Heroes Unlimited: World's Strongest 21

Previously on World's Strongest:
Impact, The Alien Renegade
Calamity, The Cybernetic Sniper
Megaton, Friendly Neighborhood Nuclear Warhead
The Whirlwind, a Fusillade of Fisticuffs
Car Mage, The Wizard of Wheels
Night Sheriff, The Sheriff of Shadows
Hammer of Heaven, The Daring Demon Hunter
The Wanderer, Precocious Practitioner of the Arcane Arts
Storm Eagle, Queen of the Skies
Breakthrough, Multi-powered Mutant Powerhouse
Mr. Shade, The Ninja Vigilante
Wrath, Mistress of Mayhem
The Physician, Psychic Surgeon
Maximum, The Machine Man
Metal Marshal, The People's Powerhouse
Devil Fist, the Fist of the Morning Star
Perdition, Implacable Justice
Nemesis, Sister Spy
Prince Herman, Magician Mischief Maker
Inquest, The Vigilante Detective

And also on Age of Astonishment:
Hunter, the Elven Weapon Master
Ms. Miracle
The Iron King of Asgard
The Crimson Commando

And now...

Heroes Unlimited 2nd edition was pretty spiffy, it had a lot of options and a lot of cool ideas in it. I think this series has managed to showcase the the amount of neat ideas in the main book. However there were a bunch of hero ideas that just didn't fit into any of the categories listed in the book. Eventually the Powers Unlimited Books began to come out. First came Powers Unlimited 1 which added a whole bunch of new minor and major super powers, and really it is useful in play. I think that a lot of those powers could have been mushed together into something a little more generic with some specialty options give afterward, but overall it is a great little book. Then came Powers Unlimited 2 onto the scene. Instead of new powers, it brought forward new categories of hero. I absolutely love this book. So lets get started with...

The Empowered Hero

Step 1: The Usual
Empowered heroes are a little different than others. They are not a specific type of power or a specific source of power. Instead they are defined by their circumstances. The empowered hero is a physically impaired person who overcomes that infirmity through some sort of super powers, be it cybernetics, psionics, superpowers, or some sort of mystical transformation. So you hero gets some serious negatives to their base physical attributes, and in return they get some bonuses to their mental attributes.

+2 IQ
+5 ME
+3 MA

Step 2: HP & SDC
Again, why is this here, rather than at the end of the steps? I mean, your PE is going to change and so why would you want to do HP here?

20 SDC Base

Step 3 :Determining Impairment & Super Abilities
In this step we must establish a bunch of background stuff as well as her powers. First we need to establish her Impairment, and I think that I will go with a paraplegic. I need to decide if it was a bad event that led to it, or if she was born that way. I think she a paraplegic from a very early age, and so has been in a wheelchair most of her life. Then she was in a fire, or a building collapse, or something. And she was saved by a great hero of the previous generation. He didn't just save her, but everyone else in the building. Maybe he even died saving them all. This inspired her to try her best to help those around her. I also now have to figure out how she uses her powers to overcome her handicap. I am going to go with she somehow has the ability to transform herself into a demigod-like form which allows her to use her legs and all that also granting her tremendous power.

Physical Impairment: Cannot Use legs
Spd 3(11 when in a wheel chair)
Can only choose two physical skills
Emotional Inspiration: Witness Greatness
Physical Compensation: Physical Metamorphosis: Demigod
Duration: ME in Hours
PS 30(Supernatural)
PP 19
PE 17
PB 21
Spd 27
x2 HP
94 SDC
Natural AR 10
+3 Attacks
+3 initiative
+3 strike and parry
+2 dodge and disarm
+4 pull punch
+1 roll w/punch
+2 vs Horror Factor, Mind Control, and Possession
Powers: Two Major, Three Minor
Invulnerability
+140 SDC
+100 HP
+3 PE
+2 PS
Sonic Flight
+1 melee attack
+70 SDC
+2 PE
+2 on initiative (applies at all times)
+1 to strike while in flight only
+2 to parry while in flight only
+6 to dodge while in flight only
Extraordinary Mental Endurance
Move ME to 21 +5
Save vs psionics 12+
+6 to save vs mind altering drugs
+6 to save vs Horror Factor
+6 to save vs possession
+1 to save vs magical illusions
Extraordinary Physical Prowess
+5 PP
+7 spd
+1 Attack
+3 Auto dodge
Physical Perfection
+2 MA
+4 spd
+7 PB
+1 PE
+1 PP
+2 PS
+17 SDC
+7 HP

Step 4: Education & Skills
Due to her being in a wheelchair our heroine can only get two physical skills. So I will be going with skills that might be useful outside of physical conflict. I kind of see her as a librarian. Maybe that is how she got her powers. She found an ancient book written in High Enochian, and that somehow blended the powers of an angel with her, so she could transform into an angelic visage. Yeah, that sounds cool. So she is a librarian who dabbles in crime solving.

Journalist/investigation Program
Computer Operation
Research
Surveillance Systems
Writing (Journalistic Style)
Medical Investigation Program
Criminal Science/Forensics
Biology
Chemistry
Pathology
Basic & Advanced Mathematics
Secondary Skills
H2H: Martial Arts +2 attacks/melee; +3 roll with punch/fall;+2 initiative; +3 pull punch
Body Building +2 PS +10 SDC
First Aid
Computer Programming
Streetwise
WP Blunt

Step 5: Picking an Alignment & Other Stuff
So now we do the normal stuff here at the end. Alignment, final attributes and HP and SDC, all that sort of thing. I kind of see her as attempting to be a paragon type hero. She is probably registered with the government and is on the same team as the Metal Marshal. She is the powerhouse of the team, able to move at astonishing speed and soak up ridiculous amount of damage(being invulnerable and all). So she is the up and coming star of the Supers scene in Coast City, while also being the Librarian at the Public Library...maybe I should name the public library after the founder of the city, or something. Need to think on this.

Name: Serena Appleton
Super Identity: Seraph
Alignment: Scrupulous

IQ: 13
ME: 16/26
MA: 14/16
PS: 13/34 supernatural
PP: 7/25
PE: 7/23
PB: 11/28
Spd: 3(8 in the chair)/34/700mph flying

Natural AR: 10
HP: 10/143
SDC: 30/221

Skills
Computer Operation; Research; Surveillance Systems; Writing (Journalistic Style); Medical Investigation Program; Biology; Chemistry; Pathology; Basic & Advanced Mathematics; H2H: Martial Arts; Body Building; First Aid; Computer Programming; Streetwise; WP Blunt

Powers
Invulnerability
Sonic Flight
Extraordinary Mental Endurance
Extraordinary Physical Prowess
Physical Perfection

Punch: 1D6/5D6

Power Punch: 2D6/1D6x10

Initiative: +2/+7

Attacks: 4/9

Strike: +0/+8

Damage: +0/+19

Parry: +0/+8

Dodge: +0/+10 Auto

Roll W/Punch: +3/+4

Pull Punch: +3/+4

Disarm: +0/+2

Growing up in a wheelchair was never easy for Serena. It was difficult, and painful. It could have made her bitter. In fact it seemed to be going in that direction for young Serena until one fateful day. The tenements she lived in burned down one night. It was a firetrap, everyone was going to die. On that night she was saved by Mighty Man, an aging hero of a bygone time. He didn't just save Serena, he saved everyone in the tenement that night. Though beams fell on his aging shoulders and was scorched and burned, Mighty Man saved the day. as he saved the last one he fell. Later they would say he had a heart attack due to smoke inhalation and extreme physical duress. On that day Serena realized that her life now had a purpose. She had to do something with it, she had value. Serena hit the books hard and managed to get a scholarship to the local university. She graduated and ended up working in the Zedekiah Black Memorial Library(named for the founder of Coast City). Deep in the Ancient Manuscript Archive, Serena found a book that was not listed in the catalog, a book by John Dee. As she opened it the words began to swim on the page and crawled up her arms, imprinting on her skin, etching into her very soul. Now she can awaken the angelic power with her to grant her a powerful new form and the ability to fly, and to walk. She joined up with the official supers of Coast City. Now she spends her days in the library as Serena Appleton and her evenings as Seraph defender of the City.

Overall the layout and design of these categories is a lot better than in the main book. This character is pretty powerful, and I think it added some cool bits to the setting. . Next up we will be digging into the Eugenics Hero. It should be interesting.

Also +Megan Bennett-Burks and I just finished a Kickstarter for A Far Off Land, A Fate RPG in Two Worlds. It is a game about special people chosen by Eldritch beings to travel between the worlds and protect or destroy both. They are shape shifting masters of primordial magics, and they hold the fate of two worlds in their hands. If you missed the kickstarter and would like to check out the game, you can still get it. Check out the Beta Document.