Filling in the Blanks

At this stage you have a bunch of words and numbers, the bare bones of a hero. Now, as you created the hero, you noticed certain leanings, such as an interest in science, or Powers that revolve around flame, etc. This points out where you fill in the blanks and flesh out the character.

Run down this quick checklist, answering the following questions about your character.

• What is the character’s fighting name?
• What is the character’s alter ego, if any?
• Is the character male, female, or what?
• How tall is the character?
• What does the character look like? Is the hero physically good-looking or strange-looking (note Popularity shift in the latter case)?
• Where does the character operate? Where does the hero live?
• Does the hero have any Contacts other than the ones provided by the generation system.
• Check the hero's resources. Where is this guy getting money like that?
• Does the hero wear a costume? What does it look like?
• Last, and optionally, what is the hero’s specific origin? If you, the player, make up an origin, it saves the Judge the trouble of creating one for you. Judges by and large create very nasty backgrounds for heroes without stated origins, so when super-powered organizations come hunting for you, at least you know who they are.

Example 1: Introducing our Altered Human: Commander Salamander, otherwise known as Emihl Hickman, a former officer in the US armed forces who was exposed to strange chemicals in the course of an army training course (Project 52334453A: Operation Victor, Most Secret security rating). The lanky red-haired Hickman found himself able to control existing flame, while immune to the effects of fire himself. He kept these powers secret, but they were revealed to the world when he rescued the base commander, Roger Price, from a burning ammunition shed. Commander Salamander operates in the tri-city area as a freelance operative, and is currently employed by a fireworks company. He relies on Roger to ‘lose” the occasional flamethrower in the paperwork so he can use it on big jobs.

Example 2: Her name is Lodestone, otherwise known as Jenny Hopkins, native of Moundsville, Ohio. Her magnetic powers first appeared while on a dig in that city with her father, archeologist Alvin Hopkins. The first flaring of her powers occurred when she and her father were arguing on the dig site, with the result that all metallic objects on the site were ripped from the ground and hurled across the river. The two are not on good terms. After leaving her father, she drifted, worked as a magician’s assistant, and made the acquaintance of Professor Charles Xavier, who left her a number to call if she had any trouble. Her body armor is a form of dense flesh hardened by her magnetic manipulation, and she carries a set of steel daggers that she throws and controls magnetically, allowing her to make trick shots and shooting curves. She operates in the tn-state area, but considers attempting to join the X-Men.

Example 3: Douglas Cook is bright, strong, and not incredibly dexterous. To cure his fumble-fingered nature, the bearish bearded man opened a electronics firm with a friend from business school. The firm has been mildly successful, but not the howling success that he hoped for. Working in his spare time to correct his problems, Cook invented the Linearly Enhanced Operative Power and Agility Research Device: LEOPARD. This armor increased Cook’s Agility and Endurance at a cost to his natural fighting abilities. The LEOPARD appears as a dull-metal suit of armor with a leopard’s head, and has special circuitry that allows Doug to manipulate its appearance to be that of a real leopard. As LEOPARD, Douglas Cook operates in the tri-state area, seeking to do good deeds and provide enough cash to keep his electronics shop In business.

The above examples have been created out of whole cloth, based upon nothing more than the stats provided and a few assumptions. Note that the backgrounds created do not provide for new skills (If Hickman was in the army, why not give him Gun skill?), but do provide for additional growth in play.