The Superiors [Original Super-Heroes, Recruiting Closed]

[Foxy DeVille]

So a thread about original super-hero games got me thinking about one I pitched a few years back that didn't get off the ground. Although it seemed to get lost in the shuffle there, I thought I'd give it one more shot on it's own...

In brief...

It's the 1980's and thus far the world has been protected by a small number of independent super-heroes. This hasn't sat too well with the US government, who would prefer a group they can control. So allied with various members of the arms, pharmaceutical, and marketing industries, they create their own team of heroes... the Superiors.

So the idea behind this would be to present the lives of these would-be heroes. Now not all of them would be all that heroic. Some would be picked for their loyalty to the powers that be or their popularity with the public. And with so many masters, their deeds might not always be that good. If you've ever read The Boys, that's sort of the feel I'm looking at.

In not-so-brief...

In the early part of the 20th century, people thought they had seen it all. Every corner had been discovered and even the sky had been tamed by humanity. Then in 1933, Professor Caliban came to public attention. This enigmatic world traveler stunned even the most jaded with reports of his inhuman strength and seeming invulnerability. Four years later, an urban legend began being whispered amongst the underworld about a shadowy figure known as the Hooded Owl who preyed up criminals.  Both strange figures remained somewhat out of the public, either off in some hidden corner of the globe or in the darkest of alleyways. Then World War II broke out. At first it seemed that both Caliban and the Owl weren't involving themselves in the combat. But then the duo interrupted an occult ceremony being performed by Nazi mystics. Their goal had been to summon a Valkyrie and bind her to their control. But Prof Caliban and the Hooded Owl stopped this and the battle maiden called Valkyrja joined them in a paranormal strike team nicknamed the First Force.

For decades the First Force had many adventures and battle various menaces. Prof Caliban and Valkyrja seemed ageless. The Hooded Owl did as well but the original had secretly passed his mantle to a successor. They were willing to aid the US government until the 1960's. During that decade, the treatment of civil rights demonstrators and the bloodshed in Southeast Asia soured the First Force's relationship with Washington. Prof Caliban decided to concentrate on his private space exploration program. Valkyrja relocated to Europe. The Hooded Owl simply went back to the shadows. With such valuable assets lost to them, members of the American government decided to create their own wonders, ones completely under their command.  They contracted long-time arms manufacturer Aegis Industries and a cutting edge biotech firm called Next-Gen to develop such beings.

Project Prometheus, as the operation was dubbed, soon realized their goal would not be achieved overnight. It would takes years of research. In the meantime, the discoveries they made en route made Aegis Industries and Next-Gen global players in the world of economics. Things finally came to a head in the early 1980's. The reason was the return of the First Force to public attention. Prof Caliban successfully flew a spacecraft to Mars and back. The Hooded Owl (actually the third) prevented an assassination attempt on the president. Valkyrja led various reform efforts in Eastern Europe.  The US government felt they had reached another Sputnik moment. Luckily they were within a few years of finally achieving their goal. But they needed more than super-powered beings, they needed heroes. So a fourth member was brought into the mix, the international marketing firm Image Nation. Image Nation helped select just who would make up this team as well as creating their look and their name... the Superiors. And in 1986, the world was finally ready to find out just who these Superiors are.

The Superiors work for the US government but in the capacity of civilians. It was decided that any sort of direct military or law enforcement connection might make the public uneasy. In addition, the source of the team's powers is classified. The cover story is that they all acquired their abilities independently and the government has been kind enough to help train and support them. Hoping to ease the burden on the taxpayer, three major corporations help fund the Superiors. It can be guessed what those three are. What the public doesn't know is that the Superiors return the favor in other ways besides photo-ops. All in all, the Superiors are a team with plenty of skeletons in the closet... and some people want to find out what those are.

Anyone feel like selling their souls for spandex and super-powers?

[Latooni Subota]

How about YEAH? :P

Bloody love my cape games. Are we starting in 1986 then, or a bit later?

[Matttheman89]

I'm interested.  :-)

[Roxy Rocket]

      Gonna hafta go lookerp dis The Boys thingy.

      Eeentereested.

[caelcormac]

The premise looks very cool, color me interested.

[Izaya Orihara]

Curious.

[Savant of the Wastes]

Very intriguing. I'll put my name forward as well.

[Isengrad]

This seems interesting, I have a few Interesting hero concepts I could use. I'll throw my interest in and will be keeping an eye on this thread.

[AribethAmkiir]

Very interesting premise. 

[BadForm]

I'm either very interested or not interested at all, heh. The difference is in whether this is a story-driven RP or just a sandbox for players to run around and get lost in. If this is a game where the GM directs the background - either through missions or presenting situations to players frequently enough to give a storyline then I'm extremely interested. If on the other hand this is a sandbox where the GM takes a hands-off approach and just lets the players get on with whatever in a sort of aimless meandering piece then no. Can you be more specific as to your aim?

[Foxy DeVille]

How about YEAH? :P

Bloody love my cape games. Are we starting in 1986 then, or a bit later?

In 1986. I like the 80's because you still have the Cold War going on, MTV played music, greed was good, and social media was science fiction.

I'm either very interested or not interested at all, heh. The difference is in whether this is a story-driven RP or just a sandbox for players to run around and get lost in. If this is a game where the GM directs the background - either through missions or presenting situations to players frequently enough to give a storyline then I'm extremely interested. If on the other hand this is a sandbox where the GM takes a hands-off approach and just lets the players get on with whatever in a sort of aimless meandering piece then no. Can you be more specific as to your aim?

Story driven. The characters will be at the beck and call of their various masters in both the government and business world. So they will have missions, although some of them might be less altruistic than others. The overall aim is to do a story contrasting idealism with reality in a world with super-heroes. The temptations of power and fame.

If peeps are still up for it, here's a sheet...

Superiors Application

Code Name:
Real Name:
Description: (pics are nice, me likely visuals)

Powers/Skills/Gadgets: (not everyone has to have powers per se, training and nifty gadget supplied by Aegis works too)

Qualifications: (why the Superiors want you)

Motivations: (why you want to be a Superior and live your life the way you do)

Personality:

History:

Vices/Secrets: (you don't have to have any and the magnitude is up to you but it fits the theme of the game to have some personal demons)

You can post your Superior here or PM me. Likewise for any questions/suggestions. Go ahead and take your time. I ouchied myself so I'm not gonna be diving right into this for a few days at least.

[GabrielM]

I'm interested for sure! Let me know what you think.

Code Name: Wish

Real Name: Gabriel Moore

Description:

Powers/Skills/Gadgets: Dimension Manipulation in that he unknowingly pulls the things he imagines from a pocket dimension where his creations are created and then replaced when he is done with them. So think Green Lantern with no ring because everything he creates is actually real but he doesn't know that. 

Qualifications: Loyalty... he is a company man and if it helps make the US stronger and more powerful he is willing to help as long as they let him drink and sleep with who he wants he is their guy.

Motivations: to get the money, to get the power, to get the girls, to live the lifestyle? Sign me up!

Personality: Gabe loves the idea of being a super hero he is pretty good at it too and he loves the idea of being a celebrity Gabe thinks he is a gift to the people but then again isn't he? Mission comes first but when its done that's the time to party heck its the 80's isn't it? He brings the burn bright and most likely burn out soon style to the table.

History: There isn't much that makes Gabe stand out from your normal Average America living the dream. He was a good student in high school participated in after school activities and even had a date to the prom. Gabe got a taste of the party life in college and so his grades wavered but he did well. He was recruited by a private information brokerage firm to be an information analyst right out of college and turned that into a successful career and life as an author. Gabe isn't in the military but as an author and an analyst Gabe would often be called on by the government to give his opinion on things like 'if this Russian government official said this but then did this was he really going to end up doing this?' During the cold war times governments loved to hear speculation from people that sounded as if they knew what they were talking about, and Gabe was happy to oblige. At only 29 Gabe has had three successful books and spends plenty of time hob knobbing with big businesses, clandestine groups and military branches researching his next book and of course promoting that the US is the best damn country in the world! The idea was brought up that since Gabe already knew all the right people maybe he would be willing to help the government keep track of a company's work and help the company create a new supersuit. A technology firm was trying to perfect quantum technology that relied on a wormhole phenomenon. they had harnessed that technology into a suit to research teleportation but refused to allow full government involvement believing that they would steal or misuse the power. They did however agree to use a third party civilian that could be trusted by both sides. The test did not work out as planned the suit had been tested as best they could with no one in it but once Gabe was in it all hell broke lose. After about 10 seconds Gabe blacked out and the wormhole energy seemed to dissipate from the suit when Gabe woke up two months later and after a series of test he found out that he had gained his powers.

Vices/Secrets: He has an addictive personality and this could potentially lead to big issues. Sex, Drugs, Alcohol, Gambling?

[AribethAmkiir]

Foxy, can you give us the power ranges you're wanting for this game?

From the opening scenario it looks like The Hooded Owl (Batman), Valkyrja (Wonder Woman), and Prof Caliban (Superman, or even Dr. Manhattan?) are the marks the companies and government are trying to match.  Is that correct?

[SpiralSpider]

I'm interested, if there's still room.

[Batman4560]

I'm watching this. :)

[BadForm]

I like the idea of an anti-hero - someone unpleasant who still ends up playing a hero. Tell me if this is ok.

Superiors Application

Code Name: Bender
Real Name: Bennie Broker
Description: (pics are nice, me likely visuals)


Powers/Skills/Gadgets: (not everyone has to have powers per se, training and nifty gadget supplied by Aegis works too)
Bennie was experimented on with many different chemicals, none of which showed any effect. Then, one day, something weird happened. Angry at the doctor examining him following the latest experiment he started to wish the doctor harm. At first he didn't realise what was happening, but he felt like his mind was awash with a strange chemical, his vision even had little bubbles of a chemical formula swimming before it, one he did not recognize. And the doctor grabbed his belly. Not knowing what was happening, Bennie focused both on the formula and the doctor, watching as the man collapsed and began to cough blood. The doctor, it turned out later, had suffered severe gastro-intestinal bleeding and there was no obvious cause.

Over time, Bennie and his minders learned that somehow he had become able to tap into the mystical realm of drugs, draw on the powers of drugs, and inflict any and multiple side effects on other - magnifying them however he wanted. When he drew out the forumula he'd seen that first time, they recognized it as Pradaxa, a drug known to potentially cause internal bleeding. Over time he increased his power until he can wilfully inflict any number of specific drug effects or side effects, increased or decreased to any degree, on miltiple people. It's a power they recognized immediately as worth more than his weight in gold.

Qualifications: (why the Superiors want you) Because he can do anything from outright murder someone to make them so susceptible to suggestion that the will betray their darkest secrets to their worst enemies.

Motivations: (why you want to be a Superior and live your life the way you do) That had always been the problem. Bennie had been taken from his home and his family, he had been experimented on from childhood... and he had turned sour and cynical. He was far more attuned to hatred than love, to nonchalance than caring. They had to find some way to control him, and so they managed to give him an addiction to a drug that only they controlled. Each day he gets "just enough" and the person administering it neither has access to more nor knowledge of where to get more. In order to stay alive and not be driven to suicide by his own addiction, he must serve his masters. Of course, this fact doesn't help his personality any...

Personality: Cynical, uncaring, merciless, prone to occasional bouts of depression, distrusting, sarcastic, often cruel, selfish. There is a word that many would use to describe him: Evil. Of course, what he really is is a product of what was, and continues to be, done to him. Whether this will ever change is another matter.

History: Detailed above.

Vices/Secrets: (you don't have to have any and the magnitude is up to you but it fits the theme of the game to have some personal demons) Vengeful nastiness - and since he cannot attack the organization he will willingly attack their victims, tendency to inflict the more "positive" aspects of drugs on himself when he has downtime, sees others for what he can get from them, prone to addictive behaviours - sex, gambling, sadomasochism etc...

[Foxy DeVille]

Foxy, can you give us the power ranges you're wanting for this game?

From the opening scenario it looks like The Hooded Owl (Batman), Valkyrja (Wonder Woman), and Prof Caliban (Superman, or even Dr. Manhattan?) are the marks the companies and government are trying to match.  Is that correct?

Nothing hard and fast on power levels. Something in the neighborhood of a member of the New Teen Titans, Infinity Inc, the Detroit-era,JLA, etc.

The government wants to match the First Force in popularity and respect from the public, not necessarily power level. Prof Caliban is sort of a cross between Doc Savage and Hugo Danner .

I'm interested, if there's still room.

Sure is! We're still laying the foundation.

I like the idea of an anti-hero - someone unpleasant who still ends up playing a hero. Tell me if this is ok.

Very interesting. Looks like he might be a pain in the ass for the PR department... which could be fun.  ;)

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Superiors Application

Code Name: Tank
Real Name: Dedika Tsitvia
Description:



Powers/Skills/Gadgets:

For years the scientists of Aegis worked to build a powered suit of armor.  A super soldier weapon that could be taken into the field and provide total protection with superior battle prowess for every man.  For years they worked on this project and failed due to a lack of sufficient power.  The systems were too bulky and unreliable, the weakness of the armor too glaring as a simple glance to the power source would disable the suit.  Many pilots died in their mechanical coffins until word reached their ears of a woman that generated her own power.  A woman whose body generated vast quantities of psychic potential energy, but who was currently imprisoned under direction of the United Nations.  Strings were pulled, research was done and the suit was adjusted for her.  Scientists were confident they could advance the research further if only the subject could be pulled from prison.  Aegis worked miracles to have her transferred to an offsite prison where she could be interrogated, broken and made to heel.

Dedika Tsitvia, known terrorist and murderer, soon became the singular pilot and operator of an immensely powerful weapon.  Able to produce vast quantities of psychic power, the suit was redesigned to disperse that energy from her body and into its own power reserves.  The suit allows this energy to manifest as advanced combat systems, enhanced physical attributes and to power potent weaponry only rarely seen on the modern battlefield. 

Qualifications:

The Superiors ultimately want Dedika due to her unique abilities and their handicap.  She makes an ideal candidate as well due to her extensive history as a terrorist and guerilla fighter.  Her resourceful in combat, her ruthless nature and her elusiveness are all well documented.  The fact that the government holds over her a virtual death sentence, not to mention an actual one, makes her all the easier to direct and manage.  Dedika is nothing if not a survivor.

Motivations:

Dedika wants to live and survive.  An implanted device at her cervical spine has been set, the control given over to an unknown party.  She has been assured that a simple press of the button will end her life.  Outside of that there is still the prison sentence, vast international enemies and the threat of a legitimate death sentence hanging over her head.  Better to serve so far as she sees than be dead.

Personality:

Practical and cold, Dedika walks a very thin line toward being a sociopath.  That she empathizes with causes and feels passionately for the freedom of mankind is all that brings her back toward the center.  Still she has seen and done much that calls into question her ability to feel compassion or remorse.  Brutal and efficient, she has performed acts that make even the most hardened soldier cringe.  Trained by death squads across the world, shown tactics from terror units and psychologists and pushed to an edge where only warped minds survived there is question as to whether she can be brought back to a semblance of normal.


History:

Vices/Secrets:

According to official records the operator of the Aegis suit is a woman named Angela Banks.  A decorated pilot and service woman with the United States Air Force, she suffered a tragic accident that left her without the ability to speak.  Surgery had to be done to help reconstruct her face and body.  Her dedication to the Aegis Suit and the Superiors Project though has led to her being brought back into service as the permanent pilot.  Any rumors that a known terrorist and anarchist is piloting the suit are conjecture brought about by the Russian government to slander the name of the United States government.

Dedika also has a sister that shows herself as the perfect twin in terms of power.  A powerful entity of psychic ability, her sister bears the code name Mecca.  She must draw psychic energy from living creatures, but the displays of power so far have been immense from massive mind control to the crushing of a tank.  Dedika does not know her sister is still alive and reports do not list her them as sisters.  There are suspicions about what would happen if the pair were brought together, however; as Dedika is a virtually limitless source of energy for Mecca to draw upon.

For vices, Dedika has few.  A woman of dedication and focus, she puts herself fully into her work.  Yet without direction she can spiral into sex and  alcohol, wanting more to forget what has been done.

                                   

(working on the history, just have to type it up)

[BadForm]

Sounds like so far we have a goody two-shoes and two crazy party animals... Guess who's gonna be keeping two of us in check. ;)

[AribethAmkiir]

I think the premise and idea for the game is really cool.  I feel my interest waning, however, and I'm not sure I like the direction the game seems to be headed.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

I hope my character didn't like..throw the vibe of the game off or anything.  She just seemed to kind of fit with the "reality vs ideal" theme. 

[Foxy DeVille]

I hope my character didn't like..throw the vibe of the game off or anything.  She just seemed to kind of fit with the "reality vs ideal" theme.

No, no... she's awesome. It's good to have a variety of outlooks and backgrounds.

[Latooni Subota]

Working on a psychic-based sorta-Paragon-type heroine!

Edit: aka Public Relations GOLD. :3

Edit 2: Alright, here we go! Paragon has been chosen and worked on in order to make a squeaky clean superheroine that would be popular amongst the most people as possible. She's got the whole American Dream angle of being from a poor family of immigrants and suddenly having superpowers, and doing good for her country. Also helps that she's cute, and naturally a kind and charismatic person. Basically, she's a superhero that'd have her face plastered over all the teen magazines, and used to make special appearances when available.



Code Name: Paragon
Real Name: Erin O'Brian
Description:

Physical Looks

Erin is an Irish-American teenaged girl, standing at about 5'2" and 110 pounds soaking wet. Her skin is pale with very light freckling on her chest, cheeks, and nose; and her eyes are a bright blue. She keeps her fire-red hair long and straight, reaching down to just above the small of her back. Her entire body is rather lean, with slight curves to her hips and bottom, and firm (but modestly sized) breasts. PR suggests we push the 'girl next door' vibe when possible, for public appearances.

Costume

As above, a little more conservative (Read: Less T&A) to increase public opinion with the conservatives and kids, with a stars and stripes-themed cape. Opinion polls suggested an 'America' motiff would be well-received by the public at large, considering Paragon's public dossier.

Powers/Skills/Gadgets: Paragon had a slight psychic potential even before Project Prometheus. Thanks to a number of cranial and spinal implants her psychic potential has been fully unleashed. Publically she is touted as having the standard suite of super strength, invulnerability, and flight, when in actuality it's all a result of tactile telekinesis. Paragon reflexively surrounds her body in a paper-thin invisible bubble of force, allowing her to take blows that would crush cars and give back just as good. Likewise by moving the bubble around her she carries herself about in an illusion of true comic-book style flight. Her telekinetic control doesn't help with gasses and air normally though, due to her need to be able to breath, and it takes genuine effort to focus on strengthening her field against high-yield attacks and temperature extremes. While she does have Telepathy as well, it's nowhere near as powerful as her telekinesis. Should be useful for reading surface thoughts and keeping the team 'connected' without a need for radio communication though. Sadly, her inexperience and former medical conditions have left her woefully under-trained. She's being given hand-to-hand training in addition to her online courses to finish out her senior year of high school (as well as instruct her on subjects deemed useful by her handlers) but progress is slow.

Qualifications: Medical tests revealed her psychic potential, making her a prime candidate for new Superior-related experiments by Project Prometheus. In addition, her looks and general personality, as well as her 'story', made her PR gold according to Image Nation reps. With minimal effort, she could be turned into a good public figurehead for the Superiors.

Motivations: Erin is a bit of an idealist, so the opportunity to become a superheroine like the amazing Valkyrja is a dream come true! On top of that, Next-Gen 'kindly' took care of her earlier hospital debts and woke her up from her coma, so Erin feels indebted to Project Prometheus for that. Really, it didn't take much work at all to get her to go 110% for the Superiors! Suspiciously so, actually.

Personality: Erin O'Brian is a cheerful, charismatic, empathetic young woman. She's a surprisingly social person, always willing to get in the middle of a problem and help fix it, or just lend a helping hand wherever necessary. A very physical person she's a huge fan of making contact when talking, and taking the 'actions are louder than words' route, as well as always being willing to give a fan a gentle hug or sign an autograph. In the end she's just a wonderful, delightful girl . . . with crippling self-esteem problems. Her early struggles in life have not given her the best self-image, so she actively works to try and be an idealized version of herself, sometimes even copying other peoples' mannerism and habits if she sees them being more accepted than her. She craves attention and affection, making her overly eager to please those she considers her betters.

History: Erin O'Brian didn't have the best childhood, growing up as the only child of poor Irish immigrants. As a first generation American it was her family's hope that she'd have all the opportunities in the world in America, only for her body to effectively ruin that. As a child she suffered from chronic migraines, blackouts, and poor health in general. While she made her best efforts at school her health continued to hold her back, and medical fees began to quickly pile up. This wasn't exactly a good thing for a poor struggling family that could barely make ends meet. Stress made relations sour between her parents, which Erin immediately considered her fault, causing her physical and mental health to drop even more until one day she actually had a seizure in the middle of class and ended up in a coma. The various medical examinations and tests on her eventually triggered some flags for Next-Gen, who began to take an interest in the young girl's mysterious case. After confirming that she indeed have the signs of a psychic and surmising that her conditions were made worse because of her emotional state, the businessmen and scientists tricked her parents into signing consent forms for experimental treatments to heal the girl's 'ailments'. Some very dangerous chemical injections, and more than a few cranial implants later, and the girl woke up to applauding Next-Gen scientists giving themselves pats on the back and enjoying champagne. After all, they'd just managed to wake up a coma patient who would died without their help, and awakened her psychic potential. The girl was given a . . tastefully edited version of what had happened to suit their needs, and offered the chance to be a part of Project Prometheus as a chance to 'pay off her debts' and do some good in the world. The poor girl bought everything hook line and sinker as she was meant to, and became the newest member of the Superiors, Paragon!

Her public dossier glazes over the important details, instead painting her as a poor immigrant's daughter who developed superpowers after waking up from a coma like a miracle, and deciding to use her powers to help keep her homeland safe and make people happy.

Vices/Secrets: Unknown to everyone but some of her handlers, and higher rankers of the various corporations, Erin O'Brian's mind isn't her own. Through a combination of extra implants, chemical treatments, and outright hypnosis she has been 'programmed' with several trigger phrases to cause her to act in certain ways for her handlers. There are triggers to cause her to forget things, to act obediantly to her superiors, and even override her normally kind personality in order to get her to use lethal force in a situation she wouldn't want to. She has no idea about this, and has been programmed to not attempt to read the minds of her handlers so as to not risk stumbling across this information. It's difficult for her mind to do the mental gymnastics necessary to explain missing time though, so her programmed commands need to be used . . . delicately. Hasn't stopped certain people from taking advantage of this in . . interesting ways, though.

[BadForm]

A good girl. A saint in the public eye. Yay! We're going to need that with a terrorist and a sociopath on board. ;)

[AribethAmkiir]

where is the game going to be put?

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Well in the public eye Dedika is a decorated officer, regular American hero.  So long as she doesn't open her mouth or take that helmet off.

[Foxy DeVille]

where is the game going to be put?

I've been pondering that. With not wanting to limit people and the likelihood of stuff like violence and drug use, I'm leaning towards Extreme. Maybe have a tag on posts with Extreme content to give people a heads up if they wish to avoid it. Buuuuut if the consensus is to have it milder, I will bow to the will of the people.

[caelcormac]

Here is Chimera, the nicest shapeshifting cannibal you will ever meat..er..meet!

He's gone through a couple different versions, and if this one is a little too weird for people then I have another I can swap out that is a little less warped.

Codename: Chimera
Name: Arthur Adams
Description:
"Beast Form" http://www.blogcdn.com/www.comicsalliance.com/media/2011/07/tyger11.jpg
"Human Form" http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/61/23/f0/6123f0ebaaa2ca0ac120358c998c4732.jpg
What he actually looks like in a fight http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BNpZ3DlbL5w/T_JACKx0RMI/AAAAAAAABbo/kmgGpZJ3K5s/s1600/AlexTolliver-monsterform1.jpg

Powers: Chimera is a shape shifter, though he does not have a lot of fine control over his abilities. In front of the press he wears the forms designed for him by Image Nation: an idealized version of his old, human appearance and a sleek and marketable “Beast Man" form. In reality, however, he is hardly anything close to being nice to look at. He usually starts in his Beast Man form, but it quickly becomes twisted and warped as his body starts to overcompensate for any wounds he receives or grows spiky bone plates, extra limbs or eyes, and even the occasional tooth filled maw because they seemed handy at the moment. In a pinch he can even grow and dislodge large 'teeth' to use as ranged weapons, but this is painful and he doesn't like it. After a few minutes of combat he is a twisted abomination that is horrific enough that many flee or surrender to his comrades rather than let him get anywhere near him. His malleable form is very fast, and if submerged under water can even grow gills, but he has yet to be able to make a form that can successfully fly or glide, though he is working on it.

Qualifications:  Nowadays what qualifies Arthur to be on the Superiors are his powers and his positive attitude. He originally had nothing to offer as a canidate but as an employee with access to the project and the ambition to become a hero, he used every favor he had to get on the list of candidates anyway.

Motivation: Arthur wants to be a superhero, no bones about it. A lover of comic books well into his adult years, when he had the chance to be like one of his idols he lept in with both feet forward. Arthur is mortified that anyone on the team might be less enthusiastic about being a hero as he is, but he is certain that just like in the comics his virtue will rub off on his less than idealistic teammates and mold them into a true blue force for good in the world. The reverse, him becoming addicted to fame and disillusioned about heroism, certainly won’t happen. It couldn't. Honest.

Personality: Arthur is the nicest guy anyone could ever hope to meet. He believes in the ideals of heroism wholeheartedly and is generally optimistic and kind to everyone. He loves children, is kind to the elderly and until his drastic career change was a bright spot of humanity in an otherwise cynical PR agency. Almost everyone likes Arthur, once they get past the gruesomeness of his abilities that is.

History: Originally an employee at Image Nation Arthur was assigned to Project Prometheus as part of the design team. He had been obsessed with heroes and the First  Force his entire life and once he realized what he was working on he knew he had to take shot at being one, even if it cost him his job. He called in every favor, used every bit of access given to him and begged, borrowed, or stole the access he didn’t have in order to be put on one of the lists of candidates.  He was eventually discovered but instead of costing him his job he instead came to the attention to one of the project directors at Next-Gen, who had another idea. He wanted to see how far Arthur would go to become a hero, and was pleased when the answer was “As far as it took”.

Arthur signed his life away to Next-Gen, agreeing to be a part of any number of test procedures to get his shot to be on the team. He was the fifteenth human trial of Next-Gen’s cellular regeneration project, and so far the only survivor. Surviving the trial didn’t mean it succeeded, instead of giving him the ability to regenerate it completely warped his biology. Unless held in check his body is constantly twisting and rebuilding itself, and while that does get the effect of him being able to heal almost any injury the horrific side effects meant that he could hardly be considered a success. But as he learned control Next-Gen realized that he could still be made use of. He learned to take a human form again, and then to shape that into marketable perfection. A “Battle Form” was designed for him to use in PR shoots and with practice he can move between his pre-set forms with ease. He was renamed from “Test Subject 15” to “Chimera” and allowed admittance on the team. His former employers approved, the idea that anyone could become Superior with hard work, dedication, and loyalty made for great PR copy.

Secrets: Aside from his sometimes horrific appearance, there was another side effect of the cellular regeneration project. Arthur is almost always hungry. At home this isn’t usually a problem, he is given plenty of food and appetite suppressants in order to remain his normal and friendly self. But in the field is another story. Using his powers makes him hungry, and in battle he is often surrounded by things that are made of meat, like people. And sometimes during battle he has a little accident. He hates himself afterwards, but his handlers assure him that he is the hero and those he accidentally eats are the bad guys. An sacrifices must be made for the greater good.

[AribethAmkiir]

It's too bad but I'll be officially withdrawing my interest.

[Latooni Subota]

Extreme is too extreme for me, so to speak. If more people are leaning that way then I'll probably end up bowing out too.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

I'm fine with whatever to be honest.

[BadForm]

Nowhere is too mild or too extreme. I've written everything from non sexual romances to things I won't mention.

[GabrielM]

I think I am ok with what ever though I have never written much more that mild fun kink...

[Green Goo Theory]

I'd like to post my interest.  I have some characters already made and available but at this point I'm not sure any of the three could work within the confines of this game.  At least not with the origins of the powers and everything. 

I would have posted something earlier but I had to wait to get accepted. 

[Kadigan]

Code Name: Windtalker
Real Name: Mika Rouleau
Description:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Powers/Skills/Gadgets: Mika can summon various “spirit animals” granting her their strengths and powers. Known powers include Strength of the bear, speed of the puma, eyesight of the eagle, and ears of the wolf. She can only summon one at any given time. She also carries a pair of tomahawk axes at her side. 

Qualifications: Besides her versatile powers, she’s also a face for the public, an “original American” she brings another culture to the forefront.

Motivations: They offered her a way to walk again and be whole, as well as an increased level of comfort such as she never knew before. She has found she likes the attention that it provides, as well as the adrenaline rush that comes from the battles.

Personality: Intense when in combat and competition, happiest when she's living the good life and getting what she wants, she can also be a bit of a brat when it comes to not receiving her hearts desire. Sweet to those who have something she wants and absolutely ignorant and ignoring of those who don't. She’s more then happy to do whatever she can for the Superiors to make some extra money. Posters, Calendars, Personal Appearances. As long as it keeps money flowing, she’s in.

History: Mika is a full blooded Olgala Lakota who grew up on the Prairie Rose Reservation. She grew up in rather meager conditions, though she never truly wanted for much she never had much of anything extra. Her parents both worked two jobs to make ends meet with 4 kids to provide them with even the bare necessities. As such she was raised by her older brothers and sister quite a bit, and left to her own devices got into a bit of trouble.

There was a saying that if you weren’t off the res by 16 you were never leaving, and she soon found herself in the same position. Fortunately she managed to avoid getting pregnant, and joined the tribal police. She rarely moved beyond the desk, as when she was out in the field she was prone to being slightly unreliable, as well as having outbursts. On one of those rare trips out into the field, she was involved in a high speed chase, a rare occurrence, when the patrol car was side swiped by a delivery truck. She survived, but barely.  3rd degree burns covered her face, her right arm was amputated and both knees were crushed beyond repair.

In the hospital, she wasn’t expected to last long, and even if she did her life was pretty much over. One of the doctor’s however, had a few colleagues who had risen to prominence in the government, and soon she was approached by a pair of faceless agents from the Superior project.  They offered the this deal: She would be made better. In exchange she would be whatever they wanted. She agreed without a second's hesitation, on the conditions that she be restored to physical grace, and that she was provided with a lifestyle and comfort level to what she always felt she deserved.

Vices/Secrets: She loves attention, having her picture taken, the good attention, the bad attention, anything she can get her hands on. She's been known to partake in alcohol, but avoids the harder drugs, though is not above associating with people who do. Her entire life is a secret though; her history presented to the public a fake.

[PhantomPistoleer]

I'm interested.  o_o

[PhantomPistoleer]

Teen Archer; Kid Arrow

Real Name:  Cristobal Herman McKenzie
Aliases:   The Fourth Estate;
Identity:   Secret
Occupation: Crime Fighter, Adventurer, College Student;
Base of Operations:   San Francisco, California; Mobile
Citizenship:   U.S.A., with no criminal record, listed as Special Operative for CIA
Place of Birth:  San Francisco, California
Known Relatives:  Edward McKenzie (The Iron Tiger; father), Marisa Del Toro-McKenzie (The Blue Bullet; mother)
Group Affiliation:  None
Education:  Extensive paramilitary training, partial B.S. in Electrical Engineering
Religion: Protestant
Ethnicity: Caucasian (Spanish)
Age:  19
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Height:  6'1
Weight:  160 lbs.
Hair:  Black
Eyes:  Brown

Powers:  None

Abilities:  Kid Arrow is a master archer and marksman.  He is also formally trained in several martial arts, including boxing, karate and tae-kwon do.  Since he's a natural athlete, he is a capable aerialist, acrobat and climber.  In accordance with special provisions in the Keen Act, the Kid has been formally trained in subterfuge for the purposes of assassinations, sabotage and military intelligence.  Medea, his handler, has spent some time instructing the Kid on the finer points of mental strength and memory retention.

Weapons:  Kid Arrow relies on a fiberglass compound longbow and an array of trick arrows for combat; he finds firearms impersonal.

Paraphernalia:  Kid Arrow's hi-tech nomex, fire-retardant armor houses an advanced array of technology, including night vision goggles and fingertip-microphone sensors.  Fingertips can extend into talons that can break into concrete to permit wall-climbing.  The Kid also employs a grapple gun.

Appearance:  A dark blue WW2 pilot uniform armor replica hugs a tight, wiry frame; black riding steel-toed boots with steel greaves and heavy gloves give the ensemble an inertial appearance.  A forearm guard on his left arm doubles as a radio.  A sleek white helmet with a beak-like visor covers the entire face except the chin.  A red WWI flying scarf finishes the ensemble.

Personality:  Personality profiles conducted by federal psychiatrists indicate that the Kid is a mature, confident 19-year-old;  however, he does demonstrate immaturity when it comes to things that go fast, pretty women and organized sports.  He is respectful, courteous, idealistic and disciplined; and as such, he's still a virgin.

History:  I got into the crime-fighting biz when I was seventeen.  My parents, they didn't think much of it.  They retired on my account, looked after me like I was an egg ever since.  Psych says that I'm doing this because I'm trying to make em' mad, but they're the exception.  People do dangerous things all the time, and they don't need powers.  Truth is, you don't need powers to be a hero.  All you need to have is a good heart, a pretty sharp eye and the will to be the best at something.

Picked up the bow when I was at St. George's.  Must've been first grade.  Big Pollack with short shorts makes us do constitutionals so we get to class tired; one day, heaves these massive longbows that are as tall as us at our feet.  Says, 'all right girls, hit the target over yonder.'  Seems ideal.  Kids like bows, but not inclined to take it up.  Dead sport.  First try leads to a sore forearm.  Taut waxy strings hurt.  Second arrow flops right in front of me.  Third does the same.  None of the arrows get to the target that day.  None of the arrows even went straight.  I'm in first grade.  Boys make fun of me.

But I wasn't discouraged.  In fact, I was fascinated.  Talk my dad into getting me a bow for my birthday.  Hunt squirrel in the woods.  Never catch any.  I'm still no good with the bow.

I'm ten.  I've forgotten about the bow.  It lurks somewhere in my filthy closet.  But I hear a strange noise.  My bat's laying somewhere in the yard.  Dad and I played baseball for a while.  But he broke my hand with a fast ball.  Don't blame the guy for it.  Man's built like an ox.  I think that's when he started being overprotective, treating me like porcelain doll instead of like a child.  Miss those old days.

Noise.  It's a shuffle, then a clatter.  Glass breaks.  Then, a gunshot.  I'm compelled to investigate.  Pick up the bow because, like I said, the bat's in the front yard.  I sneak down from my room.  I see my dad on the ground with a bullet in his head.  He's not dead, just unconscious.  A bald Asian man dressed in black draws the gun on my mother.  I know that she can't take a bullet and she's not as fast as she used to be.  She's gained a few pounds after childbirth that she never lost.  Always wondered if she blamed me for taking away her good looks, her charmed life, her fun adventures.  But things don't look fun now.  She's sobbing.  I lift my bow and shoot the man.  It was instinctual, like my nerves traveled back in time to the times of King Edward the III or something.  I'm ten years old.  I'm a Persian, I'm a Hun, I'm a yeoman archer.  My arrow hits true squarely in the base of his neck.  He looks up at me, almost curious, his eyes pained.  I shoot him again.  This time, one of his eyes are gone.  He falls to his knees.  I don't know if he's dead at that instant, but I'm not interested.  More men with guns, four in all, approach the stairs, looking up.  And before they can even acknowledge what is happening, and who is doing it, I launch a volley of arrows.  I'm ten years old.  I can't pull the arrow back too far.  Not strong enough.  But I was strong enough.

One goes down.  Two, then three.  Fourth man up, but I got no more arrows.  I freeze.  Don't know what to do.  Man starts to laugh.  He points the gun at me.  Did he forget that my mother was there?  She darts up to him, as fast as she can muster, breaking 100 MPH easy, and tackles him.  I hear her cry out.  Looks like she dislocated her shoulder.  Man is no longer there--just his feet and a blood splatter on the wall.

Dad wakes up.  Treats me like an egg.  Police come.  Blue blanket surrounds me.  I get asked questions.  'Sorry,' I say.  Don't know what else to say.  Never once did I let go of my bow.

I think I'm scared now.  I'm ten years old and I wonder when bad men will come into my house to take away my parents.  So I sleep with my bow.  Every day, I practice.  I get better.  And better.  And better.  I dedicate three hours every day after school.  My parents make me take self-defense classes.  My dad's proud of me when I get my first black belt in karate.  Mother doesn't want me to be a hero.  I know that they were heroes once.  Mrs. Jupiter's my godmother and she's a wealth of information.  Mother and I visit her in the resort.  Lady coughs brown goo into a napkin before she begins one of her stories.  'The Minute Men were...,' 'Your dad was so handsome!' and 'Your mom and I teamed up in...' stories are the norm. 

Stands don't sell superhero comics any more.  People don't like capes.  Sometimes someone realizes my dad's a cape and refuses him service.  Maybe puts something in his hamburger.  Once, toad leg in my ice cream.  Don't care for pirate comics.  Mrs. Jupiter has a lot of old comics.  People send her stuff all the time with her in 'em.  Mom and her reminisce on the old days.  I read comics.  Like Mrs. Jupiter.  She must've been pretty when she was young.  Must be difficult to get old.


Next day, Alfredo knocks on my door while I'm out training.  Go around the house and see him yelling at my dad.  Something about a mission.  Dad says he doesn't want in.  Slams the door in the Alfredo's face.  Comedian's tough; but dad is tougher.  For an instant, I think he's going to knock the door down.  Thinks better of it.  Walks to his beautiful red corvette and lights a cigar with a zippo.  Sees me looking at him.  Gestures for me to walk over.  Tells me, 'hear you're good with a bow.'  I tell him I'm okay.  Then he asks me if I wanna go on a mission for the good ole' U.S.A.

Now, I know why he did it.  Man suckered me to go on a dangerous mission just to get my dad to come.  Surprised the boots off of Alfredo when I pulled my own weight.  But I don't like being played like a pawn.  Tell the Alfredo to shove it.  The man doesn't care for it and hands me my jaw on a platter.  Tough sell that Alfredo.  Mission's a success.  Two weeks in Russia and I still don't know a lick of Cyrillic.  Come back, and dad has a few words with him.  Went in walking correctly, came out with a limp.  Dad's pissed at me.  Tells me that I'm just human.  So I tell him that Alfredo's just human, too.  Dad tells me that Alfredo's not human.  Didn't know that.  Suddenly I don't feel bad about my ass getting handed to me.

Service for the country gives me leeway on the Anti-Powers Act.  So I start going out at night on patrols.  Start working with vigilantes whenever I head towards New York City.  Sometimes I wonder how some of them got started in the crime-fighting business, but in the end, I try not to care.  Sleep better at night if I don't think about some of them.  Seems to me they breaks more laws than they stomps out.  Don't like some of them, so I don't work with them.  Visit some old timers who were friends with my dad from time to time while I'm out there.  Convenient to have guys like them around around; they're repositories of crime-fighting knowledge.

I've been doing this for roughly three years now.  Federals retired the Alfredo, so I get appointed to go wherever they want me to go.  Feds got Veidt Industries to craft me a fun little number: it's "a fashion statement."  Once, I was told that it took over 300 man hours to develop my new look.  Reflection in the mirror made me laugh because they made me look like a Nazi open-cockpit airplane pilot.  Good image to send the public.  My sarcasm is lost on them.

Oddly, I receive checks from Veidt Industries.  Turns out they got a doll of me that's hot with the teenage girl demographic which is strange because only older women approach me.

You gotta try to focus on more important stuff, like fighting the good fight and curbing criminals.  Not enough time for a social life.  Trying to get a degree at UCLA, but I'm considered a risk so I'm taught via television in an empty classroom.  Sometimes I get lonely because I have no friends.  Other heroes are bizarre.

Super Condensed History:  Kid Arrow is the non-powered son of two super-powered beings, the Blue Bullet and The Iron Tiger.  He picked up the bow at an early age and has, with age, become a master archer.

Appearance Outside of Costume:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

[Foxy DeVille]

Okey doke... things look pretty darn good. I'll give anyone that's interested another day to come up with a character. Then I'll holla at people if I have any questions about their dude or dudette.  Hopefully things will get fired up mid-week.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Yay!

[Scarie187]

I'm interested I'll drop a character soon.

[Spynmaster]

Got any room for a psychic-based storm-themed bash-and-slasher who's strong-willed and believes in goodness, justice, friendship, and love regardless of laws, rules, or social standards?

[Kadigan]

Pondering my character a bit..could use a sounding board if anyone arond for a pm

[Foxy DeVille]

Got any room for a psychic-based storm-themed bash-and-slasher who's strong-willed and believes in goodness, justice, friendship, and love regardless of laws, rules, or social standards?

Sure!

Pondering my character a bit..could use a sounding board if anyone arond for a pm

I'll be around this evening. I pop in and out while watching sports entertainment on Monday nights

[Latooni Subota]

I'm actually going to back out too, at this point.

[Foxy DeVille]

I'm actually going to back out too, at this point.

:'(

That's too bad, I really liked your character. The door's always open if you change your mind.

Meanwhile... looking things over one or two more female characters. So I'll extend the cut-off until tomorrow to see if we can get some more heroines up in here. 

[Latooni Subota]

Yeah, sorry. Just not feelin' the mix of the wildly different types of characters after a lot of thinking on it.

[Green Goo Theory]

I can drop in a female character (I have a few) as long as no one minds.  I'll have to do it tonight though.  Sorry about not getting anything sent in prior to this.  Last two days was all plane rides, driving, and classes for work.  Still classes today but since I wasn't operating on two hours of sleep I'll actually get to do some stuff tonight.

Sorry for the wait though. 

Just to double check (I don't have time to go back and reread the thread.  already running late on lunch break) what are limitations on tech level?  Magic?  possible random genetic stuff?  Not that I want to rely on archetypes but just for examples would something like Vision or Iron Man exist?  A less over powered version of Dr. Strange? 

I'll be back to discuss some more stuff and work on the character around 5pm central.

Alright, back and I read everything in detail to answer my own questions.  So magic exists, power armor exists (though already used), obvious genetic stuff, but leaves the question of Vision or Ultron like creations; can they exist here with the current level of tech?  Just exploring additional options. 

I think I'll wait a moment though to check Latooni Subota's suggestion.  I personally didn't think the submitted characters were all that crazy for comic-style RP.  I'm willing to fit into any level though. 

[BadForm]

Foxy - I could be wrong, but it seems like some of the dropping out is based on people not being willing to accept the more extreme characters. Given that my little sociopath is one of the most negative here if you need me to drop out for group harmony I'll do it. Just let me know and sorry to have caused problems.

[Foxy DeVille]

I can drop in a female character (I have a few) as long as no one minds.  I'll have to do it tonight though.  Sorry about not getting anything sent in prior to this.  Last two days was all plane rides, driving, and classes for work.  Still classes today but since I wasn't operating on two hours of sleep I'll actually get to do some stuff tonight.

Sorry for the wait though. 

Just to double check (I don't have time to go back and reread the thread.  already running late on lunch break) what are limitations on tech level?  Magic?  possible random genetic stuff?  Not that I want to rely on archetypes but just for examples would something like Vision or Iron Man exist?  A less over powered version of Dr. Strange? 

I'll be back to discuss some more stuff and work on the character around 5pm central.

Alright, back and I read everything in detail to answer my own questions.  So magic exists, power armor exists (though already used), obvious genetic stuff, but leaves the question of Vision or Ultron like creations; can they exist here with the current level of tech?  Just exploring additional options. 

I think I'll wait a moment though to check Latooni Subota's suggestion.  I personally didn't think the submitted characters were all that crazy for comic-style RP.  I'm willing to fit into any level though.

Actually there's no magic amongst the player characters but a character could have powers that get passed off as magic. One thing to remember that while everyone with superhuman powers on the team got them from genetic manipulation, they have individual fake origins.

Foxy - I could be wrong, but it seems like some of the dropping out is based on people not being willing to accept the more extreme characters. Given that my little sociopath is one of the most negative here if you need me to drop out for group harmony I'll do it. Just let me know and sorry to have caused problems.

Nope, you're stuck here. Try to leave and I'll tape your buttcheeks together like Emilio Estevez did to some kid in The Breakfast Club.

My idea for this game is to have it dark in tone. Not grim and gritty per se but almost like black comedy. Your character' bad habits fit that really well.

[Green Goo Theory]

Gotcha.  Guess I misread the ceremony that summoned the valkyrie'n such.  Time for me to work on the character. 

You needed more female characters, right

[Strangefate]

I've been debating give this a try.  The idea of it being a black comedy appeals to me (that's my favorite kind of superhero comic -- Judge Dredd, Nextwave, etc).  So I'll see if I can maybe whip up a character to slip in just under the deadline.

[Foxy DeVille]

Gotcha.  Guess I misread the ceremony that summoned the valkyrie'n such.  Time for me to work on the character. 

You needed more female characters, right

Yeah, there's magic but just not for the player characters. They're government/corporate creations. Someone could claim to have a magical origin to the public though. And it might be fun to see what happens when a not-actually-magical poseur runs into the real thing.

And ladies are good. Also, I wouldn't mind ethnic diversity. Being that one of the backers is a PR firm, having a rainbow of colrs would be something they would want the Superiors to have to maximize their appeal to the public. Put I wouldn't turn down a white male charcter if he's interesting.

I've been debating give this a try.  The idea of it being a black comedy appeals to me (that's my favorite kind of superhero comic -- Judge Dredd, Nextwave, etc).  So I'll see if I can maybe whip up a character to slip in just under the deadline.

The "deadline" isn't all or nothing. Other people are still tinkering with their characters. Just as long as I got a decent idea of what you'll be playing, we're good. 

[BadForm]

And it might be fun to see what happens when a not-actually-magical poseur runs into the real thing.

Oooh, I haven't seen anyone use that word a opposed to "poser" in quite some time. I think I just got a bit turned on... ;)

Ok, I'll stick around. If you need me to convert Bennie to a woman I can do that, I'm not averse to playing a woman to balance things. I will not change the character to an ethnic or racial minority though - a barely-controlled sociopathic white person is gonna be a hard enough sell, with the amount of racism still present in society a sociopathic member of a minority group would be a PR disaster.

[Foxy DeVille]

Oooh, I haven't seen anyone use that word a opposed to "poser" in quite some time. I think I just got a bit turned on... ;)

Ok, I'll stick around. If you need me to convert Bennie to a woman I can do that, I'm not averse to playing a woman to balance things. I will not change the character to an ethnic or racial minority though - a barely-controlled sociopathic white person is gonna be a hard enough sell, with the amount of racism still present in society a sociopathic member of a minority group would be a PR disaster.

Hee hee... slut.

Nah, Bennie's good as a fella. And his ethnicity is fine too. I see the Superiors' diversity as being like one of those commercials where there's a party with a bunch of young attractive white people... and one African-American guy and one Asian-American girl. You almost hear the marketing team going "OK, that's one minority of each gender... we're good." Pretty much doing the minimum to look open-minded. The Superiors can have more than that since putting a cap on minority characters would be clearly not cool, but there will still be an undercurrent of PR-driven tokenism.

[BadForm]

*pictures warroom conversation*

One African American?
CHECK!
One Asian American?
CHECK!
One Woman?
CHECK!
One gay?
No, we're not even up to don't ask don't tell yet... We do have a guy with a purple neck tie in the office though...

(I trust it's obvious I'm joking about the ridiculous, but sadly prevalent, nature of tokenism)

[Foxy DeVille]

This isn't a Superior but the person who tells the Superiors what their bosses want...

Code Name: The Liaison
Real Name: Noelle Ngo
Description: The Liaison is a cute and petite Asian woman who nas perfected the sexy secretary look.

 

Powers/Skills/Gadgets: The Liaison can link up two minds and allow them to communicate telepathically. While her range is global, she must be aware of the subjects' locations within a mile. Only conscious and deliberate thoughts are transmitted, she can not do something like probe memories. However, the Liaison can also link senses. This can be performed with a subject being unaware that someone else can see through his or her eyes. She keeps this secondary ability a secret from the Superiors.  In addition to her psionic abilities, Miss Ngo has excellent office management skills. She grew up speaking both Vietnamese and French later she became fluent in English, Chinese, and Korean.

Qualifications: Noelle Ngo is a talented and trusted executive at Image Nation. Combined with her non-threatening appearance, she is an ideal go-between.

Motivations: Her primary goal is to move up the corporate ladder. Miss Ngo's current role has brought her quite a bit of power even beyond the superhuman kind.

Personality: The Liaison come across as calm, polite, and efficient. Inside she is a very driven young woman with few scruples about how she achieves success. Her main loyalty is to herself, then her company... and eventually to the members of the Superiors after going quite a ways down the list.

History: She was born in what was then South Vietnam with the name Ngo Truc Nhi to wealthy parents who lost everything in the war and fled the country. The Ngos settled in Quebec since her mother and father learned French during the colonial days. Truc Nhi started using the name "Noelle" to fit in better. She hated the fact that her family was now poor after having so much. Noelle studied hard and got a job at Image Nation's Montreal office after graduating from university. She went from secretary to office manager quickly but felt she had already hit the glass ceiling. Then Noelle "accidentally" found a memo about Project Prometheus on the desk of a senior executive. Seeing her chance, Noelle contacted Image Nation CEO Phillip Bennington about being a "consultant" to the Superiors who would actually be the direct connection to the hero team from their masters in the corporate and political worlds. Imressed with her ambition, and her exotic looks, Bennington agreed. Even better, it was discovered that Noelle's genes were capable of being manipulated to gain powers. The resulting telepathic abilities she gained from the Next-Gen procedure made her even more of an asset. Giving herself the title of "the Liaison," Noelle keep tabs on the Superiors as well as informing of when and how their services are needed. She communicates directly to Phillip Bennington, with whom Noelle has also begun a personal but mainly physical relationship with.

Vices/Secrets: Since becoming immersed in 80's corporate culture, Noelle has found herself getting deeper in the yuppie world of sex, drugs, and European dance music. She also has gotten hooked on using her powers to become quite the voyeur, caring little for the privacy of others.

[BadForm]

Got damn, I'll "sign her contracts" with my own special pen... ;)

[Kadigan]

So, did a revamp on the char. Wasn't really feeling the powerset, though I kept most of the major personality bits of the backstory. What does everyone, or no one I guess, think?

[Green Goo Theory]

Would cybernetics be too far fetched?  Just kind of a final question.  Narrowed it down to two of my characters.  One's already completely made anyway and would just take some minor tweaks to fit it into your bio layout. 

Just thought of the cyborg as a good PR type of thing.  Advancing medical technology and now we're using it to make the world a safer place!  Not going to hurt my feelings if you say 'no'. 

[Foxy DeVille]

Would cybernetics be too far fetched?  Just kind of a final question.  Narrowed it down to two of my characters.  One's already completely made anyway and would just take some minor tweaks to fit it into your bio layout. 

Just thought of the cyborg as a good PR type of thing.  Advancing medical technology and now we're using it to make the world a safer place!  Not going to hurt my feelings if you say 'no'.

Cybernetics are good. One of the backers is Aegis a tech firm.

[GabrielM]

So, did a revamp on the char. Wasn't really feeling the powerset, though I kept most of the major personality bits of the backstory. What does everyone, or no one I guess, think?

I like it flows good and all makes sense cant wait to meet in game! :).

I also did a little work on my character history, I have never been super great at just writing out histories Ive always been better at fleshing them out within the role play.

[Sephora]

So glad to see this!  I am craving me some super heroes, I'll make a character sheet right away. 

[Sephora]

I have decided to make an amateur! And a ditz!  It will be my first time playing one, so I'm pretty excited.   

Code Name: Cypher
Real Name: Juliet Morris
Description:

Powers/Skills/Gadgets: Language comprehension, telekinesis, telepathy, (IQ enhancement?)  with the strength of those abilities in that order.  She can instantly understand any language that is being spoken to her (though she is unable to respond in said language unless she is also fluent).  She can move things with her mind, but nothing that she wouldn't have been able to lift with her hands anyway (No tossing minivans at an opponent for this girl. And she can read the surface thoughts of anyone she is currently in contact with.   

Qualifications: She has the potential to be a huge asset in both the government and the business world based on her translation skills alone.  The Superiors have hired her more due to the potential of what she could be more than what she currently is.  She needs more training, what better way to get it than on the job?  She's a tool who is attractive enough to make for good PR and fortunately isn't bright enough to ask questions. 

Motivations: Juliet doesn't have complete control over her powers yet.  Their level of effectiveness is seemingly random, and there have been times when she has read someone's mind or had a teacup shatter against a wall when she hadn't intended on doing either.  She knows she is a complete rookie, but wasn't everyone at some point?

Personality: Bright eyed and optimistic, Juliet truly believes that the Superiors will be real heroes.  This is a woman who firmly believes that the glass is half full, and the world has yet to really, effectively, prove her wrong.  She can come off as naive, and at times even a little ignorant to the way really works (which shows a certain level of resiliency on the matter considering that she is a telepath) but she is earnest in nature and a hard worker.

History:  Juliet is a fairly strong example of the concept, "Spoiled sweet".  She grew up in a loving, well to-do household, and having spent the majority of her life being incredibly attractive, incredibly kind, and incredibly oblivious, she really hasn't experienced too much suffering.  In fact, for all intents and purposes her life was fairly perfect. She went to the perfect school (Where she was only nominated as Prom Queen-she never got the title), she dropped out of college and got herself the perfect doctor boyfriend.  They moved into the perfect city apartment.  They got the perfect puppy dog together.  Then she got the perfect doctor fiancee.  Then Juliet got cancer. 

The brain tumor was perfectly lethal. 

Fortunately, just like every other time in her life, things went perfectly.  An organization was researching on different cancer treatments-or so they claimed-and Juliet was the perfect candidate.  Just what they had been looking for. 

So Juliet signed off on the treatment, and her tumor went away.  In it's place came the headaches, and with them came the powers.  It wasn't long after that that her fiancee left her.  He never really explained why, and could certainly never understand why people would glance at the official people from the research study when she talked about it.  Lucky for her (again), she's been offered a position that will work as a distraction from the loneliness she found herself faced with.  It's going to be the perfect job. 

Vices/Secrets: Juliet was and still is a moron.  But lately she's been thinking in a much more complex manner than she used to, and somehow she knows that it might be in her best interest to keep quiet about that.

[Foxy DeVille]

OK, I think we got enough awesomeness so I'm capping the roster. Spynmaster, Strangefate and Tonberryshuffle, there are still slots for you guys since you've given me an idea of what sort of characters you'll have. I'll start whipping together some game threads over the next day and we'll get fired  up!

[Strangefate]

Superiors Application

Code Name:  Prismatrix   

Real Name:  Stella Robyns (formerly Maisy Cummings)

Powers/Skills/Gadgets: Stella has the ability to alter the visible wavelength of light.  When put like that it may even sound rather impressive.  When put in practical terms, however, this means she can effectively change the colors of various items.  As her teammates may have noticed, this is not often very useful. To augment these questionable powers, she has also been outfitted with various experimental weapons that produce a great deal of flash and bang when triggered, but otherwise mostly just shoot holes in things like any other gun.  She has also undergone extensive fitness training making her roughly equivalent in strength and agility to a professional athlete of the same size and body type.

Qualifications: Stella was the product of a public relations initiative by Image Nation to combat focus group complaints of a lack of diversity on the Superiors.  She was selected out of two hundred privately screened applicants due to her “superior mental, physical, and spiritual attributes, and impressive depth of character that uniquely qualified her for a position in America’s premier peace-keeping unit” according to official documents.  In reality she was found to be the most photogenic, personable, ‘clean’, and, most importantly, tractable of the candidates, making her the ideal Superior for their needs.  Subjected to Next-Gen techniques to induce meta-human powers, the results were less than impressive, but that’s not really why they hired her anyways.  They have other members who can handle the nastier stuff.  Mostly they just needed someone who could speak on camera without embarrassing the program, while simultaneously disproving any claims that The Superiors discriminates in its membership.

Motivations: Stella’s motivations have changed somewhat since first joining the team, but have remained relatively simple and straightforward.  Fame.  Money. Celebrity.  Ego.  Originally thrilled with her sudden fame and substantial paycheck, she has recently grown more jaded about it and now seeks to extend her personal brand into other ventures including fashion, music, and acting, leaving her little time for training, missions, and that sort of thing.  National security, anti-terrorism, ‘saving the world’ -- these are viewed by her mainly as the annoying baggage that goes along with the hero gig, although she puts a good face on it in public and recites the patriotic platitudes Image Nation writes for her with practiced ease.   

Personality:  Outwardly friendly, well-spoken, even classy, Stella is one of the Superiors more popular public faces.  In private she is somewhat less endearing, an anxious image-obsessed young woman with little tolerance for her teammates’ eccentricities and a frank disinterest in company business, preferring for them to simply get their assignments and get them done with as quickly as possible.  This abrasiveness is something of a screen for her own insecurities, as she worries her teammates view her as a bit of a lightweight, and that Aegis Industries could pull the rug out from under her at anytime.

History:  Stella was born Maisy Cummings, the only child of a comfortably well-off automobile dealership owner and his celebrity-obsessed housewife in San Francisco.  Determined to make her child into star, Maisy’s mother had her involved in a number of activities since a very young age, from beauty pageants to school recitals to try-outs for locally filmed TV commercials.  Dropping out of high school at the age of sixteen, she continued to pursue a career in entertainment, attempting to find work at various modeling agencies or steady employment as an actress to little success.  For a brief time, she was employed as a dancer at a gentlemen’s club to make ends mean, two years that have since been thoroughly scrubbed away by Image Nation.

After entering her name in a contest for what was supposed to be a TV spot as an Aegis Industries spokes model, Maisy’s life changed completely when she was instead selected for placement on the Superiors.  Supplying her not only with an outfit, powers, and equipment, they also gave her a new more glamorous name, and altered her background to better fit their needs.  Now a fourth child from a broken poverty-stricken home, she is presented as the embodiment of the American ideal, proof positive anyone can succeed through hard work and determination.

Although hardly the most lethal or dangerous of the Superiors, Stella serves an important public relations role: doing interviews, appearing on various promotional advertisements for Aegis Industries, and altogether making for a much needed photogenic presence on the team with a heartwarming inspirational story that fits well on the pages of celebrity tabloid magazines.

Vices/Secrets:  Beyond the thorough PR work that is her background, Stella remains a fairly stable member of the team, with no serious substance abuse issues at this time.  Her increasing vanity, lack of useful abilities, and complete disinterest in the actual purpose of the Superiors, can be somewhat vexing for her handlers, particularly as she tries to pull away to establish her own independent pursuits.  So far it nothing they feel they can’t handle and of course if it ever grew too disruptive, they could always manufacture a suitable scandal or accident, and simply find someone else to fill the role.

[Sephora]

Can I just say that I find it so messed up and perfect that the ladies in the group tend to be more have a bit more PR motivations behind the reason they are in then the men-folk?

[Green Goo Theory]

Does that mean the male/female ratio is going the other direction now...?

And now that all the questions are answered should have something up by tonight.  Just on lunch break right now. 

[Foxy DeVille]

Does that mean the male/female ratio is going the other direction now...?

And now that all the questions are answered should have something up by tonight.  Just on lunch break right now.

Things seem generally balanced now. By my count it's 4 dudes and 4 dudettes in the Superiors, plus my lovely lady Liaison. So do whatcha like. I was just concerned for a little bit there when there were only two gals. But now there's a pretty good mix.

[Green Goo Theory]

Alright, I was going to flip a coin for gender.  While I did technically flip a coin (got female) the idea came to me to make it interesting.  Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be an issue. 

Superiors Application

Code Name: Rosie (as in Rosie the Riveter, a dark parodical female alternative to Captain America)
Real Name: Originally Aref Sahar, changed to Lori Young under assumed identity
Description:
Normal (Clothing not really accurate except maybe hte 80's high collar half jacket)

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Spandex!  Uniform can obviously be altered but it just seemed to kind of fit. 

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Cybernetics not pictured; described better below.


Powers/Skills/Gadgets: Much of Lori's body had to be surgically altered and enhanced with a great deal of synthetic components.  Her entire right arm and right leg are missing.  Large sections of muscles were also replaced as well as sections of bone and several organs.  While the surgeons did an amazing job scars are still apparent in several places over her body.  Likewise the blend of synthetic flesh and grafts on much of her right side can be seen with a keen eye. 

Thanks to the extensive nature of the surgical, chemical, and cybernetic alterations her entire body operates on a level far above the average human norm.  She would be comparable to peak human levels.  She's been known to have a few hidden embedded weapons such as single shot firearms, blades, and other mission specific items. 

Qualifications: In addition to the apparent upgrades Rosie received some of the best training available from nearly unlimited resources from the United States.  Even in her relatively short lifespan she also carries nearly a decade of experience.

Motivations: Lori has remained dedicated and something of a "company girl" as it ultimately gave her a purpose in life.  To some extent contrary to that mentality she's also against the kind of warmongering brought to her home country and aims to prevent that.

Personality: Lori's outward personality is largely an act.  She's had to take up a variety of personalities over the years and in doing so lost who she was truly supposed to be.  In much the same way that she found her new body she's trying to find her new identity and how she's supposed to act as herself. 


History:
   Aref sahar was born an Afghani native and reached the age of a young teenager near the start of the Soviet invasion and occupation of his homeland.  While culturally nearing adulthood in the eyes of the aggresors the now orphan was near enough to adolescence--especially given the relatively small stature natural to the locals-- to be viewed as a child.  Aref's life as a runt hated for so long was to become one of his largest weapons.

   The unofficial arrival of US assets saw the use of well trained youth.  Special forces and virtually every organization spelled with an acronym took their hand at troops.  Equipping the locals as best they could, training them, and getting them to do the work they themselves could not directly do. 
   With the inevitable end of the occupation Aref volunteered to continue working as a foreign agent.  Not inherently tied to the US at all and fully capable of acting beyond the normal scope of the law Aref was an incredible boon to the intelligence community. 

   The good life could only last for so long.  While working in Europe Aref was subject to an assassination attempt.  His car inadequately rigged to explode upon starting and at this time he sustained considerable injuries to a substantial percentage of his body.  It was then the proposition was made that he serve a new group in exchange for recovery. 

   In addition to the extensive synthetic portions added to his mangled body Aref wanted a few changes to further aid in hisher new identity.  A common name adopted alongside a new identity that would make 'fellow' Americans more comfortable.  A story about a woman hurt in an accident and given a second chance on board the new team of super heroes. 

Vices/Secrets:Aref (now Lori) suffers from Gender Dysphoria and views herself as a biological female stuck in a man's body.  She is still trying to explore her new body (cybernetics and gender) and new life. 

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Be interesting if Dedika and Aref had traveled in the same circles, worked together or perhaps were hunting each other.  Considering the change in appearance, could stand to reason she doesn't recognize him at all.

[Green Goo Theory]

I didn't even think of that when writing for the character.  Definitely a possibility. 

Also!  I have some pictures of your character's armor if you want some more.  I know some (helmet removed) wouldn't fit for your character.  They're cool pictures anyway. 

[Foxy DeVille]

OK, peeps... here's an OOC thread for y'all... https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=203033.0