanced), Mono Knife (3m, 1d5+4R; Pen: 2)
(Note: I've included my Strength Bonus)

Handedness: Ambidextrous

Missile Weapons: Hunting Rifle (150m, S/-/-, 1d10+3I, Clip 5/5, Reload Full, Accurate, Red Dot Laser Sight, Silencer),

Armour: Mesh Cowl, Xeno Mesh
Head (1-10): 3
Right Arm (11-20): 4
Body (31-70): 4
Left Arm(21-30): 4
Right leg (71-85): 4
Left Leg (86-00): 4

Thrones: 212
Gear: 25 Hunting Rifle Bullets, charm (corpse hair), black bodyglove (Common Quality Clothing), Photovisor (Good Quality), Clip Harness, 20 Bullets (Stub Automatic), 6 Dumdum Bullets, 6 Manstopper Bullets, 5 Ration Packs, Multikey, 2 Lamp Packs, Medikit.

Wounds: 13/13
Critical Damage:

Fatigue:
Fate Points: (1/1)
Insanity Points: 8
Degree of Madness:
Disorder:

Corruption points: 4
Degree of Corruption:
Malignancies:

[Manticore]

I can't believe I didn't post this here already. Huh.





Character Name: Peter Wisdom
Alter Egos: 'Knives', 'Razor Boy', 'Slash' or 'Edge'
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 140 lbs.
Hair color: Black
Eyes: Brown
Species: Mutant

ABILITIES:
Int: 3
Strength: 3
Agility: 3
Speed: 3
Durability: 4

ACTIONS:
"Hot Knives": 5
- 2x dmg (+2 to CL)
- can be combined with Close Combat or Ranged Combat
(As Psi-Weapon)

Close Combat: 6
(Agility Bonus or Weapon Modifier)
- Use of Hot Knives in combat
- Black Air Training
- Hand to hand Combat
- Sneak Attacks
- Martial Arts
- Dirty Tricks

Ranged Combat: 6
(Weapon Modifier)
- Efficient
- Hot Knives
- Grenades
- Handguns
- Machine guns
- Thrown objects
- Anti-Tank Weaponry

Acrobatics: 3
(Agility Bonus)

Black Ops: 6
- Covert Operations
- Infiltration
- Intimidation
- Counterinsurgency
- Assassination
- Spying

Leadership: 4

Vehicle Operation: 4
- Light Vehicles
- Military Aircraft
- Military Vehicles
- Fast Cars

Social Skills: 6
- Efficient
- Seduction
- Persuasion
- Secret Agent
- Mimicking accents
- Convincing liar
- British Culture

Technology: 2
(Intelligence Bonus)


MODIFIERS:
Mutant, human appearance
Reflexive Dodge: +2
Wealth: (3)
Mental Defense: +5
Energy Defense: +3


CHALLENGES: (-21 stones)
Mutant (3 stones)
Bad Habits: drink, cigarettes, etc (1 stone)
Wanted as a Fugitive! (4 stones)
Minor Psychological Restriction: Despair (1 stone)
Amnesiac Dissonance: Black Air kept him "sedated" for more than a decade. This new world is strange and unsettling to him. (2 stones)
Haunted Past: all the terrible things Black Air did to him... and that they made him do. (3 stones)
A Dangerous Job: (formerly a Spy) (2 stones)
Deadly Enemies: (5 stones)
1) Apocalypse is enraged by Wisdom's treachery!
2) There are many ambitious servants of Apocalypse who would seek to use Pete Wisdom's death to curry favour with their dark lord.
3) Particularly, the Madri and the other Prelates will be quick to seek revenge. They have personal scores to settle with him.
4) Various rebel groups operating within Apocalypse's Empire hate Pete Wisdom just as much as they hate all mutants.
5) Black Air doesn't like mutants very much. They wouldn't much care if Pete Wisdom were to turn up dead.


Background:

Peter Wisdom was a young teenager living in England during the time of Apocalypse's rise to power. He had a rough home life; an abusive alcoholic father and a mother who was too timid to stand up to him.

He was also a mutant with the power to generate incredibly hot "blades" of energy from his fingertips. These powers manifested at an early age, and he was registered as a mutant. Because of the incredible destructive potential of these "hot knives", he was marked out as a recruit by the sinister organization known as 'Black Air'.

Black Air was a government-sponsored programme formed for the purpose of taking on those covert missions that the British Secret Intelligence Service was far too squeamish to consider; assassinations, acts of sabotage and mass murder. They took Pete Wisdom and turned him into a living weapon.

It would be years before he regained any sense of self or identity from underneath the layers of mental conditioning and brainwashing. Pete Wisdom had missed the anti-mutant riots, the witch hunts and the Sentinel attacks that had followed in the wake of Apocalypse's rise to power. He did not see the news reports flooding in: the USA was gone, Japan had become an irradiated wasteland and Central America was vanished beneath the sea. The news that all of Eurasia had been united under a single High Council must have reached his ears, but at the time it meant nothing to him.

For a long time, he was barely even human (er... mutant?). He was a mindless automaton used for only one purpose: killing. Black Air used him to "clean up" after their missions, and he did an excellent job.

Eventually, Black Air decided that they needed a more versatile tool. They returned to him his memories, his ability to think for himself, his identity. He was alive again. Then they began to teach him what had happened in the time he had lost. They made him one of their own; he became the perfect spy; a master of deception, subterfuge and dissimulation. Soon, they would send him on missions all over the world, and so he learned a great deal about those parts of the world that had survived the coming of Apocalypse.

His most recent mission was to infiltrate Apocalypse's inner circle and use that position of power and influence to gather information for the Human High Council. This was easy enough for him to achieve; he slaughtered a few of the infinites and the mudir, condemning them for their "weakness"; set up a few displays of casual cruelty and an apparently fervent belief in Apocalypse's grand design; and that was all it took. Apocalypse was impressed by this deadly new mutant, and Pete Wisdom (who was using the codename "Knives") was made a Prelate.

It has been more than a year since that time, and only Black Air knows that Prelate Knives is anything more than he seems. Indeed, he has earned the hatred of the X-men and some of the other resistance groups who see him as one of Apocalypse's most loyal servants.

Even the psychics who have been called upon to probe his mind do not realise his deception; Black Air's constant messing about with his brain has made him difficult to read; even a detailed scan leaves the mind-reader with the impression that he is little more than an amnesiac with a shaky grasp of reality (although this would probably not stand up to scrutiny if a really powerful psychic was determined to punch through his barriers).

Most recently, Pete Wisdom learned that Sebastian Shaw and Adrienne Frost were hatching some kind of plot together and he went to Angel's "Heaven" to find out what they were planning to do and whether he needed to put a stop to it.

But things turned out... a little differently.


Psychological:

Peter Wisdom hates what Black Air has done to him. They took everything from him, stole almost a decade of his life and brought him back to this dreadful dystopia where everyone and everything he ever loved is dead. He was always a mutant, but they turned him into a monster. Yet, despite all that, he has continued to serve them, loyally, at great personal risk. His superiors are wary of him; they know they have no hold over him; they fully expect him to betray them.

Why, then, does he continue to serve? Pete Wisdom is no fool. He knows that his superiors consider him no more than a useful tool at best; and a filthy mutie that should be destroyed at worst. He has no friends, few allies and no real loyalties. He is horrified and disgusted by everything that Apocalypse has done to the world, but he is no less troubled by the things that the Human High Council has done in the name of survival. So why...?

He didn't experience the rise of Apocalypse or the years that followed in the same way that everyone else did. In some ways, he is still the young man he was before Black Air got their claws into him. He feels like a man trapped in a nightmare and that at any moment he will wake up and there will be his mum telling him to get ready for school and everything will be all right again.

Pete Wisdom is a wounded and despairing man. His soul is blackened by the horrific things he has been forced to do. He sees no real value in his own life and he wonders if death would be more merciful. Now, he lives only to destroy his enemies; he sees Apocalypse as the source of all the evils of this new era, and he serves Black Air and the Human High Council because he believes they are the only ones with the power to bring about the end of this Age of Apocalypse.


Note: this is a heavily altered CAD. It has been improved with new Challenges and Lines of Experience.

[Manticore]

Name: Remy LeBeau
Age: 23
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 170lbs.
Eye Colour: Red
Hair Colour: Brown
Species: Mutant

Abilities: (8w)
Intelligence: 3
Strength: 3
Agility: 4
Speed: 3
Durability: 3

Health: 3
Energy: 15
Regeneration: 5

Actions: (25w 2r)
Charge Objects: 4
- 2x dmg
- Split stones for multiple targets or Area Effect
- May combine with Close or Ranged Combat

Close Combat: 3
(Agility Bonus or Weapon Modifier)
- Savate
- Street fighting
- Rapier

Ranged Combat: 4
(Weapon Modifier)
- Charged Objects
- Throwing Knives
- Pistols
- Improvised Weapons

Thieving: 5
(Agility Bonus)
- Pickpocket
- Confidence Trickster
- Lock picking
- Stealthy
- Escape Artist

Gambling: 3
(Intelligence Bonus)
(Agility Bonus if cheating)
- Cards
- Betting
- Cheating

Acrobatics: 2
(Agility Bonus)

Social Skills: 5
- Charm
- Persuasion
- Seduction
- French Language and Culture
- Professional Criminal Culture

Modifiers: (6w 1r)
Mutant
Wealth: 2
Mental Defence: 2
Reflexive Dodge: 2
Energy Battery: 2

Total: 40w (-10w from Challenges)

Challenges:
Non-Human Appearance (-2w)
- He has red eyes that glow like hot coals.

Wanted as a Fugitive (-3w)
- He fled France before he could be caught and hanged for his crimes.

Haunted Past (-3w)
- Remy LeBeau has not spoken with anyone from his family, members of an organized crime syndicate, since he got involved with the wrong woman and quite a lot of people (including the woman he loved) ended up dead.

Code of Honour (-1w)
- It turns out that there is honour among thieves. Remy LeBeau will never harm someone who doesn’t deserve it and he won’t steal from the poor (well, they have nothing worth stealing, anyway).

Owes Someone a Favour (-1w)
- Remy LeBeau had help when he needed to escape to London. He is indebted to those who aided him then.

Background:
Crime was the only career available to the young Remy LeBeau. Fortunately, it was something he was always very good at.

When he was very young, Remy was abandoned on the mean streets of Marseille, the largest port city in France, the site of a great many industrial innovations and prosperous maritime trade. As a ragamuffin child, he managed to steal, beg or barter enough to keep him alive until he met Jean-Luc LeBeau, a master criminal and a member of a large organized crime family. Jean-Luc was amused by the audacity of this urchin boy and he adopted Remy as his own son.

There were many other children who were adopted by the LeBeau family, learning the tricks of the trade, in the hopes that one day they'd be the next generation of master thieves or confidence tricksters. Remy was a quick learner and an able student. Soon, he was being groomed for leadership.

Relations between the LeBeaus and some of the other crime families, such as the Boudreaux, were always tense and frosty. Remy LeBeau met his first love, a woman named Isabella (they called her "Belladonna") Boudreau, at one of the excessively formal meetings between the families. Despite the risk of getting caught (which they were both young and foolish enough to find exciting), Remy and Isabella arranged to meet up again, and again. They kept their romance a secret.

Unfortunately, the secret was discovered before long. When he found out what they’d been doing, Isabella’s brother Julien, flew into a rage and tried to kill Remy. Isabella tried to stop him. He stabbed her and she bled to death.

Seeking revenge, Remy killed Julien. One of Julien’s friends retaliated by killing Remy’s brother-in-crime, Henri LeBeau. Henri's friends killed several of the Boudreaux. The Boudreaux killed more of the LeBeaus. And so on.

Anyway, by the time the nasty little gang war had been stopped, at least twenty people were dead and many more were injured. To keep the peace, Remy went into self-imposed exile, leaving behind the city of his birth. He made no attempts to contact any of the LeBeaus and they left him alone.

He made a new life for himself, as a thief and a confidence trickster. Over time, he acquired a great deal of money. Always moving from place to place, never settling down, he fancied that his past would never catch up with him. But then it all went wrong.

While he was embarked on a complicated scheme, trying to persuade some of the worthies of Paris to invest in a project that couldn't possibly go wrong, someone warned his victims of who he really was. He never found out who had betrayed him- perhaps it was an old enemy, a previous victim or one of the Boudreaux- or perhaps there was someone who had other reasons for wanting to expose him.

After that, Remy LeBeau was forced to flee in a hurry, taking with him only what he could carry (which fortunately included a large sum of money). He’d so far managed to avoid arrest, but he knew the gendarmes had his description and they were searching for him.

It was then that one of his "business associates" approached him with news of the splendid opportunities to be had in London, the greatest city in the world, a place where he could lie low and no one would come looking for him. Some very important people had been watching Remy LeBeau’s career with a great deal of interest. They had a job waiting for him. They'd make all the arrangements so that Remy could get to London; he wouldn’t have to worry about a thing.

Remy sensed that this deal was too good to be true and it would probably cost him dearly, eventually. But he was getting desperate, and anyway he was so bored and jaded that he just didn’t care; all he wanted was to survive a while longer. He accepted the proposal. That night, he was on a ship sailing to London.

Once again, he was about to start a new life for himself. Maybe this time, all would be well. The future seemed bright and full of possibilities. He was sure he could make something of it.

[Manticore]

Character Name: Darin Hlarys
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 154lbs
Eyes: Red
Hair: Black
Species: Dunmer
Birthsign: Thief (+1 speed, +1 agility, +1 good luck)

ABILITIES: (cost: 13w)
Intelligence: 4 (4w)
Strength: 3 (1w)
Willpower: 3 (3w)
Agility: 4 (1w)
Speed: 5 (1w)
Durability: 3 (3w)

Health: 3/3
Energy Reserve: 10
Energy Regeneration: 7
Magicka Reserve: 9
Magicka Regeneration: 5

ACTIONS: (8w)
Close Combat: 5 (1w)
(Speed Bonus or Weapon Modifier)
- Bladed weapons
- Blunt weapons
- Hand to Hand
- Parrying
- Duellist

Ranged Combat: 3 (2r)
(Weapon Modifier)
- Bow
- Throwing knives
- Darts

Acrobatics: 3 (1w)
(Agility Bonus)

Thieving: 4 (2w)
(Agility Bonus)
- Con artist
- Pickpocket
- Lock-picking
- Stealth

Social Skills: 3 (1w)
- Dilettante
- Nobleman
- Thief

Destruction: 3 (2r)
(Willpower Bonus)

Mysticism: 2 (2r)
(Intelligence Bonus)

Alteration: 2 (1w)
(Willpower Bonus)


MODIFIERS:
Dunmer
Rapid Recovery
+4 defense when resisting fire attacks
Once per day, he may summon an Ancestor Ghost for 5 panels.
Reflexive Dodge: +2 (3w)
Good Luck: +1


TOTAL COST: 24w (-9 challenge stones) = 15 w

CHALLENGES:
Deadly Enemies: 2 (He really hates the Camonna Tong for what they did to him. They see him as a minor annoyance, but they wouldn't hesitate to kill him if they got the chance.)
Faithless: 1 (He was a devout follower of the teachings of the Tribunal Temple. Now... he's not sure what to believe any more.)
Criminal: 2 (He is a wanted fugitive.)
Disowned: 2 (His family want nothing more to do with him. He is a disgrace! Although... He would like to see them one more time... to explain... maybe set things right?)
Indebted: 2 (The Thieves' Guild rescued him from jail. Everything he has, he owes to them. There is little he would not do for them.)

BACKGROUND:
Before all this happened, Darin Hlarys was a young and foolish nobleman, carefree and (fairly) innocent. His father tried and failed to get him involved in the family business (which was mainly exporting Netch leather to the Empire), his brother was a prominent member of the Twin Lamps anti-slavery organization, his mother was a keen Netch breeder, and Darin was an inveterate gambler, drinker and public nuisance.

All that changed when he met up with some unsavoury types (Camonna Tong) who were keen to buy him things and be friends with him. They invited him to take part in a gambling tourney; he lost, heavily; a sum that he could not afford to lose. "Well, never mind," they said: they would waive his debt if he'd do them a small favour. That favour involved a betrayal (stealing a small sum of money from his brother.)

From then on, he was trapped; they were blackmailing him; unless he did exactly what they said they would reveal his deceit. Soon, he was stealing important documents, spying on his brothers' activities and purloining magical items and larger sums of money. It couldn't last. The Twin Lamps realised that there was a spy in their organization; they blamed his brother; Joran Hlarys.

Overcome by guilt, Darin confessed everything and accepted his punishment; he was hauled off to jail to do hard time for the things he'd done. His parents had disowned him and his brother couldn't find it in himself to forgive him. Bereft of anyone who would console him in his misery, guilt and despair, he settled down to wait, and serve out his sentence.

After a month or so had passed, a strange man appeared in his cell at night; a member of the Thieves' Guild; he offered Darin a way out. In return for his helping them in their struggle against the Camonna Tong, they would break him out of prison, give him some training; and dispatch him somewhere a long way away where he could rebuild his life; they saw that Darin was a repentant soul, and they offered him the chance to redeem himself.

Eagerly, Darin agreed. He was taken to a Thieves' Guild safehouse where he told them everything he knew about the Camonna Tong, their hideouts, what resources they could call upon and their associates. The Thieves' Guild put that information to good use... (I.e. There was a bloodbath. A great many Camonna Tong died, over the next couple of nights.)

In return for services rendered, the Thieves' Guild held up their end of the bargain. Under cover of night, Darin was transported across the sea, to the Imperial Heartlands. There, he was trained as an expert thief and he became an enthusiastic member of the guild. His thirst for revenge against the Camonna Tong remained undiminished, and he hoped one day to return home and put an end to their evil gang, once and for all!

But first...