Starfall ( A Super Powers Quest)

Hey everybody sorry for not getting chapter one out a few days ago. I ended up catching covid over the holidays and have been knocked out by cold medicine the past few days. Anyway in my brief moments of lucidity I managed to finish putting together the opening scene, Shannon's initial character sheet, and a set of starting power options. I put the link and a few basic mechanics in the informational threads but here's a link to the sheet of Shannon's abilities before her powers. Adobe Acrobat
Anyway with that out of the way here is chapter 1.


Detective Shannon Carter found herself cursing her perpetually bad fortune as she drowsily drove her unmarked car down an almost empty highway near the outskirts of Ruby Ridge on a late Wednesday night.

She had just been pulling into her apartment complex's parking garage and was contemplating whether to watch an action flick or cheesy romcom before bed, when her phone started ringing with the ringtone she had set for her boss, Captain Sakamoto. Letting out a sigh, she answered the phone and said professionally into the speaker "Detective Shannon Carter, ready and reporting for duty sir." A gravelly voice replied "Agh cut the act Shan, I know I'm ruining your night calling you at this hour but you know how it is. The higher ups in GIU have got a bee in their bonnet about a murder scene they found. You know how those assholes are, they're demanding we get someone over there to check it out now. They're convinced it's the key to bringing down the Union." "God dammit!" Shannon spat out "They say that every time… What's the address?" She could hear a rough chortling from the other end of the line before her boss responded "Dedicated as ever kid. I'll have a cup of your favorite coffee on your desk when you come in tomorrow." Shannon snorted and said into the phone "It better not be any of that crap we serve in the break room, I accept only store bought quality coffee as bribes. And you forgot to give me the address you old fart."

And so here she was driving to investigate a murder scene she was sure the GIU goons had already been tramping all over. Truth be told she was probably being too harsh on them. The members of the gang intelligence unit were generally officers whose hearts were in the right place. Unlike some of the other units which had a tendency to have at least a few members who had joined the force out of a desire for power, the GIU was made up almost entirely of officers who had joined for the sole purpose of getting back at the gangs in the city. While she had no love for the gangs after years of seeing their handiwork and would be glad to help bring them down she had found the unit's zealous nature tended to lead toward rushed conclusions. Her old mentor had agreed with the opinion and often used to joke "A kid can't ride a tricycle in the south side without the GIU strip searching him for a double R tattoo."

Even so, as often as they jumped the gun sometimes they were in the right and they would stumble upon something they could use to build a case. It did honestly irk her though how she always got called in for GIU investigations because she was one of the small set of detectives the higher ups were sure wasn't secretly working for one of the gangs. In her opinion they were being paranoid but the current director of the GIU had been friends with her mentor and he had trusted his judgement enough to trust him that she was clean.

Still quietly fuming she pulled into the address captain Sakamoto had given her. Stepping out of the car she looked up at the dilapidated warehouse and around at the officers searching the surrounding area with flashlights. Showing her badge to the two sleepy looking rookies they'd stuck on guard duty, Shannon walked over to the two officers talking next to a park squad car who waved at her approach . Stepping up to the two men she turned to the taller one with deep black skin and said "I'm surprised to see you here Captain Richards. Either this is a grislier scene than I imagined or I'm here to see someone important." Captain Richards grunted and chewed on the end of his cigarette "Our body wasn't anyone important but he did work for someone who is. According to our files, the John Doe in there was one of the personal bodyguards for Ryuji Watanabe." Shannon let out a low whistle and replied "One of the dragon prince's bodyguards rates high enough to bring the head of the GIU himself out to the edge of town? You are one committed S.O.B."

Eloquent as ever Captain Richards let out another grunt and said "This isn't some low level dealer, he's a full on made man who's been working for the dragons for close to twenty years. If he was killed by one of the other groups in the city we could be looking at the opening shots of a full fledged gang war." He took a long drag of his cigarette and used it to gesture to the younger man at his side. The man in question stepped forward and raised a hand for Shannon to shake. Gripping it firmly as she introduced herself she looked the officer up and down, he had tanned skin, short blonde hair and appeared to be a few years younger than her, by Shannon's guess he was likely fresh out of the academy. He introduced himself as Officer Kherer and explained that he had been the first officer to find the scene. "I got a call on the radio saying that there had been some drunks hanging around the area harassing people and throwing rocks at passing cars. When I got here they started running. One of them ducked into the warehouse, while the other tried to hop the fence and fell. I cuffed the one that fell to the fence and went to look for the other. I was looking through the building with my flashlight when I spotted the body near the back. At first I thought it was the drunk but when I got closer and realized what it was I called it in. I wasn't able to find the drunk after that but we're searching the area now."

"Did you disturb the body after you found it?" Shannon immediately asked. Officer Kherer replied that he hadn't, immediately raising her opinion of him. With his story delivered he left to join the others in their manhunt through the surrounding area. After he was out of earshot Shannon turned back to Captain Richards and said "Seems like a good kid." Captain Richards watched as Kherer jogged over to the others but didn't respond. Instead he turned and began walking toward the warehouse beckoning Shannon to follow him.

Stepping into the warehouse she tried not to sneeze at the cloud of dust being thrown up in the wake of the captain's passage. Covering her nose and mouth with a hand she followed him to the back of the warehouse where she could see the body lying in a puddle of mostly dried blood. Someone had helpfully set up a floodlight to illuminate the body and give her a tiny patch of light to work in. Stepping off to the side by the light Captain Richards leaned against a pillar and watched as Shannon began her examination.

Staring down at the body Shannon could immediately determine a few things. While she wasn't a doctor even she could determine the cause of death had been the bullet hole through the victim's forehead. The man in question was Asian, probably in his late thirties or early forties. He wore a black suit that must have looked nice before all the blood soaked into it. His pants pockets had been turned inside out and someone had clearly rifled through his jacket as well. Crouching down for a closer look, Shannon carefully unbuttoned a few of the top buttons of his shirt, opening it to reveal the unmistakable dragon tattoo all made men of the Western Dragons received. Looking away from the man's chest she lifted his right hand and rolled up his sleeve. While she found a tan line around where he had previously worn a watch and ring, she found no signs of rope burns or other wounds from restraints. Checking his other hand and ankles she still found no noticeable injuries.

Standing up from the body she began to examine the room around it. She saw no signs of a struggle or damage to the room. As she swept her flashlight across the floor she did notice that the heavy dust had left many footprints across the room. Unfortunately the area surrounding the body had clearly been walked through heavily by several people. Satisfied with her initial inspection Shannon walked over to Captain Richards who was in the process of lighting another cigarette.

"What have you got for me Shan?" He asked after taking a quick puff. "Well he's definitely a dragon like you thought, but I have my doubts we're looking at a hit from a rival group." Captain Richards raised an eye brought at that and motioned for her to continue. "Well for starters he was killed here, not somewhere else and then dumped. He also has no marks on his body to indicate he was restrained and transported here for execution. Finally there isn't any damage around the room to suggest a shootout occurred here. It looks like he was killed unexpectedly and left here. My best guess is that this is the dragons taking care of one of their own."

Captain Richards mulled on that for a few seconds before shaking his head. "It wouldn't track with the usual MO the dragons use. The boss usually likes to make an example out of people they execute. Leaving the body out here where anyone could find it isn't their style." Shannon shrugged and replied "It's just a theory. He could have just as easily been jumped by those two drunks while he was taking a leak. Someone did take his jewelry and empty his pockets and Kherer strikes me as too much of a boy scout for that. I'll have to interview the one he caught and see if…"

Shannon was cut off as suddenly bright light filled the warehouse seeping in through the skylights. It began to flash in a myriad of colors painting the room with a strobe light like effect making Shannon think of a rave. Before she could say anything to Captain Richards a sound like distant thunder echoed from outside followed by panicked shouts from the officers that had been searching the area. Quickly stamping out his cigarette the captain put his hand on the grip of his still holstered handgun and began sprinting for the door. Startled for a moment by the quick action from the normally laconic man Shannon hesitated before following after the captain repeating his example.

Bursting outside Shannon quickly looked around expecting some form of danger only to see the officers staring off into the distance. Following one officer's gaze she looked up into the sky to see streaks of multicolored light blazing through the air like shooting stars. It reminded her somewhat of pictures she had seen of the aurora borealis with its rainbow of changing colors, but instead of a ribbon of undulating light these were straight lines cutting through the sky as if a child had taken a set of markers to the heavens.

She was pulled from watching the spectacle by the repeated sound of thunder. Looking toward the source of the sound she felt the bottom dropping out of her stomach. In the direction of downtown she could see fires burning and large plumes of dust. She saw several of those streaks of light plummeting into the heart of the city and felt her breath catch as she watched one punch through a skyscraper knocking it to ground and producing another thunderclap and dust plume. She looked to see Captain Richards shouting into his radio demanding information about what was happening in the city.

Deciding to once again follow his lead Shannon ran over to her car and got on her radio. She started by trying to get in contact with dispatch but heard only static escape the speakers. Cursing she tossed the radio mouthpiece into the seat beside her and pulled out her cellphone. When trying to call Captain Sakamoto revealed that she had no service she let out another curse and pocketed her phone. She had just looked up intending to get out of her car and consult Captain Richards when she saw the golden light hurtling through the air right at her. She tried to get out of the car but barely had time to put her hand on the door before she heard the glass of her windshield shatter and felt a burning sensation was over her before everything went black.

Shannon opened her eyes and found herself laying on her back on top of something soft. Sitting up she looked down to find that she had been resting in a patch of clovers and as she scanned the area she saw that it was in fact a field of clovers. A field that stretched in every direction as far as she could see. "Well this isn't the worst afterlife I've ever heard of I suppose." she said as she idly leaned over and picked a clover. Twisting it in her fingers she raised it to her eyes and saw that it had four leaves. Examining the other clovers on the ground she realized that every single one of them had four leaves. She was just about to stand up when she heard someone clear their throat behind her.

Jumping to her feet and spinning around quickly she looked to see nobody looking behind her. At first confused she heard a polite cough and looked down to see a small man with red hair, a green suit and top hat looking up at her. Shannon sputtered and took a step back, almost falling down on the same clover patch she had woken up on. Looking abashed the little man stared up at her and said in a thick Irish accent "Whoa their lassie, I didn't mean to scare you I just thought I'd let you know you weren't alone. Sorry if my appearance startled you. I was under the impression leprechauns were considered cute."

Shannon looked at him incredulously "Who would think a three foot tall man in a green suit watching them sleep would be anything but creepy?" This time the leprechaun took a step back and put a hand to his chest "First of all, that hurts! And I wasn't watching you sleep. You appeared in the clovers and then immediately opened your eyes. I figured I'd give you a moment to take in the scenery and then we could get to work." Shannon eyed the little man warily and found herself reaching to put a hand on her holster. "Oh come on don't be like that!" He sputtered. "I'm working for you! I'm here to guide you on how to make use of your new powers. It's your lucky day! The first of many!"

He said the last line with a grin that was too wide to be human and Shannon felt unsettled seeing that expression on his puny face. Taking a deep breath she lifted her hand from her weapon, maybe she was overreacting. This tiny man was the only other person she could see in an otherwise endless field and if he tried anything funny she could always punt him like a football. "Ok." She said "if you're here to guide me why don't you start by telling me where we are and who you are." His grin faded into a more pleasant smile and he replied "Of course I'd be happy to answer any questions I can but can we sit for the conversation? Looking up at you is really getting old."

Complying with his request Shannon sat cross legged on the clovers and watched as the leprechaun did the same. "I'm Felix and like I said earlier it's my job to explain the basics to you about how to use your powers as a new star. As for where we are, that's a bit harder to explain. We actually believe it or not are inside your head. This is the mental space stars use to view their power options and distribute their power points."

"Pretend I don't know what anything in that last part means." Shannon told the creature testily. Felix nodded his head kindly and raised his left hand. Golden sparkles floated out of his palm and began to form shapes in the air. "Stars" he began "are the term we use to refer to individuals who have touched an Orb and absorbed it into their body gaining access to abilities beyond what most would consider possible." The shapes formed the image of a stick figure man walking down a street until he reached a glowing orb which he then touched and the shapes merged. "All stars have a theme determining what kind of powers they will have access to." The stick figure began to fly, then it fired flames from its hands, and then it multiplied until there were 10 figures standing in a line. "All stars each also have a bank of points to spend on acquiring these abilities. Points can be acquired through completing quests and a few other methods but we can come back to that later."

"Not sure I needed the light show with the explanation." Shannon muttered as the stick figures dispersed into shimmering golden sparkles. "I thought it added a certain flair to the proceedings" Felix replied cheerily. "Anyway now that you know the basics how about we get to the fun part and you look at your options for powers!"

Clapping his hands a cloud of golden sparks exploded from Felix's palms reshaping themselves into a series of floating panels circling Shannon. Feel free to take your time deciding and just focus on an option to get an image of how it would function. His instruction delivered Felix laid down on the grass and crossed his hands behind his back beginning to whistle a tune that sounded suspiciously like "The Rocky Road to Dublin".

Deciding to see how much she could figure out on her own without relying on the creepy Felix, Shannon began to examine the panels floating before her.


Greetings new Star!
The theme of your powers is: Luck
Current power level 8
You currently have 100 points to spend
Your options are as follows:

[ ] CATASTROPHE
With a moment's concentration (and a standard action), you cause a harmful "accident" to befall a target, ranging from running into an obstacle to being struck by a random flying object or vehicle, caught in an explosion or even having something fall on them The accident is proportionate to the Damage the Catastrophe inflicts.

Catastrophe: Perception Ranged Damage, Indirect 4, Subtle 2, Variable Descriptor 1 (Accidents) cost 7 points +3 points per rank



[ ] FIND WEAKNESS
You have a remarkable ability to find a target's "weak spots" through sheer luck, allowing you to overcome otherwise impervious defenses. You can grant this luck to others allowing them to do the same.

Find Weakness: Affects others, Enhanced Extra (Penetrating), Perception Ranged, Variable Descriptor (Attacks), Quirk (Limited to Lower of Attack or Extra's Rank, –1 point) • 3 points per rank



[ ] JINX
You "curse" a target with bad luck and difficulty in accomplishing tasks. One degree of effect halves the target's active defenses and imposes a –2 penalty on checks, while two degrees reduces active defenses to 0 and imposes a –5 penalty. The effect is such that the target is not even aware of the Jinx until things begin going awry.

Jinx: Perception Ranged Affliction (Resisted and Overcome by Will; Impaired and Vulnerable, Defenseless and Disabled), Extra Condition, Indirect 4, Insidious, Subtle 2, Limited Degree • 7 points + 3 points per rank



[ ] LUCKY SHOT
You can pull off an otherwise "impossible" shot. Your rank in this power determines the maximum effect of the attack: use the lower of the two, if they differ. So if you have 5 ranks of Lucky Shot, but use a light pistol (Damage 3), the attack still only does Damage 3. On the other hand, if you're using a Damage 9 blaster, you're limited to a Damage 5 Lucky Shot.

Lucky Shot: Enhanced Extra (Perception Range), Variable Descriptor (Attacks), Quirk (Limited to Lower of Attack or Extra's Rank, –1 point) • 1 point per rank


[ ] POLTERGEIST
You have an "invisible helper" of sorts, causing things to happen around you. Your Poltergeist effect is not necessarily very strong (although it may be) but is capable of pushing or knocking things over, tying or untying, pushing buttons, pulling levers (or triggers...), tripping, disarming, and so forth to cause any number of "accidents" to occur (or to prevent said accidents from occurring). The effects can even occur out of your line of sight and do not obviously originate with you.

Poltergeist: Perception Ranged Move Object, Indirect 4, Precise, Reaction, Subtle 2; Senses 10 (Radius Vision Counters and Penetrates All Concealment, Limited to Targeting Move Object) • 12 points +6 points per rank


[ ] BREAKFALL
Hurled off a rooftop, you safely hit an awning. Falling from a bridge, you land in the back of a truck full of mattresses. No matter where you fall from—even if you're thrown out of a plane without a parachute—you somehow manage to survive, completely unscathed.

Breakfall: Movement 1 (Safe Fall), Reaction •3 points


[ ] DEFENSIVE LUCK
You are lucky enough that what would be a finishing blow for someone else becomes merely a graze or scratch for you, or even nothing at all, although you are physically no tougher than anyone else.

Defensive Luck: Protection, Sustained • 1 point per rank


[ ] FORTUNATE FAILURE
Circumstances seem to conspire to keep you safe from the effects of attackers' powers: a water main suddenly bursts, blocking a fire blast with a sheet of water; a gust of wind knocks aside an attacker's aim; a weapon jams or shorts out; perhaps you even slip or trip at an opportune moment, and so forth.

Fortunate Failure: Reaction Nullify (Effects Countered by Coincidence), Broad, Effortless, Simultaneous, Close Range • 6 points per rank

[ ] LUCKY DODGE
You have incredible luck in avoiding attacks, managing to not be there when the attack lands. You even avoid some unexpected attacks by circumstance: bending over the tie your shoelace or pick up a coin, for example, at just the right moment.

Lucky Dodge: Enhanced Advantage 1 (Uncanny Dodge), Enhanced Dodge, Enhanced Parry • 1 point + 1 point per rank of Enhanced Defense or 2 points for both

[ ] EASE OF MOVEMENT
You are untroubled by obstacles to your movement, evading them through sheer luck and good fortune.
Ease of Movement: Movement 2 (Sure-Footed) • 4 points


[ ] PERFECT TIMING
You have an uncanny knack for showing up in the right place at the right time, whether it is an opportunity to "run into" someone you need to speak to or a last-minute save for a friend in need. In practice this is a bonus to percentile rolls for things such as exploration equal to your rank. For example if you had a rank of 5 and rolled a 66 on an exploration roll the result would be (66 + 5 = 71)

Perfect Timing: Feature • 1 point per rank


[ ] ESCAPE NOTICE
You bend probability such that, while you are not truly "invisible", no one seems to notice you until you do something to draw attention to yourself (such as making an attack or effect check). Otherwise, circumstances conspire so the people are looking the other way, distractions crop up at just the right moment, and so forth, allowing you to escape notice.
Escape Notice: Concealment 10 (All Senses), Passive • 10 points


[ ] SENSE OF LUCK
You can sense when luck powers are used in your presence.

Sense of Luck: Senses 1 (Luck Awareness), Counter Concealment • 3 points

[ ] VISIONS OF FORTUNE
You can sense a subject's future in terms of good and bad luck and probable outcomes: the GM tells you if the subject's luck is trending good or bad (or remaining largely neutral). A Perception check may be required for more detailed information, and the GM may also grant you spontaneous visions or impressions from time to time.

Visions of Fortune: Senses 4 (Precognition), Limited to Luck Trends • 2 points


I'll be leaving the vote open for a few days to give people time to pitch plans and hopefully myself time to recover. Remember that you don't have to spend all Power Points right now and can use unspent ones later. Please be sure to check the basics of how power levels work and Shannon's starting character sheet to make sure your plans don't break the rules with point distribution. That being said thanks for waiting on the late chapter and happy questing!