Feel free to work on your character concept(s) here!

Reading the book! Lets hope I find something that will inspire me!

Haven't read all yet, but here is a first idea

The Janus

Jeremy Hossman is a bookworm in the literal sense, that has always been fascinated by ancient stories of gods and heroes. He spent his childhood reading about legends, watching newsreels of the actual bronze age heroes, without ever thinking he could join any of them with his weak and asthmatic body. Then when he was 12, his friends introduced him to ttrpg and it was a revelation. Finally he was able, mentally at least, to play out his heroic fantasies, and he was hooked. TTRPG became real life roleplaying, as a magician, a vampire, a priest of Thor, anything he could imagine. Jeremy loved it, and his parents let him live that life, as he was breaking out of his shell in these harmless games.

Researching his next role, he went to his favorite store, ran by an passionate like him, Hector. The man had taken a liking to Jeremy and sometimes allowed him to contemplate his private collection of old weapons. That day was special, as Hector had received a long awaited special order, a sword recently excavated in a tomb in the Soviet Union. It had taken a lot of pull and money to get the weapon, but Hector had the means and the will, but he wouldn't discuss those boring details with a kid, however he liked him. Leaving the store in the hands of his assistant, Hector took Jeremy with him to show him his latest acquisition. The pommel had a unusual lizard head design, the ancient leather covering the handle was serpent skin and when unsheathed, the blade looked like it had just been forged. Instantly, Jeremy felt a connection and asked to take the weapon. Hector agreed and presented it pommel first to Jeremy.

There was a low rumbling in the house, the eyes of the lizard head pommel lit up and Jeremy heard a voice in his head, the moment he took the handle.

Finally I awake!

Jeremy wanted to drop the weapon but was equally paralyzed by fright and fascinated. This was an enchanted blade! Like in the legends! In a trembling voice, he asked:

What is your name? What do you want from me?

My name is Shadowbane and it has been ages since a suitable bearer touched me! I was forged eons ago in Hyperborea, and I have passed in the hands of many champions of light, giving them the power to right the wrongs and bring justice. Alas, my last bearer died and I was not passed on, I have been dormant for so long. You are a suitable champion and together we will do great things.

Me? A champion? I'm just a kid! I can barely hold you upright!

It is true that your form requires adjustments. I will do so now.

A bright light came from the blade and enveloped Jeremy, that felt his mind being picked at for his memories. Helpless to stop the process, Jeremy concentrated instinctively on his latest creation, a powerful lizard paladin, and he felt the sword approve. Slowly, the light receded and where Jeremy was stood a powerfully build lizard warrior, in ornamented plate armor, easily holding Light Bringer.

You are now in an appropriate form to fight your foes and bring justice!

The poor Hector, having assisted to all this, was pale as a sheet. It took him quite a few drinks that night to recover!

Now, a year later, the young hero Draere prowls the city, using his magically given powers to fight evildoers, Jeremy having found a real life RPG that he was playing every time he could! Hector had made his peace with the fact the prized weapon he had acquired was now being used to do good, and would keep this secret to the tomb.



I still need to continue reading the book to find the powers and how to balance them, but this idea popped in my mind and seems appropriate for the game. I'll offer some more suggestions later.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:23, Sun 01 Aug 2021.

Bear in mind that we're using a custom setting. With that in mind:
 - Not sure if I'm using the metal age classification from the books... though, eh, maybe it still maps closely enough;
 - Russia is still the Soviet Union. Not to say that a private collector can't still get a weapon excavated from there, but... well, it raises some questions. That's not a bad thing, of course - I just wonder whether the means you mentioned might include connections to the black market in ancient artefacts (if they do, carry on!);
 - Lightbringer was the (science-powered, as far as most people know) hero who founded New Atlantis. I'd prefer to avoid reusing names in-setting... unless we can imply that there may be some mysterious connection to him and his recent disappearance? There must always be a Lightbringer of some sort, and it is no coincidence that the sword was finally discovered just then? I don't know. Seems worth considering, unless you just decide to rename it and avoid the complication.

That aside, though, interesting! Basically, Jeremy can transform into the lizardman warrior at will/whenever he holds the sword? Still with the same mind, though?

Note that you do not have to restrict yourself to the powersets suggested in the book. The important thing is that the powers shouldn't clash with the themes of the playbooks. There is no "magic sword" option for the Janus, but I'd allow it, given more details on what both the sword and the lizardman form can do.

I changed the name of the weapon and added a few more details in the story.

For the powers, here is a list of possibilities, doesn't need to be all that. I haven't read yet on the powers, still looking for that section in the book. There is an IRL here too.

From the lizard form
- wall crawling
- faster reactions/speed/attack speed (I have lizards here and those things are fast!)
- some sort of armor (the physical armor and the scales)
- natural weapons (claws)
- as strong as a Olympic athlete, maximum normal human strength? maybe a bit over that?
- natural bio-regeneration/faster healing (lizards regrow limbs and such)
- reach with the tongue much longer than the body, normal strength but sticky


From the sword
- Limited shape changing (change the shape/abilities of his wielder), gives superior swordsmanship to use Shadowbane to the wielder
- Create light, at different intensity/color, from a light bulb to a laser-like blasts
- invisibility by deflecting light (could also be a form a cloaking like a chameleon)
- When not in use, is invisible in a pocket dimension, accessible to Jeremy.
- Can emit true sunlight, great against creatures of darkness sensitive to it (I.E. vampires)
- Create light illusions, like holograms
- Flaw, needs to recharge periodically in sunlight?

As you can see there is a pattern, light related powers for Shadowbane and lizard like abilities to the lizard form

I'm having difficulties getting all the books, but I managed to put my hands on Unbounds, I'll try my hand at a Scion playbook for my second proposal, when I have the time.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:47, Sun 01 Aug 2021.

Powers are discussed under "Abilities" in the character creation chapter ("The Heroes"). The Playbooks themselves (in a separate PDF for the core ones) each list possible powers, but I'm just treating them as examples rather than the only options available. Note that a Janus is expected to have superior physical abilities by default, how ever they are explained. Most of the lizard strengths can be folded under that if not too extreme. You are also meant to take two unique abilities in addition to the physical enhancement. Perhaps regeneration or something like that for the lizard, and light manipulation powers connected to the sword.

Sorry it takes so long, I have some irl stuff to take care of here, not as creative as I should be and barely have time to read the core book. I'll understand if I'm not picked because of this.

I'll still do that second proposal, I think I'm slowly understanding how the system works, it's really different than what I'm used to play, much more narrative than dice based, thanks for introducing it to me!

It does take some adjusting. Take your time - even if you don't get in now, I am serious about continuing to use and expand the setting later. Try answering the backstory questions for the character(s).

Hero Name: Draere
Real Name: Jeremy Hossman

Look: White male, 16 YO, wears glasses, boring clothing, flashy costume/appearance (a lizardman paladin!)

Abilities: Enhanced physical abilities (stronger, faster, more agile, is a master swordsman with Shadowbane), supernatural senses (senses good and evil like a dnd paladin, sees in the dark, can sense heat sources  and signatures, reacts faster to stimulus ie danger sense), impossible mobility (can summon a pegasus as a mount through the magic of the sword if he needs to fly, is itself very fast and can outrun a car, can wall crawl)

(the light powers of the sword are gonna be revealed as he advances)


Moment of Truth: the mask is a lie, and some piece of you has always known that. Doesn’t matter if others can see
it. You’re the one that can do the impossible. Mask off. Costume on. And you’re going to save the
damn day. Of course, you better hope nobody nasty is watching…



Team Moves:


Potential:
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Advances used:


Labels:
Danger 0
Freak  -1
Savior +1
Superior 0
Mundane +3

Conditions:
Afraid [ ], Angry [ ], Guilty [ ], Hopeless [ ], Insecure [ ]

Backstory:

Question 1

Answer : Jeremy didn't choose to put on the mask, the mask (sword) chose him. it occurred a year ago when his friend Hector showed him a unique sword that had been found in the Soviet Union

Question 2

Answer : Jeremy is insecure at heart, is not very physical and is asthmatic. The mask helps him live out his fantasies of being a hero. He has started to train at the gym in his human body, realizing that he needs to be in better health to be able to continue being Draere, after a nasty cold kept Draere off the streets for 2 whole weeks as Jeremy was sick.

(unless the fact that he transforms changed him?)

Question 3

Answer : Only his friend Hector knows he's secretly Draere, he was there at the first transformation.

Question 4

Answer : His high school nemesis, Ryan Jackson, a bully varsity football player, that dreams of being drafted in the NFL (or your world's equivalent). Draere saved him by using his enhanced physical abilities and Ryan felt diminished by it, taking every occasions to diminish Draere heroics

Question 5

Answer : It's the real life RPG party! Jeremy plays the role of a Lawful Good paladin in Draere's skin and tries to get along with everybody. This is still a game for Jeremy, with higher stakes, but a game nonetheless.

Relationships:

His best friend since getting his powers is Hector, he's the one that, as a passionate of RPG and superheroes, encourages him to be Draere.

He refused to tell the truth to his parents about why he leaves the house at weird hours, saying its a school project, or a game, or to help out Hector as the store.

Influence:


Have Influence Over:
Under Influence From:

Moves: The Mask, I'll save you, Mild mannered

Janus secret identity

- School, it's hard to keep your grades up when you're a superhero!
- Weekly roleplaying session with his friends
- Helping around the house to do his chores!


---
This message was last edited by the player at 20:36, Wed 04 Aug 2021.

The Relationships are meant to be with other PCs, so would be determined at the team stage.

I am sure there is a national American football league of some sort in New Atlantis.

I rather like the contrast between his weak human self and the powerful lizardman form, as well as him trying to improve now. I'd definitely prefer to keep that.

The supernatural senses angle you have here is really neat. The pegasus idea is also interesting, though maybe just a tad excessive at this point. Maybe have it be one of the sword powers unlocked later? You could take the Outsider's Kirby-craft move for the mechanics and flavour it as a pegasus, for instance.

On the subject of sword powers, I suppose the sword is "just" a sharp and potent magic sword for now? The game does support introducing extras not accounted for by ordinary advancement rules during play, so unlocking the powers as he comes into his own could certainly work.

I'm quite ok with not showing off all the sword can offer right now, so scratch the pegasus, I might have been a bit ambitious there. It is quite unsettling to not have precise descriptions of the powers and numbers attached to them, I'm curious to see how combat will be dealt with... we don't even have hit points!

I like the contrast between the two forms too. I know the Janus says you have your abilities all the time, even in your civilian guise, but I wanted it to be a Bruce Banner/Hulk type of relationship, but with the mind of Jeremy in control all the time. Be advised that Shadowbane will have her word to say often, and if Jeremy does not conform to her heroic ideal, she might decide that it's time to find another wielder. So no fall from grace to become a villain with this character!

I think that Jeremy probably does not realize yet that what he set out to do with Draere is life and death, he'll do his best to save everyone, but it's a giant sized real-life RPG for him, he's still a 16 YO kid playing a character.  I like the RPG within a RPG aspect of this story! lol

I'll try to get working on that Scion proposal, I have my ideas but I want to try to break from the cliché.

Yeah, it's very different mechanically. Conditions are kind of like hit points, but they also hinder your actions and of course have more to do with emotional states than physical well-being. The sort of physical beating that a Masks character can take will vary wildly, after all.

I look forward to the Scion.

Train...

Fight...

Infiltrate...

Steal...

Shoot...

Escape...

And repeat.

Clarissa grinded her teeth, eyes blazing. The instructor was relentless, a real pain in the ass, and the young woman looked at the half dozen other trainees with whom she had reached this point in her training.

Again!

Some of her cohorts groaned,but not Clarissa. She knew all too well the stakes here, and she was fighting to win. Using her finely honed muscles, she leaped on the first stage of the obstacle course, an almost superhuman feat, rolling on her shoulder to preserve her momentum, jumping high to the narrow edge overhead and catching it with her hooked fingers, hard as steel from years of training. She took a moment to reposition her athlete's body and lifted herself to the window, taking barely a second to find her balance on the tip of her toes and disarming the alarm system, before opening the obstacle and going inside. Her eyes took a moment to see the disposition of the furniture, noting the cameras and laser interdiction systems. She quietly scuffed and with a quick throw of a sticky glob, she had blinded the camera and was already navigating the laser obstacle course...

A few months later, Clarissa already had some missions for the academy under her belt, that had left the authorities baffled. Criminal evidence pieces went missing from police stations, labs and courtroom, while some planted one appeared, always to help the clients of the Cobra academy, an offshot of White Cobra's school for scoundrels. Her daughter, taking the name White Anaconda, had been a successful supervillain thief like her mother until a gunshot wound had left her too injured to continue. She had then started her academy, training future thieves for hire. Clarissa had only known this environment in her life, being raised by the various teachers, that told her she was an orphan taken in by the academy. The teenager had no other points of reference so she accepted her lot in life and became one of the most successful thief and infiltrator the academy had ever produced, and she was content.

All that changed with one mission. Under contract, she was in Sofia, Bulgaria, infiltrated as a serving maid in the palace of a wealthy and degenerate communist party leader, having spent almost more time avoiding the groping hands of the man than to her mission. Fortunately this part was almost over and she would report that night to her mystery employer. Under the guise of going shopping for the household, she left the palace and found herself in a dilapidated part of town and, hiding her nervousness, she knocked according to a precise pattern on the door of her rendezvous, the door sounding oddly solid. Without a sound, the door opened but no one was behind it. She walked in and sensed something wrong... immediately jumping sideways, she narrowly avoided being pierced by an knife thrown from the darkened room. The door shut by itself and the young woman could hear a soft laugh.

Bravissima, bella Clarissa! I knew I made the right choice when I asked for you at the Cobra academy. Of course, had I wanted to kill you, you would be dead.

Smiling, the man that came out of the room was recognized right away from her studies. Saffiro Scalzo, a Italian assassin for hire. And she knew that despite her prodigious agility, his boast was not idle. Turning to business, he asked, seriously.

Now, do you have something for me?

Yes sir.

As she was giving him the complete lay down of the mansion, a very lightly dressed woman came out of the room.

Who's this handsome? I certainly don't mind doing a threesome, but it's gonna cost you extra!

No, Clarissima is not to be part of the entertainment tonight, she has completed her mission. Please give my very kind regards to your headmistress and tell her she did a good job... forming... you. I am happy how you turned out. Now, please leave me.

Yes sir.

The following evening, from the safety of Italy, she read in the newspaper that the party leader and his entire family had perished, assassinated. Clarissa had just enough time to reach the bathroom of her hotel room to throw up. She knew she was responsible for those deaths as much as Saffiro. And it disturbed her greatly

In the following weeks, she tried to make a mantra of "Not my problem" as she was still trying to digest what she had been a willing accomplice of. But it wasn't working. In her soul, Clarissa was sick. While she had no problems stealing, taking a life was something else and she couldn't wrap her heart around it. And what did Saffiro mean when he told her he was happy how she had turned out? She had never seen that man before! She had asked White Anaconda and only got an evasive answer.

But all that soul searching made her sloppy, and the police soon had a passable likeness of her showing up on the news, citing her as a person of interest. She was declared grounded by White Anaconda until the heat calmed down, and the older thief had to take on the mission that was previously given to Clarissa.  That left her alone in the academy and she did the unthinkable. Using all the skills the headmistress had painstakingly drilled into her head and muscles, she broke in the office. A meticulous search finally payed off and she found the personal journal of the headmistress. In it, she found an incredible story. Years ago, White Anaconda had met Saffiro Scalzo and they had a whirlwind relationship, that stopped when she got pregnant. It was all there, the pictures, the story in the journal, the love letters... and then the final piece that tied it all together.

She was holding her birth certificate, and for the first time, she saw her real family name : Bradley-Scalzo.

She was the daughter of both The White Anaconda and that weird assassin she had met in Sofia. The result of a summer fling between the two villains. She had spent her life beside her mother and never even knew it...

That night, Clarissa Bradley-Scalzo disappeared from the USA, resurfacing a year later, as a member of a superhero team in New Atlantis, well determined to erase the stains her heritage had left on her from birth.

THE SCION

Hero Name: Shadowblade
Real Name: Clarissa Bradley-Scalzo

Look: Woman, 20 YO, Light brown skin (mother is black, father white), taut body, casual clothing, makeshift black ninja like costume. She is serious minded and takes assignment as jobs to be completed, almost whatever the cost.

Abilities:
Legacy : daughter of a vicious assassin and a master thief
Parents abilities : Superior skills (thief), superior physical abilities.
Relationship with parents: She hates both of them, and wishes to bring them down.
Powers : impressive martial prowess, master of one skill set, a thief like her mother.


Moment of Truth: To confront her parents legacy and finally get it off her back.


Team Moves:


Potential:
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Advances used:


Labels:
Danger +1
Freak 0
Savior +1
Superior 0
Mundane +1

Conditions:
Afraid [ ], Angry [ ], Guilty [ ], Hopeless [ ], Insecure [ ]

Backstory:

Question 1

Answer : White Anaconda, the daughter of White Cobra.

Question 2

Answer : No one, she discovered it on her own

Question 3

Answer : The disgust she felt to have been an accomplice to a mass murder, and to have been lied to all her life.

Question 4

Answer : She does not have a lot of friends, but she could count on her landlord, the owner of a Chinese restaurant she rents a room at. Mrs Wei Lian is a widow that lost her family because of a supervillain rampage in her native China and she moved to New Atlantis to restart her life. The two women have been known to drink silly and swap their stories.

Question 5

Answer : She finds the team to be a way to try to better herself, to give her life purpose.

Relationships:

Influence:


Have Influence Over:
Under Influence From:

Moves:

Changed sides
Moldable




This message was last edited by the player at 19:12, Sat 07 Aug 2021.

Hmm...

That could work. I'd prefer using original villains rather than ones from the book, mind you. I'd let it slide if you just like the names, especially since other details (e.g. Cobra Academy) are different enough. Then agian I'd appreciate it if you could tweak them.

The "evening entertainment" bit seems kind of gratuitous to me. He is already a cold-blooded murderer willing to take out an entire family - is it really necessary to establish him as a depraved monster as well, and through such a throwaway detail at that? Mind you, I'm not judging, it's inevitably tricky to strike the right tone for this sort of game, especially when it comes to villains. But right now that part looks both iffy and unnecessary to me.

Other than that, it seems fine, if a little threadbare right now. The Scion is meant to be known to at least some others as a villain's child, but that would not be difficult to arrange. From her description, I take it she looks closer to the first picture?

Since those two villain are from the silver age and that there is another age between them and us, what if I made it that her mom is the children of those villains? She would then be the grand child of the established villains. Her father would still be an assassin but not considered a supervillain, just a psychopath.

As for her encounter with her father, I tried to set up a "Man with the golden gun" vibe with this, but more monstrous. Scaramunda, the assassin from James Bond, never goes on a job without sex before. I can certainly tone it down.

You say it is bare, I could have her being looked for by the FBI in regard of another mission she had, one camera that caught a glimpse of her and they made their research, to link her to the elusive but known cobra academy. After the mission with her father, she could have been distraught enough to make a mistake like that. You know how journalists are, one investigator could have made the link between Clarissa and the present headmistress of the academy, white cobra's daughter, before Clarissa even realized it, and said so on national news.

Yes the first picture is how I represent her in everyday heroics, with hidden pockets for her kit (don't ask me where! Lol), but the second would be for heavy combat, like an alien invasion or something, I just like both!

I'll tweak it soon

Hmm... I don't mind the granddaughter angle (supervillainy isn't just a one-off thing in the family, but there is an entire evil legacy at play), but it may muddle things a bit. Still, could be interesting. If we go with it, is her mother the main supervillain, as per the lineage part of the playbook? Or do her mother's parents still play that role? Indeed, what is her mother's current status?

As for the angle with her being looked for - I thought that was her first mission and she quit soon afterwards? Or do you mean adding another mission between them and her escape?

In any case, I can definitely see several intelligence agencies and organisations such as ATLAS looking for her, both in connection to either operation (even if she did everything right, someone might get suspicious of the maid who appeared and disappeared with such great timing) and because they know about her parentage. It could be an interesting angle, especially since they may well think this is another undercover operation for her.

There, updated the background on my Scion, even if it won't get used, it was fun to write. ;)

Good luck with the game!

Thanks! I would certainly like to see either of your characters in action some day.

A bit confused, though - White Anaconda started the Cobra Academy? I guess as a tribute to her mother?

I do like the idea that Anaconda is still a master thief and notably physically able. Her injury may hinder her, but even with the handicap, she is still better at this than many others. Who knows, her daughter's activities might eventually motivate her to return to the field.

I have another idea I would like to workshop, if you allow it. It would probably be a transformed, but I'll have to look at the playbooks to be sure

Sure thing!