All good I will keep Cythi in Seattle instead of what I suggested in an earlier post of tying Viriginia and Cythi back then.

I am good with the hanging in her coffee shoppe.

Then I don't need to alter anything from the original idea at all.

Also @Marie were you going to add anything?

TO ALL
Trying to restart our back story efforts here. Not trying to dictate one.

Being a functioning team from the start was one of the preambles of the game. We need to create our own canon. Gamemaster told us to! He will edit and guide as needed.

Lets refresh what we know.



Location Setting: Seattle

Exalt a street-drug that when taken (how?), might trigger the eruption of metahuman powers and abilities.  For most, it's a short-term effect.  There are one or two, however, for whom it became catalyst to metahumanity.
Samantha Swan - former cop,private-investigator, is publicly credited for discovering the Exalt distribution ring in Seattle.
Black Lotus Triad - A crime organization in the Seattle area
Malakov Mafiya - A crime organization in the Seattle area
Psydney- npc antagonist with mental powers and is connected with the Malakov Mafiya. Travels from coast to coast on her nefarious schemes.

Naomi - NPC, Colossus housemate, metahuman, powers undefined and a Daughter of a Black Lotus Triad involved with Exalt production, "ran away from home"
Maksim - possible Malakov Mafiya contact for Colossus

Cythi-teleporter barista owner in Seattle who escaped a cult
Virginia-former theme park worker with magic dust who has shadowed her nemesis Psydney from Florida to the Seattle area.
Marie-mentalist who struggles with perceived guilt of her father's death
Gagamba-inheritance included spider hair!! Question is, did the government tax her for it?
This message was last edited by the player at 01:38, Fri 08 Apr 2022.

Punching Bag- disgraced former MMA fighter turned vigilante

Punching bag used his money from his wrestling career to create his own headquarters after becoming a vigilante like the bat cave. HQ is managed by his former wrestling manager.

Cythi's science friend Donna who is in relationship with Samantha Swan.

On a plus note if the base does not have living quarters I am thinking the coffee shoppe will be at bottom and either some apartments upstairs or one apartment.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:36, Fri 08 Apr 2022.

Well, no one knows Marie struggles with that. What is known is that Marie struggles with the strength of her powers and the tie they have to her emotions.

Samantha Swan is likely Marie's direct tie to the group, being a cop, considering Marie's arrest. Perhaps Swan had some connections somewhere still and managed to pull Marie into the group.

It makes sense to me that Samantha might've brought Marie on-board precisely because of a publicly accessible criminal history.  Sam wanted to use her as an informant, trying to get Marie to pull information on the suppliers.

Marie, however, came in contact with Psydney.  And since the two have similar powers (well, both in the psychic field, anyway), Marie started to feel that she wasn't 100% hidden...

Then when Samantha went missing...

well, you tell me.  What happened?

Round robin meta-game talk!

WEll if it is not too far out, If Cythi has coffee shoppe with small apartment building above, maybe Samantha and Donna rent one, and there is a one bedroom for Marie as a place to live and potentially a job.

This background thing could be handy.

I could see this. She'd not want to be a burden on her mother anymore, and want to prove to her mother that she can in fact fix her life, that she wants to do right.

She'd also feel that working with the team would be the best way to find the person that helped her get on this track.

I don't want Samantha living there, yet, anyway.   I want her and Donna to be in the not-yet-living together stage... mainly because I'm considering a possible progression for Sam and it will work better for me.

What do you think of this location?
https://www.google.ca/maps/pla...63562!4d-122.3156256

It's real close to Seattle University, a couple of hospitals, some arts areas... prime customer!  And "Arcaro's Boxing" could easily be renamed as something that focuses on MMA... allowing a potential tie-in for Punching Bag.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:45, Fri 08 Apr 2022.

All good, Donna can live there if they wish.

That location looks just about right although big enough Cythi might have to bump her wealth up a level.  Although maybe not.  Still she has 2 points left right now.

It need not be full ownership...

If she's the business-owner, then there's probably a lease and loans involved.  Plus, if there are apartments above, then she's also got that as an income... might be enough to pay off the mortgage.  I'm not sure we need to clearly define it.  It's enough to leave her as "owner" if you want it.  And that is enough for bad guys who've done their research to maybe use it against her.

Please note that when I talk like that, it's not a promise that I'll use it.  I just want avenues of vulnerability for the characters.

That considering background is way over her head.  So maybe inherited it all and will take the appropriate bump up in wealth which makes sense for something that size.

To it being a vulnerability of the character I was actually thinking on that too and am fine it being that but was also tempted to see if one of two possibilities could be takent

1)  She and or the group saved the child/niece/wife/someone without knowing who it was from the drug and because of that they declared the building safe ground.

2)One of her tenants is one of the leaders of a group of badguys (Mafia, etc...)

3)The ground is neutral ground for both hero and vilian (ala tricks bar in Lost Girl) although this one would probably be a no.

But if not it will be suffice to say she owns the building, it has insurance (including super hero damage which probably is way more and might be why only 1 wealth benefit)

Punching Bag could certainly run the Gym nearby as the owner and trains other MMA fighters since he isn’t allowed to compete anymore. Living vicariously and all that. Another thing could be having a secret Fight Club in the basement. The gym could have an underground tunnel to the base along with tunnels underneath the coffee shop/apartments.

If you use google maps the building is huge so either he could have a separate gym or one in the building although I like the tunel thing as well!

Punching Bag's involvement with the gym does lend us a nice, convenient public-facing excuse to hang out and be around each other.  Given that I want to keep this heavily episodic, it's easier if you've all got excuses to be around each other a lot.

I'm getting a feeling that Cythi has a prediliction for taking in strays.  It fits with the naivete of her upbringing.  However, it would also mean that she is vulnerable to being conned and scammed.  Some people are always looking for a hand-up or hand-out.  So, it helps to have folks like Marie and Punching Bag around who are probably a bit more cynical.

I'm okay with secret fight club.   In fact, mixed with Cythi's "soft heart", this could lay the groundwork for a sort of metahuman co-operative community.  And that would play beautifully into my long-term plans... But, of course, it's too early to go there quite yet.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:46, Sat 09 Apr 2022.

Marie can be a bit creepy at times though. Nothing like an emotionless, or trying to be emotionless, older teen (18/19) around who doesn't display emotion. Of course she doesn't do it more out of fear of what those emotions will do because of her powers, more than because of the emotions themselves. That's why she seems so cynical.

Punching Bag, I'd love three things from you here:

• Give me Punching Bag's civilian Name--or at least the name Cythi, Marie, Angel and Virginia call you...
• Name the Gym
• Name your former manager who now maintains the base...

Your former manager also happens to be quite adept at the Treatment skill, so is often the guy who patches up the MMA fighters who get injured in the ring, sends them to the hospital, etc...

--

So, Samantha was a disgraced cop, working as a private investigator.  Involved with Cythi's friend Donna, Samantha's disappearance and lack of contact got Donna worried.  Worried enough to ask Cythi for help.

On more than one occasion in the recent past, Samantha has turned up at Punching Bag's gym.  His manservant has patched her up more than once.

For some reason reading this I see that Samantha did not come to Cythi for healing because she does not trust having her molecules scattered and reformed and thusly has never teleported with her.  Especially if Donna explained the principle to her.

Okay, if we go with the Apartents, coffee-shop & Gym, then let's do this:

Rather than Nora's Woods, let's put the base under the building.  So, a sub-basement kinda deal.

The coffee-shop & Gym in the same building/block gives us a nice easy pretext for how Cythi & Punching Bag came to know each other.

And if it were somehow guided by Carter Wilson (former battlesuit hero Vigil), that would dovetail nicely.  Perhaps Carter Wilson is actually the owner of the building.   You both have a lease--but this is all really so that Wilson can facilitate access to the base.  He's trying to build the next team to watch over Seattle...

This allows me to use him and Radiance as regular NPCs, and they can sort of "watch over things" if/when you're out of town...

Cythi, I was kinda modeling it more on Daredevil, in that she didn't want to get Cythi involved in the stuff she was investigating.    Whatever-his-name-is, PB's manservant, had kept her secret.  Right up until Donna started getting frantic...

But, to be fair, yeah, I can see Samantha being scared shitless about the idea of teleporting.   Kinda like how some people feel about skydiving.  OOC, I noticed that none of you had invested in the Treatment skill.  So, it seemed logical that that would fall on whats-his-name.  Or Samantha.

Is Cythi very open about her abilities?
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:13, Sat 09 Apr 2022.

Yes I think she would be very open.  I was trying to think if she was one of those that went with a secret identities and I don't think she would be.  I think she would be very open with abilities.

It was one of the things I think I suggested whereas the group saved someone from the drug (name escaping at the moment) and because of that no matter what the building was off limits.

I was actually thinking that it was one of the first people Cythi ever helped arrest and because of this had their pattern.  When they got release they got hooked or even while in prison got hooked.

Also I would prefer she owned it especially if she takes in strays.  If that won't work all is good.

(Oh on one of latest Cythi does have treatment skill.  But not sure you saw the query about expertise instead.  But will let you read that when you have time.)

OK. The got some computer time, but a typhoon is likely to hit nearby this weekend, so my internet may be a bit spotty. Should be nothing major where I am, but lots of rain isn't good for my reception.

That's said, Gagamba got her powers from a magic spider Spirit, that a criminal organization called the Spider Society considers their property. She came to Seattle to get away from them, only to find that the local Triads had ties to the Society, and cousin Portia has followed to recover what is hers.

I could see Angel (Gagamba's real name) knowing Punching Bag from training at his gym, as recent events have convinced her that she needs to learn how to defend herself. While she tries to hide it, PB would likely have noticed she is considerably stronger and tougher than she looks. Maybe he thought she was using Exalt, and after an obligatory confrontation, he learned the truth and he recruited her into his anti-Exalt crusade?

Holy crap, I totally missed that last post.   A side-effect of occasionally checking in on different platforms is that the new message flag sometimes doesn't display!

I like the tie-ins.  Thank-you so much!

What I want right now from you folks is a run-down of what "normal" is for you.  Meaning, who lives where, what's their relationships with each other like? (You're not strangers, though you don't need to be close confidants).  Based on what's out there, do you have any particular trust or distrust of another PC?

Also...  As a vigilante, you are a public figure, whether you want it or not.  Virginia has some amount of deniability in that regard.  And eventually, you'll get a name for the team and all that.

Right now, I want to know just how active you are doing the vigilante thing?  And, if quite active, what's the focus?  I'm assuming Exalt is going to be a primary focus--cause it seems to provide a lot of nice fertile ground.  But this doesn't have to be your character's primary focus...

All of these things... they may be added to your character as Complications, because I want excuses to throw hero-points at you as often as I can.  I want you to feel like you can do all the things they allow you to do with relative impunity!

Coming from a heavy background with Fate games, I equate Hero-Points to Fate Points, and feel that hero points are woefully under-used!

Angel Atabelo has a comfortable house in the Little Manila neighborhood of Seattle, where she does charity work and attends college part time (needs skills, badly). She (probably) has a closer relationship with Punching Bag (he probably knows her secret ID), and more of a working relationship with the others.



Gagamba has local support in her vigilantism in Little Manila, but her relationship with the police is... complicated. They consider her to be a lackey of someone high in the Triad leadership. She is active, but does her best to keep out of the public eye as much as possible.