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Old 11-23-2019, 11:29 AM   #451
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: Minor League Supers [Powers/Supers]

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
Sorrow

Sorrow is a young women who unintentionally brings misery to everyone around her. Her presence causes every within 1,000 yards of her to suffer Chronic Depression (6-) and Chronic Pain (Emotional; Agonizing, 8 hours, 15-) until they receive intensive psychological therapy.
Areas she passes through probably see a huge spike in suicides shortly thereafter. Sort of makes me think of the King of Pain from the webcomic Exvulnerum, although that's the opposite - the character with the comic's titular curse can feel the pain of anyone nearby, amplified based on proximity (when a person next to him accidentally shot herself in the hand with a tranq dart, he described it as feeling like "a fiery spike straight to the bone;" she felt a pinch), but only at night time. The curse also makes him incapable of dying, and any wound heals up quite rapidly (he's been shot in the chest multiple times, and also broke his own ribs forcing his way through a too-tight space, then was fine a few seconds later). Something like that has potential for a super of some flavor. The relevant abilities are Unkillable 2, Regeneration (Very Fast), and Detect (Pain) with Always On, Night Only, and a Backlash - the last I'd probably base on Terrible Pain, but it can technically range from Moderate Pain to Agony with Low Pain Tolerance tacked on. Someone who's had the curse for a while probably has High Pain Tolerance, but that probably get negated at night (indeed, giving the character HPT with Day Only, and LPT with Night Only, may be appropriate). Should be doable on [250] (the Unkillable 2 and Regen eat up [200], but given the harsh backlash and uncontrollable nature of Detect (Pain) it's probably not worth a lot; indeed, it may be more appropriate to build the trait off of Chronic Pain, with modifiers that cause it to come into play quite readily, but only at night when someone nearby is in pain - certainly in the story it's a net Disadvantage).

As a hero, the character would largely be more of a punisher-type than a proactive vigilante, investigating crimes the day after they happen (they know where the crime occurred due to feeling the pain from it the night before) and trying to get justice for the victims. As a villain, they'd take advantage of their unkillable nature for daytime crimes, and try to hide somewhere far away from living people at night (which may involve killing anyone in the area they intend to bed down in before sunset).
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Old 11-24-2019, 06:37 AM   #452
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Re: Minor League Supers [Powers/Supers]

So, Sorrow would probably have the following ability:

Blessings of Sorrow: Affliction 1 (Area Effect 10, +500%; Based on Will, +20%; Cosmic, Ignores DR, +300%; Disadvantage, Chronic Depression (6-), +40%; Disadvantage, Chronic Pain (Emotional, Agonizing, 8 hours, 15-; +90%; Emanation, -20%; Extended Duration, Permanent, Removed by intensive psychotherapy, +150%; Signature (Mundane), +25%; No Signature (Mystical), +25%; Uncontrollable, -30%) [120]. Notes: Her ability only works on sapient beings.

Sorrow was your average young teenage girl, only concerned about horses and boys, until she inherited the abilities of her biological mother at the age of 15. Within days, her adopted father had committed suicide, her adopted mother was committed, and her and her adopted siblings were placed in separate foster families. Unknown to her, hundreds of families near her home were facing the same issues, and the authorities immediately started to attempt to find the cause.

Sorrow was discovered by the authorities after only one month, but they were faced with what to do with an innocent girl with her capabilities. She volunteered to isolate herself after they explained the danger she posed to other human beings. She ended up living alone on a small horse farm in rural Montana, ten miles from the closest human residence. Visited once a week by the authorities and called once a day by counselors, she was otherwise alone with her growing menagerie of animals.

Sorrow would have likely have been a minor footnote in superhuman history except that she has been kidnapped six times in the last three years by organizations that wanted to use her as a living weapon of mass destruction. Each time, her fear of harming nearby innocents and her loneliness kept her from resisting her kidnappers. Each time, the authorities found her by tracking the spike in suicides.
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Old 11-24-2019, 04:53 PM   #453
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Default Re: Minor League Supers [Powers/Supers]

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
Sorrow would have likely have been a minor footnote in superhuman history except that she has been kidnapped six times in the last three years by organizations that wanted to use her as a living weapon of mass destruction. Each time, her fear of harming nearby innocents and her loneliness kept her from resisting her kidnappers. Each time, the authorities found her by tracking the spike in suicides.
... and every time it happens, the idea of just killing her likely becomes more reasonable to those who know about her. I suspect that the thought of just ending it all would likewise be a terrible temptation for Sorrow, herself.
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Old 11-24-2019, 07:47 PM   #454
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Re: Minor League Supers [Powers/Supers]

Of course, but that is the pathos of her situation. She is innocent and, everytime that she is kidnapped, she tries her best to submit to the demands of her kidnappers to avoid triggering her ability, but it is a certainty that something will set it off during such intense situations. Of course, she may eventually learn some control, but she is probably too scared of using her abilities to attempt anything.

Recently, Sorrow has turned 18, and she is a looker even for a superhuman, so the MBI (Metahuman Bureau of Investigations) is seeking rotating teams of volunteers to spend a week at a time with her. The thinking is that the frequency of kidnapping can be reduced if they have personnel on the ground, and she might learn some control if she becomes intimately involved with one or more members of each team. She is pansexual, the one time that the MBI managed to retrieve her before her ability went off was when she seduced the entire kidnapping group, so there may be some merit to the idea.
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