In 1968 there was the event: The Whiteout. Everything went white for people. Robots and machines continued to function. Afterward, everyone alive in 1968 or descended from someone who was alive then (basically everyone on Earth barring some very weird corner cases) has the meta-gene. We discuss how athletics at *any* level works when there are minor metas who have no visible powers, no discernable-by-blood-test differences, and are worth fewer points in stats than the best non-meta athletes.
So, in round numbers, we're working with a hair over 4 million new potentials per year in our age range. That's roughly 40 new metahumans per "class", of which about 4 would be mid-level ones similar to the PCs, for the US alone, not counting immigration. If we're from slightly different years, that works out reasonably well.
Perhaps more relevantly, if our characters are typically in the 20-24 range in 2012 (assuming roughly 2 years of service academy / law enforcement training, post 18 at the earliest, and post 4-year degree in other cases), that puts us in the 1988 - 1992 birth cohort. 1990 had 4,179,000 births in the US
I'm expecting most people to have gone through the basic Academy program as kids, although that's not manditory it looks better if you had the training if something goes pear shaped, and as part of Special Unit One to have gone through the Academy law enforcement training.
SU 1 is kind of like Quantico but on upstate NY former park land.
SU 2 is in California.
The school has two focuses: a teen-level 'how not to incinerate your house' level of training, lasts about two years for the full program.
The other is the Special Unit training, U.S. funded but using the same facilities and the U.S. Special Unit uses the Academy campus as its HQ, so less metahuman high school, more metahuman community college/SWAT training.
Some gear is part of the package, I usually roll with normal gear not costing points but I need to think on stuff.
One thought that I'm having is that -everybody- is a 20 point meta, it bought off Normal Characteristics Maximum.
There's 2 Meta schools. The base (school, etc.) is on the site of the decommissioned Seneca Army Depot, that stored munitions (including material for the Manhattan project . There remains heavy rail access, but in the real world no one is using it these days. The yard area gets used for rail car storage, the airport area gets used for car and model racing.
The immediately adjacent town is Romulus, New York. The town also comes with a maximum security prison, Five Points Correctional Facility, a 1,500 bed maximum security facility (men) for NY State, and a drug treatment center that was a former mental hospital. The Willard Drug Treatment Center is currently a specialized state prison; it used to be the Willard Asylum for the Chronic Insane. Town used to be bigger when the army base was thriving; the academy probably keeps it a little more busy than the current real world town, but still not as much as the base used to. There's also a small hamlet built on the site of a former Cayuga indian village, Kendaia.
Geneva, Waterloo, and Seneca Falls are somewhat bigger towns within 10 miles or so. Geneva is about 13k, and focuses on winemaking and agrotourism. Small college, and some ag extension stuff. Waterloo is only about 5k and doesn't seem to have much going on. Seneca Falls is about 9k and while it has some historical stuff, doesn't seem to have much going on currently.
Naval Undersea Warfare Center Sonar Test Facility also on the lake, the deepest of the finger lakes which has been used for submarine testing.
Seneca Lake also has more than 30 wineries, and is claimed to be the "lake trout capital of the world", with several competitions.
And mysterious legendary sounds! "Seneca Lake is also the site of a strange and currently unexplained phenomenon known as Mistpouffers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistpouffers). In this area, they are called the Seneca Guns, Lake Drums, or Lake Guns. These are mysterious cannon-like booms and shakes that are heard and felt in the surrounding area. The term Lake Guns originated in the short story "Lake Gun" by James Fenimore Cooper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Fenimore_Cooper) in 1851. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_Lake_%28New_York) Many believe that they are caused by giant air bubbles from deep in the lake bursting on the surface. Others equate it with Indian folklore. The most likely explanation is due to sonic booms from military aircraft, though this does not explain the sounds heard during Cooper's time.
And mysterious legendary animals! : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_White_Deer ... they're not albino, they're rare recessive genes for what amounts to an arctic white coat. 700 head, of which 300 are white, believed to be the largest such herd in the world.
The HQ is near Rochester, so for several reasons the logical place many of us went to college was Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).
Basically the initial stuff is kind of like a magnet school. Best thought is that they offer "middle school equivalent" private tutoring / homeschooling equivalent for grades 5-8, and grades 9-12 operate as a small (~60-100 person) "magnet school" in conjunction with the local high school.
Q: Spend half a day at high school, half a day at super school?
* Or PE is powers training or a long weekend at super school, something like that.
** Yeah... you get your basic state curriculum and some group activities (band, etc.) at the public school, and then more specialized training at the supers school, like one of those special schools for the arts.
Q: Game points?
* 250 + 100; 350 max total. Avg SPD 5.
Q: Any group disads?
* probably a Duty and a Watched of some sort, they'll be part of the package.
Q: Any major comment on Supermodel?
* Recommended psi multi limitation: gestures (holding necklace with both hands) or concentration would be appropriate...
Q: What does this do for crime?
* Organized crime is the same structure. There are doubtless a number of meta-criminal operatives across the spectrum. Organized crime likely employs a number of these people and pays them very well. The bigger threat are the less organized meta-led gangs which tend to be very violent/ambitious and are a prime target for guys like, well, you lot.
** One of the big seven is a guy called Thanatos, he gains psychic energy from suffering and death and appears to be able to sense impending death. He's believed to have engineered the 'accident' at Bopol, India and has been seen in places ranging from gas attacks in northern Iraq to Bosnia/Kosovo and is known to have been on-site for 9/11. When he has a full head of steam he can go toe-to-toe with the world's Superman analogue, a man known as Avatar. Thanatos has assembled a few like-minded individuals as a sort of meta-assassin's guild.
A former Hussein enforcer with the ability to turn into what appearas to be a shadow; a North Korean assassin with strong pyrokinesis but subtle uses (kills by elevating body temp -just- enough); a European called Belladonna who spent a lot of time in Northern Ireland where her beauty and brawn made her popular ... at least two others that I need to flesh out.
And the official name for Mad Science is "Science Based Memetic Disorder".
Special Unit Agent Package: Skills/Perks: 2 WF: Small Arms 2 KS: Criminal Law 11- 2 CK: New York City 11- 2 AK: United States 11- 3 Fringe Benefit: Federal Police Powers 9 - 3 Skills From the Following: (Bureaucratics, Combat Driving, Concealment, Conversation, Criminology, Deduction, Persausion, Shadowing, Streetwise) Disadvantages: -5 DF: Uniform (Dress blues, vest/cap, badge lanyard, etc) -10 Watched: Agency (Mo Pow, NCI) 8- ------------------------------ Total: 5 Possible extra defenses: (6 rPD/6 rED Armor; OIF, Activate 14- == 9 points) Don't forget Mental Def, 1 for 1, recommend 10 for real psychics
The agency -can- provide the following:
Field Combat Armor: 5/5 Armor, OIF, Activates 14-, Real Armor (takes at least a turn to put on/take off with help, more like a minute without it, does NOT work well with certain powers so if you burst into flames don't expect to get issued more than one of these, also does not accommodate shape shifting.)
Sidearm: 4d6 Energy Blast, Beam Effect (cannot spread for effect), runs off a 40pt End Reserve, can be recharged from house current and, unlike civilian models, is tunable from 1d6 to an overload shot of 6d6 (effectively a pushed use of the power). Most of you are more dangerous than that out of the gate.
Communicator: essentially a souped up cell-phone with military grade GPS, high resolution graphics and processing power; it can also handle normal radio broadcasts when away from a cell-tower. Venus Milovich of Special Unit Two's alpha squad wrote up an app for it to display your badge on its hi-res screen, she's gotten into trouble before for flashing it at nightclubs.
Each Special Unit Division has three squads: Alpha, Beta and Gamma. Officially these don't denote any status within the agency ... officially ... but rookies typically wind up on the Gamma squads before moving up to Beta or Alpha.
Special Unit Two's Alpha squad looks like this:
Formerly an up and coming Public Defender in LA, Caroline's latent psi powers awoke in the middle of a murder case. My client started to ramble on the Witness Stand and was incriminating himself and I started mentally chanting "shut up. shut up! shut UP! SHUT UP!" ... and it worked... and he couldn't speak for 20 minutes. The case was thrown out and he was found guilty on retrial. She now can't be a courtroom lawyer. But, since you can't mind control a camera... She relocated to NY (as far from LA as she could get) to become a commercial model (not runway), and attend supers basics.
She was most likely reprimanded and placed on probation, limiting her from the areas she most wants to practice in.
Suddenly needing to attend the meta control school, she was approached to be part of SU and attend Academy... and learn to fly The Spinner and fast jets...
| Val | Char | Cost |
| 13 | STR | 3 |
| 18 | DEX | 24 |
| 13 | CON | 6 |
| 12 | BODY | 4 |
| 23 | INT | 13 |
| 23 | EGO | 26 |
| 18 | PRE | 8 |
| 20 | COM | 5 |
| 3 | PD | 0 |
| 3 | ED | 0 |
| 6 | SPD | 22 |
| 14 | REC | 16 |
| 46 | END | 10 |
| 26 | STUN | 0 |
| 6" | RUN | 0 |
| 2" | SWIM | 0 |
| 2 1/2" | LEAP | 0 |
| 10 pts Mental Def, 10pts |
| 6 rPD/6 rED Armor; OIF, Activate 14-, 9 pts |
| BUY ME WITH FIRST EXP SPENDING:::: Contact: Supermodel Enterprises 11-, 6pts |
| Fringe Benefit: Federal Police Powers, 3pts (SU pkg) |
| Perk: Pilot's License, 1pt |
| Perk: Social Status: Upper Nobility, 5pts |
| Perk: Wealth: Filthy Stinking Rich, 15pts |
| 5 | DF: Uniform (Dress blues, vest/cap, badge lanyard, etc) (SU pkg) |
| 10 | Watched: Agency (More Pow, NCI) 8- (SU pkg) |
| 15 | Hunted: Anti-Mentalist Nut Group (8-, +0; As Powerful, +10; Public ID, +5) (Main group wants me removed from law, spliter group wants more) |
| 5 | Hunted: Paparazzi (8-, +0; Less Powerful, +5; Public ID, +5; Non-Combat Influence, +5; Watched, -10) |
| 20 | Hunted: The Client Who Went Awry and his Corporate Associates (8-, +0; As Powerful, +10; could have NCI, +5; Public ID, +5) (case with me as Defending Attourney thrown out, new trial found him guilty) |
| Psych Lim: Avoids live news coverage, Paparazzi (common, +10; Moderate, +0) == 10 points | |
| 15 | Psych Lim: Code of Honor, Strong, The code of Law and Order and minmal force/damage (Common, +10 points; Strong, +5 points) |
| 15 | Psych Lim: Needs to Prove Self, Frequent, Strong (issues with having her career/life flushed and now being new on a team of kids) (Common, +10; Strong, +5) |
| 15 | Social Lim: Public ID |
| 10 | Watched: Judge X and National Lawyer Association (8-, +0; NCI, +5; As powerful, +10; Public ID, +5; Watching, -10) (watching me for *any* lawyerly slipup) |
| 95 points DISADS |
| COST | POWER | END |
| 41 | Super Psycho: Multipower, 62-point reserve, (62 Active Points); all slots Variable Limitations (requires -1 worth of Limitations; gestures: 2 handed gesture 1/4 concentration 1/2DCV at casting 1/4, concentration 1/2DCV full time 1/2, OIF: Granny's Silver Necklace 1/2, Activation Roll 14- 1/2, *3 END 1) | |
| 2m | Heightened Vision: +8 PER with Sight Group (16 Active Points); Variable Limitations (see note above) | 0 |
| 2m | Heightened Awareness: +5 PER with all Sense Groups (15 Active Points); Variable Limitations (see note above) | 0 |
| 6m | Invisibility to Sight Group , No Fringe, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (45 Active Points); Variable Limitations (see note above) | 0 |
| 2m | Mental Snow: Invisibility to Mental Group , Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (15 Active Points); Variable Limitations (see note above) | 0 |
| 8m | Mental Blast: Ego Attack 5d6 (1/2 End +1/4, 62 Active Points); Variable Limitations (see note above) | 2 |
| 5m | Friction Attack: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 2 1/2d6 (3d6+1 w/STR) (40 Active Points); Variable Limitations (see note above) | 4 |
| 8m | Static Cling: Energy Blast 12d6 (60 Active Points); Variable Limitations (see note above) | 6 |
| 8m | Of Course I'm Right!: Mind Control 12d6 (60 Active Points); Variable Limitations (see note above) | 6 |
| 8m | I'm Right and You're Not: Suppress Mental 10d6, Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4) (62 Active Points); Variable Limitations (see note above) | 2 |
| 5m | You see me!: Change Environment 8" radius (-3 to Characteristic Roll or Skill Roll), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (39 Active Points); Variable Limitations (see note above) [Notes: Minuses to EGO roll to ignore character] | 0 |
| 1m | Aren't I Wonderful?: +2 with a group of similar Skills (10 Active Points); Variable Limitations (see note above), Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4) | 1 |
| 1m | Look, air!: +2 with DCV (10 Active Points); Variable Limitations (see note above), Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4) | 1 |
| 8m | Tower of Iron Will 12 def Mental Force Wall, +5 hex area 10pts, 1/2 end +1/4, Hardened +1/4 | 2 |
| 3m | Not The Droids You Were Looking For Change Environment: Gullibility, -3 to Resist PRE Skills, 4" Radius; 1/2 End +1/4; Invisible Power Effects to: Sight, Sound +3/4; Personal Immunity +1/4; No Range -1/2; Variable Limitations (see note above) | 3 |
| 3m | What are you? Some Kind of Jedi? +10 Ego, Useable Against Others, 4" Radius; Only to resist PRE Skills and Coercive Powers -1/2; Visible to Mental -0; Variable Limitations (see note above) | 0 |
| Cost | Skill |
| 3 | Breakfall 13- |
| 3 | Acting 13- |
| 3 | Bribery 13- |
| 3 | Bureaucratics 13- |
| 3 | Combat Driving 12- (SU pkg) |
| 3 | Combat Piloting 12- |
| 3 | Concealment 14- |
| 3 | Conversation 13- |
| 3 | Criminology 13- (SU pkg) |
| 3 | Deduction 14- |
| 3 | Disguise 14- |
| 3 | High Society 13- |
| 2 | Navigation: Air |
| 3 | Oratory 13- |
| 3 | Persuasion 13- |
| 2 | PS: Lawyer 11- |
| 2 | PS: Fashion Model 11- |
| 2 | AK 11- |
| 2 | CK 11- |
| 2 | AK: USA (SU pkg) 11- |
| 2 | CK: New York City (SU pkg) 11- |
| 2 | KS 11- |
| 2 | KS: Criminal Law (SU pkg) 11- |
| 3 | Streetwise 13- (SU pkg) |
| 3 | Tactics 14- |
| 3 | TF: 2 wheeled motorized ground vehicals, Small motorized ground vehicals (everyman), Small airplanes, small Spinner Craft |
| 2 | WF: Small Arms (SU pkg) 11- |
137+43+111+59 = 350 , -15 SU pkg, 85pts disads needed
Total Character Cost: 350
Base Points: 250
Disads Required: 85
Total Experience: 0
Experience Unspent: 0
To Buy List:: 6pt Contact, see Perks;; CON 2per, BODY 2per, PD 1per, ED 1per
Force John's character