Masks: Halcyon Superheroics 101: Gravitas

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Identity

Hero Name: Gravitas

Real Name: Corinna "Cori" Howland

Look

• Woman
• Black
• Normal skin
• Fashionable clothing
• Fantastical costume

Labels

• Danger +1
• Freak +2
• Savior 0
• Superior +1
• Mundane -1

Conditions

• Afraid
• Angry
• Guilty
• Hopeless
• Insecure

Abilities

Magnitude Manipulation: She can manipulate the "amount" of physical properties attached to matter, objects, people, and forces: size, mass, speed, weight, pressure, distance, momentum, intensity, and impact. In practice, this lets her make objects larger or smaller, make attacks hit harder or softer, increase or decrease speed, lighten or weigh down targets, blunt explosions, strengthen barriers, or turn small motions into devastating force. She cannot create these properties from nothing; she amplifies, reduces, or distorts what is already there.

Her power is extremely versatile but dangerous when pushed too far. The broader or more abstract the change, the harder it is to control, especially when used on living targets or large areas. When she loses focus, the effects can escalate unpredictably: things become too heavy, too fast, too large, too loud, or too forceful. At her best, she can protect people by reducing impact and danger; at her worst, she can accidentally turn a minor action into a disaster.

Moves

Burn

When you charge up your powers, roll + conditions you currently have marked. On a hit, hold 3 burn. On a 7-9, mark a condition. On a miss, hold 2 burn and mark three conditions. Spend your burn on your flares. You lose all burn at the end of the scene.

Choose four flares.

• Reality Storm You channel a destructive burst with your powers. Spend 1 burn to directly engage a threat using your powers, rolling + Freak instead of + Danger. If you do, you will cause unwanted collateral damage unless you spend another burn.
• Shielding You call up a fast protective field to stop a danger. Spend 1 burn to defend someone else from an immediate threat, rolling + Freak instead of + Savior.
• Boost Spend 1 burn to supercharge a teammate’s efforts with your powers, giving them a +1 bonus to their roll as if you had spent Team from the pool.
• Overcharge You channel the full capacity of your incredible powers to overcome an obstacle, reshape your environment, or extend your senses. Spend 2 burn to take a 10+ when you unleash your powers.

Moment of Truth

Your mind’s eye opens, and you can see the world around you like never before. You can control it, at will, with ease. Of course, warping reality tends to have ramifications down the line, but in your moment of godhood...how could you possibly be worried?

Team Moves

When you share a triumphant celebration with someone, ask them if there is any fear in their eyes when they look at you. If they say no, take +1 forward and mark potential. If they say yes, immediately shift your Danger up and Savior down.

When you share a vulnerability or weakness with someone, tell them how they could stop you, if it came down to it. Give them Influence over you and clear a condition.

Backstory

1. When did you first use your powers?

It happened during a mandatory family evaluation in our private training facility when I was thirteen. My parents were expecting me to manifest something like my mother's kinetic shields or my father's solar blasts. Instead, when my father launched a standard training drone at me to test my reflexes, I apparently altered its magnitude all at once. Its speed, mass, and impact multiplied far beyond what the room was built to handle. I turned it into a missile. It punched through three reinforced barriers, cratered the floor, and brought half the observation deck down in a shower of glass and alarms.

2. Who was the first person you accidentally hurt with your powers?

My older brother, Marcus. After the drone incident, I lost control completely. Everything around me started becoming too much. Marcus rushed in to pull me out, and I accidentally caught him in the backlash. I increased the effective weight and impact of his own movement while reducing the distance between him and the floor, slamming him down hard enough to fracture bone and rupture several internal blood vessels. Even with top-tier superhero medical care, it took months for him to fully recover.

3. Who, outside the team, helps you control your powers?

Marcus. Despite being the one I hurt, he refuses to let our parents treat me like a ticking time bomb. Marcus, who operates as the pro hero Vanguard, understands the pressure of the family name better than anyone. His own powers involve kinetic absorption, which makes him one of the few people who can safely stand near me during training. He helps me focus on precise limits: how much weight, how much speed, how much force, how much distance. He teaches me to think rationally instead of being fearful.

4. Why do you continue to use your powers?

Two reasons: pride and control. I'm a Howland; hiding in the shadows or pretending to be normal is completely out of the question. More importantly, Marcus taught me that a power this broad can't be ignored. If I don't learn to control it, every panic response, every fight, every mistake could become catastrophic. I refuse to be a liability, and I refuse to let my family look at me like I'm broken. I'll master this power until I'm a pro at it.

5. Why do you care about the team?

At home, I'm a problem to be managed. My parents look at me and see unstable potential, a catastrophe waiting to happen, or a weapon that needs tighter control. The team, however, doesn't care about the Howland legacy. They know I'm dangerous, but they don't treat me like I'm only dangerous. They trust me to catch them when they fall, soften the hit, clear the path, or drop the hammer when everything goes sideways. They're disorganized, chaotic, dramatic, and frequently exhausting -- but they're my friends.

When Our Team First Came Together

We destroyed our surroundings in the fight. Where was it? What did we destroy?

The fight happened in the central atrium of the Northgate Galleria Mall during a busy afternoon. It's a miracle there was no casualties given all the chaos. By the end, the fountain had collapsed into the lower level, the skylight was shattered, several stores were wrecked, and half the food court looked like it had been folded sideways. Oops.

Relationships

You hang out all the time with Fennec Fox to blow off steam.

You once hurt Io when you lost control of your powers.

Influence

I have Influence over Fennec Fox, Io and Preston Digits

La Rabia has Influence over me

GM Questions

Are her parents still active as superheroes? And where did the family get the money/funding for this kind of resources?

They are still active! Adrian (hero name Helion) and Vivienne Howland (her name Bulwark) are veteran heroes who weren't actually born with her abilities. They were married scientists assigned to the same cohort who experienced an accident during an experiment that, instead of killing them, gave them and their colleagues superpowers. Vivienne was unknowingly pregnant with Cori's older brother Marcus when this happened, and thus he was exposed to the same energies that would eventually lead to him developing powers of his own at a young age (think Franklin Richards but far less OP).

As for how her family got the money/funding for the kind of resources I mentioned, I'm treating them like the Richards from Fantastic Four. Both Adrian and Vivienne are brilliant scientists who have made strides in the fields of High-Energy Particle Physics, Vector Dynamics, Quantum Materials, and Metamaterial Engineering, which has afforded them a lot of fame and fortune.

What does your costume look like?

Gravitas wears a sleek, expensive-looking black and deep violet bodysuit with silver-white linework that traces along her arms, shoulders, and spine like contour marks on a map. The costume has reinforced gloves, a short structured jacket, and subtle armor plating worked into the design rather than bolted on. Her emblem is a stylized silver orbital ring over the chest.

What message is it trying to send?

The costume is polished, restrained, and almost aristocratic, very much in line with the Howland family image. It says: I am composed. I am powerful. I belong here.

What is your home life like?

Suffocatingly sterile and high-pressure. The Howland estate is less of a home and more of a private corporate research facility wrapped in architectural luxury. Her parents, while clearly loving her, can't completely turn off their analytical, scientific brains -- especially when it comes to her at times distressingly volatile abilities. Her older brother Marcus is much less intense, providing Cori with genuine love and support that is thoroughly unconditional.

Outside of school and home, where are you most likely to be found when not in hero mode?

Cori is almost exclusively found in the corner booth of The Atelier on 5th, a highly exclusive, minimalist espresso bar and bookstore downtown known for its strict noise policy. She sits alone with an expensive coffee reading whatever literature interests her at the moment. It's a sanctuary where she can completely escape the messy expectations set upon her.

Would you choose to spend time with your teammates outside of Team-related activities?

Yes, although Cori isn't the type to enthusiastically announce that she wants to hang out. She'll seem aloof about the invitation, accepting it with little fanfare. And then when the time comes she'll arrive earlier than anyone else, dressed to impress and effortlessly fitting into whatever social scene unfolds around her.

Which Hero, other than your mentor, do you look up to?

Armistice. She's everything Cori wishes she could be: powerful without being reckless, feared without being monstrous, and disciplined without becoming cruel. Armistice can walk into a disaster zone and make everyone around her feel like there's still a plan. Cori admires her because her whole reputation's built around restraint.

Which Villain do you dread encountering the most?

Imperator, real name Dr. Crispin Hale. He was once a brilliant colleague of Cori's parents, part of the same scientific cohort empowered in the accident that created their generation of heroes, but where they became public icons, he became their most persistent enemy. Imperator is cold, regal, and frighteningly patient, the kind of villain who treats every battle like a proof of his superiority. Once, after carefully studying her during a particularly tumultuous confrontation, he told her that the path she's on ends with everyone around her crushed beneath the weight of her own mistakes. Then he calmly offered to help her master herself, claiming he alone could prevent that future. Cori knows he's likely manipulating her, but the worst part is that some part of her is afraid he might be right.