Arcadian Academy

A PbP game of Mutants & Masterminds 3e, run by JohnStarGazer.

Links

Recruitment thread

IC thread

OOC thread

Main Cast

Our ragtag band of teenage protagonists!

Billy Davis, "Biomancer" (played by The Watcher)

Billy Davis is in fact the notorious supervillain genius known as The Polymath. Well, sort of. It all began a little over year ago when The Polymath, after having analyzed and experimented with a supply of Silver Storm nanites he managed to collect after the event, gained enough comprehension of how it functioned to devise a way to guide the transformation process. To do so one would need a means of manipulating a subject's biological processes during exposure in order insure the body reacted in the correct ways to develop the desired powers. Rather than creating instrumentation that could potentially be taken or destroyed, The Polymath instead decided to create a new body for himself that possessed bio-manipulation powers.

Besides the normal benefits of such metahuman abilities, with his knowledge he'd be able to grant whatever powers he wished to anyone exposed to Silver Storm nanites. He even would be able to weave in a way for him render the granted powers dormant with his own abilities. With the abilities of his new body combined with his large cache of Silver Storm nanites he had gathered he'd be able to easily create an army of minions that possessed whatever powers he deigned to grant them. And only for as long as he deigned to grant them, with his bio-manipulation powers enabling him to induce dormancy or reactivation at will. In other words, it would be a major shift in the balance of world power that would give him might at his command equal to or greater than the Earth's major nations.

Unfortunately for The Polymath, a traitorous associate or underling leaked his plans and the location of his lair to the authorities. As his scheme was in the final steps his facility was discovered and attacked by the combined forces of the Sentinels and the Freedom League. Realizing that once the complex fell he would lose his chance to potentially become the world's newest Superpower, he ordered his minions and creations to hold off his enemies as long as they could while he began the mental transference process. The Polymath's forces fought valiantly to delay the base's invaders until Transference could be complete but to no avail. The loss of both main and auxiliary power interrupted the process before the majority of the Polymath's memories and personality could be downloaded into the body, apparently killing the original Polymath and leaving what would have been his new self with only his recollections and life experience up to his teen years.

When the authorities pulled the body from his vat and roused him what awoke was a fourteen year old William Davis, at a point in his life a decade and a half away from the beginning of his villainous career. After a controversial case in which the Courts ruled he was not the original Polymath in the Law's eyes and thus not legally responsible for the crimes of his older self, he was remanded into the custody of his parents. A short time later someone decided that a specialized private school would be the best place to help someone with Billy's peculiar history and abilities get a new, second chance at life and granted him a full scholarship to persuade his parents to enroll him. And that's how he came to be admitted to the Arcadian Academy.

Complications

Motivation: acceptance - Billy wants the world to accept him as his own person, not simply a clone of the notorious Polymath

Motivation: responsibility - Billy feels he has a duty to use his powers to benefit the world to make up for the trouble caused by his older self

Playing Catch Up With The Times - Until Billy woke up his most recent memories were of Christmas Day, 1988. He's been trying to play catch up with all the changes to the world and pop culture that have occurred since the 1990's but he's got a ways to go. There may be times when he might not recognize a significant person, event or other fact that would be common knowledge to those who were alive through those years or grew up hearing about them.

The Polymath's Shadow - Despite insisting he's a different person, the legacy of the Polymath still haunts him. Some paranoid people believe it's all an act and he somehow managed to hide all of his adult memories from both Pseudo of the Freedom League and multiple government-appointed telepathic examiners. Others might want to use him as a key to unlock captured devices or hidden vaults keyed to Polymath's biometric readings. And then there are those friends, followers and admirers of the Polymath who hope to somehow restore him to life once more, even if it means overriding Billy's current personality to do so.

Abilities (32pp)

Strength 0, Stamina 2, Agility 2, Dexterity 1, Fighting 2, Intellect 4, Awareness 3, Presence 2

Skills (14pp)

Athletics 1 (+1), Close Combat: unarmed 4 (+6), Deception 3 (+5/+7), Expertise: history 1 (+5), Expertise: life sciences 3 (+7), Insight 3 (+6), Intimidation 1 (+3), Perception 4 (+7), Persuasion 4 (+6/+8), Stealth 3 (+5), Treatment 1 (+5)

Advantages (4pp)

Attractive, Diehard, Eidetic Memory, Jack-of-All-Trades

Powers (51pp)

Detect Biological Life Systems - Senses 7 (detect life; ranged, acute, analytical, accurate, radius) = 7pp

Immunity 1: disease = 1pp

Enhanced Resilience - Protection 8 = 8pp

Regeneration 5 = 5pp

Life Control

Inflict Nausea - Affliction 6 (Fortitude; impaired/stunned/incapacitated; area: burst, selective, reversible, alternate effect 11) = 19+11pp

• alt: Enervation - Affliction 6 (Fortitude; fatigued/exhausted/asleep; perception, reversible)
• alt: Induce Euphoria - Affliction 6 (Will; entranced/compelled/controlled; perception, cumulative, limited: biological beings only, reversible)
• alt: Neural Dampening - Affliction 6 (Fortitude; hindered/immobilized/paralyzed; perception, reversible)
• alt: Neuro-Disruption - Affliction 6 (Fortitude; dazed/stunned/incapacitated; perception, reversible)
• alt: Sensory Overload - Affliction 6 (Will; impaired/disabled/unaware; perception, cumulative, limited: biological beings only, reversible)
• alt: Accelerate Recuperation - Healing 6 (perception, limited: biological beings only, reversible)
• alt: Biosculpting - Morph 3: humanoids (perception, activation: standard action, affects others, limited: biological beings only)
• alt: Boost Self - Enhanced Strength 9
• alt: Boost Subject - Enhanced Strength 5 (perception, activation: move action, affects others, limited: biological beings only)
• alt: Drain - Weaken Strength 6 (Fortitude; perception, reversible)
• alt: Twitch Muscle Enhancement - Speed 6 (perception, affects others, limited: biological beings only)

Defense & Initiative (19pp)

Initiative 0 (+2)

Dodge 0, Fortitude 0, Parry 0, Toughness 0, Will 0

Offense

Various afflictions (perception, save DC 16)

Nausea (close, 30ft burst, save DC 16)

Unarmed +6 (close, damage 0)

Equipment

Smart phone

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Fenwick "Fen" Sage, "Mindgame" (played by Funkadelic)

This is a "blank" template; copy it and put in your own stuff.

This right here is where to put a prose verbal description of the character's looks, manner and background. Or verse, if you want, why not!

I'm sure you don't need to be told to replace all this, I'm just typing text here for some filler to see how this looks. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet and so on, you know.

Complications

Enemy: The Psion family - Professor Psion doesn't like that such a promising subject has gotten away and is looking to bring Fen back into the fold or make an example of him.

Motivation: Responsibility - Given his power set, Fen is very concerned with using his powers responsibly.

Abilities (12pp)

Strength 0, Stamina 0, Agility 0, Dexterity 0, Fighting 0, Intellect 2, Awareness 2, Presence 2

Skills (24pp)

Deception 3 (+5), Expertise: philosophy 6 (+8), Insight 10 (+12), Investigation 10 (+12), Perception 8 (+10), Persuasion 5 (+7), Ranged Combat: psionics 6 (+6)

Advantages (2pp)

Speed of Thought, Teamwork

Powers (68pp)

Mental Awareness - Senses 1 (awareness: mental) = 1pp

Mental Communication - Communication 2 (mental) = 8pp

Predictive Defense - Enhanced Trait 14 (Dodge +7 (+7), Parry +7 (+7); limited to minds) = 7pp

Psionics

• Mental Blast - Damage 8 (alternate resistance: Will, increased range 2) = 24pp
• Mental Invisibility - Concealment 10 (all senses; limited to minds, resistible: Will) = 5pp
• Mind Reading - Mind Reading 8 = 16pp
• Telekinesis - Move Object 10 (damaging; precise) = 31pp

Telekinetic Flight - Flight 4 (30 miles/hour, 500 feet/round) = 8pp

TK Force Field - Protection 9 (+9 Toughness; sustained) = 9pp

Defense & Initiative (14pp)

Initiative 0 (+0)

Dodge 0 (+0/+7), Fortitude 7 (+7), Parry 0 (+0/+7), Toughness 0 (+0/+9), Will 7 (+9)

Offense

Mental Blast (perception, damage 8 vs. Will)

Telekinesis +6 (ranged, damage 10)

Equipment

Smart phone

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Hunter Ross, "Code Red" (played by RocknRollFTW)

Hunter is a very well-built person, tall and muscled. He has a slightly chiseled face with dark blue eyes, short dark brown hair, and a nose that appears to have been broken in the past. He has light brown skin, what degree it is genetics from his mother or a tan from being out in the sun frequently is hard to decipher. He dresses in jeans and t-shirts, and frequently wears a black leather jacket on top. Code Red wears a simple padded red spandex suit, including a mask to cover his eyes, but leaving his hair and cocky grin open to the world.

Complications

Motivation: Thrills - Hunter loves his powers and the adventures they allow him to take part in. Fighting supers let's him go all out in a way he couldn't even before he got super powers.

Relationships - Hunter only has one friend, but she's a doozy. As far as Hunter's concerned, Minerva just about saved his life, made him the man he is today and not a bastard like his father. The two are the best of friends nowadays, and there's some attraction, at least on Hunters side.

Identity - Hunter doesn’t much care about keeping his identity secret... except for all the trouble revealing his name to the public would lead to, so he plays along with the whole secret ID thing for now.

Rivalry/Enemy - Foxfire's attempted possession of Hunter was the thing which awakened his superpowers, and ever since she's had an interest in him. Why she's interested and what she wants from him, Hunter doesn't know.

Abilities (22pp)

Strength 0/10, Stamina 0/10, Agility 2, Dexterity 0, Fighting 6, Intellect 0, Awareness 1, Presence 2

Skills (11pp)

Deception 4 (+6), Expertise: popular culture 4 (+4), Intimidation 4 (+6), Perception 4 (+5), Ranged Combat: throw 6 (+6)

Advantages (7pp)

Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, Improved Critical (Unarmed) 1, Luck 2, Ultimate Effort (Toughness Checks)

Powers (71pp)

Flight - Flight 7 (250 MPH) = 14pp

Invulnerability - Immunity 10 (Life Support), Regeneration 1 = 11pp

Super Senses - Senses 6 (Extended 2: Sight (x100), Microscopic Vision 2: cell-size, Ultra-hearing, Ultravision) = 6pp

Superhuman - Enhanced Stamina 10, Enhanced Strength 10 = 40pp

Defense & Initiative (9pp)

Initiative 0

Dodge 4 (+6), Fortitude 0 (+0/+10), Parry 0 (+6), Toughness 0 (+0/+10), Will 5 (+6)

Offense

Unarmed +6 (close, damage 10, crit 19-20)

Throw +6 (ranged, damage according to object)

Equipment

Smart phone

---

Junko Mizuchi, "Dragon Girl" (played by GaoGaiGar)

Junko was an ordinary Japanese girl, spunky and athletic. When it came time for junior high, she wanted to go to one where she wouldn't have to ride the train for two hours. She found it... Hachiman Jr. High. All of the clubs were martial arts clubs, and the sports clubs were all violent. But she REALLY hated taking the train for two hours. The gym teacher took her under her wing and taught her the art of Tatsumaki-Ryu and how to sense and use chi... most importantly, not just how to fight but when to fight. She had a talent for that, she found.

A rivalry with another school turned into something much greater by her last year there, a grudge from the past threatening the future. The school tournament held much more in the balance than a trophy. A personal match kept her from advancing past the semi-finals... a battle she won. The climax of everything destroyed the gym.

As a result, her mom, worried for her safety, sent her to live with her aunt Anzu in Emerald City USA, where she'd start high school. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have a more normal life for a while.

That normal life lasted for about a week... then she ran into a bold daylight bank robbery by a gang using weapons out of a sentai show. They were shooting up the neighborhood something fierce and she couldn't just stand there. Someone shot a video of her beating up all eight of them and their car and posted it to Youtube, where it was picked up by the news and she was tagged as "Dragon Girl." Even though it was fuzzy and shot at a distance, the Arcadian Academy contacted her aunt soon after and so Junko's high school life begins. It looks like there are a lot of interesting people to fight and train with there!

Thanks to her schooling, Junko is a highly-trained and experienced martial artist. Her Tatsumaki-Ryu is a karate-descended style with a lot of punches and kicks used in rapid-fire combo moves. Her ultimate technique is a massive spiral chi blast called the Roaring Dragon, with an upward-firing variant called the Rising Dragon.

Her costume is pretty informal... a cloth mask over her nose and mouth and open-finger fighting gloves on top of whatever she's wearing. Sneakers, cargo shorts or sweatpants and a T-shirt or tank top are common choices now that she doesn't have to wear a school uniform every day. She has a couple of tops with a large yin-yang symbol on the back to be more super-hero-y.

Junko lives with her aunt Anzu, who married an American just out of high school and was left by him a few years later. She runs a karaoke bar downtown. She's more adventurous and less formal than her sister, which is why she approved Junko's admittance to the Academy, without sharing too many details with Junko's mom.

Junko is 5'2" tall with short, slightly spiky hair. Her modest build and cheery demeanor belies her strength. She's cheerful and outgoing, though less so in comparison to most Americans. Her big hobby is martial arts and she loves to fight new opponents and spar. She also enjoys seeking out fun new places to eat and video games. Being a super hero isn't something she planned on, but it does seem interesting enough to try out.

Complications

Motivation: doing good - It's a martial artist's duty to protect the weak.

Secret Identity - Who knows where her mom would send her next if she found out what Junko was up to here!

Power Loss - Chi isn’t unlimited. She can’t fire off unlimited Rising Dragons and even sequential ones can be draining. Five is her absolute limit, but there are other limitations

Quirk: Code of the Martial Artist - Treat honorable foes honorably, don't kick people when they're down, don't abuse the weak, etc. Punish those who break the code.

Quirk: likes to fight - She does love to test her skills.

Quirk: cultural newcomer - Junko is fluent in English, but not completely familiar with American culture, and misunderstandings can happen.

Abilities (66pp)

Strength 2, Stamina 3, Agility 8, Dexterity 0, Fighting 10, Intellect 0, Awareness 10, Presence 0

Skills (8pp)

Acrobatics 2 (+10), Athletics 2 (+10), Close Combat: unarmed 1 (+11). Expertise: martial arts 5 (+5), Persuasion 6 (+6)

Advantages (18pp)

Agile Feint, Assessment, Defensive Roll 3, Evasion 2, Feature 1 (Deft: Use Agility for Athletics), Great Endurance, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Language 1 (Japanese), Move-By Action, Power Attack, Skill Mastery (Acrobatics), Takedown 2, Uncanny Dodge

Powers (23pp)

Tatsumaki-Ryu Martial Arts style - Damage 3 (Str-based) = 3pp

Intense Training - Leaping 2, Speed 1, Movement 1 (safe fall, limited: only near surface) = 4pp

Chi Sense - Senses 3 (detect chi/life, acute, ranged) = 3pp

Honed Instincts - Senses 1 (danger sense) = 1pp

Special Moves

Combo attack/Hurricane Kick - Multiattack on unarmed damage 5; Breaking Blow - Weaken Toughness 5 linked to unarmed attack (affects objects only, limited: only against own attacks, insidious, subtle 1); alternate effect 2 = 10+2pp

• alt: Read Moves - Affliction 8 (Will; vulnerable/defenseless; perception, limited: only against own attacks, limited degree, insidious, subtle 1)
• alt: Ultimate Attack Roaring Dragon/Rising Dragon - Damage 8 (chi, energy; area: line, incurable, unreliable: 5 uses) linked to Move Object 2 (close; area: line, limited direction: push away, doesn’t move if damage resisted)

Defense & Initiative (5pp)

Initiative 0 (+8)

Dodge 2 (+10), Fortitude 3 (+6), Parry 0 (+10), Toughness 0 (+3/+6), Will 0 (+10)

Offense

Unarmed combo +11 (close, damage 5, multiattack)

Breaking Blow +11 (close, damage 5, up to -5 Toughness against further attacks)

Roaring/Rising Dragon (close, 5x30ft line, damage 8, push Str 2)

Equipment

Smart phone

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Lupe Zitlal, "Silvereyes" (played by Unka Josh)

Lupe Zitlal's grandfather was naturalized after his service in Viet Nam; her father took the family money and family connections and turned that into a growing construction company. Lupe grew up around the all-consuming family business; from her father, she inherited a strong will, stamina, and alertness.

From her mother's side of the family, she inherited something else entirely - a dark sphere that, she was told, belonged to her alone, as she had inherited the silver eyes that, it was said, sometimes appeared in her mother's line. (That lineage traced back to an ancestor who, it is said, washed up on the coast in 1650, explaining that their ship had sunk in the ocean.)

When Lupe touched the sphere, it began to shine - and when, shortly thereafter, she saw a truck lose control and flip towards a crowd of pedestrians, it opened, now resembling a large silver eye, and projected a force field that stopped the truck!

Since then, Lupe has started to explore the full potential of the Eye, but it's still mysterious, and she's nervous about pushing it too far, especially after a test for top flight speed left her looking down at Mars. She also wonders about the strange language that the Eye communicates in - it resembles no known language on Earth, and yet she understands it instinctively...

Complications

Dependents - Lupe's family has a way of getting caught up in SG's affairs, especially her father's construction company. ("Red Eagle Construction")

Enemy - The Eye is open again at last. This power cannot be overlooked.

Fame - Lupe wound up on YouTube stopping a truck from crashing into a crowd, before she knew how to fully use the Eye. She has no secret identity.

Motivation - Responsibility of Power

Abilities (26pp)

Strength 0, Stamina 3, Agility 3, Dexterity 0, Fighting 0, Intellect 1, Awareness 6, Presence 0

Skills (15pp)

Expertise (construction) 4 (+5), Insight 2 (+8), Perception 6 (+12), Persuasion 6 (+6), Ranged Combat (the Eye) 6 (+6), Stealth 2 (+5), Technology 2 (+3), Treatment 2 (+3)

Advantages (4pp)

Luck 3, Languages (Spanish)

Powers (63pp)

Marked For The Eye - Senses 2 (darkvision), Enhanced Advantage 1 (Languages 1: ???), Regeneration 1, Movement 1 (environmental adaptation: zero-G) = 6pp

Silver Aura - Flight 3, Immunity 10 (life support), Protection 9 = 25pp

The Eye Sees All - Senses 3 (extended sight 3) = 3pp

Silver Beam - Ranged Damage 10 (precise, extended range 4, alternate effect 4) = 25+4pp

• alt: Force Field Structures - Create 8 (precise, selective)
• alt: Crowd Control Mode - Damage 8 (area: 30ft burst, selective)
• alt: Precision Force Waves - Move Object 10 (precise, affects insubstantial 2)
• alt: High Speed Mode - Movement 5 (space travel 2, permeate 3), Flight +15 (distracting)

Defense & Initiative (12pp)

Initiative 0 (+3)

Dodge 1 (+4), Fortitude 2 (+5), Parry 4 (+4), Toughness 0 (+12), Will 5 (+11)

Offense

Silver Beam (range 400/800/1600ft, damage 10, precise)

Equipment

Smart phone

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Stefan Skarsgård, "Healbot" (played by Max)

(It's pronounced "scars-gored", more or less.)

A Swedish exchange student who was trapped in a burning building during the Silver Storm and subsequently fused with an experimental first responder robot sent to rescue him. The technological half of him being technically property of the US government caused overwhelming complications in trying to bring him back home after the incident, and eventually his family just moved to the States and enrolled him in the Arcadian in the hopes of helping him cope with his transformation.

Stefan's body is now a stable yet highly flexible colony of techno-organic nanomachines, most of the time resembling a stockier, heavier and somewhat abstracted sculpture of his former self in what looks like dull grey metal, although his proportions and features can shift significantly according to his moods and needs. There's no real point in trying to mask his identity, so instead of a costume he just wears regular street clothes - jeans, sneakers and T-shirts - but on missions he does like to don a sleeveless green hoodie with a big white cross on the back; it just feels more legit, somehow, and makes him feel more like part of a real team.

Cheerfully stoic and calm by nature, he's actually taking quite well to his new existence, his main internal source of stress being just a nagging desire to belong, born of feeling like a freak among strangers in a foreign land ('cos, well, he is). While no life of the party, as such, he's always pleasant to be around, mostly a bit of a goof, quick to make friends and loyal to an extreme.

Complications

Enemy - Edward Aardman, a scientist turned dangerous criminal who originally designed the nanite technology and now wants it back

Motivation - acceptance, responsibility

Abilities (50pp)

Strength 8, Stamina 10, Agility 0, Dexterity 0, Fighting 0, Intellect 2, Awareness 3, Presence 2

Skills (15pp)

Close Combat 8 (+8), Insight 3 (+6), Perception 3 (+6), Persuasion 4 (+6), Technology 4 (+6), Treatment 8 (+10)

Advantages (5pp)

Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Interpose, Languages (Swedish), Teamwork

Powers (35pp)

Malleable - Elongation 1, Feature (mutable features), Movement 1 (wall-crawling), Speed 1 (60ft) = 4pp

Medical nanites - Regeneration 10 (persistent; alternate effect) = 20+1pp

• alt: Healing 18 (limited to others; persistent, stabilize)

Resilient - Immortality 5 (limited: extreme cold), Immunity 5 (aging, disease, poison, suffocation) = 10pp

Defense & Initiative (15pp)

Initiative 0

Dodge 6 (+6), Fortitude 0 (+10), Parry 6 (+6), Toughness 0 (+10), Will 3 (+6)

Offense

Unarmed +8 (close, damage 8)

Grab +8 (close, strength 13)

Equipment

Smart phone

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Name, "Alias" (played by player)

This is a "blank" template; copy it and put in your own stuff.

This right here is where to put a prose verbal description of the character's looks, manner and background. Or verse, if you want, why not!

I'm sure you don't need to be told to replace all this, I'm just typing text here for some filler to see how this looks. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet and so on, you know.

Complications

Motivation

etc.

Abilities (??pp)

Strength 0, Stamina 0, Agility 0, Dexterity 0, Fighting 0, Intellect 0, Awareness 0, Presence 0

Skills (??pp)

Skill 1, Skill 2, etc.

Advantages (??pp)

Advantage 1, Advantage 2, etc.

Powers (??pp)

Power 1 - mechanics

Power 2 - same

• alt: alternate effect

etc.

Defense & Initiative (??pp)

Initiative 0

Dodge 0, Fortitude 0, Parry 0, Toughness 0, Will 0

Offense

Attack 1

Attack 2

etc.

Equipment

Smart phone, item 2, etc.

Supporting Cast

AKA major NPCs.

Whoever

Stuff!

Etc.

Other stuff!

The Story So Far

A short form summary of what's hit the fan before. Like fourth-wall-breaking lecture notes!