PROGENITOR: WORM (A Wormquest AU)

[DragonCobolt]

SUSPICION​	TECHNOLOGY​	ECONOMY​	WARFARE​
2​	3​	3​	2​

THE METRIC DATA IS NOT AVALAIBLE TO YOUR CHARACTER UNLESS THEY HAVE SUPERHUMAN (10+) DICE IN MIND.
YOU MAY CHECK THE METRICS, BUT YOU MUST NOT ACT UPON THEM.
IF YOU START DOING MONKEY BEESKNEES, THEN I'LL REMOVE THESE.
BUT THEY'RE NEAT, SO DON'T MAKE ME DO THAT.



THE CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE STONEWALL NINE

TEAM MORALE: Dissolved (1/4), Fraying (1/2), Bad (3/4), Average (x1), Good (x1.5), Excellent (x2), Found Family (x3)
TEAM HEADQUARTERS: Yggdrasil, the World Tree
TEAM ALLIES: NYPD (Grudging), Stan Lee (Eager), Cam Nguyet (Whether You Want Her Or Not), Amanda Sykes, Abe Sykes
TEAM ENEMIES: Don Crawler (Nemesis) [IN JAIL], Glasshead (Nemesis) [IN JAIL], Miss Eyes (Nemisis) [IN JAIL], Zipperneck (Rival) [IN JAIL],
Cam Nguyet (Whether You Want Her Or Not)

TEAM WARDS: Tina Shaw, Amy Sykes, Cassie the Humanoid Force, Sloppy Joe, Aisha Laborn, Camilo Vera, Jill Danning
​

Lily Satō, Head of the Stonewall Nine

Spoiler: Lily's Stats

AGE: 19 (DOB: 1951)
PASSION: Girls [7], Fuck the Cops [4], Superheroing [1]
LOYALTY: Queer Rights [7], Your Friends [5], , A Better World [1]
BASE WILL: 25 | XP: 1

Lily has seen nothing but hassle from New York's finest and is damn sure not going to let them push her around. And now, finally, a queer woman can hit back harder than the patriarchy does.

BODY​	CORD.​	SENSE​	MIND​	CHARM​	COMMAND​
1d+1wd​	6d​	3d​	3d​	2d​	2d​

Lily, before becoming a metahuman, was perceptive and smart, but had the strength and endurance of a sixteen year old girl after a bad cold. Afterwards, she could become incredibly strong if she manipulated the physics of the items she touched, or the clothing she wore to augment herself. Her max press was five tons without any additional effort, a top speed of 40 MPH for running, and a vertical jump of 8 yards. Also, she can dodge bullets.

SKILLS (Broad, Flexible, Influence)
[Any] New Yorker, Japanese-American, Delinquent (B/F/-): 3d
[Any] Being a Lesbian in the 1960s (B/F/-): 3d
[Any] Superhero (B/F/I): 1d
[Coordination] Sneaking (-/-/-): 2d
[Coordination] Lockpicking (-/-/-): 2d
[Mind] Speak Vietnamese (-/-/-): 1d
[Mind] Speak Russia (-/-/-): 1d
[Mind - Hyperskill] Intuitive Physicist (B/-/-): 6hd
[Charm] Voice of the People (-/-/I): 1d
[Command] Stubbornness (-/-/-): 3d

Lily, before becoming a metahuman, was the bad apple of her family. A second generation Japanese immigrant, she doesn't like or respect her parents - if only because she's grimly determined they'd freak out if they found out what she...felt about other women. She's good at sneaking out and has spent more time at Stonewall than she has at school, as her grades will attest. She's got a stubborn attitude and is about ten years early for punk and ten years late for the Beatniks. She makes do.

ARCHETYPE: METAHUMAN
Source: Unknown | Permission: Super
Intrinsics:

Immutable: Barring superhuman assistance, gadgets, or something wildly unexpected, Lily's powers will not change or improve.​

​

Infectious: Lily is either a strong, stable or weak vector (she doesn't know which.) If she's strong, she has a 100% infection rate until she reaches power equilibrium. If she's stable, she has an 80% shot (the joy of being a Tier 3.) If she's weak, she's got a 10% shot. Infection passes when she uses her powers on anything sentient.​

​

POWERS

Not So Little Anymore...
Dice: 1wd

Hyperbody (+4), No Physics (+1), Booster [2] (+2), If/Then [Must Be Wearing Clothes Over The Parts Used] (-1), Obvious (-1)​

Cost per Die: 5 | Total Cost: 20​

By adjusting, in minute and gross ways, the physical properties of either what she carries and her own clothing, Lily effectively has her very own suit of strength enhancing exoskeletal structures. This imparts incredibly precise control to her blows, her athleticism, and her jumping. This isn't a subtle effect - her body emits strange flashes and odd noises as air and light interacts unpredictably with her physics alterations.

Fast as a Thought
Dice: 4d

Hypercoordination (+4), No Physics (+1), Go First [2] (+2), If/Then [Must Be Wearing Clothes Over The Parts Used] (-1), Obvious (-1)​

Cost per Die: 5 | Total Cost: 20​

Just like with her body, but this covers her reflexes as well. She can dodge bullets! ...not that she HAS too. The flashing and eerie hissing makes stealth hard, so she prefers to turn it off when she's sneaking anywhere.

Intuitive Physicist
Dice: 6hd
Hyperskill [[Mind]General Physicist (B/-/-)] (+1)
Cost Per Die: 1 | Total Cost: 12
She's intuitively a PHD equipped physicist on par with Albert Einstein. Maybe better, actually. She literally can't NOT know the exact right answer to any physics question. This really helps, considering her powers.

Everything is a Gun
Dice: 8d+1wd
Range: 2,560 Yards | Mass: Knockback = Base Damage + 6 meters | Base Damage: Width in Shock & Killing

Attack (+2), Area [1d] (+1) Spray [1d) (+1), Heightened Capacity [Mass] (+1), Penetration [2] (+2), Power Capacity [Mass] (+2), Speeding Bullet (+2), If/Then [Must Touch an Object] (-1), Obvious (-1)​

Cost Per Die: 9 | Total Cost: 108​

By touching an object (any object, really) and canceling their mass and lateral motion relative to the planet Earth, she can turn anything, from an apple to a doorknob to a manhole cover into a projectile. By touching a lot of objects (I.E, using spray), she can hit as many times as she gets sets. By making sure to touch relatively fragile objects and creating deliberate fracture points, she turns the weapon into a kind of kinetic shotgun (using Area.) People hit by this tend to go flying (using the Power Capacity [Mass]), but she can just use narrow blades if she just wants to do the slicing and slashing. The only problem is if she can't touch things with her skin (it has to be a skin to skin contact) it won't work. Oh. Also, the sonic booms.

No
Dice: 10hd
Range: 512 yards

Defends (+2), Power Capacity [Range] (+2), Spray (+1), Obvious (-1), Limited Capacity (-1), If/Then [Must have a Medium to Manipulate] (-1)​

Cost Per Die: 3 | Total Cost: 40​

By glaring at the air around her, she can render it impenetrable to whatever is coming her way. Maybe the air molecules suddenly lose the ability to move at all and become an impenetrable wall that simply bounces a kinetic projectile off, or negating an explosive's ability to undergo chemical interactions that lead to detonations, or making the air molecules ahead of her simply non-conductive to whatever energy blast is heading her way. This is not subtle - producing bright flashes, loud booms, and strange changes in local atmospheric conditions as the interactions become chaotic beyond the immediate radius. The maximum number of people or places she can protect at once is five people, but the more people she tries to protect, the less effective the defense is. It's literally impenetrable when she's just protecting one person, but if she's protecting five at once, a fast shot or lucky hit might get through.

Physical Fuckery
Dice: 5wd

Range: N/A | Mass: N/A | Speed: N/A​

Attacks (+2), Endless (+3), Variable Effect (+4), If/Then [For Variable Effect] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Must Be Related to Repressing a Physical Law] (-1), Locational [Head, R. Arm, L. Arm, Body, R. Leg, L. Leg] (-6)​

Defends (+2), Endless (+3), Variable Effect (+4), If/Then [For Variable Effect] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Must Be Related to Repressing a Physical Law] (-1), Locational [Head, R. Arm, L. Arm, Body, R. Leg, L. Leg] (-6)​

Useful (+2), Endless (+3), Variable Effect (+4), If/Then [For Variable Effect] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Must Be Related to Repressing a Physical Law] (-1), Locational [Head, R. Arm, L. Arm, Body, R. Leg, L. Leg] (-6)​

Cost Per Die: 6 | Total Cost: 120​

Whenever she puts her mind to it, Lily can do something. If it can be done by suppressing a physical property or law, she can do it. Needless to say, once she realizes how her power works, she starts studying the hell of out physics. This is really easy, thanks to her intuitive understanding of physics. However, this power requires her to be able to use every SINGLE iota of her body's contact with the surrounding universe. If she has taken any trauma to any part of her body, then these powers short out. If she gets a chance to refocus, she can reestablish her control...unless the body part in question is too damaged to be used (I.E, filled with any combination of shock or killing damage.) In which case, she simply cannot tap into this ability to manipulate the universe. She simply lacks the holistic connection to the universe.

Seriously, Though, everything?
Dice: 1d
Range: Self Only

Attacks (+2), Attack Quality [10] (+10), Augment (+4), Area [10d] (+10), Booster [10] (+10), Burning (+2), Engulf (+2), Penetration [10] (+10), Radius [5] (+10), If/Then [Augment Only] (-1), If/Then [Cannot Spend Use Augment for anything but "Everything Is a Gun"] (-1), If/Then [Must Be Manipulating Matter On A Scale Permitting The Impacts She Wishes] (-1), Self Only (-3)​

Cost Per Die: 54 | Total Cost: 54​

Hey, what if she touches a mountain face and she negates its inertia and lateral motion for a flash of a second and turns Everest into a five kilometer high rock shotgun? Well, uh...take your pick! Add all of the above! If she uses a chemical tanker, it might explode. If she uproots an oil derrick, it will set things on fire. Anything justifiable in the scene, she can do it. She will have to spend a willpower point to do this. Oh, and be willing to accept the consequences.

Confident as Hell
Dice: N/A
Base Will (+3), Attached [Hyperbody] (-2)
Cost Per Point: 1 | Total Cost: 26
Lifting five tons over her head, running as fast a car, and being aware she doesn't have to be afraid anymore all combine to create a staggering, preposterous level of raw confidence. This is good, cause it makes her good at fighting supervillains and changing the world. The only problem is that if that hyperbody ever goes away...poof. There goes the confidence. Good thing that won't happen! ...right?

​

Andy Richter, Time Thief and Genius Gadgeteer

Spoiler: Powers

Andy's Powers

ANDY HAS 11 BASE WILL.

Hypermind
Dice: 4wd
Hyperbrain (+4), If/Then [Must be within 10 meters of any form if electrical equipment) (-1), If/Then [Can be disrupted by wrapping his head in a Faraday cage] (-1), If/Then [Can be disrupted with any form of non-physical radar jamming too] (-1)
Cost Per Die: 1 | Total Cost: 12

More Hypermind
Dice: 2wd
Hyperbrain (+4) If/Then [Must be within 10 meters of a pretty hefty chunk of computers) (-1), If/Then [Can be disrupted by wrapping his head in a Faraday cage] (-1), If/Then [Can be disrupted with any form of non-physical radar jamming too] (-1)
Cost Per Die: 1 | Total Cost: 8

Even More Hypermind
Dice: 2wd
Hyperbrain (+4) If/Then [Must be within 10 meters of even more computer components) (-1), If/Then [Can be disrupted by wrapping his head in a Faraday cage] (-1), If/Then [Can be disrupted with any form of non-physical radar jamming too] (-1)
Cost Per Die: 1 | Total Cost: 8

Dear God, Sir, How Much More Hypermind Do you Need!?
Dice: 2wd
Hyperbrain (+4) If/Then [Must be within 10 meters of a pretty hefty chunk of computers) (-1), If/Then [Can be disrupted by wrapping his head in a Faraday cage] (-1), If/Then [Can be disrupted with any form of non-physical radar jamming too] (-1)
Cost Per Die: 1 | Total Cost: 8

When Andy is within ten meters of any kind of electrically conductive material harnessed for human ends – lamp posts and microwaves, toasters and hair driers – he becomes smarter than the smartest human being in the world. If those electrically conductive materials are arranged into a computer of some kind, then he becomes a lot smarter, and he gets more and more smarter the more and more computers are around him. Eventually, he hits the four way tie for smartest monkey on this marble. Unfortunately, unlike some metahumans, Andy's "exocortex" is suspended on physical matter and communicated to him via electromagnetic signals, meaning they can be blocked or removed by his enemies.

Time Snatch
Dice: 2hd
Mass: 2.5 kg or less
Useful (+2), Permanent (+4), Limited Capacity (-1)
Cost Per Die: 5 | Total Cost: 20

Andy has a fascination with electrical gizmos and computers. But the 1960s was not enough for his subconscious. He is able to reach forward in time into parallel universes and, uh...steal stuff. The stuff can only come from other universes, and he can't do more than 2.5 kilograms at a time, making the stuff he REALLY wants (quantum computers, spaceship engines, laser guns) slightly tricky.

I Can Make Whatever You Want
Dice: 5hd+10d+5wd

Attacks (+2), Endless (+3), Variable Effect (+4), Delayed Effect (-2), If/Then [Variable Effect Requires at least 6wd of Hyperbrain to be active] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect is only for Technology] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [Any Gadget Made Must Have the Manufacturable Extra] (-1), Willpower Investment (-1)
Defends (+2), Endless (+3), Variable Effect (+4), Delayed Effect (-2), If/Then [Variable Effect Requires at least 6wd of Hyperbrain to be active] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect is only for Technology] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [Any Gadget Made Must Have the Manufacturable Extra] (-1), Willpower Investment (-1)
Useful (+2), Endless (+3), Variable Effect (+4), Delayed Effect (-2), If/Then [Variable Effect Requires at least 6wd of Hyperbrain to be active] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect is only for Technology] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [Any Gadget Made Must Have the Manufacturable Extra] (-1), Willpower Investment (-1)
Useful (+2), Endless (+3), Delayed Effect (-2), Touch Only (-2)
Cost Per Die: 7 | Total Cost: 280

Hokay. So! Andy can make gadgets. He's, in fact, one of the better gadgeters in the world – in part because he doesn't NEED A LABORATORY. He doesn't NEED supplies. Because he just...uh...borrows them from the future. (Note, if he chooses to not borrow things from the future, then he will need a laboratory, but won't get a rebate in points.) The gadgets he makes can be, eventually, learned to be recreated by non-metahumans. Now, it still takes him some time to actually build a gadget! Now, there is one tiny problem: He needs to be smart enough to do any of this, and that means that if he's in a Faraday cage helmet, then he's shit outta luck.

Oh, also, the last useful ability is the ability to deconstruct other people's foci. So, if he finds a gadget in the wild, he can take it apart and gets all the Willpower used to build the device in the first place. This is why gadgteers tend to HATE one another. He can also deconstruct any device he's built to get the willpower he invested in it back.

Base Will
Dice: N/A
Base Will (+3), Attached [Hypermind] (-2)
Cost Per Point: 1 | Total Cost: 14

He's a driven, focused guy.

Sabah Attar, Girl Who's Under Your Skin

Spoiler: Powers

SABAH HAS 8 BASE WILL

Puppets
Dice: 2hd+8d
Range: Touch/5,450 Yards
Useful (+2), Permanent (+4), Delayed Effect (-2) If/Then [Needs Materials To Make Them From] (-1), If/Then [Can only use hard dice with skin] (-1), Touch Only (-2)
Useful (+2), Permanent (+4), Attached [Telekinesis] (-2)
Cost Per Die: 4 | Total Cost: 48

By using her telekinesis to sew together, uh, material - don't tell people it's skin, please don't tell people it works best with skin - Sabah is able to make incredibly useful puppets. With a 2x10 result, she can make 10 of them. They last forever and are perfectly loyal to her! ...so long as they're within about three miles. Once beyond that, they act on their own recognizance. She CAN make it with non-skin and she's even pretty good at it, but it is kind of tricky and doesn't always make the best minions. (a 2x1 to 2x3 result produces Rabble, while a 2x4 to 2x6 makes trained minions, and 2x7 to 2x8 makes professionals. 2x10 make Elites.

Matterkinesis
Dice: 9d+1wd
Range: 510 Yards | Mass: 1.28 Tons| Speed: 128 Yards
Attacks (+2), High Capacity [Mass, Range] (+2), Power Capacity [Mass, Range] (+4), Spray [1d] (+1), If/Then [Only Manipulates Unliving Matter] (-1), Limited Capacity (-1)
Defend (+2), Power Capacity [Range] (+2), Spray [1d] (+1), If/Then [Only Manipulates Unliving Matter] (-1), Limited Capacity (-1)
Useful (+2), Duration (+2), High Capacity [Mass, Range] (+2), Power Capacity [Mass, Range] (+4), Spray [1d] (+1), If/Then [Only Manipulates Unliving Matter] (-1), Limited Capacity (-1)
Cost Per Die: 19 | Total Cost: 247 points

This is the big shebang. Sabah is able to manipulate non-living matter to move it around. She's pretty weak. For...a tier 4, meaning she can "only" lift a 1.2 ton boulder off the ground from a "mere" 510 yards and "barely" throw it at 128 MPH. Guh. What a chump, right? This power can defend, attack, and manipulate matter. The matter that she manipulates tends to "stick" to what it was doing for about an hour - so if she flings a rock upwards at 128 MPH, then it'll keep going straight up at that speed for an hour before falling down.

Specialty Puppets
Dice: 2hd
Range: Touch
Attack (+2), Duration (+2), Variable Effect (+4), Attached [Puppets] (-2), If/Then [For Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Only Is Attached to Puppets] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Can Mimic Expert Minion Abilities] (-1), Touch Only (-2)
Defend (+2), Duration (+2), Variable Effect (+4), Attached [Puppets] (-2), If/Then [For Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Only Is Attached to Puppets] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Can Mimic Expert Minion Abilities] (-1), Touch Only (-2)
Useful (+2), Duration (+2), Variable Effect (+4), Attached [Puppets] (-2), If/Then [For Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Only Is Attached to Puppets] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Can Mimic Expert Minion Abilities] (-1), Touch Only (-2)
Cost Per Die: 1 | Total Cost: 4

When she makes puppets, the puppets can do stuff that they would reasonably be able to do. If she makes a bunch of ninja costumes, they get the Elite Ability: Stealth, allowing them to do what minions normally cannot (sneak into buildings without being spotted.) She can attach any elite ability she wants to these puppets!

Armed Puppets
Dice: 2hd
Range: Touch
Useful (+2), Permanent (+4), Attached [Puppets] (-2), Touch Only (-2)
Cost Per Die: 2 | Total Cost: 8

...is that a puppet? HE'S GOT A GUN!? BLAM BLAM! If this power is used after the puppet power, then the puppets have guns and can do their damage in S/K damage. The guns look like they're made of felt cloth or bone depending on if Sabah is making them out of which cloth - but no matter how impossible the gun looks, it still can kill.

Immune Puppets
Dice: 2hd
Useful (+2), Permanent (+4), Variable Effect (+4), Attached [Puppets] (-2), If/Then [Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect is for Immunities Only] (-1), Self Only (-3)
Cost Per Die: 3 | Total Cost: 12

These puppets don't need to breathe, cannot be poisoned by gas, cannot get cancer, radiation, "live" I guess, forever, and are immune to pretty much whatever would kill a normal human other than straight out physical damage.

Self Stitching
Dice: 2hd
Useful (+2), Permanent (+4), Engulf (+2), No Physics (+1), Self Only (-3)
Cost Per Die: 6 | Total Cost: 24

Sabah hopefully doesn't learn about this for a while. But the instant her own flesh dies, she can control it and can instinctively stitch it back together again. This effects her entire body. At the most extreme case, if she is completely atomized, she will reconstitute herself in approximately sixty seconds. She will not enjoy doing this, but she can do it. Death for Sabah now requires some equally permanent effect or for her to lose her powers.

Touch Up
Dice: 1d
Hypercharm (+4)
Cost Per Die: 4 | Total Cost: 1d

Like most teens of any gender or sexuality, Sabah has a few hangups about her body. A few wrinkles gone, a bit less sag here and there. Most people won't notice, but they're gone.

Base Will
Points: 1
Base Will (+3)
Cost Per Point: 3 | Total Cost: 1

She's just a bit more confident. Also, I had 3 points to spare

Lisa Wilbourn, Nose Who Knows

Spoiler: Powers

LISA HAS 12 BASE WILL

Become a Foxgirl
Dice: 2hd
Useful (+2), Endless (+3), Self Only (-3)
Cost Per Die: 2 | Total Cost: 8

Lisa becomes a fox girl!

Elementary
Dice: 5wd
Hyperskill [Broad, Flexible] (+2), No Physics (+1), If/Then [The wild dice must be set to the value of the normal die rolled] (-2)
Cost Per Die: 1 | Total Cost: 20

Why, it's elementary, my dear Watson! This is a broad and flexible skill that covers all manners of detective and investigation sneakery. It has no physics, allowing for preposterous levels of information to be drawn, far beyond what would normally be available from a mere glance. The only problem is that it is somewhat dependent on her own mind (5d.) So, if she rolls a 4, 3, 2, 1 in her normal mind dice, she'd HAVE to get a 5x4 - a fast, but not necessarily correct deduction.

Bang
Dice: 10wd
Hyperskill [Broad] (+1)
Cost Per Die: 1 | Total Cost: 40

She's quite possibly the best shot on the planet with any gun or gun like object. This is a byproduct of her incredibly focused intellect.

Coordinated Like A Fox
Dice: 10wd
Hypercoordination (+4), Attached [Fox Girl] (-2)
Total Cost Per Die: 2 | Total Cost: 80

When she is a fox girl, she is able to preform feats of physical coordination that defy imagination. Dodge bullets? She can CATCH bullets. She can shoot bullets WITH HER OWN BULLETS.

Can't Touch This
Dice: 1d
Hyperskill [Narrow] (+0), Interference (+3), Duration(+2), Attached [Fox Girl] (-2)
Total Cost Per Die: 4 | | Total Cost: 3

Remember when I said she can dodge bullets? Say she gets shot at. She rolls a 10x10 using her coordination+ this skill. This now on for the rest of the battle. She can dodge all the bullets forever until the battle is over.

The Nose Knows
Dice: 10wd
Hypersense (+4), Attached [Fox girl] (-2)
Cost Per Die: 2 | Total Cost: 80

Her senses are so preposterously attuned to the world around her that she can see in the dark, read by touch, identify targets by smell, differentiate between distinct sounds in a symphony by their subtle differences, and can sense movement up to a quarter of a mile away.

Oh Shit
Dice: 2hd
Useful (+2), Permanent (+4), No Physics (+1), Radius [13] (+26), Self Only (-3), Uncontrolled (-2), Attached [Fox Girl] (-2)
Cost Per Die: 26 | Total Cost: 104

This is a power no one knows she has. Because it's not really a power exactly. It's a combination of her incredible senses and her deductive reasoning. Here's how it works. If anything catastrophic happens within 12 hours - the death of a loved one, a natural disaster, a space station knocked out of orbit and smashed into the ground - and it happens somewhere within 50 miles around Lisa, this power triggers. The game resets to that point with her waking up from a prophetic dream put together by her subconscious, aware of exactly what she did during that day. Once she realizes this power exists (and, also, the 50 mile limit to when it triggers) she is going to be INCREDIBLY CLINGY.

Base Will
Points: 5
Base Will (+3)
Cost Per Die: 3 | Total Cost: 15

She's confident, like most of you, because she has superpowers.

Theo Anders, Arm of the Resistance

Spoiler: Powers

THEO HAS 7 BASE WILL

Limb Field
Dice: 8+2wd
Hyperbody (+4), Booster [+8], No Physics (+1), On Sight (+1), Endless (+3), Power Capacity [Range] (+2), Radius [1] (+2), Spray [1] (+1), If/Then [Only for arms] (-1), If/Then [Requires Local Materials] (-1)
Cost Per Die: 20 | Total Cost: 320

So! Everything within a 3 mile range can be touched by Theo by manifesting an arm made of local materials (air, if nothing's there, but he can also use cloth, bits of stone, metal, anything that he can use to reach through.) This does mean it doesn't work in a vacuum, but it can work in an extremely thin atmosphere or with local dirt if he was, say, on the Moon. Anywho, he can make as many arms as he want (for example, if there were twenty people in a ten yard radius, he could make 20 arms to grab each of them by the scruff of their necks.) What is more, he can use this power through screens to cheat the distance. If he sees someone on TV, he can manifest an arm there and pants them! Cool!

Anywho, these arms can lift 1.28 trillion tons, last forever unless he is killed or runs out of willpower. They can throw a 1.6 ton object nearly a tenth of a mile. They can punch someone so hard that they'll go flying 48 yards BEFORE you figure for any extra damage. And did I mention they defy the laws of physics - so, he can pick up a building without spilling the coffee cups inside? Cool!

Tougher Than He Looks
Dice: 3hd
Defends (+2), Endless (+3), Hardened Armor (+2), Armored Defense (-2)
Cost Per Die: 5 | Total Cost: 30

He's tougher than he looks. He has 3 levels of Light Armor, which reduces shock damage to 1, then converts 3 levels of killing damage to shock. So, if he was thrown into a wall for 5s/2k like poor Ned, he'd take 1s/2k, then the 2k would be turned to shock, so that's a total of 3s - a bad bruise, not a potentially life threatening spine snap.

Rachel Lindt, Houndmistress Extraordinaire

Spoiler: Powers

RACHEL HAS 9 BASE WILL

Pet Their Heads And They Wag their Tails
Dice: 2hd+2d
Useful (+2), Permanent (+4), Touch Only (-2)
Hypermind (+4), Attached [Pet Their Heads] (-2), If/Then [Does Not Provide Hard Dice To Canines] (-1)
Points Per Die: 5 | Total Cost: 30

When Rachel pets a dog, the dog wags their tail! Also, she can now talk to this dog, forever, at any time, using normal conversational English. She can also understand the dog's response. Oh! Also, the dog gets +1d to its mind as hypermind, bumping it from an animalistic 0d to a human level 2d. Good dog! Who's a good pupper?

Make My Doggy GROW!
Dice: 3hd+6d+2wd
Range: 5,120 yards
Useful (+2), Duration (+2), On Sight (+1), Attached [Pet Their Heads] (-2), Obvious (-1)
Hyperbody (+4), Booster [2] (+2) Attached [Pet Their Heads] (-2), Attached [Make My Doggy Grow] (-2)
Hypercoordination (+4), Attached [Pet Their Heads] (-2), Attached [Make My Doggy Grow] (-2)
Defends (+2), Duration (+2), Armored Defense (-2), Attached [Pet Their Heads] (-2), Attached [Make My Doggy Grow] (-2)
Defends (+2), Duration (+2), Interference (+3), Armored Defense (-2), Attached [Pet Their Heads] (-2), Attached [Make My Doggy Grow] (-2)
Attacks (+2), Penetration [5] (+5), Attached [Pet Their Heads] (-2), Attached [Make My Doggy Grow] (-2)
Useful (+2), Duration (+2), Engulf (+2), Attached [Pet their heads] (-2), Attached [Make my Doggy Grow] (-2), Self Only (-3)
Useful (+2), Duration (+2), Attached [Pet their Heads] (-2), Attached [Make my Doggy Grow] (-2)
Points Per Die: 13 | 260

If a dog that Rachel has petted is within range - or even just visible through a screen, or...she can talk to it over a phone (note to self: Invent radio collars for her dogs that she can work through), she can make the doggy GROW! This only lasts for a short time, but the dog will become much larger, much tougher, and much stronger and much faster. Basically, they get +3hd+6d+2wd to their Body, their Coordination, AND they'll get (effectively) 5 levels of light and hardened armor and +5 health levels on each area, making each dog a literal walking tank! ...also, they get laser eye vision. Which can cut through tank armor. Cause, you know. They're dogs.

...the dogs can also fly. At 640 MPH.

Cause they're dogs.

Power Collar
Dice: 2hd
Range: Touch
Useful (+2), Permanent (+4), Attached [Pet Their Heads] (-2), Always On (-1), Automatic (-1), Touch Only (-2)
Point Per Die: 1 | Total Cost: 4

The dogs, once she pets them, cannot gain dark energy powers despite being sentient. It's an instinctive byproduct of Rachel's will to both connect with dogs and 'keep them safe' - wild, uncontrolled dark energy powers spreading unchecked through the doggy population terrifies her subconscious. And so, her subconscious makes sure to lock that off.

Healing Touch
Dice: 2hd
Range: Touch
Useful (+2), Useful Quality [5] (+5) Engulf (+2), Touch Only (-2)
Points Per Die: 7 | Total Cost: 28

Though terrified at first this power only works on Dogs, Rachel is relieved to learn it actually can work on just about anything. She touches them, and they glow a little, and then heal 7s/7k to every single part of their body instantly. No muss, no fuss. It, sadly, cannot bring people back to life unless she pushes herself (she will have to permanently burn 1 Base Will to do so.)

Base Will
Total Points: +2
Base Will (+3)
Point per Will: 3 | Total Cost: 6

She's determined. Not as much as others, but enough.

Marsha P. Johnson, The Queen of Stonewall

Spoiler: Powers

MARSHA HAS 11 BASE WILL

Flower Power
Dice: 9d+1wd
Attacks (+2), Endless (+3), Variable Effect (+4), If/Then [For Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [All Effects are Plant Themed] (-1)
Defends (+2), Endless (+3), Variable Effect (+4), If/Then [For Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [All Effects are Plant Themed] (-1)
Useful (+2), Endless (+3), Variable Effect (+4), If/Then [For Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [All Effects are Plant Themed] (-1)
Cost Per Die: 21 | Total Cost: 273

A powerful and incredibly flexible ability, Marsha is able to create and utilize plant growths (most people think she can only do flowers, but she can do trees, she can do vines, she can do thorns, oh boy.) These plants often defy physics and understanding - if she wants, she can make a thorn that can cut through tank steel, or a tree that can grow powerfully enough to uproot a building, or an apple that, when eaten, can cure sickness. While her power isn't as "rawly" strong as some other abilities - if she got into a tree V arm wrestling contest with Theo, Theo would win - her powers are so staggeringly flexible that she is an amazing asset. However, her powers do need to be "formatted" - meaning that if she isn't prepped for combat or defense, she is terrible vulnerable.

Queen of Stonewall
Dice: 8hd
Defend (+2), Endless (+3), Radius [3] (+6), Delayed Effect (-2), If/Then [Only Works in an building she owns and operates and has become in, some metaphorical and metaphysical sense, hers] (-1), No Physical Effect (-1), Exhausted (-3)
Cost Per Die: 4 | Total Cost: 64

So long as the Queen is in her domain, no harm shall come to any who are there. This power is an endless effect centered on her, radiating out approximately 40 yards (meaning an exceptionally large building won't be entirely protected.) The effect is entirely psychological - people simply cannot bring themselves to harm anyone while in the field - this includes her allies, she can't shut it down for them.

Beauty Without Compare
Dice: +4d
Hypercharm (+4), Obvious (-1)
Cost Per Die: 3 | Total Cost: 12

She is luminous, with total of 7 dice in Charm.

Fabulous Performer
Dice: +1d
Hyperskill (Broad, Flexible)
Cost Per Die: 1d | Total Cost: 1

This is a mild improvement, but it was all I could think to spend her last point on. Sue me!

Tori Heflin, The Telekinetic Smuggler

Spoiler: Powers

TORI HAS 8 BASE WILL

Invisible Telekinesis
Dice: 3d+1wd
Attacks (+2), Booster (+4), High Capacity [Mass] (+2), Non-Physical (+2), Power Capacity [Mass] (+2), Subtle (+1), Spray [1d] (+1), Locational [head] (-1)
Defends (+2), Controlled Effect (+1), Duration (+2), Interference (+3), Power Capacity [Range] (+2), Radius [1] (+2), Subtle (+1), Locational [head] (-1)
Useful (+2), Duration (+2), Booster (+4), High Capacity [Mass, Speed] (+2), Power Capacity [Mass, Speed] (+4), Subtle (+1), Locational [head] (-1),
Useful (+2), Booster (+4), Engulf (+2), High Capacity [Mass] (+1), Power Capacity [Mass] (+2) Attached [Telekinesis] (-2),
Cost Per Die: 45 | Total Cost: 315

By focusing, Tori is able to create telekinetic fields. Unlike many, these fields are completely, one hundred percent invisible. She can protect people in bubbles (selectively, if she wants!) bout 10 yards wide, so long as they are within about 80 yards of her. Her attacks are incredibly narrow stabs that then balloon in the target - they can only be dodged, not resisted with armor (hence the 'non-physical' extra.) If she's feeling exceptionally vindictive, she can just grab your heart and punch it as hard as she can from within your ribcage too. Her max range for her TK attacks is 800,000 yards. That's 450 miles! It can send people flying pretty goddamn far too.

Next, she can pick up and carry stuff. Anything within 450 miles, and her max weight is 2,000 tons. Not as stupidly huge as some people, but nothing to shake a stick at. What is really amazing, though...is this.

Anything she picks up - anything at all - becomes invisible TOO. This includes her own self, if she's using TK to fly. This includes the ENTIRE PARTY if she's carrying everyone. This includes jets. This includes buildings. Anything she grabs, she can turn invisible!

Adaption
Dice: 4hd
Useful (+2), Endless (+3), Variable Effect (+4), If/Then [For Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect For Immunities Only] (-1), Self Only (-3)
Cost Per Die: 4 | Total Cost: 32

Thanks to telekinesis, she can also breathe in space. With telekinesis.

Base Will
Points: 1
Cost Per Point: 3 | Total Cost: 3

You know the drill by now. Powers, better will, had points hanging.

Brian Laborn, The Power in Obscurity

Spoiler: Powers

BRIAN HAS 7 BASE WILL

Grueclouds
Dice: 9hd
Attack (+2), Daze (+1), Duration (+2), Radius (1) (+2), Non-Physical (+2), Spray [1d] (+1), Limited Damage (shock) (-1), Limited Width (-1)
Useful (+2), Duration (+2), Radius (+1), Attached [Dazing Cloud] (-2), Automatic (-1)
Cost Per Die: 10 | Total Cost: 180

When activated, this power is a bit slow and sluggish - effectively going off last on every round. However, you have to know it is coming, and this requires a Resistance roll of Sense+Perception to spot where Brian is looking (he just need to glare to do it.) If the resistance roll fails, then you get hit with 5x10 attack in a 10 yard radius. Due to limited width and limited damage, this only does 1 shock to the head. ...it also removes FIVE DICE from their next turn. If a character has no dice, they can't do shit. This happens each round they're in the cloud, so if they're completely debilitated, they take 1 shock to the head every round until the cloud is dispersed or they slowly and painfully die. Since, 1 shock per 6 seconds for an hour is going to kill you. Even better, the cloud also gets a 4x10 useful effect that obscures visibility, chokes out EM frequencies, and negates all but the best dark energy perceptions. That's what the useful is, the jamming field.

Power Thief
Dice: 1d+2wd
Attacks (+2), Variable Effect (+4), Endless (+3), If/Then [For Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Is For Mimicking Powers Only] (-1), If/Then [Target Must have been exposed to the Gruecloud at all! Ever!] (-1)
Defends (+2), Variable Effect (+4), Endless (+3), If/Then [For Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Is For Mimicking Powers Only] (-1), If/Then [Target Must have been exposed to the Gruecloud at all! Ever!] (-1)
Useful (+2), Variable Effect (+4), Endless (+3), If/Then [For Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect Is For Mimicking Powers Only] (-1), If/Then [Target Must have been exposed to the Gruecloud at all! Ever!] (-1)
Cost Per Die: 18 | Total Cost: 162

If a target has been exposed to the dark energy cloud that Brian can produce, Brian can replicate that power. In himself. Now, usually, it will be a great deal weaker, and it may require expending some willpower, but he can do it. What's more, as he hits more people (or more people volunteer for the admittedly unpleasant whammy), his power catalogue just gets bigger and bigger and bigger.

Ghost Recall
Dice: 2hd
Useful (+2), Duration (+2), If/Then [Subject must have been exposed to the Gruecloud] (-1), No Physical Effect (-1)
Cost Per Die: 2 | Total Cost: 8

Powers aren't the only thing that Brian can copy. He can also recreate the memories and personality of a person in a ghostly, shimmering cloud of darkness roughly in the shape of the person. Their personality-clone cannot form new memories and only exists for a short time, but has pretty accurate information. If you can convince them to give it up. Is this ethical? Anyway, that's Brian's power set!

Brian's Library

Spoiler: List

• Every Single Power From the Stonewall Nine
• THE EYEBALL POWER SUITE (note, as this is multiple powers, it would take Brian a total of 5 rounds and 81 WP to make one permanent eye with each of these powers. However, he doesn't need to make an eye with every part. He can just have an eyeball that flies for 18, or an eyeball that can access the Eyeball Zone for 18 WP (18 to make it, 0 to make the Zone) Fortunately, due to Permanence, each of these WP expenditures does last forever. Or, uh...until the eyeball is squished...

Eye Eye, Sir!
Dice: 1d+2wd
Defends [Evasion] (+0)
Useful [Exists] (+0), Permanent (+4), Touch Only (-2)
Points Per Die: 2 | Cost: 18

By focusing, an eyeball grows inside of Brian's body, then pops out. It's gross.

Why Is It So Tough, It's An Eyeball!?
Dice: 1d+2wd
Useful [Health Boxes] (+0), Permanent (+4), Attached [Eye Eye, Ma'am!] (-2)
Willpower Cost: 2 | Cost: 18

When he creates the Eyeballs (which, as a note, he currently cannot), Brian can only give them 3 extra health levels, making them much smaller.

Eyebeam
Dice: 1d+2wd
Attacks [Eyebeam] (+0), Spray [5d] (+5), Attached [Eye Eye, Ma'am!] (-2)
Willpower Cost: 3 | Cost: 27

The Eyes have laser beams. Because they're eyes. Brian's eyes will have a total of 6d+2wd, rather than 9d+1wd.

Eyeflight
Dice: 1d+2wd
Defends (+0), Attached [Eye Eye, Ma'am!] (-2)
Useful (+0), Permanent (+4) Attached [Eye Eye, Ma'am!] (-2)
Willpower Cost: 2 | Cost: 18

The Eyes have it! ...flight, that is. Brian's can soar along at a mere 10 MPH. They are slightly better at dodging though.

Into the Zone
Dice: 1d+2wd
Useful [Traps Target In Horrifying Nightmare Dimension] (+0), Endless (+3), Traumatic (+1), Attached [Eye Eye, Ma'am!] (-2), Touch Only (-2)
Willpower Cost: 0 | Cost:0

Brian's eyes, like Miss Eye's eyes, have access...TO THE EYEBALL ZONE.

Your Attack, Foreseen
Dice: 1d+2wd
Hyperskill [Dodge] (+0)
Willpower Cost Per Die: 0 | Cost: 0

Formatting his power this way does let Brian dodge better.

Mistress of All Eyes See
Dice: 4hd
Hyperskill [Tactics] (+0), Power Capacity [Range] (+2), Booster [5] (+5), No Physics (+1), If/Then [Can Only Command Eyes] (-1)
Points Per Die: 7 | Cost: 63

For a staggering 63 GODDAMN willpower, Brian can get the STAGGERING ABILITY to command Eyeballs with his mind at a range. AMAZING!!!!!

Spoiler: Yiggy - Team HQ

GADGET ONE: The Gaia Engine

Useful [Gravity Control] (Mass: 500,000,000 tons| Range: 200,000,000 meters| Speed: 50,000,000,000 meters per round [74 times the speed of light])
Dice: 2hd
Useful (Free, Gadget) | Duration (+2), Booster [10] (+10), Power Quality [Mass, Range] (+4), High Capacity [Mass, Range] (+2), No Physics (+1), If/Then [Requires Metamaterials Produced by Lily to Function] (-1), Foci [Fragile, Bulky, Crew x4, Manufacturable] (-5), Obvious (-1), Slow (-2)
Cost Per Die: 10 | Total Cost: 40 WP (1 Base Will To Free Up)

Costing 40 WP from your pool (representing the metamaterials that you provided to construct it), the Gaia Engine is a remarkable device. Requiring the attendance of sixteen trained professionals - among the first hires that Andy ever made - the Gaia Engine is capable of gravitational manipulation at an obscene scale and speed, with ludicrous precision. How absurd? Well, from orbit, you can snatch up the entirety of Manhattan - island and all - and rip it into space and then fling it towards Alpha Centauri at 74 times light speed without damaging a single thing on it, nor causing it damage when it lands on Charon. Cool! You officially can't bitch about me spending 40 of your WP on this fucking thing, you goddamn maniacs!

The duration is approximately a day, so once per day, the crew have to make sure the gravity field that keeps Yiggy in the air is 'reupped.'

GADGET TWO: The Aegis
Defense [Gravity Shield]
Dice: 5hd
Defends (Free, Gadget), Endless (+3), Interference (+3), Attached [Gravity Manipulation] (-2), Foci [Bulky, Manufacturable] (+0),
Cost Per Die: 4 | Total Cost: 40 WP (1 Base Will to Free Up)

Feeding off the Gaia Engine, the Aegis is an attached chunk of material that projects a defensive field around the entirety of the Yiggy's superstructure. Incoming weaponry, unless it goes faster than 5x10, is simply swatted away. This includes beams of light, the rays of the sun, solar flares, and other nasty things.

GADGET THREE: Room Service
Useful [Room Service]
Dice: 3d+1wd
Useful (Free, Gadget), Endless (+3), Variable Effect (+4), Attached [Gaia Engine] (-2), If/Then [Variable Effect Only] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect is for Room Service Only] (-1), If/Then [Variable Effect only applies within the Yiggy's superstructure] (-1), If/Then [Room Service must be Requested] (-1), Foci [Bulky, Manufacturable] (+0)
Cost Per Die: 1 | Total Cost: 7 WP (1 Base Will To Free Up)

Also feeding off the Gaia Engine's powers, Room Service is simple as hell. You ask for tea, earl gray, hot. Then the fucking tea shows up! This also covers very attractive P-zombies that look like dead celebrities, medical aid, giving you lucid dreams, creating illusions, playing movies, and translating languages.

Here's some basic rules for gadgeteer who want to make powers

---

GADGEETING RULES FOR GADGETEERS

STEP ONE
Decide what power does. All powers can either ATTACK, DEFEND, or be USEFUL. Each thing costs (+2)

Example: I want to make a ray gun that can also heal people. It Attacks [Ray Gun] (+2) and is Useful [Heals People] (+2)

STEP TWO
Apply modifiers for extras and flaws to each power capacity. The full list is found in the Wild Talent's core rulebook. Add them all up into a total cost per die. The minimum point value is always 0 (you can't get extra for going below your maximum.)

Example: This ray gun can fire very fast. It has +3 Spray. This ray gun heals all of you! It has Engulf (+2). Both attack and useful has the Foci (-1) with the Fragile (-1) and Accessible (-1) flaws. This means it costs 2+3-3+2+2-3 for a total of 3 points per die.

STEPTHREE
Count up how much it costs based on how many dice. If it has hard dice, the hard dice are "base cost x2" and if it has wiggle dice, then they cost "base cost x4."

Example: This ray gun has 5d+1wd. It costs (5x3)+(3x4) for a total of 27 willpower.

STEP FOUR
Use your gadget. The gadget can then be taken apart to regain your willpower back. If you want to, you can burn 1 base will to make it a gadget that exists permanently (freeing up those dice for later.) If the gadget has the Manufacturable extra, then it can be made a common, household device that anyone can buy for a cost of 1/2 the willpower it costs to make in base will, taking 1 month per base will spent to make it ready for manufacturing.

Example: Pretend the raygun has manufacturable (even though it doesn't.) It costs 14 Base Will to make it buyable at any street corner, and takes a year and change for the final designs to be completed. Once done, the inventor gets the 5d+1wd that they put into the gadget back into their gadgeteering dice pool.

---

HOW TO INFLUENCE PEOPLE WITH YOUR INFLUENCE SKILLS

There's a big old table from the Kerberos Club book! Here it is!

Spoiler: The Big Old Table from the Kerberos Club Book

 

[fanficfan]

[X] "Well, looks like you're in a pickle here. Don't worry, I got you." (Spend 100ish WP to have finished Buzzy. Buzzy saves the day!)

 

[BunnyLord]

[X] "Well, looks like you're in a pickle here. Don't worry, I got you." (Spend 100ish WP to have finished Buzzy. Buzzy saves the day!)

 

[DragonCobolt]

Adhoc vote count started by DragonCobolt on Feb 17, 2022 at 11:42 AM, finished with 20 posts and 11 votes.

• ---

  8 people have voted

  [X] "Well, looks like you're in a pickle here. Don't worry, I got you." (Spend 100ish WP to have finished Buzzy. Buzzy saves the day!)

  • ThatGazzer
  • Torgamous
  • dragonkid11
  • SweetJackal
  • CyberFemme
  • Parzival95
  • fanficfan
  • BunnyLord

  2 people have voted

  [x] Lily? Is that you? (The living syntergene has caught the attention of Amanda Sykes. Amanda will be able to find Mr. Dubois and his dubious power progeny, then absolutely demolish them. She may not be able to save the living synternge)

  • notbirdofprey
  • BioWolf

  1 people have voted

  [X] The dark forest

  • 10ebbor10

*watches as your base will and willpower go down* hehe willpower go burr

 

[DragonCobolt]

"Well...looks like you got yourself into a pickle here..."

A feeling that could only be understood if you've ever had the idea of love.

"Don't worry. I got you."

***
​

Mr. Henry DuBois could trace his power linage. It was the advantage of the twin abilities of being both extremely intelligent...and the fact he had been infected by an incredibly obvious vector. One day, he'd just been a bank manager in Santa Monica - then an ill kempt, bearded man had walked into the building, smiled at him, and said: "Hey, give me all your fuckin' money, pal."

Only when Mr. DuBois body had begun to move did he realize that he recognized the man, under the beard, as Jarvis West. Then there was the agony, and after the agony, the humiliating interview with the police and that superheroine that had claimed that she was protecting California - whatever her name had been. He had honestly not been thinking about anything but the way his body had reacted to West's command - and the realization had come at the same time as the superhuman intelligence.

He wanted that.

Mr. DuBois didn't know what he would have done if he had been one of the hundreds of people that West had mind controlled, raped, or tortured to death who hadn't gotten infected. According to the newspapers, West was a 'weak vector', had a one percent chance of sporing every time he used his powers. Well, Mr. DuBois didn't take the time to count his luck. He instead got a few million dollars by playing a few lotteries under fake names, picked an easily molded person to spore into, then fled to Atlantis, where he had been able to get a home and some privacy with the supplies and commercial contacts he had brought. Far from everyone, safely out of the limelight, he had begun to work on his first project.

Inoculous had made it clear, exactly, what it was he needed to do.

Mr. DuBois was thumbing his way through the book for what felt like the hundredth time while Clanker worked on setting up their infusion device for another trial run...when the ground shuddered faintly.

"Is Carls doing construction again?" Mr. DuBois asked.

"Uh," Clanker started, looking up. They were both in the home Cynthia Carls, the first Atlantian, had made for them. It wasn't exactly the most normal of buildings to live in, being an obsidian rectangle with curved stone windows that had only recently been filled in with imported glass. But Mr. DuBois didn't really care much about decoration, so long as it was private. "I think so," Clanker finished.

Mr. DuBois grunted and turned back to Inoculous...and then the light coming from the window cut off. He lifted his head, then frowned, then glared - as the window behind him was no longer a window. He sprang to his feet, and saw that another window slammed shut afterwards, another, and another, each of the windows of his home were closing up, covered with thick obsidian.

"No!"

The word was a negation, a raw, furious sound. He ran to the doorway, the wooden door, and flung it open, only to find the door out of his home was now black stone.

"Carls!" he shouted into the stone. "Take this wall down right now, you simpering bitch! I'm Henry DuBois, goddamn it!"

The ceiling burst inwards.

Smoke, stone, and light rained down - and then a thick, muscular arm wrapped around Mr. DuBois' throat, dragging him backwards and holding him taut. A voice, growling, male, and very pissed, snarled in his ear.

"Attempted murder of your own constructs is still murder."

A branch dug into Mr. DuBois' cheek, while more figures rappelled into through the roof - yarn with riot gear in bright, almost cartoony colors, voices shouting. "Hands up! Hands up! Hands on your head!"

The cuffs clicked around Mr. DuBois' wrists as the door lowered and he saw that Cynthia was looking deeply nervous, standing next to several men that seemed to be made of dirt and bark and bits of metal, in United States uniforms. One of them was fully made of steel and he had INTERPOL stenciled across his chest. He stepped over to Mr. DuBois, giving him a humorless smile. "Henry DuBois, you're under arrest for telepathic kidnapping-"

"I want to speak to my attorney!"

"-endangerment of the noosphere-"

Mr. DuBois continued to struggle as the mixed task force of puppets and turf warriors dragged him to the waiting helicopter.

Cynthia Carls shook her head as she watched them go.

"Man," she muttered. "I just wanted to grow weed..."

***

​

Yggdrasil
Earth Orbit
September 9th
1970


You opened the book that Andy held out to you with trepidation, read the first few lines.

Lily Sato woke up to find that everything was all right.

"Suspiciously so," Lily mumbled into her pillow, opening her eyes a crack as she saw she lay next to Rachel, who was snoring on her back.

"Buzzy pulled them both out of the, uh, containment unit that the fucker had them in," Andy says, his voice quiet - but you can tell how pissed he is. "They were almost dead by then - but imagine if we hadn't..."

You close the book, frowning slightly. "Okay. Let...let me just make sure I get this right," you say. "This guy thinks he can create a sentient syntergene, infiltrate it into our comics, then use it to start..."

"Mind control? Social control? Fiscal control?" Andy shrugged. "It'd be kind of like if we build Buzzy, but...evil."

You frown harder. This whole thing makes your head hurt. Your intuitive understanding of physics covers the four dimensions of the observable universe - not this quasi-real, possibly sustained entirely by dark energy concept of the fucking noosphere. The fact that when you point blank asked Andy if it was really real or if it had only become real when exo-cortexes and dark energy manipulators got involved and he had just shrugged and said 'it didn't really matter' just made your head ache even more.

It was like the Yiggy, but...for books.

You opened the book again - but after reading a bit of dialog between...yourself and Rachel, it felt like intruding. You closed it, hastily. "W-What do we do with her?"

"Right now, she's contained in a five thousand page, mostly blank book, with the seed idea of it being light fluff...like...a long, easy vacation," Andy says. If she hits the end, it'll reset, and the long vacation continues - I'll check every day to see if she's noticing the looping quality, and...if that happens, I'll see about transferring her into a hard drive. You can hold a lot of books in there, and her syntergenic construction will create a reality around her."

"Seems kinda creepy," you say, frowning. "It's not real."

"Do you want us to build her a body?" Andy asks. "I...don't even know if that's possible, or, what it will be like."

"What about giving her Buzzy's ability to, like, exist in the noosphere?" you asked, biting your lip.

Andy frowned. "That's...possible..." He sags into his seat, looking lost. "It's a bunch of ethical concepts that didn't exist until September 1st, 1970 , though."

You look down at the book. "Can we ask her?"

"Try writing in the book," Andy says, nodding. "We'll see what happens."

You flip to a blank page. The text doesn't grow as you watch, but every time you close and open the book, new words have appeared. So, in the blank page, you manifest a pen out of thin air, then scribble.

HEY, LILY, IT'S ME...UH...PHYSICAL LILY.

You close the book, open it.

Hey.

You scribble.

YOUR IN A BOOK. HOW IS IT?

You close the book and open it, the surreality of it really sinking in.

Kinda nice, actually. But...it feels a bit...floaty.

You scribble.

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PUTTING YOU IN VARIOUS PLACES. DO YOU WANT A BODY? OR TO LIVE IN A BETTER WRITTEN BOOK OR WHAT?

You close the book.

Open it.

---
What do you read there?

[ ] I want to live my life. I didn't ask for this? So...put me in the best book with a billion hot chicks to bang and just leave me in the library.
[ ] I want to live my life - a real life. Make me a robot body or something.
[ ] ...can I hitch a ride in your brain? See how life's like as the real Lily before I make my decision? Not...permanently, obviously.
[ ] Fuck, I don't know. Give me time to think, okay?

​

 

[SyntheticSynthia]

[X] I want to live my life - a real life. Make me a robot body or something.

 

[SweetJackal]

[X] ...can I hitch a ride in your brain? See how life's like as the real Lily before I make my decision? Not...permanently, obviously.

So a vote for a Second Lily in Lily's head? A Body Brain and A Mind Brain? A little Lily on our mental shoulder? Yup- for sure this.

And yes, my vote is heavily influenced by "So I'm a Spider, So What?"

 

[Torgamous]

[X] I want to live my life. I didn't ask for this? So...put me in the best book with a billion hot chicks to bang and just leave me in the library.

I'd be kind of disappointed if this actually won, but I think it deserves a vote.

 

[Shadowatcher]

[X] Fuck, I don't know. Give me time to think, okay?

I can get behind any of the last 3 options... I'm not sure I can get behind the first one. Too... IDK. EDIT: Too Matrix-y. Too VR dystopia.

[X] ...can I hitch a ride in your brain? See how life's like as the real Lily before I make my decision? Not...permanently, obviously.

So a vote for a Second Lily in Lily's head? A Body Brain and A Mind Brain? A little Lily on our mental shoulder? Yup- for sure this.

And yes, my vote is heavily influenced by "So I'm a Spider, So What?"

Click to shrink...

I really think it'd be more like plurality than anything else. Not two of the same person, but two very similar people.

 

[CyberFemme]

[X] ...can I hitch a ride in your brain? See how life's like as the real Lily before I make my decision? Not...permanently, obviously.

!!!

*Violently slams the vote button multiple times*

To date, all the plural stories I've read are hope. I think this is the most interesting option.

 

[ThatGazzer]

[X] ...can I hitch a ride in your brain? See how life's like as the real Lily before I make my decision? Not...permanently, obviously.

Lily and her headmate Lily

 

[CyberFemme]

[X] ...can I hitch a ride in your brain? See how life's like as the real Lily before I make my decision? Not...permanently, obviously.

Lily and her headmate Lily

Click to shrink...

"You [Andy] got a twin, and you [Lily] get a twin, and YOU [Rachel] get a twin!"

 

[Gravitas Hunt]

[X] ...can I hitch a ride in your brain? See how life's like as the real Lily before I make my decision? Not...permanently, obviously.

 

[10ebbor10]

[X] ...can I hitch a ride in your brain? See how life's like as the real Lily before I make my decision? Not...permanently, obviously.
[X] Fuck, I don't know. Give me time to think, okay?

we should probablyvask Rachel as well, no?

Also, RIP Stan I guess.

 

[CyberFemme]

@DragonCobolt, does Panacea still do anti-aging stuff? Description says 'cure-all', which could imply it can eliminate all the biological issues that cause bodies to age, but it could also be a turn of phrase.

 

[DragonCobolt]

@DragonCobolt, does Panacea still do anti-aging stuff? Description says 'cure-all', which could imply it can eliminate all the biological issues that cause bodies to age, but it could also be a turn of phrase.

Click to shrink...

I'm not sure yet, still deciding (since, rules wise, the difference is minimal, due to how wild talents is a very effects based system.)

 

[10ebbor10]

I'm not sure yet, still deciding (since, rules wise, the difference is minimal, due to how wild talents is a very effects based system.)

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Maybe it does, but people don't know it.

It's pretty hard for medicine to know what is damage and what is intentional (you don't want it to heal away tattoos or cosmetics, and there's a bunch of perfectly useful biological processes that can be interpreted as harm by a sufficiently dumb medicine), so it just keys of your thoughts. As long as you think of aging as natural, you do. Think of it as harm, and it gets healed?

 

[w34v3r]

[x] I want to live my life - a real life. Make me a robot body or something.
-[x] I wanna be a dragon, with wings, and a lair, and princesses who know what they're doing.

 

[CyberFemme]

Maybe it does, but people don't know it.

It's pretty hard for medicine to know what is damage and what is intentional (you don't want it to heal away tattoos or cosmetics, and there's a bunch of perfectly useful biological processes that can be interpreted as harm by a sufficiently dumb medicine), so it just keys of your thoughts. As long as you think of aging as natural, you do. Think of it as harm, and it gets healed?

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You know, it would be pretty funny if this setting hit actuarial escape velocity and didn't even realize it untill a few years/decades down the line.

Just, everyone misunderstanding what aging is and not realizing what a cure-all implies.

 

[BioWolf]

[X] I want to live my life. I didn't ask for this? So...put me in the best book with a billion hot chicks to bang and just leave me in the library.

 

[DragonCobolt]

I have this weird impulse to, if the plurality vote wins, have the outcome be a comedic short story where Lily and Lily are the worst roommates, drive eachother crazy, get into whacky hijinx, and end with, "please build robot body, andy" but...that also feels like it's counter to the intent of the vote.

However, it is also very funny.

 

[CyberFemme]

I have this weird impulse to, if the plurality vote wins, have the outcome be a comedic short story where Lily and Lily are the worst roommates, drive eachother crazy, get into whacky hijinx, and end with, "please build robot body, andy" but...that also feels like it's counter to the intent of the vote.

However, it is also very funny.

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I don't think that's counter to the intent tho? Like, MemeLily might like a body as long as she doesn't have to share with herself - which it turns out is a special kind of hell.

I cast my vote with the intent that MemeLily figures out what kind of existence she wants, so the outcome is up to the GM.

Having said that, plant bodies and a clone of Lily's body are also on the table I think.

Edit: Meanwhile the Rachels are just vibing.

 

[10ebbor10]

I have this weird impulse to, if the plurality vote wins, have the outcome be a comedic short story where Lily and Lily are the worst roommates, drive eachother crazy, get into whacky hijinx, and end with, "please build robot body, andy" but...that also feels like it's counter to the intent of the vote.

However, it is also very funny.

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Sometimes things don't work out.

That said, we already got a girl in a robot body. I like Lily of the Noosphere. It would be interesting if she could stay there, following people around by flitting from book to book, art to art, taking over statues if needed for a bit.

 

[w34v3r]

Wait.... Would that make her a weeping angel?

 

[DragonCobolt]

Another thing I'm curious about.

In the Wild Talents rules, all settings have their own metrics - not STEW, but rather, FICTIONAL metrics, to indicate the kinds of stories they are. Red is historical inertia (how much you can change history), Gold is how "stable" characters are (does Batman stay Batman no matter what death or injury happens, or does Batman change professions and stick to it when his knee gets busted), Blue is how weird the setting is, and Black is how black and white it is (moral clarity, so to speak.)

Proggers is Red 5 until 1969, then drops to Red 3 until 1983 when it becomes Red 2 (this is without the PCs being involved.) Gold is 2 and remains 2 since characters are pretty humanly flexible, but metahumans tend to be strong willed and driven and stuck to their principals. Blue is 2 in 1969 because there's just one source of talents, but jumps to 3 in the 70s and 80s as more weirdness like robots and power armor show up. It remains Black 3-2 for the entire run.

...but THANKS TO YOU GUYS, I think the Blue's definitely up to 4, agree/disagree?

 

[MJ12 Commando]

Just as an FYI, Buzzy's slight redesign is...

Basically, she's going to be less of a "I'm going to protect all of humanity from DANGEROUS IDEAS" (because that's both too easy to attack, kinda impossible without being dangerous, and would take even more WP), she's more like the light side, non-evil counterpart to Mr. Dubois and Clanker's attempts to make a sentient syntergene, given freedom to move around in the lower levels of the noosphere (I.E, no telepathy, just broad social fabric stuff) to keep an eye on things and help the Stonewall Nine notice any subtle, dangerous attacks like a sudden spate of mind control or a bunch of autocannibalism songs being released, that kind of stuff.

Does that make sense and feel less, as @10ebbor10 put it, hostile to a metagame concept (Cam being a smart lady who sometimes your friends agree with)

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I feel this works a lot better, especially because the Progenitor assumption is that if you want to change the world with an invention in a drastic, lasting fashion via its very existence you generally have to actually make it mass-producible.

Which is also something that I think people are forgetting regarding Panacea and further inventions - remember that you need to pay half the point cost of any gadget, in base willpower, if you want it to be mass-producible by normal people. This is why your gadgets should generally be designed around specific, limited effects rather than trying to jam every ability possible into one of them and suddenly realizing that you need to spend 50 base will to actually make it technology rather than weird magic.

This is especially relevant for Panacea, again, because arguably a lot of society-changing medical applications are actually "dud powers" which mean you have the cheapest possible point cost to make them viable (2 base will for 2hd in the relevant dice pool). Introducing an "2hd immune to common diseases" pill might not sound nearly as cool as the "I have a big variable effect ultrapower that I've given to everyone" but the former costs 2 base will to make and the latter probably costs a fuck of a lot more than that.