A Bloodstained Mantle

Voting is open
[X] Plan I Gaze Into The Abyss Once More
-[X] Morgana's Chimera
-[X] Mordred... Mordred... I'm sorry, there's more, but I just can't reach it.
-[X] Skills
--[X] Social skills: Terrifying Avenger (Improved Presence, intimidation, a little bit of stealth, etc)
--[X] Mastered Fighting Skills (Extra skill in unarmed combat, and extra combat advantages)
-[X] Why'd you join STAR
--[X] Because I have a deep and profound need to liked… Wait can I take that answer ba- (Motivation: Fame and Respect)
 
We're picking a new name. Personally If we're not afraid of Mistborn references Kandra might be a fitting super hero name. Honestly it's mostly because of the flesh pocket
 
It occurs to me that if Plan: Friendly Shadow goes through, most people are going to shorten our name to Chim, or Kim.

This... wouldn't be that bad overall, honestly.
 
[X] Plan: Friendly Shadow

I would prefer a more Presence focused build, but this is acceptable to me.
 
As an aside, is there any reason we wouldn't just take the maximum grade of Attractive at 2? It's a drop in the bucket as far as points are concerned, the benefit is very good, and it makes sense for the power we've got.
 
As an aside, is there any reason we wouldn't just take the maximum grade of Attractive at 2? It's a drop in the bucket as far as points are concerned, the benefit is very good, and it makes sense for the power we've got.

I mean...we will when walking around as a 'civilian' if we don't care about being recognized and remembered (or in costume and not currently fighting and in need of every point), yeah. On the other hand, that's very memorable...that's full-on supermodel good looks, after all, so it's bad for keeping a low profile. So depends on the circumstances.

It's listed on the sheet as a standard power usage, though, so I expect we'll use it a fair bit, yeah.
 
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As an aside, is there any reason we wouldn't just take the maximum grade of Attractive at 2? It's a drop in the bucket as far as points are concerned, the benefit is very good, and it makes sense for the power we've got.
Two reasons.

1: because there will be times where you don't want to be drop dead gorgeous, any time where keeping a low profile would be a good idea for example.

2: because it doesn't really make sense that you'd look that pretty while cosplaying The Thing if you're not putting active effort into it.
 
Yes and I'm working on an informational for all of them.

So, looking at the info provided...what are their powers? The info provided is useful in a social context but only Carver and Glow have listed powers which is less than ideal. I guess Earth's powers are implied? Regardless, it seems like we'd know the basics of their powers and that's a big thing to leave out of their descriptions.
 
So, looking at the info provided...what are their powers? The info provided is useful in a social context but only Carver and Glow have listed powers which is less than ideal. I guess Earth's powers are implied? Regardless, it seems like we'd know the basics of their powers and that's a big thing to leave out of their descriptions.
That's fair, I was planning on explaining their powers when it became relevant but I can definitely include their powers I'd that's an issue.
 
I'm guessing Curseling or Metal. Curseling is the closest one to his power level, from description, has a very versatile power, and is ambitious, while Metal is a complete unknown. Could be someone else, but those seem the most likely options to me.
That is a reasonable thought process.


Edit: I'll be closing the vote in four or five hours.
 
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Okay so, with a Rogue's Gallery posted, let's see how we can best fight these people given our power set:

Wind: The current leader, although she came to power only a year or two before you showed up and rumors swirl that her rule is unstable, that Earth and Water are both after her crown.

Power: she can manipulate air within her line of sight when she exhales, inducing gentle nudges and vicious flurries of wind blades with equal ease, she is very good at whistling and that noise is the last thing far too many people have ever heard. (PL 11)

Ambush is ideal, take her out before things can even get going. That's true for most foes, and will get noted again, but I'll try and keep mentions brief. If ambush is not an option, going tanky on the defense may be wise here, then getting in close and just beating the crap out of her.

Fire: The oldest super in the Five Elements and a longtime member of the gang even before he got his powers, although he's only been a super for five or so years.

Power: He starts any fight with incredible pyromantic abilities, unleashing enormous fireballs and shooting around the battlefield like a human rocket, however, as he uses these abilities his fire fades as his body grows into an enormous, regenerating, crocodile monster. (PL 10)

Ambush is, again, good. Get in close and hit hard ASAP seems like the winning strategy here. He seems like he's more dodgy than tanky early on, so hitting him with stuff like airborne poisons/drugs secreted from our skin may be valid if we do it quick...the Crocodile is likely more resistant to that stuff and thus a straight-up slugfest.

Earth: a self styled boogyman, he delights in dragging people waist deep into the ground and simply… leaving them there.

He can swim through any solid surface like it's water, sense vibrations in the ground around him, and he's also superhumanly strong and tough. (PL 9)

Ambushes aside, this guy's tough to fight because he can go where we can't usually follow. That said, the lower PL means that despite being tough, if we go all-out we can probably knock him out pretty quick. So...we probably want to do that if we can. Capitalize on any openings he gives and hit really hard.

Water: Wind's sister, and has been made second in command through nepotism.

Power: she is a moisture vampire, she's strong, tough, fast, can even regenerate, but only if she's got enough water, heat is a real problem for her. (PL 11, at full power anyway.)

Ambush is less good here, I think, at least if she's well hydrated. Still, we can probably make heat a few different ways, maybe poison her with something that desiccates, and then make it a battle of attrition. Probably our best call, there.

Metal: no real details are known, he's very new and only been seen in public twice, frankly it's really surprising they got a replacement for Lightning so fast.

Powers: it involves metal armor? He's really new. (PL 10? Probably?)

Limited information means I have no real clue here. If the armor isn't air-tight, poison or drugs might again be a way to go.

If we have to fight multiple of the 5 Elements at once we're in trouble. Well, we could probably take Earth and Fire together, but Wind and Water are problems. If we do wind up in that situation, AoE stuff like the aforementioned poison/drug excretion is a definite must.

Carver: and old man who seems to the be a voice of caution for the organization, he avoids taking the field at almost all costs due to his advanced age.

Power: makes "magic items" out of wood and stone carved items, from flying brooms to animated toys to spears which explode when they strike their target. (PL 8 or 9, if properly equipped.)

Too variable in abilities to have a solid main plan beyond 'ambush if possible', but the lower PL means we can probably take him.

Viscous: a rather scary woman who leads the coven on their robberies, although Curseling has also begun to take up that job on occasion.

Power: she can turn into a humanoid figure made of purple ooze, which can either be harmless, a powerful sedative, or a lethal acid. (PL 11)

Okay, this may be straight-up our worst matchup of the people we're actually likely to fight. If we can ambush her in human form, great. If not...I guess we need to use fire? We can probably arrange to breathe fire if we need to but yeesh...not a lot of good options here. The sedative we don't need to worry too much about, but the inability to harm her and the acid are a problematic combination.

Curseling: the most ambitious member, she wants more ambitious heists with more money, well, that and to figure out some way to avoid the drawbacks of her powers, despite those drawbacks she she once fought Adamant, and while she spent the following night in a jail cell, that was one of the most difficult 1v1 fights he'd had in years.

Power: an incredibly versatile ability to cast "magic spells" straight out of a fantasy story, with the very notable drawback that she gets less and less intelligent as she uses her powers, which means that if a fight lasts too long she'll be stuck as little more than a trained dog for several hours. (PL 12 Terms and conditions maybe apply)

And this is the first person who's actually just straight-up more powerful than us. Ambush is even better here than usual, since her power-set's drawback probably means she's not walking around with spells up, but if that doesn't work, we probably need to either play very defensive and wait for her drawback to start kicking in, or use vectors of attack she's not expecting and thus lacks a counter for.

Glow: a teenage boy with an unshakable carefree and cheerful demeanor, causes the most property damage out of all The Coven.

Power: he can fly, take a gunshot or two, see through walls, and shoot beams of bladed light from his eyes, that or huge hammer blows of light which can fill a room. (PL 10)

This guy is super straightforward. Not a great ambush target, probably, but otherwise really straightforward. Go tanky on defense and wreck him.

Runic: another teenager, she seems to think that her powers live in her bones and that they want to eat her, she takes her name from the good luck charm she wears around her neck rather than anything related to her powers.

Powers: she hits like a mountain and her bones, which are the only thing she needs, are close to invulnerable. (PL 10)

Straightforward brick. Another bad ambush target, but straightforward fight.

If fighting multiple members of the Coven...well, I think that's actually worse than multiple members of the Five Elements, honestly. Viscous and Curseling are both really heavy hitters and our ability to take out either quickly is not great, while Glow and Runic are less threatening but still tough enough that taking them out quickly is maybe not gonna work out. AoE in whatever form we can get it is, again, our friend but I'm not wildly enthused by our odds.

Cosplay: a man who gains powers from the costumes he wears and cannot decide on one which he prefers, he seems to change them with every job, usually alongside a new fake accent as bad as the one before it.

Powers: he gains powers based on whatever kind of costume he's wearing, a cowboy might be an absolutely incredible shot and quick draw, while a Knight will move slow and steady and hit like a truck. The accents are not compelled by the power, despite his claims otherwise. (PL 10)

Cosplay's power is too variable for us to actually plan around it. Even whether ambushes are good is dependent on his outfit.

Roadtrip: wanted primarily because she keeps stealing traffic signs… also a decent bit of assault and robbery.

Power: Roadtrip can steal traffic signs (speed limit signs, no passing, ramp warnings, all kinds) and store them. When needed, roadtrip may produce the stolen sign and imprint its rule on reality. The strength of the effect is based on the radius it affects, the duration of its effect, and the number of unwilling targets. Roadtrip could use a 60 MPH speed limit sign to increase their own speed for a long time but using 5 MPH speed limit sign on a large numbers of enemies could only be effective for a brief duration. The power of the effects is mostly preparation and creativity limited. Each use expends the sign and returns it to the place it was taken from. (PL 10)

Roadtrip, on the other hand, is a great ambush target. Beyond that, she's very versatile and our tactics likely need to shift to match hers. Details are gonna be tricky, but anything that isn't effected by Street Signs is favored. I'm sure we can think of a few options.

If fighting both together, we want to go hard at Roadtrip first to eliminate variables. Cosplay is versatile between encounters, but not within a single one, while Roadtrip is a wild card every single turn. Take her out, switch our power set up to counter his, and wreck him, is the best plan.

Doctor Destruction: while initially he attempted to sell the mayor a set of robotic cops he went into hiding when it was revealed that the robots were incredibly violent and that he knew about that fact.

Now he leads groups of his powerful but fragile and difficult to control robot henchmen to grab more and more parts for… something.

Power: the good doctor is inspired when it comes to robotics, allowing him to make some truly amazing robots. (The robots range from PL 6 to PL 10 depending what he's making, and almost all of them are minions, meaning they go down if they take even a single level of damage among other things.)

For the robots, we should take them out ASAP since they're fragile but potentially hard hitting. That's pretty straightforward, really.

Slip: a petty thief with serious money problems who tries to stay as nonviolent as humanly possible, thanks to his power he has avoided arrest or capture for almost two years, despite going after several incredibly well guarded items.

Power: Slip can turn intangible as if he was a ghost, more dangerously while in that form he can disrupt people's forms with a touch, you and Adamant are sure he has some kind of weakness, you're just not sure what. (PL 9 but should be treated as much more dangerous than that)

No kidding on that warning. Much like Viscous but more so, this guy's power...not hard counters us, but absent knowledge of his weakness or hitting him before he goes incorporeal I'm not sure what we do to him. Try airborne drugs/poisons and hope he still needs to breathe, I guess? Hopefully, his non-violent modus operandi means we don't have to deal with him too much.

The Hunter: a ghost-like super for hire currently in the area.

Power: he can take on an incredibly horrific appearance which looks different to each person, while in this form he can scream with a noise like a hunting horn to fill people's hearts with supernatural fear and set hounds made of shadow on people. (PL 10)

Ambush remains good here. If that's not an option, well, turning off our hearing and maybe even sight and using other senses to find and fight him seems like it might be our best bet. Beyond that, we target him rather than worrying about the hounds...defensively our best bet depends on the dogs stats, which are unclear.

All spoilered for those who don't want a giant post going through all that.
 
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Ok voting is over
Scheduled vote count started by alexthealright on Jul 9, 2024 at 5:30 PM, finished with 46 posts and 11 votes.

  • [X] Plan: Friendly Shadow
    -[X] Chimera
    -[X] The same one I literally just told you.
    -[X] Skills
    --[X] Stealth and sleight of hand (Improved stealth skills, Agility, Dexterity, slight of hand, etc)
    --[X] Mastered Investigation Skills (Extra improved Intelligence, Investigation, Insight, and Awareness.)
    -[X] Why'd you join STAR?
    --[X] People were in trouble, what else was I supposed to do? (Motivation: Doing Good)
    [X] Plan Body Horror Batman
    -[X] Chimera
    -[X] Oh, of course, it's Jane
    -[X] Skills
    --[X] Stealth and sleight of hand (Improved stealth skills, Agility, Dexterity, slight of hand, etc)
    --[X] Mastered Investigation Skills (Extra improved Intelligence, Investigation, Insight, and Awareness.)
    -[X] Why'd you join STAR?
    --[X] People were in trouble, what else was I supposed to do? (Motivation: Doing Good)
    [X] Plan: I just like these options
    -[X] Menagerie
    -[X] Oh, of course, it's Kayleigh Merrick
    -[X] Stealth and sleight of hand (Improved stealth skills, Agility, Dexterity, sleight of hand, etc)
    -[X] Mastered Investigation Skills (Extra improved Intelligence, Investigation, Insight, and Awareness.)
    -[X] Because I have a deep and profound need to liked… Wait can I take that answer ba- (Motivation: Fame and Respect)
    [X] Plan: Shapeshifter Stagefright
    -[X] Menagerie
    -[X] Uhhh Mina Cherry?
    -[X] Skills
    --[X] Social skills: Terrifying Avenger (Improved Presence, intimidation, a little bit of stealth, etc)
    --[X] Stealth and sleight of hand (Improved stealth skills, Agility, Dexterity, slight of hand, etc)
    -[X] Why'd you join STAR?
    --[X] Because I have a deep and profound need to liked… Wait can I take that answer ba- (Motivation: Fame and Respect)
    [X] Plan I Gaze Into The Abyss Once More
    -[X] Morgana's Chimera
    -[X] Mordred... Mordred... I'm sorry, there's more, but I just can't reach it.
    -[X] Skills
    --[X] Social skills: Terrifying Avenger (Improved Presence, intimidation, a little bit of stealth, etc)
    --[X] Mastered Fighting Skills (Extra skill in unarmed combat, and extra combat advantages)
    -[X] Why'd you join STAR?
    --[X] Because I have a deep and profound need to liked… Wait can I take that answer ba- (Motivation: Fame and Respect)


As I'm sure you can all see, Friendly Shadow won.
 
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Aha, we've got the stealthy skillmonkey playstyle going now! The main thing we seem to be missing in the skillmonkey setup is presence based skills, but we can spoof those with the right power selection.
 
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