Character Creation and Discussion

When our Team first came together

Bull: We defeated a dangerous enemy. Who or what was it?

Thinking someone Lex tried to go for alone and underestimated so the fight spilled out into somewhere public.

Perhaps Steven Robertson - Thought be a minor crook who has connections to The Doctor, a large hulking villain that had been physically breaking into various locations.

In actuality he was The Doctor, augments by strange serums and Potions, and transformed when cornered with Lex trying to intimidate for info causing a fight to break out and proving to be ato strong for even her Wild Claw form especially ashe she still wasn't used to it.

Outsider: We didn’t trust each other at first, but that changed. How? Why?

In the midst of Halcyon City's bustling streets, Wild Claw found herself outmatched by Steven Robertson, who morphed into the monstrous Doctor. As chaos spread, Aria, despite her initial distrust, swooped down as Solstice, using her heliokinesis ability to aid Wild Claw. Nightfly, Mirage, and Captain Teleport soon joined the fray. Their combined might was beginning to wear The Doctor down, but he continued to resist.

As Aria and Wild Claw tried to coordinate their attacks, The Doctor, drawing from the volatile energies of his serum-infused physiology, unleashed a tremendous shockwave that rippled through the area. Buildings shook and windows shattered, and The Doctor stood defiant, his eyes glowing even brighter. The heroes, taken aback by the new display of The Doctor's powers, began to despair.

Just then, Alloy Angel descended from the skies, her metallic form reflecting the city lights. With a burst of technopathic energy, she attempted to disrupt The Doctor's augmented systems. Second Phase blurred in, moving at blinding speeds to create diversions, while Mirage, with her psychic constructs, fashioned barriers to protect bystanders.

Witnessing the courage and determination of her newfound allies, Aria felt a deep connection, realizing that they shared a common purpose.

Though the battle with The Doctor seemed far from over, the team's selflessness and unity in the face of danger solidified Aria's trust.


Janus: We saved the life of someone important, either to the city, or to us. Who was it? Why are they important?

Mirage's barriers were protecting bystanders exposed on the streets. But one of the buildings struck by The Doctor's shockwave started to crumble and then collapse - several people inside it escaping out of a large window.

To Lex/Wild Claw's horror, one of them was Janina, her closest schoolfriend. The Doctor noticed Lex's attention, and swooped over to grab Janina. Holding her up, The Doctor challenged Wild Claw to back down, to swear an oath to allow The Doctor to continue his rampage untouched.

Seeing this, Leo/Captain Teleport and Jerry/Nightfly, standing next to each other exchanged a few words - and struck.

Nightfly connected with the cockroaches in nearby buildings, and asked them to swarm up and over The Doctor. They came at first, one or two at a time, but within seconds a huge carpet of them covered his legs, his body.

With this distraction, Captain Teleport was able to teleport in, grab Janina, and teleport away again before The Doctor could act to stop him.

Very happy to make change to this! Found it, again, harder than I expected to come up with something.

Delinquent: We totally broke some major rules to win the fight. What rules did we break? Whose rules were they?

Leo made a couple more jumps before deciding Janina was safe. They were essentially random - moving as far as he could see in whatever direction he happened to be looking. Leo took a look around to make sure Janina was in a safe place before leaving her, and when he did, he felt a rush of adrenaline. Leo recognized the building they were next to. Leo had broken into it once before after seeing some unusual people going in and out. Turned out it was a covert A.E.G.I.S. office. He'd mostly seen offices when he was in there, but there was a small vault where they agents stashed their goodies.

A few moments later, Leo ported back into the midst of the fight. In his hands was something that looked like an anime weapon made real - big, rifle-looking, shiny metal, glowing bits. Leo had no idea what it did, but it had a barrel and a trigger. He pointed the business end at the Doctor and fired the weapon.

The flash blinded Leo, so he didn't actually see what happened. But he was pretty sure he had fired an energy beam of some kind at the Doctor. It must have hit him, because when Leo's sight returned, he saw the Doctor unconscious on the ground some distance away from where he had been standing.

Leo set the weapon carefully on the ground. "If anyone asks, we just found that lying around."

Doomed: We paid a high cost for victory. What was it?

Legacy: All things considered, we did well and impressed an established hero. Who
was it?

Transformed: We drew attention and ire from plenty during the fight. One important person in particular now hates and fears us. Who is it?

Relationships:
Lex Thompson (Bull, - LightOfMidnight) 18 years old
Jerry is your love. You’ve opened up to them about the worst parts of your past.
Michelle is your rival. They tried to control you at a crucial moment.

Captain Teleport/Leonard "Leo" Winston (Delinquent, - timplausible) 16/17 years old
You keep trying to impress Nightfly with your antics.
You and Lex pulled an awesome (if illegal) stunt together.

Mirage/Avery Vance (Doomed, - amymist) 16 years old
You told Leo all about your doom and the danger you’re in.

You’d love to kiss Aria before your doom comes.

Nightfly/Jerry Steinbeck (Janus - BeardHare) 18/19 years old

1. Lex knew you from your civilian life first.
2. You refused to tell Alloy your secret identity when they asked

Second Phase/Michelle Hayafu (Legacy, - chloe)
You once got caught doing something that shames your legacy with Leo
You trust Nightfly and told them an important secret of your legacy.

Solstice/Aria King (Outsider, - Dreamweaver)
You have a crush on Alice but you keep it under wraps.
You’ve been learning about Earth by spending time with Leo.

Alloy Angel (Transformed, - bowlofspinach) 18/19 years old
Aria comforted you when you were at your lowest.
Michelle knew you before you changed.

Hero Name: Solstice (The Outsider playbook).

Real Name: Aria King

Look: In her true form, Aria is a female with neon blue skin, glowing pearl-white eyes, and adorns herself in her people's distinctive cosmic, spandex, high-tech-weave uniform adorned with the symbol of two suns on her shoulder, which is the symbol of her people. When shapeshifted into her human form, Aria becomes a blonde, sun-kissed teenager with hazel eyes that hold an inner glow, donning typical Earthly attire with a subtle cosmic accessory (a broach with

Abilities: Can fly, pretty tough, radical shapeshifting, heliokinesis

Labels:
Danger -1
Freak +2
Savior 0
Superior +2
Mundane 0

Potential: 0

Influence: Cheerful demeanor (You’re thrilled to be here. Give everyone Influence over you.)

Outsider Moves:

Belong in two worlds. You have the resources that come with your station. Whenever you contact your people, roll + Superior. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 2. On a miss, hold 1, but your people make an uncomfortable demand of you. Spend your hold 1 for 1 to: 
- receive a useful piece of alien technology that will allow you to use any ability from another playbook once (choose the ability when you spend the hold)
- consult your people’s knowledge to ask the GM a question about the current situation
- clear a condition through the comfort of contact with your home

Kirby-craft. You have a vehicle, something from your home. When you are flying your ship, you can use it to unleash your powers, directly engage a threat*, or defend someone using Superior. Strengths - Size-shifting, telepathic. Weaknesses - Bizarre fuel source (fresh fruit), unarmed

Not so different after all. When you talk about your home, roll + Freak. On a 10+, choose two. On a 7-9, choose one. During the conversation, you: 
- confess a flaw of your home; add 1 Team to the pool
- mislead them about your home; take Influence over them
- describe the glories of your home; clear a condition
On a miss, you inadvertently reveal more about yourself than you planned; tell them a secret or vulnerability you haven’t shared with Earthlings before now.

Team Moves:
When you share a triumphant celebration with someone, take Influence over them if you show them meaningful affection, physical or emotional. They decide if it’s meaningful. 
When you share a vulnerability or weakness with someone, they tell you what you should do to fit in more. Take +1 forward to do it, and mark potential if you do.

Backstory:
She chose the hero name of Solstice which combines the imagery of the sun's peak (heliokinesis) and change (like her shape-shifting ability))

Where do you come from? Aria hails from Celestara, a planet of twin suns, where her people stand ready to aid her in battle.

Why did you come to Earth? A cosmic storm diverted her celestial expedition, causing her to crash on Earth. While Aria has found a way to contact her people, she decided to stay on Earth for a season rather than return home.

Why do you want to stay here (for now at least)? Despite the beckoning call of Celestara, Earth's emotional ties and the unique resonance of its sun with her powers anchor her. Earth culture provides unique values absent from her home culture.

Why do your people want you to come home? Celestara faces a once-in-a-millennium cosmic event, and Aria's solstice birth prophesied her essential role in its balance. Beyond Celestara's impending cosmic event, her recent show of strength and leadership has deemed her especially worthy in their eyes.

Why do you care about the team? While her Celestaran kin offer power and duty, the team provides her with irreplaceable bonds of acceptance, guidance, and camaraderie.

Hero Name: Captain Teleport (he says hero names are all stupid, so he intentionally gave himself a "stupid" name)
Real Name: Leonard "Leo" Winston
Look: man, white, jaded eyes, casual clothing
Costume: black cargo pants (with pouches!), black shirt, black jacket (with more pouches!), Black ski mask, black combat boots - really just an outfit from the burglar surplus store. He kinda wants a real hero costume, but he would never admit that.
Abilities: Teleportation, power negation (negates powers of nearby supers for a few moments after teleporting)

BACKSTORY QUESTIONS
How did you get your powers?
Leo and his parents were caught in an event that he has yet to understand. They were driving on the outskirts of the city. There was some kind of flash of energy, and then Leo was somewhere else - miles away in a forest. The incident appears to have been the source of his powers, though he couldn’t tell you how or why. His parents and their car were never found.

What do you do for fun?
He breaks into places - the more interesting or secure, the better. Sometimes he steals, but just as often he goes in for the hell of it, to explore the place or mess with the security team. He also plays a lot of video games.

Who, outside the team, thinks better of you than you do?
One of the city’s older heroes tracked the "teleporting burglar" and uncovered Leo’s true identity. The hero saw that Leo wasn’t a true villain, and encouraged him to "rethink his life choices". This hero checks in on Leo every now and then, always trying to steer him down the "right path", but rarely judging him. Leo has no idea why this hero seems to care so much. (Leaving this hero's identity to the GM and/or group worldbuilding).

Why do you try to be a hero?
Leo is deeply troubled over the loss of his parents, and as he sees it, his whole life. He doesn’t know what to do with himself, but he knows he does not want to sit still with his emotions. He used to get into trouble to stay distracted. Now he uses heroics instead (usually). He also likes the feeling he gets from helping people, though he tries to hide this.

Why do you care about the team?
Leo lost his family, and it devastated him. The team is now the closest thing he has to a family. He doesn’t want to lose that.

RELATIONSHIP PROMPTS
You keep trying to impress ?? with your antics. - Probably the teen girl from another planet (I feel like Leo has gotten chastised for calling her the "hot alien" at least once).
You and ?? pulled an awesome (if illegal) stunt together. - Sounds like LightOfMidnight's character would be a good choice.

Three characters will get Influence over Leo. Probably the two characters that are the answers to the above prompts. Have to scratch my head about the third.

Hero Name: Mirage

Real Name: Avery Vance

Look: When costumed, it's hard to make out much about Mirage's appearance. They wear a grim costume made of black leather, and keep their face hidden by a motorcycle helmet with a tinted visor. They have a slight build and are relatively short at an even five feet.

Without the helmet, they're revealed to have short, dark hair, brown skin that suggests a mixed-race background, and brown eyes with a haunted look to them.

Abilities: Telekinesis, psychic constructs

Nemesis: Doctor Albert Metcett

Labels:
Danger +1
Freak +2
Savior +1
Superior -1
Mundane 0

Backstory:

Avery had struggled with day-to-day life for a long time. They were deeply depressed, and they felt purposeless and disconnected from the people around them. When they were at their lowest, they were approached by someone who called himself Doctor Metcett. The doctor offered them a way out, and a chance to become something much greater. They accepted readily, and were reborn as Mirage.

When did you first learn of your doom?

After Mirage recieved their powers, there was a period of testing and training. During this period, after a series of tests had left them tired and drained, they insisted that they could not continue unless they were given a break. Instead, Doctor Metcett siezed control, using Mirage as a conduit to take control of them and their powers for himself. It was then that they realized just how little agency they really had.

Where did you get your sanctuary?

It was provided by Doctor Metcett. It's not part of his main stronghold, but he knows where it is, and using it runs the risk of him noticing.

Why do you oppose your nemesis?

Mirage worked for Doctor Metcett for months without knowing what his ultimate goal was. They were aware that he was carrying out human experimentation, but to what end was not clear. The realization didn't come all at once, either. A strange document here, a hypnotized test subject there. But they finally pieced it together.

Doctor Metcett had plans to create a device that would let him control the minds of everyone in Halcyon City. And it would use Mirage as the key. They decided they weren't willing to participate in something like that, and they fled.

But running away only buys them time. They know they won't be able to evade Metcett forever, and if he catches them, they'll be powerless to stop his grand plan.

Who, outside of the team, is crucial to defeating your nemesis?

haha idk i still need to figure this one out

Why does the team matter to you?

As people who aren't subject to Doctor Metcett's control (...yet), the team is the best chance Mirage has at finding a way to oppose him. On top of this, there aren't many people out there who would be willing to give Mirage a chance after the type of things they've done under Metcett's employ. The team represents another option; maybe the only one Mirage has.

Doom:
What brings your doom closer?
Injuring innocents, overexerting yourself
Doom Track: 0/5

Doomsigns:
Infinite Powers: Mark your doom track to use an
ability from any playbook, one time.

Sanctuary:
You have a place where you can rest, recover, and reflect upon your powers. Choose three features of your sanctuary:
A containment system, a powerful computer, a power enhancement system

Choose two downsides of your sanctuary:
Draws dangerous attention, tied intricately to your doom

When you call upon the resources of your sanctuary to solve a problem, say what you want to do.
The GM will give you one to four conditions you must fulfill to complete your solution:
❑ First, you must _______________________
❑ You’ll need help from ___________________
❑ You and your team will risk danger from ______
❑ The best you can do is a lesser version,
unreliable and limited
❑ You’ll need to mark one box on your doom track
❑ You’ll have to obtain _________________