[Phantasm]

Mantra (continued)

Known Superhuman Powers: Mantra is a sorceress whose power comes from two main sources. Most of her magic comes from manipulating ambient mystic energies (ecocentric magic), which she typically uses to manipulate the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water), phase through walls, turn invisible, fire bolts of eldritch energy, and create eldritch force shields. She is also proficient in the use of black magic, drawing energy from the unwilling to power her magic, often by killing small animals such as lizards. She does not like to use black magic, fearing she will become corrupted because of it. At present, she is still learning the basics of utilizing personal energies for various mental effects (egocentric magic) and calling upon extradimensional entities for various mystic effects (exocentric magic).

According to Archimage, Mantra will live for centuries. Whether this is because she will eventually learn to use magic to retard her aging or if sorcerers in her native universe naturally age slower is unknown. How that is affected by her migration across the timelines is also currently unknown.

Mantra has occasionally been able to increase her power by reciting her mantra – "Change. Growth. Power." – in her head or aloud. Most of the time this increase is temporary, but on several occasions the power increase has been permanent.

Mantra's native (Ultraverse) magic has one serious limitation: If a mage speaks her true name ("Lukasz") in her presence, her magic against that person and any resistances to that mage's magic are significantly hindered.
Other Abilities: Lukasz is a skilled warrior with over fifteen hundred years of experience. However, Eden's body lacks the muscle memory and strength to utilize these skills to their fullest extent. Lukasz is also a skilled investigator with an eye for detail.
Weapons and Paraphernalia: Mantra possesses the Sword of Fangs, a magic blade forged from the fangs of a dragon which is eternally sharp, able to pierce nearly any material, is unbreakable, and can change its shape to become a gold ring which can be worn as a bracelet. When carried by others, the sword can act as a compass leading its wielder to Mantra (or more accurately, Mantra's armor). It is possible the Sword of Fangs has other powers that have yet to be revealed.

Mantra's armor is bullet-proof, at least as far as conventional weapons are concerned. It also magically conforms to the wearer's shape.

Mantra's cloak acts as a gateway to a pocket dimension created by Archimage. The pocket dimension contains a castle which is filled with mystic artifacts and books on sorcery, the full extent of which has yet to be catalogued. She can also use the cloak to teleport great distances by traveling through its pocket dimension. In addition, the cloak can be used to intercept bullets fired at the wearer and redirect their paths to other

Mantra's mask acts as an amplifier of magic. Any sorcerer who wears the mask will have additional magical energy to draw from as well as being able to cast more powerful spells.


698 points
Attributes: ST 10 [0]; DX 12 [40]; IQ 13 [60]; HT 12 [20].
Secondary Characteristics: Dmg 1d-2/1d; BL 20 lbs.; HP 10 [0]; Will 16 [15]; Per 15 [10]; FP 12 [0]; Basic Speed 6.00 [0]; Basic Move 6 [0]; Dodge 10.
Languages: English (Native) (Native Language) [0]; Latin (Native) [6].
Cultural Familiarities: Western (Native) [0].
Advantages: Air/2 [20]; Appearance (Beautiful) [12]; Born Soldier 4 [20]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Danger Sense [15]; Earth/2 [20]; Energy/3 [60]; Extra Attack 1 [25]; Fit [5]; Increased Threshold 2.3 [13]; Legal Enforcement Powers (SHIELD) 2 [10]; Magery 4 (Suffers Metal Penalties, -20%) [36]; Martial Artist (Military) 4 [40]; Omnilingual (Magical, -10%) [36]; Racial Memory (Long-Lived) [20]; Safer Excess (+1 per 10 pts) [10]; Security Clearance ("Need-to-Know" on a Narrow Range) [5]; SHIELD Rank 0 [0]; Space/2 [40]; Water/2 [20]; Wealth (Comfortable) [10]; Wild Talent*1 (Emergencies Only, -30%; Focused: Magic, -20%; Wild Ability, +50%; Magical, -10%) [18].
Perks: Cloaked [1]; Masked [1]; Supersuit [1].
Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Soldier's) [-10]; Dependents (Gus and Evie, Children; No More than 15%; Loved Ones) (9) [-24]; Duty (to SHIELD) (12) [-10]; Enemy (Thanasi/Necromantra; Evil Twin; Hunter) (9) [-20]; Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents) [-10]; Secret Identity (Imprisonment) [-20].
Quirks: Dislikes Needing to Use Sex Appeal [-1]; Likes Whiskey, But Body Does Not [-1]; Name-Bound [-1]; Responsible [-1]; Uncertain How to Classify Sexuality [-1].
Skills: Acrobatics (H) DX+1 [8] – 13; Acting (A) IQ-1 [1] – 12; Body Language (A) Per+0 [2] – 15; Broadsword (A) DX+8 [16] – 20*; Climbing (A) DX+0 [2] – 12; Computer Operation/TL8 (E) IQ+0 [1] – 13; Current Affairs/TL8 (Headline News) (E) IQ+0 [1] – 13; Detect Lies (H) Per-1 [2] – 14; Expert Skill (Military Science) (H) IQ+1 [8] – 14; First Aid/TL8 (E) IQ+0 [1] – 13; Forced Entry (E) DX+0 [1] – 12; Guns/TL8 (Rifle) (E) DX+3 [12] – 16; Hiking (A) HT+0 [2] – 12; History (Last 1500 Years) (H) IQ+1 [8] – 14; Innate Attack (Beam) (E) DX+2 [4] – 14; Intelligence Analysis/TL8 (H) IQ+0 [4] – 13; Interrogation (A) IQ+1 [2] – 14†; Intimidation (A) Will+0 [2] – 16; Judo (H) DX+6 [12] – 18*; Jumping (E) DX+0 [1] – 12; Karate (H) DX+6 [12] – 18*; Law (US Superhuman) (H) IQ-1 [2] – 12; Leadership (A) IQ+5 [4] – 18‡; Lifting (A) HT+0 [2] – 12; Lip Reading (A) Per-1 [1] – 14; Observation (A) Per+1 [4] – 16; Research/TL8 (A) IQ-1 [1] – 12; Riding (Equines) (A) DX+0 [2] – 12; Running (A) HT+0 [2] – 12; Savoir-Faire (Military) IQ+4 [1] – 17‡; Search (A) Per-1 [1] – 14; Sex Appeal (A) HT+3 [1] – 15§; Shadowing (A) IQ+1 [4] – 14; Soldier/TL8 (A) IQ+5 [4] – 18‡; Stealth (A) DX+5 [4] – 17*; Streetwise (A) IQ-1 [1] – 12; Swimming (E) HT+0 [1] – 12; Tactics (A) IQ+6 [12] – 19‡; Thaumatology (VH) IQ+1 [1] – 14#; Throwing (A) DX+0 [2] – 12; Tracking (A) Per+1 [4] – 16; Wrestling (A) DX+7 [12] – 19*.
Magical Realm Skills: Air (VH) IQ+3 [4] – 16#; Earth (VH) IQ+3 [4] – 16#; Energy (VH) IQ+5 [12] – 18#; Space (VH) IQ+1 [1] – 14#; Water (VH) IQ+3 [4] – 16#.
Starting Spending Money: $8,000 (20% of Starting Wealth).

* Includes +4 from Martial Arts (Military).
† Defaulted from Intimidation.
‡ Includes +4 Born Soldier.
§ Includes +4 from Appearance (Beautiful)
# Includes +4 from Magery.

Role-Playing Notes:
Once obsessed with regaining a male body, Lukasz has grudgingly accepted that he has to live as Eden; s/he is still uncomfortable as a woman, especially around men who cannot see past a pretty face and an hourglass figure. Likewise, s/he's not quite sure how to handle lesbians who hit on "her". With the kids learning that their mother is Mantra, it has lifted a weight off his/her chest s/he did not really know was there.

Lukasz has fifteen hundred years of experience as a soldier (reflected in the Talents), but despite his/her actions as Mantra is still in many ways a novice in magic, with only second-hand information gleaned from Archimage and Katinya on the theory. Still, s/he is a fast learner, when s/he puts his/her mind to it.


Design Notes:
1. Earth-93050 diverged from Earth-93060/the Malibu Ultraverse just prior to the Black September event. In UltraForce v1 #8 (cover date May 1995), Dane Whitman/Black Knight crossed over from the mainstream Marvel Universe (Earth-616) to the Ultraverse. Earth-93050 is my personal designation for the Ultraverse that diverged when the Black Knight never appeared and Black September never happened. (Thor's and Loki's appearances in the Godwheel crossover are more likely to be the diverging point, but the Black Knight's appearance is the more notable point of divergence on Earth proper. That said, the Thor and Loki appearances can easily be chalked up to Ultraverse counterparts native to the Godwheel rather than the Earth-616 versions depicted.)
2. Oy vey, pronoun time! In many ways, Mantra was trans before trans was accepted, being a man's mind in a woman's body. However, I do not feel comfortable using "they" as a unisex pronoun (might just be my old age, though). In Mantra's case, I attempted to standardize with what would have been used in Mantra v1 during the early '90s before Marvel bought Malibu: "He" for Lukasz in his original and rebuilt bodies (as well as all the identities he used and discarded during the intervening 1500-ish years), and "she" for Eden and the combined Mantra identities, as the characters used in the comics. I hope this does not offend anyone.
3. I still need to stat up her cloak (worst case scenario, use the same stats as Devil-Slayer's Shadow Cloak), her armor, and the Sword of Fangs.
4. The price of Magery includes the cost of Magery 0 (Suffers Metal Penalties, -20%) [4]; it just looked weird placing them on the sheet together.
5. "Racial Memory (Long-Lived)" is courtesy of Christopher Rice's blog.