That is definitely a possibility! I hadn’t settled on any teams for certain at this point, but I will say two things - I was strongly leaning towards Archie and the Artificer teaming up, and I was pretty sure that the final teams would include one with both the Regulator and Deep Freeze on it - he investigates science being misused to experiment on other realms, and she’s the result of misused science experimenting on someone from other realms.
But in other news…
Step 1: Background
Let’s hop to it! We start off by rolling two d10s, as per usual, netting a 6 and a 2. Back to the low numbers… this gets us Blank Slate (no), Law Enforcement, and Tragic.
Let’s go ahead and take Law Enforcement. We’re really running out of low-numbered Backgrounds. Leslie always wanted to be a police officer, but has found themselves stymied by corruption in the ranks and the Thin Blue Line. They’re a patrol cop, who bucks the system but still believes that it can be repaired.
Leslie is our first person who can’t take an unused Quality. Instead, they start with Investigation d10 and Close Combat d8.
Leslie also gets a Responsibility Principle, and they’re going to take the Principle of the Mask. It’s kind of critical that their vigilante activities not get back to the corrupt cops at the precinct.
Step 2: Power Source
Law Enforcement grants d10, d8, d6 for Power Source, and rolling that results in… 1, 1, and 1.
Huh.
So our Power Source choices are Accident or Training, and we’ve already taken Training. Accident it is!
Leslie was on patrol when they stumbled across an arms deal involving alien biotech. They tried to surveil it, but their partner charged in and when they went after him, everything went bad and Leslie got infected by alien spores that, in a burst of luck, only almost killed them. When they recovered, they discovered that the spores have altered their DNA; they can control plants, stretch and twist their limbs like vines, and give off spores that control animals. It’s kind of creepy, but they’re doing their best.
For Yellow Abilities, Leslie can use their plants to provide huge bonuses or penalties to groups, or use their Elasticity to fight directly. Their Greens are… not great, but they can Boost whenever they change personal Zones, so that’s fun. Maybe I can get a healing Ability in there and ping-pong around.
Step 3: Archetype
Accident is another d12 / d6 combo (which means I’ve hit all three of them in my first nine characters, weird) and rolling that gets me… 2 and 6. Seriously? That nets me Shadow, Close Quarters Combatant, and Flyer, all of which are gone, which means that we’re cascading straight down to Robot/Cyborg. The spores that infected Leslie are biotech, and have altered them inherently.
As a cyborg, Leslie gets a d12 to Size-Shifting and a d6 Criminal Underworld Info, as well as an extra d10 Technological Power. None of them quite work, so I’m just going to say that she has access to all sorts of police Gadgets.
Size-Changing gives Leslie a Green Boost that is persistent, which will be a nice way to start things off, and will stack well with their ability to attack multiple people with Plant Control based on how many Boosts they have. Once they hit Yellow, they get the ability to make single, powerful Size-Changing attacks that get stronger if they have more bonuses available. So create bonuses, don’t always use them, and unload with the big guns.
This Archetype also gives an Expertise choice, and I’m taking Whispers. The spores talk to Leslie, trying to offer advice and alien knowledge. And as anyone who has ever seen a TV show or comic about alien battlegear grafted to humans knows, this is probably fine.
Step 4: Personality
Rolling two d10s for Personality, Leslie’s choices are 9 and 9, because apparently they are getting all the bad luck. This opens Inquisitive and Apathetic, which are both taken, so Leslie is Jaded. They used to be very hopeful and upbeat, but seeing police life up close has made them a lot more cynical.
We’re also going to take the Beat Cop roleplaying distinction, which covers the day-to-day knowledge that Leslie is badly lacking. This is actually pretty good for Leslie, because it means she has a ludicrous die pool for that first Boost, which will carry through a lot of other tricks.
Step 5: Red Abilities
Goal #1 for Red – a way to heal out of Red. Major Regeneration more than qualifies. Leslie Hinders themselves with Size-Changing, then heals a huge amount at once. Goal #2 – something to do with plants in case the situation is bad enough that we don’t want to waste time. A Field of Hazards shuts down the opposition, with the possibility of dealing damage to a large group too.
Step 6: Retcon
I dislike d6 Red dice, and this seems like a good time to boost one up to a d8, since we are very set for Red Abilities and I don’t think we need new powers.
Step 7: Health
Back in the middle, with (8 + Red 8 + Investigation 10 + 4) for 30 Health.
Step 8: Alias
We explicitly do not want an alias that evokes law enforcement concepts, so I’m going to go ahead and call them Fernwick. Leslie took the name to represent their plant powers, plus ‘wick’ for green and ready to grow, but everyone thinks it’s a fire thing and they keep having to explain. But they’re stubborn, so they’re not changing it.
Character Sheet
Fernwick
Alias: Leslie Flaherty
Background: Law Enforcement, Power Source: Accident, Archetype: Robot/Cyborg, Personality: Jaded
Principles: Mask (Responsibility), Whispers (Expertise)
- Roleplaying: You have a career that allows you to slip between identities when necessary. You hear a voice in your head that no one else hears. That voice tells you things, which might be true or false, but the voice certainly seems to know a lot.
- Minor Twists: What clue about your real life did you leave behind? How did the voice distract you?
- Major Twists: Who from your civilian life is now in imminent danger? What is the voice demanding of you?
Status Dice: Green d10, Yellow d8, Red d8
Health: 30 (Green 30-23, Yellow 22-12, Red 11-1)
Qualities:
- Investigation (Mental) d10
- Close Combat (Physical) d8
- Beat Cop (RP) d8
- Criminal Underworld Info d6
Powers:
- Size-Changing (Self-Control) d12
- Plants (Material) d10
- Gadgets (Technological) d10
- Elasticity (Self-Control) d8
- Animal Control (Psychic) d6
Green Abilities:
- Principle of the Mask (A): Overcome using knowledge from your civilian life and use your Max die. You and your allies gain a Hero Point.
- Principle of Whispers (A): Overcome against a challenge that involves information that you have no real way of knowing and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
- Personal Growth (A): Boost yourself with Size-Changing. Use your Max die. This bonus is persistent and exclusive.
- Whiplash (A): Attack using Plants. Attack an extra target with your Mid die for each bonus you have. Use a different bonus on each attack.
- Green Thumb ®: When you change personal zones, you may boost by rolling your Plants die.
Yellow Abilities:
- Harsh Terrain (A): Boost or Hinder any number of nearby targets using Plants. Use your Max die.
- Grapple (A): Attack using Elasticity. Hinder that target with your Min die.
- Colossal Smash (A): Attack using Size-Changing. Add a bonus equal to the number of bonuses you currently have.
Red Abilities:
- Back to Basics (A): Hinder yourself with Size-Changing. Use your Min die. Recover using your Max and Mid dice.
- Spore Field (A): Hinder any number of targets with Plants. Use your Max + Min dice. If you roll doubles, also Attack each target using your Mid die.
Out Ability: Remove a bonus or penalty of your choice.
Aftermath: Well, we certainly ran full-tilt into my personal restrictions this time. Two cascades much earlier than I’d expected. I think I am going to add a small revision to the previous rules, so that I can keep having two options up to the end. This rule is as follows:
If I have only one option, I can take it, or I can take the next available option after whichever one is the sum of the two dice. If I have zero options, I can take the first available option either before or after the sum of the two dice. This lets me always have two choices, without opening things up too far.
But the prior system pretty much worked out here. Sort of a plant-themed Blue Beetle, with a few particularly weird abilities tied into it all. Mechanically, they are a beast. Build up bonuses in Green, then shift to Yellow and use those bonuses for massive hits or area hits, and then when you drop to Red get more bonuses before defending your way back to Yellow for more massive hits.
Leslie doesn’t have a lot of Quality versatility; most of their high dice are over in Powers. But they can get by, and they have what they need to be good at their core competencies.