Heroes for Mutants & Masterminds



Detective Gail Windsor

 Gail is my longest played Mutants & Masterminds character and the best developed. She began as a PL 10 cop with wind powers and went on to found, lead, and eventually take a leave of absence from the world's greatest team of heroes, the Dawn Patrol. She found love (more than once), archenemies (ditto), died once and even lost her powers for a while. I no longer have the time to play her, unfortunately, so she left the team to devote herself more seriously to police work.
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 Gail Windsor: PL 16 Hero (240 pp); Init +4; Defense 22 (+8 base, +4 Dex); Spd 30 ft, fly 120 ft, super-flight 218 mph; BAB +8; Grap +10; Atk +10 melee (+2S punch), +12 ranged (+12L area lightning or DC 22 area fatigue, suffocate, or telekinesis); Full Atk: +10 melee (+2S punch), +10/+10 ranged (+12L area lightning or DC 22 area fatigue, suffocate, or telekinesis); SV Dmg +6 (Armor +3), Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +8; Str 14, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 20, Cha 16.
    Powers: Super-Wisdom +3 (Source: Training; Extras: Super-Charisma, Super-Intelligence; Cost: 5; Total: 15 pp); Weather Control +12 (note 1) (Source: Mutation; Extras: Air Control, Area, Deflection, Flight, Fatigue, Super-Flight +2, Whispering Wind +6 (note 2); Stunts: Energy Blast [lightning], Suffocate, Telekinesis; Cost: 7+14; Total: 98 pp).
    Skills: Concentration +11, Drive +6, Gather Information +9, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (Law) +9, Knowledge (Weather) +11, Medicine +10, Pilot +8, Profession (Investigator) +11, Search +7, Sense Motive +10, Spot +11.
    Feats: Aerial Combat, Expertise, Fame, Far Shot, Heroic Surge, Immunity (cold, suffocation, wind (note 5)), Leadership, Lightning Reflexes, Point Blank Shot, Power Attack, Power Immunity, Rapid Shot, Toughness, Vehicle (note 3).
    Equipment: Armor +3 (Feats: Durability; Cost: 1+1; Total: 4 pp); Comlink (1 pp); First Aid Kit +3 (Super-Skill [Medicine]; Flaws: Device; Cost: 1/3; Total: 1 pp).
    Weakness: Disabled (note 4).

Character Notes

  1. Some general notes on Gail's capabilities: She can control the weather in a 12 mile radius, fly at up to 220 mph, or generate winds that can lift up to 100 tons (enough to lift the space shuttle but not, for instance, enough to lift a jumbo jet or a fishing trawler).
  2. Whispering Wind is a unique power which allows Gail to hear and speak at great distance; words and noises are literally carried to and from her on the wind. This power uses the range chart for ESP, which means Gail's 6 ranks give her a 20 mile range. However, wind travels slowly: assume a 10 mph wind in average circumstances, adjusted up or down as the GM sees fit. This means that, on an average day, it would take 2 hours for Gail to hear something at the limit of her range. Listening for a particular voice or in a particular area requires concentration and a half action, but speaking does not. Hermetically sealed areas are proof against Whispering Wind, and it is opposed by Obscure. You may have to make Listen checks to hear quiet or faint sounds. As long as this extra is active, sounds reach you constantly from throughout the range, audible as faint whispers layered atop one another.
  3. Gail's Vehicle is her contribution to the Dawn Patrol's set of super-aircraft, the Dawn Treaders. Now that she has left the team, this feat should be replaced with Headquarters (House of Windsor), the Patrol's first headquarters and Gail's family home.
  4. Gail, like all the other members of her family who manifest powers, suffers from a form of hemophilia. There is literally too much air in her blood, kept at high pressure. When cut, she does not bleed, she fizzes like carbonated soda, her blood turning into a mist that streams out of her body. If a lethal attack inflicts a hit on Gail, she must save again against the attack each minute until she is either healed with the Healing power or treated with First Aid (DC 15 + the number of hits she has taken).
  5. Predictably, Gail is immune to wind exposure. This is not a particularly common threat -- unless you fly around the city in your streetclothes. She does not chap nor chafe, and no matter how fierce the wind blows her hair always seems to be 'stylishly tousled'.

Background

Editor's note: In two years of almost daily online play, I learned enough about Gail's past to fill an entire book. This was her first capsule bio, and it barely scratches the surface, but the alternative is beyond my means at this time.

        Abigail Windsor is the third member of her family to possess the power of Wind Control. Her grandfather was Windjammer, American hero in World War II, who joined other Allied powers in battle in Europe or intercepting spies here on the homefront. After the war, however, people didn't seem to care about their heroes any more, and Windjammer moved to Chicago to start a new life. Although he and his wife had several children, only one inherited the family power. Calling himself 'Stratosphere,' Gail's father became a well known and respected power, serving on various teams and in some of the most famous crises of the 70s and 80s.
        Abby was born in 1972 and her powers manifested at an early age. By the age of 13, she had adopted the blue-and-white fighting togs of her family to become Windlass, a member of the Teen Machine. She served with the Machine for almost ten years and grew up a superhero. Her first boyfriend was a member of the team, as were all of her closest friends. But by '95 she felt ready to move on; the Machine's veteran members were adults now and new teenage heroes had come onto the scene. She had a career in the police department and the old names and costumes just seemed silly now, not heroic. She was surprised when she cried saying goodbye.
        In the years since, Gail (as she is now known) has become a well-known member of the Crucible City Powercrime Squadron, known to the press as 'The Flying Squad' or sometimes as a new 'Untouchables'. She wears no costume, preferring the plain clothes of a detective, and she works cases related to powercriminals of any sort. Similarly, though she takes no official codename, the press tend to call her Gale or Gale Force, rather indiscriminately. Her father, whose powers were far greater than her own, vanished in the Event. This has made Gail more proprietary than ever about this town, her town, which she continues to call Chicago no matter what the papers say. As a veteran who grew up in the uniform, Gail tends to take a mentor attitude towards other heroes who need guidance. She responds well to leaders who ask her opinion and who toe a line with the law and the city authority. Nonetheless, she has a reputation as a loose cannon and her personal life is a shambles.

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Ian Chesapeake, aka the Rook

 I created Ian as my back-up character on Crucible City, meant to be a change of pace from the high-profile Gail Windsor. There was a lack of dark avengers in the city at the time, and I thought the lower power level would suit that archetype well. (CC has often suffered from the stigma that it is too optimistic and light-hearted, that it cannot provide a good home for vigilante heroes. I don't believe that is at all true, but that's neither here nor there.) I played Ian for a month or two as he met Autumn Auburn, aka Solstice, with whom he began a love affair. Solstice was originally going to be Ian's partner in fighting crime, but her player advanced the character to PL 10 after a short while, and I began to get the feeling that Ian was turning into Solstice's sidekick. Since Solstice was also joining the Dawn Patrol, where I already played Gail, Ian would not be able to scene with Autumn as much as I had hoped. On adventures, he would be very much in her shadow. So I let the character quietly idle out and months later I made Odyssey, whom I very much enjoy. Still, I'm keeping the Rook on file and hope to include him in some of my comic scripts, for no other reason than because I dig his name.
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 The Rook: PL 7 Hero; Init +5 (+5 Dex), Speed 30 ft, fly 70 ft, super-flight 127 mph; Defense 20 (+5 base, +5 Dex); BAB +5; Grap +9; Atk +9 melee (+4S unarmed strike or +8S surprise strike), +10 ranged (improvised weapon); SV Dmg +2/+7 (Evasion), Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +5; Str 18, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 12.
    Skills: Acrobatics +11, Handle Animal +5, Hide +10, Intimidate +5, Listen +7, Move Silently +10, Search +5, Sense Motive +7, Spot +7.
    Feats: Aerial Combat, Dodge, Expertise, Evasion, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Move-by Attack, Power Attack, Surprise Strike.
    Powers: Flight +7 (Extras: Super-Flight +2; Flaws: Wings; Cost 1 pp/level, 9 pp)

Ian Chesapeake is a former member of the Canadian Special Forces, a trained soldier who was investigating what he was told was a UFO crash when he was instead jumped by employees of a biotech firm experimenting with genetic manipulation. The firm had made a deal with the commander of a local Canadian army base, conducting its animal-human gene splicing research under his protection in return for giving him some of the credit when the results were in. Ian, who was thought missing in action by his commanding officer, was exposed to the mutagenic agents and took on the traits of the crow to which he had been paired. When Ian woke up, he had full-size black feathered wings growing out of his back. He didn't take it well, but his CO showed up in time to save him from doing anything stupid.

With the experiment series now known to higher-ups in the Canadian army, the project was classified and Ian was allowed to leave the country for Crucible, where all the freaks seemed to be going since the Event. Trained to fight and feeling that he had to either embrace his superhuman nature or be destroyed by it, Ian decided to become a costumed vigilante. Using what small resources he had, he filled his loft apartment with crimefighting gear and began a one-bird war on the South Side's drug and gang problem. He had some run-ins with the Yakuza before he vanished mysteriously during the Nazi invasion, probably a casualty of the Iron Reich's flying-saucer mounted Tesla cannons.

Appearance: A tall, lean, man with black feathered wings. That part is hard to miss. Everything else is probably an afterthought. The wings seem to grow naturally from his back, and even while at rest rise over his head. Some of the feathers are as long as a man's forearm, and when extended the total span must be twenty feet or more.
        Standing about six feet in height, his muscled frame looks lanky and stretched. The black leather uniform he wears leaves his abdomen bare, as well as his long, muscular, arms. Heavy fingerless gloves suggest the gear of a falconer, while a low-slung belt is clasped with a black-and-gold outline of a diving night bird. He carries no weapon; indeed, his grim countenance and tense, wiry, attitude of coiled action make it clear that a gun or a knife in his hands would be superfluous.
        His face is hidden by a tight black leather hood which leaves only his chin and mouth visible. Slits in the hood reveal coal-black eyes, and a relentless, penetrating, gaze.

The Rook in Play: Ian isn't a heavy-hitter, but he can be very good at what he does and, when playing by his own rules, is very effective. He patrols the city from on high, relying on darkness and Hide to catch criminals by surprise. Flying down with Move-By Attack, he can make a Surprise Strike on the toughest single opponent, often intimidating the others into fleeing if the numbers are not too great. Once in hand-to-hand combat, Ian is constantly in motion, using Power Attack on foes too impervious to be harmed by traditional punches and kicks. Evasion allows him to dodge many attacks, especially those thrown by minions.  As he gains experience,  Ian should pick up  Rapid Strike and some form of ranged weapon (perhaps throwing blades).

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Lincoln Yamamoto, Undersecretary of Power Affairs

Lincoln Yamamoto: PL 7 Hero (105 pp); Init +0 (+7 with Super-Dex); Spd 30 ft (run), 70 ft (fly), 4,000 mph (Super-Flight); Defense 14 (+4 base) (21 with Super-Dex); BAB +4; +4 melee (+0S strike or +7S powered Strike), +4 ranged (improvised weapon); SV Dmg +0 (or +7 Evasion with Super-Dex), Fort +0, Ref +0 (or +7 with Super-Dex), Will +3; Str 10, Dex 11, Con 10, Int 15, Wis 16, Cha 16 (38 pp)
    Skills: Bluff +9, Diplomacy +9, Intimidate +7, Language (Japanese, Korean, English), Listen +7, Sense Motive +9, Spot +7 (16 pp)
    Feats:  Attack Finesse, Connected, Dodge, Evasion, Expertise, Stoic (Yamamoto has a +4 bonus on attempts to resist Taunt or Intimidate) (12 pp)
    Powers: Super-Speed +7 (Source: Mutation; Extras: Mach One Punch; Stunts: Instant Stand, Quick Draw; Flaws: Heroic Effort, Tiring; Cost: 5+4; Cost: 39 pp)

Lincoln Yamamoto was ten years old when he was placed in an Internment Camp with the rest of his family in 1941. He had only been there for a few months when a the Golden Age hero known as the Bronze Bullet came to the camp to see for himself how people were being treated. The Bullet detected Lincoln's superhuman speed, which the boy very much enjoyed but concealed from others lest he be thought a freak. Bronze Bullet was ashamed that his country was imprisoning loyal citizens just because of their heritage, but nothing he did could persuade Washington to end the policy. So he took the young Lincoln with him, determined to let the boy prove the valor and courage of Japanese Americans.

After the war, Banzai Boy shifted into private life and became a leader of the Japanese-American community. He worked as a diplomat for many years and served as ambassador to Korea. After the Event, the government had a shortage of Powers to serve in federal posts, so Yamamoto was tapped to be the Undersecretary of Power Affairs, reporting to the Director of Homeland Security. In this role, Lincoln is Washington's highest ranking official directly managing the Power community.

Yamamoto in Play: Lincoln Yamamoto believes in Powers and what they do. At the same time, at over seventy years of age, he is a realist and knows that sometimes information must be concealed for the good of the country. He is proud of his country and a hard-working civil servant. He can be counted on to be straight-forward and direct with Powers, while also allowing them to do what they think is best as often as possible. He is sometimes troubled by things he learns in his governmental post, including policies towards Powers that he does not always agree with. In these circumstances he works within the system to remind the government of the sacred rights of the individual.

When necessary, Lincoln can try to use his super-speed, which grants him flight instead of the usual running. To do this, he must spend a Hero Point and he becomes Fatigued at the end of the round. While this is a physical strain, he still uses his abilities to periodically catch up on paperwork, clearing up a day for golf, which he loves.

Appearance: Lincoln Yamamoto is a Japanese-American of modest height, trim, with short black hair and dark eyes. He dresses in expensive suits, dark blue, and pins his tie with a bronze bullet pin in honor of his former mentor.

Quote: "That's all I can tell you right now."

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The King Academy for Gifted Youth The King Academy officially opened its doors on January 19th, 2004 as a private high school for teenage Powers. The Headmaster, Dr. Merlin Dempsey, is the brother of the Duane Dempsey who accompanied the King family on their many adventures as the Saturn V, and Dr. Dempsey used his inheritance from the King estate to found an Academy committed to the ideals and creative spirit of John King. To most of the city, the King Academy is a more or less ordinary institution, not the first "Power High" and certainly not the last. What only the faculty and a few students know, however, is the secret of the Academy and the real reason for its existence.

When the Saturn V vanished in the Event, it took a year for Merlin Dempsey to learn that he was named as a beneficiary of the King estate. Merlin had never approved of his brother's engagement to Cleo King, and he had always felt overshadowed by John King's unrestricted genius. But while much of the King estate was parceled out to various charitable groups or old friends, Merlin Dempsey found himself re-evaluating his well-meaning in-laws. In early 2002 he took leave from his professorial position at Cambridge to travel to Titan City, where the Saturn V had made their home. He had already let himself into the Gantry, the amazing headquarters of the five, when destiny took him by the hand.

The name of John King and the Saturn V is known throughout the universe, and when the crew of an alien craft realized that their ship was experiencing catastrophic engine failure they decided that King was the nearest person capable of aiding them. Their ship materialized inside the Gantry, causing the explosion of several experiments and a partial collapse of the building. One of the crew survived for a few minutes but lived only long enough to mistake Merlin Dempsey for his brother. The alien had been copilot of the ship, and he explained to Merlin that the craft was a "Dynamic Drive" energized by pure imagination. Not itself sentient but possessed of tremendous power, the Drive had been damaged and would soon explode, shattering realities across the infinite cosmos and killing untold billions.

While a distinguished physicist, Merlin was completely unprepared for this dilemma. He tried in vain to understand the workings of the Dynamic Drive but did manage, in desperation, to establish contact with the primitive personality of the engine itself. It was starving to death, deprived of the creative soup of innovative thoughts which nourished and powered it. Without this energy the Drive was unable to sustain the "Ambiguousity Field" required for safe operation. When the field fell, four hundred and sixteen parallel realities would come crashing together. With the Gantry a wreck and all exits sealed off thanks to the explosions, Dempsey was on his own. At the last moment, he had a solution: he gave the Dynamic Drive full access to the datafiles of John King, the most imaginative man alive. The gamble worked; King's journals and experiments contained enough creativity for the Drive to temporarily return to full power. Dempsey encouraged the Drive to merge with Merlin himself and enter a state of "silent running" in which it would be invisible to the human eye. In this low-energy state the Drive predicted it would be able to sustain itself safely for more than a year. Dempsey had that long to think of a permanent solution.

Merlin Dempsey emerged from The Gantry a changed man, the secret custodian of a world-shattering alien artifact. He had a new appreciation for the mind of John King, a man who had saved the world even after death. Meetings with lawyers over the next week or two established Dempsey's financial independence, and he began researching ways to create a nourishing, imaginative environment for the Dynamic Drive he was carrying. He quickly realized that success in this venture would require two things: youth, and Crucible City. Crucible had become the most interesting place to live on Earth, with a much larger population of Powers and with world attention focused on it in the wake of the Event. Moreover, the traditional solutions to Power education had closed after the Event stole most of the faculty and staff, and the few attempts to fill the void had struggled under a shortage of students, faculty, and energy. But Dempsey felt that the eternal optimism and challenging tone of youth was exactly what the Dynamic Drive required, and by moving to Crucible he would be able to recruit the largest possible population of young Powers, experienced instructors, and seasoned staff.

Construction was hindered by the sudden loss of the project's primary architect, who was revealed to be a zombie dupe of Horatio R. Hades, leader of the Deep Six. Work on the facility continued, however, only for the completed campus to be destroyed utterly in the invasion by the Iron Reich. By this time almost two years had passed since the Dynamic Drive had begun nursing itself on the rationed creativity of John King and stagnation was beginning to rise to dangerous levels. Finally, just in time, the new school was finally completed and Merlin Dempsey announced its opening with a full class of students early in 2004.

Every one of the school's small permanent faculty know the secret of the Dynamic Drive, which has now been transferred out of Merlin himself into the heart of the Academy building. Some of the staff know (those who Dempsey believes can handle the knowledge) and some visiting faculty are let in on the secret. At first, the students knew nothing, but the erratic behavior of the Drive in the weeks just after the school's opening drew the attention of a few perceptive students, who were forced to act quickly to prevent disaster. While additional students are brought in on the secret by those in the know, the majority of the student body remains ignorant of the existence of the Dynamic Drive and the danger it poses to reality.

The Dynamic Drive

The alien ship which crashed into the Gantry in 2001 propels itself not through time or space, but through realities. It consumes no physical fuel, but is instead energized by new ideas. As each new idea is conceived, it is drawn to the Drive by a "Singularity Sink" and gets included in a soup of raw creativity that surrounds the Drive itself. Once a unique idea has energized the Drive, it can never do so again, though it is important to note that the Drive does not "consume" ideas in the way an engine might burn gasoline. The sentient being which hatched the idea in the first place will remember it and can act on it as he wishes, probably with no knowledge that his creative impulse has (at least temporarily) forestalled the destruction of Earth.

At standard operating speed the Dynamic Drive glides through realities at a rate of seventeen per second. This incredible rate of reality travel would simultaneously  annihilate and drive insane any passengers, so individuals within the craft are protected by an "Ambiguosity Field" generated by the Drive itself. The Field blurs the lines between one reality and another, making each individual oscillation and reality impossible to perceive. Instead, each is "smeared" into the realities before and after. The resulting environment looks perfectly normal, but the human subconscious recognizes that there is more going on than it can process, creating a slightly euphoric sensation which many faculty and staff describe as a "vibration" or "hum" in the back of the head. With the Ambiguosity Field in place, it is possible to walk the halls of the Academy without ever realizing the reality shifts going on all around. At the same time, because of those shifts, anything is possible. Each reality has "outliers" or "outlying variables," qualities which the smearing effect of the Field cannot wholly ameliorate. This can result in sudden and inexplicable changes: everyone in the school will suddenly be speaking Yiddish, rooms will connect to one another in an infinite loop, or a talking dog will walk out of the broom closet. Students and staff have learned to take these outliers in stride.

The power of the Dynamic Drive gives Dempsey almost absolute control over the grounds of the school, simply by taking it into whatever reality suits his needs. Should he wish to isolate a particular student or change the rules of physics in a given classroom, he can order the Drive to make these changes and it will be done. However, the Drive requires constant new ideas to remain in good health, and this is what the student population provides it. Dempsey has taken great care to create a curriculum which enhances creativity and avoids rote learning, since unoriginal thinking starves the Drive and increases the danger it poses to whatever realities it happens to be coasting through at the time.

Dempsey himself no longer bears the Drive, but he does maintain a link to it which allows shim to communicate and which has also given him a number of abilities. The Drive can sustain him, healing his injuries and stimulating his mind with "fumes" of ideas it has already used for energy. This link can also work in reverse: Dempsey can temporarily "turn off" anything unusual or strange by shunting its creative energy to the Drive. This allows him to drain any Power -- even apparently normal humans with extraordinary intelligence, strength, or agility -- down to mundanity for a short period. In essence, he makes the target Power boring -- a perfectly ordinary person.

When constructed, the Dynamic Drive drew on the creative impulses of the inhabitants of the infinite realities through which it sped. Its Singularity Sink reached out for many light years, bringing innovation to the Drive instantaneously and keeping it healthy. It is this "collection" function of the Drive which has failed; the Singularity Sink can now collect only ideas that occur within a few hundred yards. There is no one on Earth who can repair the device. Merlin Dempsey's solution keeps the Drive safe and even productive, housing a school for Powers who also, in a symbiotic relationship, feed the Drive youthful creativity.

The Academy in Action

The opening class for the King Academy numbered some twenty students, though more came quickly. Students live in the school, sharing a room with a single room-mate. There is a school uniform, but it changes on short notice an average of once per week. Lectures and working groups are held throughout the day on a schedule posted a few days in advance. In addition to the Headmaster, there are another half dozen permanent faculty and a similar number of administrative and housekeeping staff. There is very little at the Academy which can be called "routine." Classes change daily and can be held at any time of the day or night. Parents and others are allowed into the Academy on an individual basis but no large public gatherings are held there and it will never host an "open house." Such a large intrusion of mundane thought would starve the Dynamic Drive. Instead, assembles and graduation are held in one of the city's many scenic locales.

All admission decisions are made by the Headmaster, with advice from the permanent faculty. Tuition is very high, but "waivers" and "programs" allow Dempsey to eliminate all fees for students who cannot afford to pay while simultaneously charging those families who can. There are no grades; while a student can be expelled for disruptive behavior he cannot be thrown out for poor performance. He will, however, be kept from graduation until his performance improves. Intimate relations between students and faculty/staff are forbidden.

Headmaster Dempsey has used his connections with the Saturn V and the King family  to secure several guest lecturers and other aides who appear at the Academy for special occasions. In late 2003 he had John King's portal to the MatheMagica (a dimension inhabited by both pure number and raw magic) installed in the Academy for field trips. The interior of the school is much larger than its exterior, a feature made possible through the Dynamic Drive. Interior decor varies widely, with colorful high-tech facilities situated comfortably alongside American Indian smokehouses. Control over the weather near the school allows classes to be held outside in whatever environment the instructor thinks would be challenging. A fireside lounge is enlivened by the presence of several original works by Lichtenstein, including the famous My mutant powers are tearing me apart! Students have gotten used to rooms moving or changing appearance without notice, though this usually happens only when no one is looking. If the physical properties of the school become  too unpredictable or start to alter even when being observed, that is a sign of possible breakdown in the Ambiguosity Field.

The most famous site in the Academy, however, is the Think Tank -- what Dempsey referred to once as a "classroom of pure thought." This chamber is permeated by energy fields created by the Dynamic Drive. When individuals within imagine, their thoughts penetrate these fields and crystallize. While some have called the Think Tank a "virtual reality" classroom, Dempsey has always taken care to correct them. "Virtual Reality is the search for increased realism. For a simulation so exact that it cannot be differentiated from the real world. But the Think Tank creates environments that are absolutely impossible, that could never exist in our humble experience. It is, if anything, Virtual Un-Reality."

Dr. Merlin Dempsey: PL 15 Hero (230 pp); Init +2; Spd 30 ft (run); Defense 15 (+3 base, +2 dex); BAB +4; Atk +5 melee (+1S unarmed strike), +6 ranged (DC 28 Neutralize or improvised weapon); SV Dmg +3, Fort +3, Ref +2,Will +9; Str 12, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 20, Wis 20, Cha 20 (60 pp)
    Skills: Bluff +11, Computers +18, Diplomacy +15, Gather Information +13, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (culture) +13, Knowledge (geography) +13, Knowledge (history) +13, Knowledge (occult) +13, Knowledge (religion) +13, Medicine +13, Profession (teacher) +19, Repair +13, Science (physics) +14, Science (quantum physics) +19, Science (nuclear physics) +15, Science (biology) +13, Science (chemistry) +13, Science (geology) +13, Science (mathematics) +13, Science (sociology) +13, Sense Motive +15, Spot +13 (30 pp)
    Feats: Assessment, Connected, Detect (powers), Headquarters, Mental Link, Immunity (critical hits, cold, disease, fatigue, heat, poison, pressure, starvation, suffocation), Indomitable Will, Photographic Memory, Psychic Awareness, Stoic, Wealthy x3 (42 pp)
    Powers: Boost +10 (Source: Alien Super-Science; Extra: Mental Ability Scores--Int, Wis, Cha; Flaw: Degrades, Tiring; Cost: 1; Total: 10 pp), Neutralize +18 (Source: Alien Super-Science; Extras: Neutralizing Block, Neutralizing Field, Nullification; Flaw: Degrades, Heroic Effort; Cost 3; Total: 72 pp), Regeneration +10 (Source: Alien Super-Science; Flaw: Heroic Effort; Cost: 1; Total: 10 pp), Super-Intelligence +7 (Source: Training; Extras: Comprehend +4, Super-Charisma +5, Super-Wisdom +4; Cost: 2+17; Total: 31 pp) (98 pp)

Merlin Dempsey was born to a single mother in Titan City, growing up on the streets with a rough and  tumble younger brother. While Duane was comfortable in the gangs and ghettos, Merlin wanted a "better life," a life of learning and education. When his mother died, the two young men had a bitter falling out that would last for decades. Duane entered the military but Merlin secured a scholarship to study physics at a prestigious East Coast university.

By the late 1980s Merlin was an esteemed scholar and his brother was on the first of many adventures with the Saturn V. There were a few half-hearted attempts to heal the rift between the two men, but things only got worse when Duane announced his engagement to Cleo King, the vivacious daughter of the brilliant John King. Merlin disparaged his brother's choice of occupation, considering such "gallivanting around the cosmos" to be a waste of time inferior to "real research." He was not only jealous of John King's ground breaking work, but also suffered under a racial prejudice he didn't know he had (the Kings were black Americans). Merlin came to the wedding, but it did more harm than good.

In the years that followed Merlin kept to his ivory tower, once even trying to break up the Saturn V in a misguided attempt to "save" his brother. Though no action was taken against him, this incident served only to further alienate Merlin from the King family. This made it all the more surprising for Merlin to be named as one of the principal beneficiaries of the King estate. He received a recorded message from his brother in which the past was considered and wiped clean, and Merlin found himself realizing how much he missed the little brother who had made life so interesting in the alleys of Titan. So he went home and let himself into the Gantry using a key Duane had set aside for him. It was there that the Dynamic Drive found him, changing his life forever.

Appearance: Merlin Dempsey is a man of average height, with a slender and clean shaven face, blue eyes, a hatchet nose, and a strong shock of white hair. His voice is powerful and controlled, an instrument which he wields expertly. While often passionate, his erect posture and strong shoulders often make him appear taller than his true height would suggest. When people meet him in person after seeing him on television, they often remark, "I thought you'd be taller."
The Headmaster is played by Terence Stamp.

Headmaster Dempsey in Play: The Headmaster is a GM tool intended to keep students at the King Academy in line. As such, he violates two major rules. His Neutralize is higher in rank than his PL should permit, and his Boost stacks with Super-Intelligence to go above his PL. Conceptually, Dempsey is a PL 7 Super-Scientist who has received tremendous powers far in excess of what a player character would be allowed. Those powers have so many Flaws that his PL is lower than normal. If this bothers you, simply remove the Degrades and Heroic Effort Flaws on his Neutralize, and remove the Degrades Flaw on his Boost. This raises his point total by 46 points and makes him a PL 18 character.

As written, each time Merlin uses his Neutralize or Boost, however, the bonus it grants goes down by 1. Note that he must spend an HP before using his Neutralize or Regeneration, while his Boost is Tiring. He can call on the Dynamic Drive to instantly negate even powers about to be hurled at him (Neutralizing Block), or drain all the creativity out of a large number of foes. If necessary, he can spend an additional HP to make his Neutralize Field selective, leaving his allies and faculty with powers. Merlin also has complete control over the reality of the school itself, so long as the Dynamic Drive is running properly. This has not been represented in his powers.

Merlin Dempsey is a changed man. He has come to grips with his inner demons and faced the truths of his soul. Constant exposure to the creative energy of the Dynamic Drive has given him a new appreciation for experimental work and he doubts he will ever return to his Chair of Physics at Cambridge. Instead, he looks forward to founding a legacy of youth and enthusiasm that would make the King family proud. He chose to open the school on the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. as a way of recognizing a misguided bigotry he has since outgrown.

In his relations with others, Merlin comes off as a passionate intellectual. Once a man known for his cool reserve, he now exudes a fiery strength of character. He's prone to eloquent, emotional speeches that look good on camera, and while in the classroom he now emphasizes hands-on interaction with the problem rather than abstract analysis. One on one encounters can often find him returning to his quiet, introspective ways however, particularly during interviews with prospective students.

The Ghost of Newton: PL 3 (55 pp); Init +0; Spd 30 ft (run), 30 ft (fly); Defense 10 (+0 base, +0 dex); Atk +0; Atk -3 melee (-3S unarmed strike), +0 ranged; Str 4, Dex 10, Con 4, Int 20, Wis 16, Cha 14 (8 pp)
    Skills: Craft (Writing) +14, Diplomacy +8, Knowledge (History) +14, Knowledge (Law) +14, Knowledge (Occult) +14, Knowledge (Religion) +14, Languages (Aramaic, Classical Greek, French, Hebrew, Latin), Profession (Teacher) +9, Science (Astronomy) +14, Science (Chemistry) +14, Science (Mathematics) +14, Science (Physics) +17, Science (Quantum Physics) +14, Science (Nuclear Physics) +14, Sense Motive +9 (45 pp)
    Feats: Assessment, Photographic Memory, Psychic Awareness, Skill Focus (Physics) (8 pp)
    Powers: Incorporeal +3 (Source: Alien; Extras: Flight, Immunities (exhaustion, suffocation, starvation), Super-Intelligence; Flaws: Permanent; Cost: 4; Total: 12) (12 pp)
    Weakness: Disabled (The Ghost of Newton cannot leave the King Academy campus) (-10 pp)

This isn't, in point of fact, the ghost of the actual Sir Isaac Newton. It is, however, a facsimile so good that no one who hasn't known the original could tell the difference. It is created by the Dynamic Drive according to the imagined notions of what Newton was really like, and how he would act today, according to various experts on Newton in nations around the world. None of these scholars know that their opinions of Newton are tapped in this method, and in fact if they were to meet him, they would be amazed at how close he meets their expectations.

Born in 1642 on Christmas Day, Newton had a difficult early life. His father died before he was born and he was separated from his mother from the age of 4 until 11. At 16 he was taken out of school by his mother to work the farm, but he was such a bad farm worker that the local schoolteacher eventually persuaded his mother to send him to college. He was accepted into Cambridge in 1661, where he would remain for the next 34 years (except for a 2 year period when he was fleeing the plague).  His ground breaking work was on mathematics, optics, and mechanics, but he also studied ancient history and theology, eventually coming to the conclusion that the concept of the Trinity was a lie fabricated by Popes. He secretly rejected the divinity of Christ, studying the occult and alchemy. By the age of 27, he was the Lucasian Professor and five years later he joined the Royal Society.

After bitter clashes with Robert Hooke and the death of two patrons, Newton withdrew from academia to nurse his mother through the last years of her life. Halley (of comet fame) persuaded him to return to scholarly debate  and in 1687 he published his masterwork, the Principia Mathematica. This is largely considered the most important scientific treatise in the history of mankind, introducing calculus, uniting terrestrial and celestial mechanics, explaining gravity, and paving the way for the Industrial Revolution. He was on the outs with James II due to the King's Catholic leanings, but back in favor under William and Mary. He was a Member of Parliament in 1689 and 1701,but between these years he had a mental breakdown from overwork and his lack of social advancement. His book Praxis (on philosophy and alchemy) was written at this time. By 1696 he had recovered and was Warden of the Royal Mint, a post he used to create a viciously efficient anti-counterfeiting league. He was rewarded with promotion in 1699.

When Hooke died in 1703, Newton rejoined the Academy and was elected President. He reorganized the society, wrote his Optics, staffed the Academy with his own supporters and suppressed his enemies. In 1705 he was knighted by Queen Anne.
Newton is secretive and self-confident. While the historical Newton had a tremendous ego, the modern version has realized that his own work on physics was just the tip of an iceberg which would be revealed later by Einstein and others. This makes him more modest and even funny, especially to favored pupils. His unusual religious beliefs, which would have gotten him in trouble in his own lifetime, are rather mundane now, so he likes to experiment and research the occult in an effort to catch up on the times.

In fact, the Ghost of Newton knows all about modern mathematical theory, being able to tap into the thoughts of physicists all over the world through the power of the Drive. He firmly believes he is the actual Ghost of Newton, and thinks he is composed of "pure mathematics." This enables him to feel new mathematical theories as they are developed, keeping him on the cutting edge of science.

He's a translucent image of a brooding Englishman of average build with white hair. He doesn't dress in 17th century fashion anymore, preferring a timeless collection of casual suit jackets, loose trousers, slip-on shoes, and a t-shirt, all in white.

Mary "Phosfiend" Blofeld: PL 5; Init +1; Spd 30 ft. (run); Defense 13 (+2 base, +1 dex); BAB +1; Atk +0 melee (-1S unarmed strike), +1 ranged (+5L Energy Blast or DC 15 Dazzle); SV Dmg +0 (Armor+5), Fort +0, Ref +1, Will +1; Str 8, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 14 (15 pp)
    Skills: Bluff +8, Concentration +5, Diplomacy +4, Gather Information +4, Hide +3, Listen +5, Medicine +3, Move Silently +3, Perform (karaoke) +6, Repair +5, Search +3, Sense Motive +8, Spot +3, Taunt +6 (23 pp)
    Feats: Attractive, Immunity (Heat) (4 pp)
    Powers: Energy Field +5 (Source: Mutation; Extras: Dazzle, Energy Blast, Flight; Flaw: Permanent; Cost: 4; Total: 20 pp) (20 pp)
    Equipment: Skinsuit (+6 armor; Stunts: Immunity (starvation, suffocation); Cost: 1; Total: 8 pp)
    Weakness: Susceptibility (Mary's powers are not properly developed. She is not immune to her own damage field and must wear her skinsuit at all times lest she spontaneously combust. She cannot fire her energy blast, dazzle, or fly while wearing the suit.)

Phosfiend is an example of one of those mutants whose powers would never be suitable for a hero PC. Her skin in infused with a phosphorous-like chemical which ignites when it comes in contact with air. Unfortunately for Phosfiend, she's not immune to this ignition, and will die in less than a minute if her suit is removed.

Before her powers manifested, Mary was a popular and outgoing girl in an ordinary high school. She has red hair, gray eyes, a pale complexion, and freckles all over. Her suit was designed by Headmaster Dempsey  and it recycles all her breathing and bodily waste. She eats through the use of food paste kept in tubes which plug into her mouthpiece. She hates this and finds it incredibly humiliating, but there's no other way for her to live. At time she sneaks into the Think Tank and makes her suit vanish, and while this makes her feel good for a little while, she always cries herself to sleep.

Physicians concur that if Mary can live for about four more years (she's currently 16) her body will adjust to its powers and she will be able to leave her suit forever. After three close calls, Mary's not sure she'll ever see that day.

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