Post by sawbones on Aug 11, 2016 19:35:03 GMT -8
Character Name: Iris Heterodyne Player Name: Sawbones Alias: Clockwork Concept: Steampunk channeler Stat Base: Typical Age: 25 Height: 5’4 Build: Petite Skin: Alabaster Hair: White Eyes: Violet Race/Species: Human/ High Technology Description: iris is a petite creature at 5’4, with alabaster skin and a crown of pearly white dreds that’d make any octopus jealous. Her cheeks are sharp and high, her ears are just a little pointed (cosmetic surgery of course) and her teeth seem just a bit sharper when she grins. Mutie-wannabe. Iris favors clothing that follows Victorian and/or steampunk trends, never deviating from them – and why should she? She was rich enough that it was socially acceptable for her to behave “eccentrically”. She also wears exotic perfumes, favoring those made by single people or small groups of people working together to create handmade works. Occupation: Owner of Clockworks, a company that focuses mainly on clean-running alternatives to modern-day polluting, gas-guzzling monstrosities. Also invents custom items and sells them on the side for insane amounts of money, pimp my car style.  |
ARCHETYPE
- High Technology: These heroes derive their abilities solely through equipment, whether that equipment is mystical or technological in nature, such as Iron Man, or Captain Britain.
Their Average Statistic is Typical (ty) or Good (gd). Their Reason (Psyche if Magical) is increased from Good or Excellent, to Remarkable (Rm) or even (In).
They gain +1cs to their Resources, starting off with a rating of at least Good (gd)
High Tech Heroes must spend one of their talent slots for a Scientific or Professional talent.
They must use one of their contact slots for a Scientific organization, they may own the organization if they have enough resources.
High Tech powers can be applied to a power-suit or tool instead of being an ability the hero possesses, allowing a free power of Body Armor (rating Remarkable) as well. The heroes armor can be taken from them, of course...
They may exchange their powers for the standard given karma cost of six ordinary talents.
HISTORY
Funny thing about growing up human in a world full of mutants: you kinda get outshined. Funnier thing: Iris’ parents, geniuses in their own rights, reacted to losing their jobs to even more brilliant mutants with the kind of joviality and can-do attitude one might find in a Leave it to Beaver skit. Every time they got knocked down, they just tried harder to match up. They never held it against the mutants either; in their eyes, if a mutant could shine through the racism (mutantism?) inherent in the system and earn a job in spite of all that, they damn well deserved that job. This attitude eventually landed them an impressive amount of wealth, if not taste. Iris grew up internalizing this viewpoint, though she often obsessed over the idea of “measuring up” even at a very young age. So came the inventions – technology would give her what biology could not.
…Well. Technology and the musty old books in the basement. The ones written in like, a million dead languages you guys. Dr. Frankenstein’s works were the most easily read – apparently he was a second cousin twice-removed or something? Or maybe an uncle. Possibly a direct ancestor. Difficult to say. All Iris knew was that when she read HIS books, she found them easier and easier to understand… almost as if she had a direct hand in writing them.
Same with several other books. Books that taught her concepts her malleable child-mind shouldn’t be able to understand, yet did. While Iris was always precocious, her first attempts at experiments and the eerie, adult intellect behind them often worried her parents. Iris just didn’t seem like Iris when she was working – her eyes going dull, her movements mechanical and precise, an occasional glint of something mad behind those eyes.
Her first practical application of necromancy came about the same time she was in college (Mechanical engineering major, of course). Really it was just a collection of cow and pig parts and a few steaks and maybe the spine of a deer but it was –something-, damnit. Now see, the problem with blindly following the obsessive whispers of intensely insane genius ancestors from childhood onward is that they can, and often do, abuse that trust for their own personal gain. In this case, Frankenstein and CO. wanted a bigger piece of that Iris pie. So when Iris THOUGHT she was about to create new life out of many disparate corpses, what she ACTUALLY did was enact a partially technological, partially occult ritual that tore through the final wall separating herself from the spirit world – allowing her ancestors a chance to flood in and fight over the pilot seat.
While they were in control, they built things - things that an awake and aware Iris could use in her various endeavors. Things that Iris thought she just built in her sleep in a fit of sleepy boredom. Those voices in her head? Everyone had those, right? They were just you talking to yourself. Sure they got louder after the explosion and the whole slamming against a wall and falling unconscious thing, but eh. That’s how concussions do.
Long story short her new bursts of astounding genius got her noticed. For reasons she never quite understood she found herself dual-enrolled to earn a business degree, which she completed with honors along with her engineering degree. She also began a fledgling business funded mainly on the power of her own (half-understood) inventions . Sure she doesn’t quite remember how it got started or when Scrambles, the sentient undead cat, began helping her out with running things, but really she just took it in stride. And began to think that maybe she had narcolepsy.
Iris’ business, creatively named Clockworks, built her a fortune on her clean-energy alternative tech. Some of it didn’t require any power at all, working entirely on hand cranks and clockworks – others depended on steam vents, still others on water power, some on wind, others on solar energy – she had an odd knack for coming up with esoteric alternatives to modern-day things, adding a touch of old-timey flair that one wouldn’t expect from someone who hadn’t lived in those time periods to begin with. At some point she recalls she met Tony Stark – at other points she recalls talking to him more, maybe a business deal or two? Scrambles keeps records of those sorts of things anyway. Iris just knows he’s a very nice man who is very smart and sometimes asks her to build an alternative to something or collaborate in some way. Also he likes alcohol. That part is important, she thinks.
Since Scrambles takes care of most of the day to day business of businessing and most of Iris’ inventions just come to her in bursts of inspiration, she finds she has a lot of free time on her hands. How does she spend it? By wandering around the city and helping out where she can. Just like mutants do!
PERSONALITY
Oh god. Iris is all over the place. Sometimes bubbly, sometimes frothing in a wild panic, other times utterly overtaken with the kind of mad genius generally reserved for the covers of pulp fiction novels, and always absent-minded as hell. Oh, and the whole “insanely gleeful” bit. Have we mentioned that yet? Or the bit where she’s always eerily cheerful in spite of things never quite going her way? Or the fact that she calmly discusses important business decisions over tea and brains with a clearly zombified cat that can speak back in perfect English. Really, Iris takes a LOT of things in stride, given that she’s just a human with a fancy powersuit.
ATTRIBUTES
=Template:
Fighting--> Typical
Agility---> Remarkable
Strength--> Poor
Endurance-> Typical
Reason----> Remarkable
Intuition-> Excellent
Psyche----> Remarkable
CONTACTS
- Tony Stark: This is a bit of an odd case. Iris vaguely remembers speaking with Tony Stark on several occasions. Problem is, she was possessed at the time – and neither of them realized it. While her ancestors know exactly what was discussed and could easily pick up on the threads of discussion once more if possessing Iris, Iris herself just knows Tony as “that guy that talks to me about the science stuff sometimes”.
- Contact slot reserved.
- Contact slot reserved.
- Business contact slot reserved (PLZ HELP GRADIUS)
TALENTS
Professional Skills:
*Engineering: Engineering includes all the varied types of that profession dedicated to the design of functional items: civil, chemical, mechanical, etc. A character with Engineering Talent gains a +1CS to all FEATs involving building things, including the Resource FEAT to determine if an object can be built.
*Business/Finance: The hero is familiar with the world of business, corporate finance, and how money works. Initial resources are a minimum of Good, and the hero gains a +1CS for FEAT rolls dealing with money. The hero gains a Contact in the Professional category.
Mystic and Mental Skills:
*Occultist: The character has made extensive studies into the area of occult happenings, including: unexplained events and mysteries of the world, hauntings, and other manifestations of the spirit world. He has a +2CS when researching or dealing with occult events.
*Scholar of Antiquities: The character has an extensive knowledge of antiques, especially ancient magical artifacts and lore concerning them (but not including books, scrolls, or other artifacts that are primarily informational). He/she has a +2 CS bonus when dealing with them or researching them.
Weapon Skills:
*Marksman (2): The character with this Talent gains a + 1CS to hit with any distance weapon that requires line of sight to hit (the character could benefit when firing heavy artillery, but not when controlling a teleguided missile). Such a weapon in the hands of a marksman does not suffer penalties to hit from range. This skill does NOT stack or contain the benefits from the Bow and Archery combination.
Fighting Skills:
*Acrobatics: The hero with this Talent is very limber and as such gains advantages when under attack. The hero has a +1CS when dodging, evading, and escaping.
*Tumbling: The hero with this Talent knows how to fall and land without undue injury. Individuals with this Talent may make an Agility FEAT to land feet-first after any fall that does not inflict damage.
Other Skills:
*Heir to Fortune (2): This is not a Talent, but a situation which brings the character into a lot of money. The minimum Resources of a character with this Talent is Remarkable (Meaning your characters base unmodified resources start at Remarkable, and CANNOT go below this during character creation). This "Talent" may not be 'purchased' by a character after the generation process is finished, unless somehow they come into a massive fortune (Millionaire capability) and the means to continue existing at that level of luxury.
POWERS
Body Armor: Oh come on. She’s a hypergenius steampunk tech goddess. Of COURSE she has body armor, you knob.
Intermittent Hyper-Intelligence: Now, Iris is a smart cookie in her own right, but the meddling of her ancestors has ensured that, at least for a time, her brilliance burns brightly. Perhaps too brightly, as Iris is only vaguely aware of whatever she did while possessed by her inhumanly intelligent ancestors - and wholly unaware that she is, in fact, being possessed. She just thinks she invents stuff in her sleep.
Linguistics: With all those spirits chilling out in her head, Iris is bound to pick up a language or two from them. Or ten. Problem is there’s so many spirits and so many languages that she can’t exactly neatly pluck them from her head at any given time – she has a few memorized, but most others she has to roll to “remember”. This may come with unintended side effects – do you really want the spirit of a Nazi in the driver’s seat when you’re trying to speak and understand German?
Hyper-Invention: Iris can build just about anything given enough scrap to work with and enough strapping young lads to haul it around. Granted there’s a 50/50 chance she’ll lose her blueprints and paperwork after the fact (or forget to write it down at all) but hey, that’s what the second try is for, right? Also there’s a good chance it might be possessed. You never know.
Winged Flight: Our plucky heroine can activate her tech and form a pair of graceful clockwork wings on her back. How do they work? Why, good ole’ human ingenuity (and the spirits of the dead). The important thing to remember here is not that she’s powered by dead people, but that she can go really, really fast.
Stereotypical Ray Gun: Because every steampunk-themed hero needs one. It’s a gun! That shoots rays! Knock-out rays, to be more precise. Nothing Iris owns is designed to kill, merely to depower.
Giant Vat of Ghost-Juice: Yup. Iris walks around with this fashionable little number strapped to her back. With raw ectoplasm and a little bit of creativity, Iris can be a great boon to her allies …. If they don’t mind being shot with what amounts to ghost snot. With this ectoplasm, Iris can form the following advantages for her allies:
- Armor Skin: enjoy looking like a bright green latex fetishist, you weirdo.
- Regeneration: Hey, your healing is powered by the bright beautiful souls of the once-living. How about that?
- Stealth: Now you’re a bright green latex fetishist, but –invisible-.
- Water Breathing: Because going from “hey sir I’ll have your daughter home by eight” to “the ocean isn’t going to be the only thing that’s wet tonight” isn’t just for the new Aquaman.
WEAKNESSES=
PHYSICAL:
* (Negative) Weakness: the unfortunate character that has this dangerous quirk finds that he has 20 % less Health points than his F, A, S, and E rank numbers would normally indicate. This is a rather painful quirk, and is worth two quirk points to the player that takes it. !
MENTAL:
*(Negative) Absent-minded: the character with this quirk is, as described, absentminded. He has a tendency to forget names, schedules, appointments, etc..., at the most inopportune times. If necessary, the absent-minded character must make Reason FEATs to remember things at -1 CS.
SOCIAL:
*Assistant: essentially a side kick, the assistant helps the character out when necessary. He might be a behind the scenes assistant, like a techie or butler, or a more hands-on aide, such as a partner in crime (so to speak) who assists in battle. – Scrambles the Death Dealer, an undead, sentient cat! Scrambles uses voice projection powers and the ability to mentally manipulate objects like keyboards to run Iris’ business behind the scenes.
*(Positive) Attractiveness: the character is attractive. Particularly attractive, in fact. For each level he takes in this quirk, he has a effective Popularity boost of +1 CS, when dealing with folks that would tend to find him or her attractive, and a boost to his appearance rating of 2, up to a score of Unearthly. *
*(Negative) Nerd: this character just doesn't get it. He don't understand why he isn't cool, and most likely, doesn't care. This type of person is usually concerned with other things than how to dance, music, or even good fashion sense. And it shows. Nerds have a -2 CS reaction adjustment towards anyone that don't like nerds (the 'cool' people). They're used to this, and tend to get even with society on their own terms. CPAs and IRS agents are brimming with Nerds...
*(Negative) Vocally Pro-Mutant: This is the flaw for non-mutants who have also taken a stand with their mutant brethren, and is in most ways the equal equivalent of 'unregistered mutant' for baseline humans. Humans with this flaw do NOT have the same popularity penalty that humans who hang-out with known mutants regularly do, though may earn that strike against them, later, in game.
FLAWS=
* Exorcise me: All of Iris’ tech is powered mainly by steam and clockwork, sure, but it utilizes the spirits of the dead to function. A successful exorcism performed on Iris essentially takes the bullets out of the gun – Her tech technically FUNCTIONS, but can’t do anything. It also severs her connection to her ancestors, robbing her of her ability to channel their genius in times of need. An exorcism is never permanent – they always find their way back to her – but even a weak exorcism would find Iris hastily scrambling to re-activate her machinery to get it running again. Usually with lots of swearing involved.
* That Voodoo That You Do: Voodoo is a dangerous thing for Iris. In voodoo terms she is a cheval, a body easily “ridden” by spirits. Said spirits generally have a vested interest in keeping her alive and aiding her in her endeavors, but a successful voodoo feat vs .her own power could make her very tech switch allegiances against her for 1d5 rounds.
BOOK-KEEPING
Health --------> 46 – 20% = 37
Mental Health -> 80
Karma ---------> 80
Popularity ----> Poor
Resources -----> Incredible
EQUIPMENT
-Carried: Fire, spill and acid-proof heroing costume. The tech her powers are tied to. A fancy ray gun. (GRADIUS PLS GIVE ME IDEAS)
-Owned: A glorious scrapyard! Engineering and mechanics tools! Lots of pertinent inventions! The sky, probably.
-Vehicles: Eddie, the candyman van.
NOTES:
Approved by: (GM puts in Nick and Date)
| Rank | Bot Code | Value |
| Shift-0 | Sh-0 | 0 |
| Feeble | Fb | 02 |
| Poor | Pr | 04 |
| Typical | Ty | 06 |
| Good | Gd | 10 |
| Excellent | Ex | 20 |
| Remarkable | Rm | 30 |
| Incredible | In | 40 |
| Amazing | Am | 50 |
| Monstrous | Mn | 75 |
| Unearthly | Un | 100 |
| Shift-X | X | 150 |
| Shift-Y | Y | 200 |
| Shift-Z | X | 500 |