Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.956
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Street-Knight (Speed): Level 50 Natural Brute
Primary Power Set: War Mace
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Pulverize

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
  
• (3) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance
  
• (3) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge
  
• (5) Impervium Armor - Resistance
  
• (7) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
  

• (A) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage
  
• (19) Mako's Bite - Damage/Endurance
  
• (19) Mako's Bite - Damage/Recharge
  
• (31) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
  

• (A) Titanium Coating - Resistance
  
• (5) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
  
• (34) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance
  

• (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
  
• (11) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance
  
• (13) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge
  

• (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
  
• (15) Rope A Dope - Accuracy/Endurance
  
• (15) Rope A Dope - Accuracy/Recharge
  
• (36) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
  
• (36) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
  
• (36) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
  
• (13) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge
  
• (17) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
  
• (17) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
  

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
  

• (A) Kinetic Combat - Knockdown Bonus
  

• (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
  
• (37) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance
  
• (37) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge
  

• (A) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  
• (39) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
  
• (40) Obliteration - Damage
  
• (40) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
  
• (40) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
  
• (42) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
  

• (A) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy
  
• (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod
  
• (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
  
• (46) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge
  

• (A) Titanium Coating - Resistance
  
• (23) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance
  
• (23) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
  

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
  
• (25) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
  
• (25) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
  

• (A) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  
• (27) Obliteration - Damage
  
• (27) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
  
• (31) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
  
• (31) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
  
• (46) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
  

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
  
• (29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
  
• (29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
  
• (50) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge
  

• (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff
  
• (34) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
  
• (42) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
  
• (42) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
  
• (45) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
  
• (46) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
  

• (A) Obliteration - Damage
  
• (33) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
  
• (33) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
  
• (33) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
  
• (34) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  
• (37) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
  

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
  

• (A) Aegis - Resistance
  
• (39) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance
  
• (39) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
  
• (43) Aegis - Resistance/Recharge
  
• (43) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance
  

• (A) Perfect Zinger - Chance for Psi Damage
  

• (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
  

• (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
  
• (48) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance
  
• (48) Performance Shifter - EndMod
  
• (48) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
  

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
  
• (50) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
  
• (50) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
  
• (7) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
  
• (9) Miracle - Heal
  
• (9) Miracle - +Recovery
  
• (11) Regenerative Tissue - +Regeneration
  

• (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy
  
• (43) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod
  
• (45) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge
  
• (45) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Endurance
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Empty
  

Dr Empty - 21/Jun/2012
The brilliant eco-engineer woke again.  As usual she could smell strong drink about her person, though she was completely sober, 'knurd'[1] as she liked to call it.  As she often did when she woke, she speculated on the nature, even the gender, of the person who transformed into her.  But, she was dressed as usual, in her Mad Scientist lab coat, over dark clothes that didn't stain easily.
Others called her the 'Mad Terraformer'.  She preferred 'Dr Empty', from 'Dr MT'.  It was as good a name as any, and she didn't need any other.  Though, she'd sometimes fancied 'Sara' – it meant 'princess', though that was a bit frivolous.
The first priority was to obtain coffee, as strong as possible; she wished Klatchian Coffee[2] really existed, it'd make the process of staying herself easier, but, she'd make do.  Next, to check her distributed secret bank accounts - she thought they were running a bit low, so maybe she'd have to do some paying work, before more fun research.  Fortunately she hadn't got any existing projects running she'd need to check-up on.
Two days later she'd built another ten Standard Asteroid Terraforming Kits[3], and dispatched them to the usual suspects who'd sell them on.  The money was already winging its way to her bank accounts.  Maybe she'd take a little break and enjoy herself, before getting on with some research.
Wait a minute!  She'd been cheated!  This is... Decaffeinated Coffee!  Arrrggg!
---

He woke, as usual, after one of his several day benders, in a strange hotel room.  His clothes were clean, and matched what he'd been wearing when he started drinking.  As usual, he smelled strongly of coffee.  Hard to tell if the hotel room had been prepaid for, so, best to take a quiet leave...
He called himself 'Joe', "Just Joe", was his answer if anyone asked; he'd never liked being called 'Mr Bates'.  His latest bender had probably cost him his gardening job.  Though sometimes he'd call himself an 'ecologist', unless they asked to see his qualifications.  He got by.
If he'd gone to university, the way he wanted, before he left Earth, maybe he'd have made more of himself.  Always fancied swanning around in a brilliant white lab coat, telling people what to do.  Closest he'd got to university was cleaning out some really nasty sumps.  That green stuff got everywhere, but he made sure to safely dispose of every drop.
He guessed that's where he got biomodded.  He'd not noticed much difference. Cuts healed faster, and hangovers, he didn't get them any more.  And he couldn't stand coffee, made him nauseous, had to make do with tea.
He fed himself, stayed clean enough to get jobs, had a few casual friends.  It'd be nice, he guessed, to settle down some day.  Maybe get married, have kids.  But, somehow, whenever he tried to think about his ideal, the woman he wanted to marry, it just made him feel more depressed.
Funny, he didn't feel the desire to dress in women's clothing any more.  The secret guilt, the furtive joy, had gone out of it.  He'd never wanted a sex change, for him it'd been about the clothes.  But, his benders, he just didn't remember them any more.  And, he couldn't go a few months without one.
Still, he'd a badly broken leg at the start of one of them, and it was all healed afterwards, three days later.  No sign of the cast.  That other time, a smashed foot.  Where'd the matching shoe come from, he'd been wearing when he woke up?  And, even if they'd got pretty bad while drinking, his clothes were always clean.
One of these days he'd have to make a serious effort to find out what his biomod was...

Open Source
You can make free use of this character (these two characters?) in your stories.  The only thing that might stop Joe going on these benders is if he was living a totally happy life.
Joe was probably at least a borderline alcoholic when he was biomodded, maybe self-medication for his mental problems, and is now functionally immune to the bad effects of alcohol.  He's also got effectively double the lifespan.  Unfortunately he only gets to live half of that.
Dr Empty is functionally immune to the bad effects of (too much) coffee, and while she would like some more research time, something always goes wrong after at most seven days, and she wakes up again at least a week, or longer (rarely more than a few months), later.
If either of them is critically injured, and 'dies', they will permanently revert to a cleanly dressed, fully healthy, other.  Who now can't touch either alcohol or coffee without feeling nauseous.  And still counts as biomodded.  For extra fun, they now might start remembering bits of the other's life.
Please don't kill Joe, just to get Dr Empty full-time.  Though, if you come up with a good story that needs his death, that'd work.  Visa versa Dr Empty.  Preferably not until Season 2, though.
If either of them (or anyone) makes a serious attempt to figure out their shared biomod (mostly they don't think about it too much) interesting things are likely to happen - Discordian levels of interesting.  Until they give up.  It isn't that they can't find out, it's just that there'd better be some really, really, good reason to do so - threatened life-or-death situations for one of them might not be enough.
Note: Yes, I realise that Klatchian Coffee exists in Fenspace.  However, even though she's a 'Discworld' fan, Dr Empty hasn't heard about it.  Yet.  If she does Joe's benders will likely get longer.  And Fenspace will 'benefit' more from her skills.
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

From todays XKCD:



He's right. It really is an exciting time.

When: To be determined.Where: Paragon City
What: A Pajama Party, silly!
Why: Because we can!  (See: Swimsuit TF; Get Naked, Fight Crime!; Halloween Hijinks; etc)

Who: Everyone!

So we were gabbing in the channel and it occurred to me, we should do a Legendary Pajama Party and Task Force night.  Rhea, or any of my other alts, will bring (virtual) snacks and their best PJs.  Most likely will have to happen on a weekend or a Friday night, given people's schedules, but let's work it out here so we have some idea -- assuming there's interest, of course.

Terr has proposed we do Tin Mage in our PJs.  I like this plan.  I think we should all be part of it.

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs

Singularity Club – 19/Jun/2012
"The First Rule of Singularity Club, is that you don't talk about Singularity Club."
"The Second Rule of Singularity Club, is there is no Singularity Club."
There are occasional rumours, on the edge of the Hacker Underspace.  When you ask people who should know, the usual answer is "How could you tell?".
Singularity Club, if it did exist, would be concerned with existential threats to Fenspace, and all known sentient beings.  The headline threat is a runaway Singularity, which if it can occur, almost certainly, sooner or later, will do so.  Singularity Club might be enthusiastic about the 'later' option.
There are some incredibly powerful AIs in Fenspace.  You'd expect them to be more involved in things, seeing as they think orders of magnitude faster than humans.  And humans, they manage to get their fingers in everything, even running "Plains Ape 1.0".  Do AIs ever seem distracted?  Are they just playing an AI-speed MMORPG?  Singularity Club might be one answer.
You might be concerned that everything depends on the benevolence of handwavium. You might be concerned there is no Plan B.  A Singularity would likely suck-in all sentient beings in the Solar System.  For sentience as we know it to have a Plan B, if the Singularity fails in some way, there must be a functional culture outside it's short-term reach.  Somewhere beyond the Solar System.
So, this might be one reason why nanotech is taking so long to arrive in Fenspace.  This might be one reason superintelligent AIs just seem to think like humans, only faster.  This might be one reason...
SfX: *FLASH*
What was I saying?
== The use of neuralizers by representatives of Singularity Club cannot be confirmed or denied. ==

META: Emily[1][2] was one early AI, with at least superhuman intelligence, and potentially access to as much processing power as she wanted, and could find power supply and cooling for (without advancing Global Warming too much).  She was tasked to "fix the world", and a basic part of her nature is to fix things for people which are broken.  She was also tied into the virtual world via "TRON", which is an abbreviation for the command "Trace On", implying an imperative to find out what was wrong there.  Emily hasn't surfaced in the early history of the Hacker Underspace – what might she have been doing with her time?
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

Wind's four quarters, Air and Fire,
Earth and Water, hear my desire!
Grant my plea, who stands alone,
Maiden, Warrior, Mother and Crone.

Eastern Wind, blow clear, blow clean,
Cleanse my body of its pain.
Cleanse my mind of what I've seen,
Cleans my honor of its stain.
Maid whose love has never ceased,
Bring me healing from the East.

Southern Wind, blow hot, blow hard,
Fan my courage to a flame!
Southern Wind, be guide and guard,
Add your bravery to my name.
Let my will and Yours be twinned,
Warrior of the Southern Wind.

Wind's four quarters, Air and Fire,
Earth and Water, hear my desire!
Grant my plea, who stands alone,
Maiden, Warrior, Mother and Crone.

Western Wind, blow stark, blow strong,
Grant me arm and mind of steel!
On a road both hard and long,
Mother, hear me where I kneel.
Let no weakness on my quest
Hinder me, Wind of the West.

Northern Wind, blow cruel, blow cold,
Sheathe my aching heart in ice!
All around my soul enfold,
Crone, I need not call you twice.
To my foes bring cold of death,
Chill me, North Wind's frozen breath.

Wind's four quarters, Air and Fire,
Earth and Water, hear my desire!
Grant my plea, who stands alone,
Maiden, Warrior, Mother and Crone.
Maiden, Warrior, Mother and Crone.

-- Heather Alexander, "Wind's Four Quarters"

(There's also a version performed by Leslie Fish, who co-wrote this song with Mercedes Lackey, which sounds very different.)
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Awww lordy, here we go again...  Just as when Firewire faced off against USB 2.0...
On one side we have Apple's contribution: Thunderbolt.  On the other: USB 3.0.  Both have their pros and cons.  Both have backwards compatibility.
What I find amusing about everyone's scuffle over which is better... is that Intel played major roles in the development of BOTH!!!  So now I'm just wondering why all the hubub is over.  Both seem remarkably similar (though Thunderbolt is admittedly ultimately intended for a display device).  The only real advantage I see one having over the other is that USB 3.0 inherits 1.1 and 2.0's absurd daisy-chain abilities... while Thunderbolt can only handle six, with the seventh item being a display device.

I thought some of you might be interested in this.
Prometheus Music, a small independent label (I think that is the right term), which specializes in filkmusic, is currently having a sale.  Through Wednesday, if you buy their new cd, you get 25% off any of their other cds.  I'm particularly a fan of their album To Touch The Stars, which is filled with some excellent space filk music.  Julia Ecklar's Divine Intervention cd is also really really good.
All the details are in the link at the start of this post.
Also, if you go to their catalog page, you can then go to each album's page, and listen to the full songs on each album before buying (and download mp3s for a few of the songs).  Its really nice.
Edit:  Changed the thread title slightly.
Also, it's been a while since I last bought a cd from them, but IIRC, when I ordered the cd, I seem to recall being sent an email with a download link for the songs on said cd, so I could start listening right away.  It was quite nice.  I don't know if they still do that, but I expect that they do, unless I am misremembering.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.

Sooo after Skyreiko got me interested in Fensapce. (which turned out to be pure muse crack for me) I took a shot at making a character.

Still very much a work in progress, so any feedback would be welcomed.

Quote:Name: Joshua Greenway

Gender: Female (born male)

Ethnicity: Australian

Citizenship: Australian

In 2012 after much saving and planing, Joshua had finally got enough Handwavium to create something he had always wanted, a personal suit of power armour. But not wanting to be another Tony Stark wannabe, he started working on a suit of Majolnir Mark 6 battle armour from the halo series.

Once the suit was completed, in a fit of fanboyish stupidity, He climbed in and powered it up. Unfortunately, the suit was every bit as good as the fiction made it up to be. As he went to pick up the helmet, his simple movement effectively turned him into a human bouncy ball, sending him through the remaining wavium and half way down the block before the suit safety cut off power.

Eventually he came to in the Leonard H. McCoy Memorial Medical Center, When he crashed through his remaining handwavuim, he coincidently ingested/inhaled most of it, resulting in an extreme biomod. Josh's body is now on par with that of the Spartans he was trying to mimic, but as expected, the change had several quirks as Josh is now a seven foot tall elfin woman that with some a blond wig, could pass for Powergirl.

Quirks. 
Amazon Brigade: Stands seven foot tall, with a body that’s a mix of super model and pro athlete.
Stormtrooper accuracy: When using pistols, machine guns or stranded rifles, could not hit the broad side of a barn from inside it unless...
AoE FTW!: Any weapon that would cause an area of effect will hit dead on. (this also includes shot guns for some reason)

Armour Quirks.
What the hell is this black stuff?: when the suit is exposed to extreme environments (hard vacuum, extreme heat/cold), it gains a strange layer of black ash/sludge.

At least, I think it's from that plane: some authors work in multiple settings, and Mercedes Lackey might be one of them.Anyway, what do you think Doug's magegift would make of Kerowyn's Ride? (Lyrics by Misty Lackey, Kethry's lines sung by Leslie Fish, and Kerowyn's lines sung by Heather Alexander.)

Quote:Kerowyn, Kerowyn, where are you going?
Dressed in men's clothing, a sword by your side
Your face pale as death, and your eyes full of fury
Kerowyn Kerowyn, where do you ride?

Last night in the darkness black raiders attacked us
Our Hold lays in ruins below
They've stolen our treasure and the bride of my brother
And to her aid now I must go,
To her side now I must go

Kerowyn, Kerowyn, where is your father?
And where is your brother? This task should be theirs
It is not seemly for maids to be warriors
Go back to your valley, and to woman's cares

My father lies dead at the hands of their leader
My brother lies raving in pain
The raiders left no man unwounded to free her
But in their hands she'll not remain,
I vow she'll not with them remain

Kerowyn, Kerowyn, where are your senses?
What can you hope to accomplish alone
You have no knowledge of war or of weapons
Why loose your life, for a girl you scarce known

This is for more than a matter of honor
And more than a matter of pride
She's but a child, all alone and unaided
And someone at least should've tried,
So now to her rescue I ride

[Bridge]

Grandmother, grandmother I need a weapon
I'm one against many, and I am afraid
The raiders have bought them a dark wizard's power
I cannot help Dierna without magic aid

Kerowyn, grand-daughter, into your keeping
I'll give you this sword I once wore
Need us her name now ride fearless to battle
She'll aid as she did me before, her magic is strong as before

Grandmother, grandmother, why turn so willing
Why did you try to persuade me to stay
Whence came this weapon of steel and of magic
And why do you choose now to give it away

Kerowyn, not for the weak or the fearful
Is the path of a warrior maid
You've passed all my tests, now ride out with my blessings
And trust in the spell of the blade, ride now and go unafraid