Reliquary

RELIQUARY Amanda Pennington

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g315/david_goodner/rachelcook109di.jpg

PL: 10 (160 pp)

ABILITIES: STR: 10 (0) DEX: 12 (+1) CON: 12 (+1) INT: 14 (+2) WIS: 16 (+3/+1) CHA: 16 (+3)

SKILLS: Acrobatics (+1), Bluff 6 (+9), Computers (+2), Concentration 8 (+11), Diplomacy 8 (+11), Disable Device (+2), Disguise (+3), Drive (+1), Escape Artist (+1), Gather Info 8 (+11), Handle Animal (+3), Intimidate (+3), Investigate (+2), Behavioral Sciences 4 (+6), Current Event 2 (+4), Popular Culture 2 (+4), Art 2 (+4), Theology and Philosophy 2 (+4), Medicine 2 (+5), Notice 6 (+9), Keyboard Instruments 10 (+13), Singing 12 (+15), Pilot (+1), Profession 8 (+11), Ride (+1), Search 2 (+4), Sense Motive 6 (+9), Sleight of Hand (+1), Stealth 2 (+3), Survival (+3)

FEATS: Beginner's Luck, Luck (2), Attractive (2), Trance, Contacts, Benefit (2), Defensive Attack, Dodge Focus (3), Teamwork (3), Jack-of-All-Trades, Equipment (2), Fascinate (3), Sneak Attack (3)

Note: Beginner's Luck, Jack-of-all-trades, and Contacts represent minor uses of Reliquary's Spirit Vessel power. She can ask ghosts for advice and use fragmentary memories without having to completely channel a spirit (thus avoiding the inherrant risks).

POWERS: *Spirit Vessel (resisted, possession) [10] - DC:20:will, Provides 15 points per rank (150) to duplicate traits of those who have died nearby, , See http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=229035, , Stun (Alternate Save, Will, vs. Insubstantial x2) [10] - DC:20:will, & Concealment (All senses, Passive), , & Detect: Disabled/Dying (Free action, Ranged, Accurate, Acute, Radius), , Equipment: Undercover Vest (Toughness +3) 3, , Equipment: Comlink 1, , Equipment: PDA 1,

Reliquary's "Spirit Vessel" power makes her an avatar of death to some extent. She can sense the presence of death, and whenever she wants to, she can wrap herself in the essence of death, making people not want to notice her. (Optionally, anyone with some form of immortality might be immune, but that seems rare enough that I'm not going to shave points for it) She can also disrupt someone's life-force. The sensation "feels like dying," but in fact only creates unconsciousness. Reliquary might exert effort (and hero points on an alternate power feat) to kill someone, but she never has.

Her most frightening (philosophically and otherwise) ability is the ability to channel the spirits of anyone who has died in her vicinity. She can communicate with ghosts relatively easily, and in fact can't always shut them up. Controlling one takes more effort in the form of a contest of wills. When Reliquary is "mounted" by a spirit, she has all of that spirit's knowledge, skills, physical, mential, and supernatural abilities. Social abilities (like "Contacts" or "Benifit") can only be duplicated if Reliquary has some way to finesse the social interactions (like using email or pretending to be a proxy for the original individual. So basically it's up to the GM) Powers that involve unique physiology are available, but painful and tend to ruin her clothes.

COMBAT: Attack 5 [Unarmed +0 (Bruise)] Defense 18 (12 flat-footed) Init 1

SAVES: Toughness 1 (1 flat-footed) Fortitude 5 Reflex 5 Will 10

Abilities 16 + Skills 23 (92 ranks) + Feats 25 + Powers 61 + Combat 20 + Saves 15 – Drawbacks 0 = 160 / 160

Personality

A genuinely good and pure person burdened by terrible tragidies. Mandy is fragile, but has a core of strength she needs only to find.

Physical Appearance: A raven-haired, pixish beauty with dark blue eyes. She's every goth-boy (and half the girls') fantasy. She tends to dress in clothes that accentuate her elfin looks, like wearing an oversized boy's coat or "gothic lol ita" styles.

She hasn't chosen a costume at this time.

Background:

Amanda lived a pretty normal life except that her parents stayed married. They encouraged her musical studies and took good care of her. She won a few piano contests, and expected to go to college and get her Music degree.

At the West End Market Place, Amanda's life changed forever. She was in the city for a music festival, and going out on the town with a fake ID, when she (along with several other people) was caught up in the Devil's Night Fire. The full story of what happened that night never came out. Most people don't know or believe that several metahumans dueled, or that the fires and explosions that killed two hundred and thirty-seven people were caused by unrestrained use of superpowers. Amanda wouldn't have believed it until her own power Crested and started ripping the souls of the dying from the aether and grafting them into her mind. (Or psychically copying the resonance of dying people. What really happens is a question for saints and philosophers.)

Amanda's mind cracked under the strain. Fortunately, she came into the care of Joseph Williams, who was able to help her sort out the chaos. She went her own way after that, needing some space and time to get a grip on the changes, but now she's getting back into life and considering using her powers in some fashion. Some days, she thinks she's a monster. Others, she manages to believe that she couldn't do what she does without a reason, and she wants to find it in the hopes that fulfilling her purpose will give her some peace.

Battle Tactics: Amanda's first priority is to prevent casualties. She will always try to protect civilians and want to see that they're moved to safety. (Other PCs are better at this than she is, so if they're doing it, she can concentrate on other things)

She'll probably have one or two ghosts she relies on to provide the bulk of her powers. Of the suite I have so far, Skyrocket is probably her go-to ghost, with Wise Son as a second choice. (Wise Son is better in a lot of ways, but he's scary). She'll use Skyrocket's powers mostly to dazzle and stun enemies, because she doesn't really have much killer instinct.

When really pushed to the wall, she will risk summoning K-money and using his powers. K-money is pretty much a human WMD

Another likely tactic is to call on Angel and let her teammates do the fighting while she heals people.

Origin of Reliquary

Character Goals: Amanda has just barely reached the decision that she should try to help people with her powers. She's not sure how to go about it, because she's not really the "superhero" type. Initially, she'll be unsure of herself, but she'll develop some confidence after a few outings (assuming they go well. If she screws up, she'll be depressed.)

She's put most of her personal goals on hold, but might get interested in them again or pick up new ones.

She's not interested in romance right now. But how many people who say that really mean it?

There is, of course, stuff I'd like to see...

• Amanda meeting Angel Murphy's kids. Especially if they're in some kind of trouble.
• Skyrocket being interested in Zip Chick. This could get kind of creepy, or at the least a little kinky, though. So proceed with due caution.
• Once we have a really serious villain, it'd be fun to have that guy die in Amanda's vicinity. One of the coolest variants of this character I ever proposed was a version who lived in the X-men's Nightmares of Future Past timeline, and was there when the Sentinels killed Magneto. The game was going to take place in the mainstream MU. Seeing what a Magneto who had brought about Armageddon for his people would do with another chance would have been neat. (Unfortunately, just Magneto's powers were about 3 times more than the other PCs, so I played someone else instead. :) )
• Amanda should have to deal with the moral, ethical, and theological ramifications of her powers to some degree.
• It'd be neat to see someone who WANS to be absorbed.

NPC Cast: Any of these people might have a place in Amanda's story. All pretty optional since she's moving out of state.

• Edward Pennington: Amanda's dad. A former Marine, now an investment banker. Still dotes on his baby girl.

• Allison Pennington: Amanda's mom. A Doctor of Education who runs an exclusive private school to pay the bills, and does "pro bono" work setting up programs to help underpriviliged kids. She bakes as a hobby, so the house always smells like bread.

• Alan Pennington: Amanda's big brother. An architect. He and Amanda don't have much of a relationship. He's always kind of resented her. They love each other, but better from a distance.

• Dr. Thomas Rook: Amanda's psyciatrist. Probably someone Joeseph knows, and possibly a minor telepath himself. (If he does have powers, they're useless in combat, like telepathy taking extra time and being tiring - more like Spock's mind-meld than Professor X's telepathy). He's pretty much done what he can for Amanda, helping her develop mental control and coping strategies.

• Father Simon McKinzie: Amanda's parish priest since she was a little girl. He's a big guy who walks with a limp. He's had a colorful life (to the tune of being PL 7 or so). He knows about Amanda's powers and has given her what advice he can from a spiritual perspective.

• Mercer Jamison: D/FW reporter. Hard-nosed and driven to get the truth. His abrasive ways have hobbled his career to some extent. He and Amanda have never met, but he's obsessed with solving the mystery of the Devil's Night Fires.

House of the Dead:

K-Money (Kelvin Meadows)

Powers: Fire control, including a big, nasty flame aura. Probably not much controlled projection or flight. Personality: A thug who thinks of himself as an honorable warrior, but he's not really a good person. He's selfish, short-sighted, and wrapped up in the myth of machismo. History: A gang member and drug dealer who went over the edge when his girlfriend left him for another guy. K-Money started off trying to get his girl back and get revenge on the guy who stole her. Things got way out of hand.

Mother May (May Cartwright)

Powers: (Gleefully stolen from the DC 52 series) A kind of disturbing power, Mother May can give birth to a litter of superhumans periodically. Concieving them requires the usual impetus. They gestate with amazing speed, and then live for a day or so. They're all mentally linked with Mother May and each other. They're super-strong and fast, but not vastly beyond human limits. (Basically, a rather squicky Summon Minions. Amanda would lose control of them if she dropped Mother May's power to use another one.) Personality: May has lived most of her life in the gangs, but realized there had to be something better. She can be ruthlessly violent, but only when she feels threatened. History: May grew up in the system, first as a welfare brat to a drug-addicted mother, then as a foster kid. The gang was the only family she ever had, but she was starting to develop another one, or at least to believe she could be better than some guy's ho.

Wise Son (Cassius Striker) (Name stolen without apology from Blood Syndicate, which was cool)

Powers: Wise Son is a living computer able to percieve incredible levels of input and interpret and extrapolate the data at superhuman speed. He's a combat god, but doesn't have superhuman physical abilities. He'll have some mental superspeed, danger sense, and whatnot, but mostly it'll be every damn combat feat there is. Cassius also carried guns, knives, and anything else he could get his hands on, but Amanda doesn't. Personality: A gang member, but an honorable one. He follows in the mold of Malcom-X. As he started to really come to grips with his powers, he was getting ready to leave the gangs and try to become something more. History: A gang kid who found religion and some measure of purpose in life in prison. He thought K-money was bad news and wanted to get May away from him. He didn't count on K-money being stupid enough to go on a killing spree to track him down. In the mall, he was trying to take down K-money as fast as possible, but wasn't too concerned with other casualties.

Skyrocket (Billy Roth) (Name stolen from DC's Power Company, which is also cool)

Powers: Flight and energy blasts with kind of a pyrotechnic effect. Imagine combining Cannonball and Jubilee. Personality: Billy's a good kid from a solid, middle-class home. He really loved being able to fly, and genuinely wanted to help people. History: A geeky kid who suddenly found himself with superpowers and did what anybody would do - made a cheesy costume and went out to fight crime. He hadn't found much crime by the time of Devil's Night, but he lived close to the mall. He'd have liked Zip Chick (And, in fact, he will). He was in way over his head in the mall battle, and ended up breaking his own neck.

Angel Murphy Powers: A sympathetic healer/regenerator - probably lower PL than some of the others. Personality: A nice woman who had secretly been using her powers for years (she's part of the last wave). She's incredibly opposed to violence, but brave. History: She was a classic soccer mom with two kids and a job as an EMT. At the mall, she was trying to save lives, and overtaxed her powers. She might have even died trying to help Amanda, who would have gone into a coma after the first wave of deaths.

MERE MORTALS This is a work in progress. I'm slowly trying to fill it out.

Amani, Sabar (Scientist pg. 229): A Kurdish engineering student who was just out at the mall with friends. He was a Sunni Muslim, but not affiliated with any terrorist activity. He was a very peaceful man who dreamed of bringing modern developments to his people.

Bratz, the (Kid pg. 227 with a few extra points): Four girls, Brittany Mitchells, Amber Davidson, Ashleigh Sheldon, and Kimiko Takahashi who were basic mall-rats with dreams of going on American Idol.

Cortez, Juanita: An artist who did metal sculptures. She's a lesbian, because lesbians are fun. :)

Engelhart, Martin: One of the fire-men who rushed in. There were three, but we probably only need to list one. (The other two were Tony Bradski and Eliza Dunn.)

Kelly, Leonard (Reporter pg. 228 is close enough with some skill substitutions): a lawyer dating [the doctor]

Hanover, Gus: Off-duty cop. He was at the mall with Angel Murphy, and despite her warnings, tried to stop K-money.

Reporter/movie reviewer who was there to see a movie.

Group of college students

Dr Rosalina Brimbley: A doctor (OB-GYN)

A normal housewife there with her kids

The kids

Multiple shop-girls and guys, mostly college kids.

Street Performers

Callgirl meeting a John at the Westin.

A bartender who watched Cocktail too much.

A bouncer

Several security guards. One was a former Marine and was actually pretty good at his job.

Three of the four members of a college band called Cephalopod Spiral. They're not amazingly good, but they didn't suck.

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