Society of Heros

[VanceMadrox]

First off I must say this is the easiest system conversion I've ever done. Making characters is eeeeaaaasssssyy. I was worried initially about the powers nto being limiting enough but looking at it more it works. After all they can only affect conflicts with the powers on their sheet.

Anyway here's a little background on the setting for my team.

Super heroes are relatively new. there have been a few around but it's only in the last few years that any of them have gathered together in force. They all worked seprately only encountering each other occassionally up until recently, with the return of Alex Macross and the defeat of the alien invaders.

The invaders planned a secret attack on Earth, but thanks to the actions of Observer, Alex Macross was able to get together enough Heroes to defeat them. Afterwards, they realized that something like this could happen again and so created the Society of Heros (usually just called the Society) to defeat evil wherever they find it. The group is loosely organized, with only 3 full time members , but any of the rest can be called when needed. In the last few months several of the others have been around more and thanks to Sarge, the team is slowly changing from a loose group of heroes into an actual team.

That's the world. Stay tuned for some characters!

[VanceMadrox]

First off is.......

Alexander Macross aka Renaissance Man
Drives: Justice 2, Truth 3 Love 1, Hope 2, Duty 1

Powers (Genius Size Changer):
Grow 3
High Tech Gadgets 1
Natural Leader 4
Shrink 2
Smartest Man in the World 5

Styles:
Figure it Out 3
Inspire Others 2
Miss the Subtext 1

Persona (Scientist):
Absent Minded 1
Curious 3
Enthused 2
Intelligent 4

Alex Macross is the smartest man in the world. He graduated from MIT with 5 different degrees at the age of 16 and got his first PHD 2 years later. After he turned 18, he focused his studies toward the world, exploring out of the way and bizarre places of all types. It was on these adventures that he met most of the people who would become the Society.
In 1996, an experiment into changing the physical properties of Objects went horribly wrong and Alex disappeared. The world thought him dead but in reality, Alex had shrunk so small he entered the hidden land of SubAtomica. He stayed there two years and with the help of SubAtomica's scientists he developed a device that allowed him to change his size and return to his own world. After sorting out the legalities of his return, Alex continued on with his old ways up until the Alien invasion, now with the ability to change his size at whim. During the invasion, his device was damaged but he found out that after years of using it, his body could produce the effect on his own and he used this knowledge to surprise the leader of the invasion and beat them once and for all. Since then, he splits his time between his research and leading the team.

Personality wise, Alex is intelligent, enthusiastic, and a natural leader. People around him can't help but like him and follow where he leads, be it to another dimension or into battle against the Demon Legions of Lorak the Terrible. Unlike other scientists, Alex is not aloof at all, he has a great concern for people and does his research to benefit them. And if sometimes he's a little absent minded, well that can be forgiven.

[VanceMadrox]

Note: Alex's Figure it out Syle above is powered, the other two are not.

Jillian Jones aka Megadyne

Drives: Justice 1, Truth 1, Love 3, Hope 2, Duty 2

Powers (Female Powerhouse):
Enhanced Reflexes 1
Flight 2
Invulnerability 3
Super Strength 5
Titanic Punch 4

Styles:
"I'm not just a Girl! I have an MBA!" 3
Filthy Rich 1
Slam 'em into the ground 2 (P)

Persona (Bon Vivant):
Confident 3
Intelligent 2
Kind 1
Savvy 4

Jillian Jones met Alex Macross in college and was his assitant from then on. Despite being highly intelligent herself, Jill was always in Alex's shadow and wound up both loving and hating him for it. She accompanied him on many of his adventures. When he disappeared she had no idea what to do. She wound up getting an MBA (she minored in business) and founding Macross International. Using experiments and discoveries she and Alex had done, Macross International quickly grew into a lrage company, making Jill a millionaire in the process. With her success and Alex' absence she also grew quite confident. When Alex returned, he found Jill waiting for him. She eagerly let him into the company and research, only this time they were equals. Her confidence threw him for a loop and for once the hyper intelligent Alex Macross had no idea what to do. Although thrown off a little when he came back, Jill embraced him with open arms and the two have been dating since. During the alien invasion, Jill was instrumental to bringing the heroes together. In one of the penultimate battles, an alien weapon exploded, bathing Jill in its energy and turning her into Megadyne. Now, possibly the most powerful being on the planet, Jill is even more confident and loves working with the Society just as much as she likes running her business.

[VanceMadrox]

Her'es the last of the big 3 and the last for right now.

Andrew Jackson aka Sarge

Drives: Justice 2, Truth 1, Love 1, Hope 2, Duty 3

Powers (Brick):
Impervious to Harm 2
Invulnerability 3
Super Srength 1

Styles:
"Is that the best you've got?" (P) 4
Give Orders 3
If it doesn't fit, force it 1 (P)
Tactical Knowledge 2
Tougher than Nails 5 (P)

Persona (Soldier):
Demanding 3
Determined 4
Honest 1
Unfappable 2

Andrew Jackson has been a soldier for a long time. Born in 1895, he's fought in both World Wars, the Korean War, Vietnam and many other conflicts. At some point and no one knows quite how, Jackson developed super powers and now is minorly super strong, doesn't age, and is nearly completely invulnerable. Jackson takes it with a grain of salt and considers himself just a soldier. He was a soldier in the Army for th elongest time, and only recently retired so that he could join the Society. He joined the Society both to stop the aliens and because they needed someone who could show them how not to get killed. While Renaissance Man is the team's leader and inspiration, it's Sarge who barks the orders in battle. He's easy to get along with for the most part but those on his bad side are quick to hear about it. He expects a lot from the others but gives 110% himself. While he might be a nasty Drill Seargent for them, there's no one else the Society would rather have with them in battle.

[TonyLB]

Are there Exemplar Conflicts between these characters?  They sort of scream "ongoing issues" (as good super-teams should), but I'm interested to know how you'd choose to frame them.

[VanceMadrox]

Hadn't thought about it. Haven't gotten too deeply into that part of the book yet. When I do I'll post here though. Maybe if I get time later today.

[VanceMadrox]

Well I'm still not quite sure about the whole exemplar conflict thing but here goes:

Renaissance man:
Love Exemplar: Megadyne
I love Jill but no matter what I do it never seems right.

Megadyne:
Love Exemplar: Renaissance Man
I Love Alex, but despite how much he knows he still doesn't understand me a bit.

Something along these lines?

[TonyLB]

Well, those aren't exactly conflicts, right?  They're just statements about the way things are.

A conflict would be (say) "Goal:  Alex says the right thing."  If this is the Exemplar conflict of either Alex as Jill's Love Exemplar or Jill as Alex's then any time they're both in the scene, you can introduce that Goal for free.

Which would mean, until it is resolved, that Alex is incapable of saying the right thing (because of the "Not Yet" rule).  And, of course, if he manages to say the Right Thing in one scene, that just means that it's time to frame a new scene and rake him over those same coals again.  Which sounds, frankly, just about right for the relationship you're describing.

[VanceMadrox]

Yeah "Goal: Alex says the riight thing" would definitely work as the recurring conflict between the two of them. How would one write this up on their character sheets? I looked at the book but the exemplar section seems like it could use another example or two.

Also Sarge is the Duty Exemplar for both of them what would the process be for actually writing this up?

[Eric Sedlacek]

It is also true that in play, Invulnerability and Impervious to Harm are functionally the same.  This isn't necessarily a problem since powers are all thematic anyway, but I prefer to avoid such duplication.