Futura [FASERIP]

FUTURA

STATISTICS
F                 AM   (50)
A                 IN  (40)
S                 IN  (40)
E                 IN   (40)
R                 RM (30)
I                   RM   (30)
P                  IN  (40)
Health: 170
Karma: 100

BACKGROUND
Real Name: Futura, "Eve Hope"
Occupation: Record store employee
Identity: Secret
Legal Status: Undocumented immigrant in the United States of the present era
Place of Birth: Eden-One, North America
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: None
Base of Operations: San Francisco, California
Group Affiliation: Super-Sentinels
First Appearance: FUTURE WORLDS #65

KNOWN POWERS
True Invulnerability : Remarkable resistance to physical, energy, heat, cold, toxins, aging, and disease.
Hyper Running: Typical ground speed.
True Flight: Incredible air speed.
Enhanced Senses: Excellent level sight, hearing, taste and smell.

Talents:Martial Arts: A, B and C, Natural Sciences, Medicine

History: In a possibly alternate future, a war among superhumans devastated the Earth and destroyed most of civilization. So massive were the energies unleashed, the Earth itself was damaged to the core and threatened to break apart.

Some time after the war, perhaps as much as a millennia, intelligent robots lived in a massive, enclosed city known as Eden-One. They had been the caretakers of the last humans they knew to exist, and now sought to preserve human history and knowledge. One of these robots, a bio-specialist name Maia-1A457, engineered a human embyro with the superhuman attributes from stored genetic material. The infant was gestated in an artificial womb. Maia-1A457 named the girl Futura, because she hoped the child would provide a future for humanity.

Futura was raised by the robots, not knowing she wasn't one of them until late in her childhood. In adolescence, she ventured outside Eden-One with the reluctant acquiescence of her robot caretakers and encountered post-human beings and aliens, making some friends among them. Most of her time, however, was spent in training and education so that one day she could make a trip to the past and prevent her catastrophic future from ever occurring.

When she reached womanhood, she asked for her final examinations and proved to Maia-1A457 and the others she was ready for her mission. Using an ancient time machine, she journeyed back to the 20th Century, where she began living among humans in the identity of Eve Hope, observing the culture and way of life of past humans, and protecting them from super-powered threats as Futura.

Wednesday Comics: Underground Comics #1 on Comixology

You can now purchase Underground Comics #1 at Comixology in digital, and of course, it's still available at IndyPlanet in digital and physical copy.

It's 36 pages by some great DIY rpg illustrators. Here are the preview pages that will (eventually) be on the IndyPlanet page:

Weird Revisited: Deals With Devils

This is more recent that my usual revisited posts, coming as it does from 2015, but it continues the theme from last week of taking the basic concept of Spelljammer (fantasy in space) and doing something different...

Art by Paul Harmon

Hyperspace works on laws altogether different than the amoral, mechanical physics ascendant in our universe. Some experts theorize that in the bulk in which the multiverse is embedded, forces that could be reasonably described as moral principles are objectively real--or at least as objectively real as anything else. Evil might be tangible and quantifiable. That would go a long way to explaining the Diaboli.

The Diaboli are a clade, a culture, or maybe a corporate entity that despoil worlds and corrupt other cultures—even whole universes—with faustian bargains of advanced technology and metaphysical knowledge. Maybe they've tempted some with miracle cures for disease or solutions for world hunger, but more often they appeal to baser instincts with advanced weapons of war or aids to the pursuit of pleasure. Whatever they offer, the cost is inevitably high--too high. The Diaboli are quick to sell fixes for the problems that arise, which inevitably just make things worse. At every turn, the Diaboli enhance their material wealth and create misery from which they are able siphon metaphysical energy. Some of their victims survive the devastation of their previous culture to become junior Diaboli themselves, and the toxic memeplex propagates like a multiversial pyramid scheme.

The Diaboli are very old; some believe they are the degenerate remnant of the Precursors who built the Ways. The truth, though, (at least as much as can be gleaned from a group as duplicitous as this one) is that the Diaboli fear the apotheosed Precursors. They believe the Precursors' Judgment is coming someday—and they plan to deny that judgment by becoming powerful enough fight back against gods. Only by draining or corrupting all potential rivals do they believe this end to be achievable. They view this as a net good for the entire multiverse and see themselves as defenders of order and civilization, albeit one where their inherently superior culture is in power.

Dungeonmaster [FASERIP]

DUNGEONMASTER

STATISTICS
F                 TY   (6)
A                 GD  (10)
S                 TY  (6)
E                 GD   (10)
R                 EX (20)
I                   EX   (20)
P                  RM   (30)
Health: 32
Karma: 70

BACKGROUND
Real Name: Arnold "Arnie" Francis Dilbert III
Occupation: Former college student; Professional Criminal
Identity: Known to authorities
Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with a criminal record
Place of Birth: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: None
Base of Operations: Mobile
Group Affiliation: Masters of Menace

KNOWN POWERS
None.

Equipment:
Icosahedron of Ioum: A roughly soccer ball sized crystalline, two-sided solid of Unearthly material strength that grants Dilbert the following powers:

Reality Manipulation: Dungeonmaster has Illusion Generation Powers of Unearthly ability, such that for most people, indistinguishable from reality. His area of effect is limited to no more than 10 areas, however, otherwise he is unable to maintain fine detail and his creations seem less substantial or fake. Even with concentration, his creations last no more than 4 hours. He can maintain only only 3 effects at a time at full solidity, any others tend to become more insubstantial and are illusions only of Excellent rank. He uses this power in the following ways:

• Creation of "monsters" he can control
• Creation of a underground maze environment
• Creation of "magic items" that can duplicate powers up to Incredible rank

Teleportation: of himself or others with Incredible ability.
Probability Manipulation: Dungeonmaster can attempt to reverse the outcome of a roll not to his liking made by himself or another character with Amazing ability. This requires him to make a power FEAT roll of an equal degree or greater degree of success. He uses this power very sparingly as either he or the Incosahedron considers it cheating, and his worry about the consequences is that he must make a Psyche FEAT roll equal to the degree of success of the of his Probability Manipulation roll, to continue using his powers. A failure means he is without them for 1-20 hours.

History: Dilbert was a capable but poor-performing college student, due to the time he spent planning the role-playing game Monsters in Mazes with his few friends. Unhappy with his real life, Dilbert began to immerse himself more and more into fantasy. He convinced his friends to act out their gaming characters exploits in a small cave system near their university. Annoyed by Dilbert's increasingly demanding behavior, the others left in, and he became lost in the cave.

While in the cave, Dilbert claims to have discovered a hidden run where he found the large, crystalline Icosahedron of Ioum. This artifact obeyed his commands, giving him apparently magical powers, but whether by design or Dilbert's own psychological quirks, it limited him to the mimicking the powers analogous to those wielded by a Monsters in Mazes referee.

Dilbert used these powers to settle scores with his neglectful parents and former classmates, before embarking on a criminal career. His most common modus operandi was to great a "dungeon" in the area the crime was to take place and force bystanders to achieve his goals by coercing them with monsters and traps. His opposed by Rocket early in his career, and considers her his archenemy, though Rocket does not reciprocate.

Weird Revisited: Space Fiends: Marauders from Hyperspace

This post original appeared in December of 2013. It followed  a post about using AD&D Fiend Folio monsters in a science fiction context. It's not set in any particular sci-fi universe I've presented, any more than the write-up of the monster that inspired it was. This was one of a number of posts over the years of monsters or setting trying to get at something that was Spelljammer but not Spelljammer.

No. Appearing:1-4
AC: 4
Hit Dice: 1 (or better)
Saving Throw: as per class and level
Attack Bonus: +2
Damage: 2d8+2 mag rifle, 1d8+1 monoblade
Movement: 30'
Skill Bonus: +1
Morale: 9

Gathyengi are a xenophobic humanoid species who act as pirates, striking from hidden bases within hyperspace. They are theorized to be descended from humans abducted by the psionic Masters from Earth millennia ago to serve as both labor and food source.

Gathyengi (sing. gathyen) are ectomorphic, almost skeletal in appearance. Their skin is dusty yellow to the color of parchment, and leathery. Their skull-like faces, solid black eyes, and pointed teeth (likely ritually sharpened) give them a fearsome appearance in keeping with their reputation for violence.

A gathyengi raider will have a crew compliment of various classes, similar to any human vessel. A raid will be led by a captain of 4-7th level, depending on the size of the ship. It is likely there will be at least one combat psychic among them.

All gathyengi can shift back into hyperspace at will. Whether this is an innate ability or technological is unclear. Dead gathyengi shift back into hyperspace as well, thwarting attempts at close examination.

Some Art from An Upcoming Superhero Thing

No stats today, but here's some spiffy new art for a planned supers project:

The villainous Dungeonmaster by Chris Malgrain, and

the Champion's wizardly mentor by Jeff Call.

More to come!

Wednesday Comics: Storm: The Living Planet (part 3)

My exploration of the long-running euro-comic Storm, continues with his adventures in the world of Pandarve. Earlier installments can be found here.

Storm: The Living Planet (1986) (part 3)
(Dutch: De Levende Planeet)
Art by Don Lawrence; script by Martin Lodewijk

Storm and Ember work at turning the great wheel, paying off their debt to the ship Salamander. Storm asks another man at the wheel where they are headed. His reply:

The ship hunts the great fire worm, a creature from whose glands a spice can be extracted that fetches a high price all over Pandarve. It's used for medicinal purposes but also in the manufacture of a love potion.

An overseer hears them talking and comes over to whip the man back to work. Ember stands up for the man and she trips the overseer.

Meanwhile, the ship has sighted a fire worm. Their bait ships are luring it closer to them with the beat of drums. The bidge wants to know why one wheel sector seems to be slacking in helping steer the ship.

In that sector, Storm and Ember are standing up to the overseer. The man backs up to a bulkhead to talk to his superior on the comm, when he's killed be a splintering wall. The fire worm has emerge next to the ship and heaved its bulk against it!

While the ship's crew frantically try to respond, the fire worm rises up and falls upon the ship again. The rocking of the vessel with the blows allows Storm to grab the dead overseer's keys. The debtors at the wheel all make their escape.

When they make it to the deck, the fire worm is still attacking. Storm sees a girl in the path of the rampaging worm and rushes to the rescue:

He returns the girl to her mother, who recognizes him as a debtor. Storm doesn't have time for any of that. He demands to know why they don't use their harpoons to kill the worm. The woman explains:

Storm realizes their is another place it must be vulnerable. He notices the flyers above, and quickly arrives at a plan:

TO BE CONTINUED