Char vs the Bulette
This story is set on Earth-218
and features a d20 version of one of the MSH characters from the campaign I ran
back in high school. It is one of the
examples on how I plan on incorporating D&D into a modern/near future setting.
Rudy’s Story
Chapter 1 -
“Being a superhero sucks!” Rudy thought from about the hundredth time in ten minutes as he stood in the knee-deep snow. His black wrestling boots did absolutely nothing to ward off the cold or wetness and his heavy Kevlar-lined leather duster, while exceedingly cool and reinforced with carbon fiber trauma plates was dragging in the white powdery fluff.
The Latino hero blew into his hands to warm them, musing at the irony. His power, well one of them anyway, was the ability to project gouts of red-hot flames from his hands. You’d think that he’d be able to generate a small enough flame to survive a winter in the Great Frozen North but that degree of control was beyond his ability – he could go full blast or nothing at all. As least his Luchador’s mask kept the wind from blowing directly in his face. He tapped one of the tiny buttons built into the side of his mask, dialing in the frequency to the channel he had been assigned by the SCP.
Static filled his mask’s built-in headset as he tuned in the station. Walking to keep warm, Rudy allowed his mind to wander. His thoughts carried him back a week to Los Angeles and that bastard Briscoe. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent had appeared out of nowhere, just like he always did to “request” that Rudy’s alter ego Char travel to Canada as part of an exchange program set up with Department H. Although reluctant, Rudy accepted, knowing that the government agency would provide a small but generous stipend for his time, money that he could use to help support his grandmother’s restaurant. With his uncle Juan covering for him, Rudy bought a Greyhound ticket and headed up to Saskatchewan. The heavily forested, wintry countryside made him feel ill at ease as he was used to concrete, skyscrapers and warm southern California sunshine.
An official from Department H, a humorless man who answered to the name Mason, greeted Rudy as the bus station. “Jackass” was more like it Rudy thought as he climbed into the unmarked black sedan and driven out to the gods forsaken wilderness. The car drove along a highway for about an hour and Rudy saw more moose, wolves, bears and other wildlife in that short amount of time than he had seen in the rest of his life combined. “Just where is this idiot taking me? If this turns into something outta Deliverance, I swear I’m gonna cook this jerk” Rudy thought to himself.
A crop duster flew by overhead, dumping a load of chemical into the treetops. Mason turned his head toward Rudy and said “Spraying for moths, part of population control efforts. Nothing to worry about.” Rudy snorted, completely unconcerned about any sort of toxin the plane might be carrying since no poison had been able to harm him since his powers first manifested and ignoring the obvious lie since there was no reason to spray crops of any kind in the winter chill.
The car finally left the highway, turning off onto a side road and wound its way into a huge forest, stretching for hundreds of miles in either direction. Mason wasn’t the type of guy to make small talk, so Rudy entertained himself by singing very raunchy songs that he had written himself. Mason didn’t even crack a smile. “Yep, no sense of humor.”
The car finally reached a chain link fence with a guard post. A man in winter camouflage stepped out of the watch station with a military rifle with a grenade launcher mounted beneath the barrel and checked Mason’s credentials before returning to his post. He opened the gate and Mason guided the sedan through. The agent drove another 5 minutes before pulling into a bulldozed parking lot in front of a large Quonset hut. A concrete wall, perhaps 15’ high could be seen off in the distance beyond the tent. Men with automatic rifles walked the top of the wall and even from inside the car, Rudy could see cameras aimed at the ground on the other side.
Rudy opened the passenger door, reached into the backseat to grab his gym bag and followed Mason into the tent. Inside, the hut was warmly lit and sub-divided into smaller sections. Mason led Char down a hallway and opened a door. The agent turned his head and said “Your quarters” before moving on. Rudy threw his bag in his room and hurried to catch up. The agent led him through a small mess hall, past an office and into a large room. One wall was taken up entirely by video monitors that were being watched by a man in dark coveralls and sunglasses.
The other half of the room had stainless steel gurneys, surgical equipment and all sorts of electronics that Rudy could only guess the function of. A man in a long white lab coat, with his left arm in a sling and tiny cuts on his face turned and smiled. “Ah! You’ve arrived” he exclaimed as he strode toward Char, hand extended. Rudy took his hand and shook. “I am Dr. Abrams. Glad to have you aboard. Has Agent Mason brought you up to speed on what’s been happening up here?”
Rudy shook his head “No Doc and I need to tell you, Chuckles over there could use a personality transplant. He’s as talkative as this fern an ex-girlfriend gave me a couple years back.”
Abrams turned, pulled open the drawer of a filing cabinet and pulled out a plain manila folder. He handed the file to Rudy “In that case, you’d better start reading.”
Chapter 2 -
It turns out that the wall was 20’ high instead of the 15’ that Char estimated. He paced along the top of the wall looking down into the enclosure below. An irregularly shaped pool of blood, some 30’ across and of an unknown depth lay below. The Canadian government had no idea what the pool was of why it had mysteriously appeared in the middle of the wilderness. Two survivors of a Cessna crash discovered the pool almost two years ago. They had recorded the pond’s location on a portable GPS device. Once rescued, they reported what they had found.
The government arrived the next day and cordoned off the area. Investigation began two days later when a survey team arrived with a large crane with a long extendable boom that was airlifted to the location. Probes fitted with all sorts of data collection equipment were lowered by crane into the pool. Samples of the “blood” were taken and tested. After almost two years of study, the research team had learned only three things.
1. The blood was not biological in origin.
2. The pool’s temperature remained at a fairly constant 90º F.
3. At seemingly random intervals, “things” emerged from the pool. In almost all cases, these entities were hostile and incredibly dangerous.
After the third entity emerged from the pool and killed several guards, the concrete enclosure was built to prevent the creatures escaping from the immediate area. In all, eight creatures had emerged from the pool - the last incident being eight months ago. Char wasn’t even sure what he was sent here to do. The troops were well trained, the research staff was all geniuses and he was a human flamethrower from south Los Angeles. Only two more days and he would leave the snow behind and head back to the sun-kissed land he called home. Rudy stifled a yawn and stretched … and then the pool bubbled.
Chapter 3 -
The bubble caught Rudy’s attention, and that of the dozen guards walking the enclosure. A bony crest broke the surface of the pool. The armored shell of a massive four-legged beast followed the crest. Each of the monster’s four legs sported claws as long as Ruby’s forearm and when the creature tipped back its head to roar the guards opened fire. Bullets bounced and ricocheted off of the bony carapace harmlessly, drawing the monster’s attention. Pumping its four squat legs, the creature leapt into the air with surprising grace. The creature crashed down on the wall, crushing a section of reinforced concrete into rubble and surged forward. The thing was easily as large as a van. Rudy stared for a just a moment and extended both hands and loosed a torrent of fire that washed across the shell. The monster charged forward, its elephantine legs churning, reducing the rubble from the broken wall to concrete powder.
The monster’s mouth swung open, impossibly wide, like the maw of an armored hippopotamus. Its roar splitting the air right before it slammed its huge mouth shut, closing on the nearest unfortunate soldier, biting him in half, and swallowing him from the waist up in one gulp.
Char rushed forward, arms extended and cut loose with another fiery torrent of his power. The red-hot fire washed across the side of the creature’s head, blackening the thick bony plates. The beast swiveled, its entire body turning to face the superhero head on. Two rounds from the soldiers’ grenade launchers slammed into the sides of the beast, detonating on impact and drawing the creature’s attention away from the superhero once more. The monster roared and leaped, crushing one guard beneath its massive bulk and disemboweling another with a swipe of its claws.
Char hit the transmit button on the communicator built into his mask and called out for the guards to fall back. Fire erupted from the soles of his feet, launching him 40’ into the air. He focused, drawing upon more power and blasted the monster with a two-fisted inferno and began yelling at the creature, trying to draw it away from the soldiers. As Char landed, the monster rushed him, slapping him with a swipe of its claws that sent him airborne once more. Char crashed through the wooden wall of a nearby tool shed, the armor plates sewn into the lining of his jacket saving him from being gutted.
Shaking his head to clear it, Char heard gunfire outside and staggered to his feet, arms out to his sides for balance. His fingers brushed against cold steel. He looked down, seeing a crowbar and an idea, a crazy idea began to form in his head. He snatched up the tool and staggered out through the hole in the wall.
Chapter 4 -
Char ran at the beast, crowbar in hand and leaped high once more. Landing astride the monster’s head, he whipped the tool down, catching the hooked end in the corner of the creature’s mouth and pulled with all of his might. While he knew he was doing no actual harm to the monster, the beast did roar in pain as the improvised fishhook dug in. The monster began to turn toward the source of its irritation, its armored body spinning in place. Char flung blast after blast of flames at the back of the creature’s head. His fire washed harmlessly off of the monster with little effect.
The monster began to jump and bounce, trying to dislodge Char from his perch. Thankfully the creature’s lack of a neck prevented it from shaking its head from side to side. The superhero grabbed onto the edge of a bony plate and continued to haul on the crowbar.
Around and around the creature went, its jumps and leaps carrying it further away from the pool and the guards. The monster bounced out onto the highway, the bright lights of a tractor-trailer bearing down on it. Char looked up just in time to see semi and released his grip on the creature and the crowbar. A pillar of fire sent him up and away from the monster as the truck slammed into the beast. The screech of twisting metal filled the air and the back of the truck jack-knifed sharply, whipping the rear of the trailer around to the right, smashing trees in its path. The truck rolled, flipping onto its side and skidding down the road for over a hundred feet before it finally stopped. Char’s fire began to flicker out and the hero dropped to the ground. He scanned the torn asphalt, spotting his crowbar in the wreckage and grabbed it again. He picked his way toward the crumpled remnants of the truck.
A roar filled the air once more and what was left of the truck was torn apart by the massive claws and thrashing body of the armored monster. The creature staggered forward, several plates cracked and broken, bleeding from many tiny wounds and began pawing the ground with its feet. Focusing its tiny eyes on Char, the beast charged again.
Chapter 5 -
Char ran. The thunderous approach of the beast as it rapidly gained on him shook the ground. The superhero dashed across the highway, zigzagging to keep out of the monster’s path. Every so often, he would loose a burst of fire from his feet, lifting him into the air like a rocket whenever the creature drew too close. The night-vision built into Char’s mask picked out a shape up ahead. It looked like a barn or small hanger and he angled toward it, leaping repeatedly to stay ahead of the nightmare that was pursuing him. “At least the guards are safe. And we’re leaving a trail a blind man could follow. Maybe someone will find a rocket launcher or something to kill this thing with before anyone else gets hurt.”
Char reached the apex of his leap and began to drop to the ground when the beast surprised him with a burst of speed, leaping high and crashing into him from behind. Char sailed forward, smashing through his second wooden wall of the evening and crashed down inside a large open room. A small biplane was parked in front of him, the crop duster he’d seen a few days ago. He staggered to his feet, several ribs broken from the multiple impacts and lurched forward. A terrible crash told Char that the massive fiend had burst through the wall, cornering him inside the barn. The hero’s legs gave out and he began to drag himself across the floor. The beast began to stalk forward. Rudy reached the back of the huge room, lying on the floor at the base of a large yellow metal tank. The night-vision in his mask flickered back on, revealing writing on the side of the tank reading “DANGER! POISON!” A valve was connected to a hose hanging on the side of the tank. Idly, Char realized that the hose was probably used to fill the tank on the crop duster with the pesticide. He reached up; grabbing one of the tank’s many tiny protrusions and pulled himself to his feet. The superhero shouted at the approaching monster “I’ve got something for your ass! BRING IT!”
The monster roared once more, the thunderous noise shaking the dust from the rafters. The creature rushed at Char and the hero summoned the last of his strength to throw himself out of the way, falling to the ground just barely out of the beast’s path. The tank crumpled on impact and poison filled the room. The monster recoiled suddenly, its mouth and eyes filled with deadly chemicals. Liquid toxins poured out of the ruptured tank, covering both combatants. The monster began to thrash back and forth, howling in agony. Gallon after gallon of pesticide poured into the nightmare’s gaping mouth, choking the beast and sending it into convulsions. Finally, the mighty monster collapsed, overcome by the poison in its powerful armored body.
Char, using his crowbar as a cane, finally managed to regain his feet. Venom had soaked his costume, his ribs were on fire and he began to stagger out of the barn. He looked down at the battered iron lever and cracked a smile behind his mask “I have got to get me one of these!” he thought to himself as limped out through the giant hole the monster had torn in the side of the building.
END –
NG Medium Humanoid
Init +2; Senses: Listen +4, Spot +4
Languages: Read/Write and Speak English and Spanish
Immune: Fire, Poison
Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +7
Spd: 30’ (6 sqaures)
Ranged +11 Fire Blast 7d6 Ref ½ DC17, max range 880’
• Improved Energy Blast (Fire): Long range; Energy cost: 1 – When Rudy uses this ability, fire pours forth from his outstretched hands (or mouth or feet) with a horrendous roar. The flames are intense and leave a trail of ash along the path, which blows away on the slightest breeze.
• Improved Leaping: (Jump x4 as far, max is quadrupled; +12 competence bonus to Jump checks, +2 to Balance) – Fire pours from the bottom of Rudy’s feet, propelling him skyward like a rocket.
Reducer: Uses Energy: Energy Cost: 1
• Standard Life Support (Reducer: Poison Resistant only; this applies to drugs and alcohol but not corrosive toxins that cause acid damage)
Superhero Costume (Black Pants and Shirt, Full Black Facemask w/ integrated Hands-Free Military-Grade Walkie-talkie; Black Leather Gloves with the fingers and palms cut out, Black Steel-toed Boots; Black Leather Duster – see armor below); Duster (reduces damage from fragmentation weapons by 1-point/die; provides 4-point DR vs. firearms and converts half of the remaining damage to nonlethal damage; +2 save vs. chemical attacks); 21” Titanium Crowbar
Birthrank: 1 of 1; born May 5th, 1981 # of Siblings: none
Height: 5’6” Weight: 195 lbs. Hair: Black Eyes: Brown
Appearance: Rudy is a short and stocky Hispanic man. Recently he has begun wearing a thin goatee. In civilian clothes he prefers heavy, steel-toed hiking shoes, baggy jeans with a belt, a plain t-shirt and a blue plaid shirt. He generally carries a bandana in his pocket. His superhero costume is snug fitting and all black, complete with a full luchador’s facemask.
Chapter 1 -
“Being a superhero sucks!” Rudy thought from about the hundredth time in ten minutes as he stood in the knee-deep snow. His black wrestling boots did absolutely nothing to ward off the cold or wetness and his heavy Kevlar-lined leather duster, while exceedingly cool and reinforced with carbon fiber trauma plates was dragging in the white powdery fluff.
The Latino hero blew into his hands to warm them, musing at the irony. His power, well one of them anyway, was the ability to project gouts of red-hot flames from his hands. You’d think that he’d be able to generate a small enough flame to survive a winter in the Great Frozen North but that degree of control was beyond his ability – he could go full blast or nothing at all. As least his Luchador’s mask kept the wind from blowing directly in his face. He tapped one of the tiny buttons built into the side of his mask, dialing in the frequency to the channel he had been assigned by the SCP.
Static filled his mask’s built-in headset as he tuned in the station. Walking to keep warm, Rudy allowed his mind to wander. His thoughts carried him back a week to Los Angeles and that bastard Briscoe. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent had appeared out of nowhere, just like he always did to “request” that Rudy’s alter ego Char travel to Canada as part of an exchange program set up with Department H. Although reluctant, Rudy accepted, knowing that the government agency would provide a small but generous stipend for his time, money that he could use to help support his grandmother’s restaurant. With his uncle Juan covering for him, Rudy bought a Greyhound ticket and headed up to Saskatchewan. The heavily forested, wintry countryside made him feel ill at ease as he was used to concrete, skyscrapers and warm southern California sunshine.
An official from Department H, a humorless man who answered to the name Mason, greeted Rudy as the bus station. “Jackass” was more like it Rudy thought as he climbed into the unmarked black sedan and driven out to the gods forsaken wilderness. The car drove along a highway for about an hour and Rudy saw more moose, wolves, bears and other wildlife in that short amount of time than he had seen in the rest of his life combined. “Just where is this idiot taking me? If this turns into something outta Deliverance, I swear I’m gonna cook this jerk” Rudy thought to himself.
A crop duster flew by overhead, dumping a load of chemical into the treetops. Mason turned his head toward Rudy and said “Spraying for moths, part of population control efforts. Nothing to worry about.” Rudy snorted, completely unconcerned about any sort of toxin the plane might be carrying since no poison had been able to harm him since his powers first manifested and ignoring the obvious lie since there was no reason to spray crops of any kind in the winter chill.
The car finally left the highway, turning off onto a side road and wound its way into a huge forest, stretching for hundreds of miles in either direction. Mason wasn’t the type of guy to make small talk, so Rudy entertained himself by singing very raunchy songs that he had written himself. Mason didn’t even crack a smile. “Yep, no sense of humor.”
The car finally reached a chain link fence with a guard post. A man in winter camouflage stepped out of the watch station with a military rifle with a grenade launcher mounted beneath the barrel and checked Mason’s credentials before returning to his post. He opened the gate and Mason guided the sedan through. The agent drove another 5 minutes before pulling into a bulldozed parking lot in front of a large Quonset hut. A concrete wall, perhaps 15’ high could be seen off in the distance beyond the tent. Men with automatic rifles walked the top of the wall and even from inside the car, Rudy could see cameras aimed at the ground on the other side.
Rudy opened the passenger door, reached into the backseat to grab his gym bag and followed Mason into the tent. Inside, the hut was warmly lit and sub-divided into smaller sections. Mason led Char down a hallway and opened a door. The agent turned his head and said “Your quarters” before moving on. Rudy threw his bag in his room and hurried to catch up. The agent led him through a small mess hall, past an office and into a large room. One wall was taken up entirely by video monitors that were being watched by a man in dark coveralls and sunglasses.
The other half of the room had stainless steel gurneys, surgical equipment and all sorts of electronics that Rudy could only guess the function of. A man in a long white lab coat, with his left arm in a sling and tiny cuts on his face turned and smiled. “Ah! You’ve arrived” he exclaimed as he strode toward Char, hand extended. Rudy took his hand and shook. “I am Dr. Abrams. Glad to have you aboard. Has Agent Mason brought you up to speed on what’s been happening up here?”
Rudy shook his head “No Doc and I need to tell you, Chuckles over there could use a personality transplant. He’s as talkative as this fern an ex-girlfriend gave me a couple years back.”
Abrams turned, pulled open the drawer of a filing cabinet and pulled out a plain manila folder. He handed the file to Rudy “In that case, you’d better start reading.”
Chapter 2 -
It turns out that the wall was 20’ high instead of the 15’ that Char estimated. He paced along the top of the wall looking down into the enclosure below. An irregularly shaped pool of blood, some 30’ across and of an unknown depth lay below. The Canadian government had no idea what the pool was of why it had mysteriously appeared in the middle of the wilderness. Two survivors of a Cessna crash discovered the pool almost two years ago. They had recorded the pond’s location on a portable GPS device. Once rescued, they reported what they had found.
The government arrived the next day and cordoned off the area. Investigation began two days later when a survey team arrived with a large crane with a long extendable boom that was airlifted to the location. Probes fitted with all sorts of data collection equipment were lowered by crane into the pool. Samples of the “blood” were taken and tested. After almost two years of study, the research team had learned only three things.
1. The blood was not biological in origin.
2. The pool’s temperature remained at a fairly constant 90º F.
3. At seemingly random intervals, “things” emerged from the pool. In almost all cases, these entities were hostile and incredibly dangerous.
After the third entity emerged from the pool and killed several guards, the concrete enclosure was built to prevent the creatures escaping from the immediate area. In all, eight creatures had emerged from the pool - the last incident being eight months ago. Char wasn’t even sure what he was sent here to do. The troops were well trained, the research staff was all geniuses and he was a human flamethrower from south Los Angeles. Only two more days and he would leave the snow behind and head back to the sun-kissed land he called home. Rudy stifled a yawn and stretched … and then the pool bubbled.
Chapter 3 -
The bubble caught Rudy’s attention, and that of the dozen guards walking the enclosure. A bony crest broke the surface of the pool. The armored shell of a massive four-legged beast followed the crest. Each of the monster’s four legs sported claws as long as Ruby’s forearm and when the creature tipped back its head to roar the guards opened fire. Bullets bounced and ricocheted off of the bony carapace harmlessly, drawing the monster’s attention. Pumping its four squat legs, the creature leapt into the air with surprising grace. The creature crashed down on the wall, crushing a section of reinforced concrete into rubble and surged forward. The thing was easily as large as a van. Rudy stared for a just a moment and extended both hands and loosed a torrent of fire that washed across the shell. The monster charged forward, its elephantine legs churning, reducing the rubble from the broken wall to concrete powder.
The monster’s mouth swung open, impossibly wide, like the maw of an armored hippopotamus. Its roar splitting the air right before it slammed its huge mouth shut, closing on the nearest unfortunate soldier, biting him in half, and swallowing him from the waist up in one gulp.
Char rushed forward, arms extended and cut loose with another fiery torrent of his power. The red-hot fire washed across the side of the creature’s head, blackening the thick bony plates. The beast swiveled, its entire body turning to face the superhero head on. Two rounds from the soldiers’ grenade launchers slammed into the sides of the beast, detonating on impact and drawing the creature’s attention away from the superhero once more. The monster roared and leaped, crushing one guard beneath its massive bulk and disemboweling another with a swipe of its claws.
Char hit the transmit button on the communicator built into his mask and called out for the guards to fall back. Fire erupted from the soles of his feet, launching him 40’ into the air. He focused, drawing upon more power and blasted the monster with a two-fisted inferno and began yelling at the creature, trying to draw it away from the soldiers. As Char landed, the monster rushed him, slapping him with a swipe of its claws that sent him airborne once more. Char crashed through the wooden wall of a nearby tool shed, the armor plates sewn into the lining of his jacket saving him from being gutted.
Shaking his head to clear it, Char heard gunfire outside and staggered to his feet, arms out to his sides for balance. His fingers brushed against cold steel. He looked down, seeing a crowbar and an idea, a crazy idea began to form in his head. He snatched up the tool and staggered out through the hole in the wall.
Chapter 4 -
Char ran at the beast, crowbar in hand and leaped high once more. Landing astride the monster’s head, he whipped the tool down, catching the hooked end in the corner of the creature’s mouth and pulled with all of his might. While he knew he was doing no actual harm to the monster, the beast did roar in pain as the improvised fishhook dug in. The monster began to turn toward the source of its irritation, its armored body spinning in place. Char flung blast after blast of flames at the back of the creature’s head. His fire washed harmlessly off of the monster with little effect.
The monster began to jump and bounce, trying to dislodge Char from his perch. Thankfully the creature’s lack of a neck prevented it from shaking its head from side to side. The superhero grabbed onto the edge of a bony plate and continued to haul on the crowbar.
Around and around the creature went, its jumps and leaps carrying it further away from the pool and the guards. The monster bounced out onto the highway, the bright lights of a tractor-trailer bearing down on it. Char looked up just in time to see semi and released his grip on the creature and the crowbar. A pillar of fire sent him up and away from the monster as the truck slammed into the beast. The screech of twisting metal filled the air and the back of the truck jack-knifed sharply, whipping the rear of the trailer around to the right, smashing trees in its path. The truck rolled, flipping onto its side and skidding down the road for over a hundred feet before it finally stopped. Char’s fire began to flicker out and the hero dropped to the ground. He scanned the torn asphalt, spotting his crowbar in the wreckage and grabbed it again. He picked his way toward the crumpled remnants of the truck.
A roar filled the air once more and what was left of the truck was torn apart by the massive claws and thrashing body of the armored monster. The creature staggered forward, several plates cracked and broken, bleeding from many tiny wounds and began pawing the ground with its feet. Focusing its tiny eyes on Char, the beast charged again.
Chapter 5 -
Char ran. The thunderous approach of the beast as it rapidly gained on him shook the ground. The superhero dashed across the highway, zigzagging to keep out of the monster’s path. Every so often, he would loose a burst of fire from his feet, lifting him into the air like a rocket whenever the creature drew too close. The night-vision built into Char’s mask picked out a shape up ahead. It looked like a barn or small hanger and he angled toward it, leaping repeatedly to stay ahead of the nightmare that was pursuing him. “At least the guards are safe. And we’re leaving a trail a blind man could follow. Maybe someone will find a rocket launcher or something to kill this thing with before anyone else gets hurt.”
Char reached the apex of his leap and began to drop to the ground when the beast surprised him with a burst of speed, leaping high and crashing into him from behind. Char sailed forward, smashing through his second wooden wall of the evening and crashed down inside a large open room. A small biplane was parked in front of him, the crop duster he’d seen a few days ago. He staggered to his feet, several ribs broken from the multiple impacts and lurched forward. A terrible crash told Char that the massive fiend had burst through the wall, cornering him inside the barn. The hero’s legs gave out and he began to drag himself across the floor. The beast began to stalk forward. Rudy reached the back of the huge room, lying on the floor at the base of a large yellow metal tank. The night-vision in his mask flickered back on, revealing writing on the side of the tank reading “DANGER! POISON!” A valve was connected to a hose hanging on the side of the tank. Idly, Char realized that the hose was probably used to fill the tank on the crop duster with the pesticide. He reached up; grabbing one of the tank’s many tiny protrusions and pulled himself to his feet. The superhero shouted at the approaching monster “I’ve got something for your ass! BRING IT!”
The monster roared once more, the thunderous noise shaking the dust from the rafters. The creature rushed at Char and the hero summoned the last of his strength to throw himself out of the way, falling to the ground just barely out of the beast’s path. The tank crumpled on impact and poison filled the room. The monster recoiled suddenly, its mouth and eyes filled with deadly chemicals. Liquid toxins poured out of the ruptured tank, covering both combatants. The monster began to thrash back and forth, howling in agony. Gallon after gallon of pesticide poured into the nightmare’s gaping mouth, choking the beast and sending it into convulsions. Finally, the mighty monster collapsed, overcome by the poison in its powerful armored body.
Char, using his crowbar as a cane, finally managed to regain his feet. Venom had soaked his costume, his ribs were on fire and he began to stagger out of the barn. He looked down at the battered iron lever and cracked a smile behind his mask “I have got to get me one of these!” he thought to himself as limped out through the giant hole the monster had torn in the side of the building.
END –
Char
(Rudy Chavéz) CR13
Male Human (Mutant) Metahuman 11NG Medium Humanoid
Init +2; Senses: Listen +4, Spot +4
Languages: Read/Write and Speak English and Spanish
AC: 19 (+7 Costume, +2 Dex); t: 12; ff: 17
Hp: 96 (11HD)Immune: Fire, Poison
Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +7
Spd: 30’ (6 sqaures)
Melee +11/+6/+1 Unarmed Strike: 1d3+3
Melee +11/+6/+1 Crowbar 1d6+3 or Disarm or Trip, +2
to Str checks to open doors/chests and similar actionsRanged +11 Fire Blast 7d6 Ref ½ DC17, max range 880’
Base Atk +8; Grap +11
Combat Gear: Costume (see below), Duster, Crowbar
Str 16, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 14
SA: Mutant Abilities
SQ: Mutant Abilities
Feats:
Armor Proficiency (Medium); Exotic
Weapon Proficiency (Crowbar); Improved Unarmed Strike; Maximize Power (b);
Power Focus (Energy Blast); Weapon Focus (Energy Blast) (b);
Skills:
Balance +6, Concentration +10, Jump +31 (Jump x4 as far, max is quadrupled),
Knowledge (Superhumans) +6, Listen +4, Perform (Stringed Instrument) +4,
Profession (Cook) +4, Spot +4, Tumble +9
Racial Abilities:
Bonus Feat at 1st
level; +4 bonus skill points at 1st level; +1 bonus skill point/level after
1st; Class with highest level is preferred class for multiclass purposes.
Mutant: Gain three “levels” worth of powers (3 Standard or 1
Improved and 1 Standard). Optional
Charisma penalty (-3 Cha in exchange for 1 additional “level” of power); +4
bonus on their initial Energy scores, LA +1; Metahuman is preferred class for
multiclass purposes
Powers:
• Ultra Damage Resistance (Fire/Heat): Char
takes no damage from heat or fire of any sort.• Improved Energy Blast (Fire): Long range; Energy cost: 1 – When Rudy uses this ability, fire pours forth from his outstretched hands (or mouth or feet) with a horrendous roar. The flames are intense and leave a trail of ash along the path, which blows away on the slightest breeze.
• Improved Leaping: (Jump x4 as far, max is quadrupled; +12 competence bonus to Jump checks, +2 to Balance) – Fire pours from the bottom of Rudy’s feet, propelling him skyward like a rocket.
Reducer: Uses Energy: Energy Cost: 1
• Standard Life Support (Reducer: Poison Resistant only; this applies to drugs and alcohol but not corrosive toxins that cause acid damage)
Superhero Costume (Black Pants and Shirt, Full Black Facemask w/ integrated Hands-Free Military-Grade Walkie-talkie; Black Leather Gloves with the fingers and palms cut out, Black Steel-toed Boots; Black Leather Duster – see armor below); Duster (reduces damage from fragmentation weapons by 1-point/die; provides 4-point DR vs. firearms and converts half of the remaining damage to nonlethal damage; +2 save vs. chemical attacks); 21” Titanium Crowbar
Birthplace: Phoenix, Arizona
Sex: Male Age: 30Birthrank: 1 of 1; born May 5th, 1981 # of Siblings: none
Height: 5’6” Weight: 195 lbs. Hair: Black Eyes: Brown
Appearance: Rudy is a short and stocky Hispanic man. Recently he has begun wearing a thin goatee. In civilian clothes he prefers heavy, steel-toed hiking shoes, baggy jeans with a belt, a plain t-shirt and a blue plaid shirt. He generally carries a bandana in his pocket. His superhero costume is snug fitting and all black, complete with a full luchador’s facemask.
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