Crucible #23 - "The Morning After"

[GM Mad]

GM Notes:

All of this is beginning to give Lily a headache. "So you're saying that I can pick any shape I want, and if I practice that form enough, it will become my default - my... natural shape - eventually?"

"Theoretically, yes."

"It's nice to see you, Frostbite," Lily says. "You sound to be in a good mood." She pauses to consider for a moment. "Perhaps that kind of testing would be useful for me as well. I know I have increased speed and strength, but it might help me define the limits of them both."

She turns to Edgar. "What do you think?"

"I can accommodate your request", Edgar will state. "If you will accompany me, I will direct you to the training facility."

Edgar will direct Lily to the concealed elevator and down to the lower levels of the castle. The passageways take on a decidedly modern appearance when compared to the crude castle above. Edgar will run drills to test ones strength and agility and reveal the results.

====

(Here are the results in game terms for those stats that are physical in nature:

Frostbite - Human form: 13 STR, 11 DEX, 12 CON, 14 BODY, 7 PD, 5 ED, 3 SPD, 9 REC, 50 END, 40 STUN.

In Frostbite form, the stats increase as follows: 25 STR, 20 DEX, 25 CON, 5 SPD. The ice sheath around him also acts as 10 PD & ED armor. Running is 17" in combat.


Goldstar: 10 STR, 23 DEX, 15 CON, 11 BODY, 5 PD, 5 ED, 6 SPD, 8 REC, 52 END, 30 STUN.

In Neutron Star form, Goldstar has 55 STR, 14 PD & ED. (9 levels of Density Increase.)

Her Glitter's are akin to a 15 PD/15 ED Force Field. She flies at 17" velocity.


Serena: Serena's base stats are as follows: 15 STR, 10 DEX, 16 CON, 10 BODY, 6 PD, 5 ED, 3 SPD, 6 REC, 11 END, 54 STUN. Her magic items change them to as follows: 30 STR, 20 DEX, 21 CON, 15 BODY, 21 PD, 20 ED, 6 SPD, 11 REC, 54 STUN. 17" of running.


Lily is a bit more complex: Here are her base stats: 15 STR, 15 DEX, 13 CON, 13 BODY, 6 PD, 6 ED, 4 SPD, 6 REC, 26 END, 28 STUN. (These stats change according to what she is trying to do.)

Her absolute maximum STR would be 65. In speedster mode, her DEX jumps to 28, her SPD 8, and she adds 30" of limited flight. (Basically, Lily has a very large, but limited Variable Power Pool to do these stunts linked to Shape Change. No power in the pool can exceed 50 pts, which sets her maximum STR to 65. In spite of the way it sounds, Lily was the simplest design of all the characters in game.)

Now what?

[Menagerie]

Lily:

"Theoretically, yes."

"Theoretically, huh? Hmm... so we won't really know for sure for quite a while. If I bother to try..."

Lily will follow Edgar down to the training room. She can't help but be impressed by how large this place is, or how well equipped the room is.

First, she starts with lifting weights. It is interesting to see her body alter shape to a leaner, more fit-appearing woman. As the level of weight she lifts increases, Lily's amazement grows. For a while, as the weight is adjusted to larger and larger amounts, and her body adapts to deal with it, she wonders if she has any limit. By time she finally does reach that limit, Lily is lifting hundreds of tons! Her mind struggles to accept what the equipment readings tell her.

Next, she switches to running. Moving to the embedded moving track, she begins to accelerate. She has enough experience with her speed that she is less astonished as the velocity readout climbs. Still, she feels a certain sense of awe as her speed approaches 200 mph before topping out.

Once she is done, Lily will watch as the others test their abilities. Once again, it is hard to comprehend just how powerful all of these people have become. Still, by some measure, she may be the most powerful of all! Her strength, at max, exceeds even that of Goldy in her neutron star form, and none of the others appear to be able to even approach her maximum speed.

After the others are finished, Lily has some more ideas. First off, out of curiosity, she will have Rose do a little weight lifting to see if she has become stronger than a normal child. Then, she'll have Edgar test her flight speed to see just how fast she can fly. Next, she'll change into her previous eagle form and check her flight speed, just to see what she can normally achieve. Finally, she'll try turning into a turtle with a shell. She'll attempt to retain and reshape the shell while returning to human shape. If that succeeds, she'll attempt to thicken and strengthen the shell to see just how tough it can become.

"Edgar, do you have a large tub or pool that I could use for an experiment? I would like to see if I can change into a fish and breathe underwater. I would also like to try turning into a shark or dolphin form to see how fast I can swim."
___________________________________________________
Mad, I assumed the normal 2x non-combat modifier when running / flying, which I calculated would equal ~180 mph. At some point, she'll probably figure out how to buy more NCMs and less inches, which should serve to increase her top NC speed by quite a bit! As for the character design, that's about how I figured you had done it, though of course I didn't know how many points were in the pool.

[GM Mad]

GM Notes:

Testing Rose:

Rose's strength has not be increased in any manner. Rose's flight is not too fast, compared to others present. A mere 10" in velocity.

Edgar will calculate her stats as follows: 5 STR, 8 DEX, 5 CON, 5 BODY, 1 PD, 1 ED, 2 SPD, 2 REC, 11 END, 10 STUN.

Likewise, her glowing shell is a low powered Force Field, around 8 PD/ED.


Eagle Form:

Lily shrinks down into eagle form for more testing. Her maximum flight speed would be 23", but her SPD & DEX are lower then in her speedster form, so the eagle doesn't fly so fast overall. (Dex is 18, SPD is 4. I've been using the Bestiary as the basis for all the animal forms that Lily has been assuming, so that's where the numbers have been coming from.)


Going Turtle:

Lily will able to assume the shape of a large turtle. She'll attempt to semi-change back, but instead she changes all the way back into human. (At the moment, Lily doesn't have the skill to go 'half-way' into a form. It's an all or nothing proposition. So she can become a turtle, but cannot make parts of her turtle like. This can change by spending future XP's.)

(The shell can be made as tough as the pts will allow, 50 in this case, so it could be around 16 PD/16 ED armor, lower if the Hardened Advantage was applied.)

"Edgar, do you have a large tub or pool that I could use for an experiment? I would like to see if I can change into a fish and breathe underwater. I would also like to try turning into a shark or dolphin form to see how fast I can swim."

"As of yet, no madam. I will add it to the list of things to create. However, I can provide access to the outside bay if that will suffice."

I assumed the normal 2x non-combat modifier when running / flying.

Correct. If anyone has a greater modifier, I will note it.

[Bruce]

Flux:

Flux will go back down to the training room with Lily and Rose to see the tests performed and the results.

So that's that. Miss Pak was the bear I saw. No need to ask now.

Flux is impressed with Lily's various powers, particularly in the physical shifting of appearence as each attribute is increased.

She's stronger than I am at full mass. Much faster than anyone else here. Completley adaptable to any situation. Got to convince her these skills should not be hidden away.

"Miss Pak, your powers are formidable in their adaptability. Are you sure you can't see your way clear to adding yourself to our efforts? With your shape-changing capacity you could disguise yourself easily while in public. And we really could use your help even on a part-time basis."


Cross your fingers sarge....

[Menagerie]

Lily:

"As of yet, no madam. I will add it to the list of things to create. However, I can provide access to the outside bay if that will suffice."

Lily pauses to consider. "I guess that should work. My main concern is to avoid drowning; if it turns out I cannot breathe underwater in fishy form, then I could be in a lot of trouble very quickly. If someone could stand by ready to pull me out quickly, that may be sufficient."

"Miss Pak, your powers are formidable in their adaptability. Are you sure you can't see your way clear to adding yourself to our efforts? With your shape-changing capacity you could disguise yourself easily while in public. And we really could use your help even on a part-time basis."

Lily turns to Flux. "Please don't misunderstand, Flux. I'm not against helping your group. However, right now, there are other issues I must address first - primarily that of determining how best to provide proper training and protection for Rose. Hopefully, much of this will be clearer once I've had a chance to speak with the people from Sanctuary. They have a training program called the Young Champions that I may be able to enroll her in. Of course, if that necessitates moving to Sanctuary, then I'll deal with that at that time. I'm sorry, but until I get these things worked out, I cannot make any commitments. I assure you that, as soon as I know, I'll let you know."
________________________________________________________

Rose's stats give good justification for why Lily is so determined to keep her out of harm's way. It's nice to see that she's still just a little girl for the most part.

Lily shrinks down into eagle form for more testing. Her maximum flight speed would be 23", but her SPD & DEX are lower then in her speedster form, so the eagle doesn't fly so fast overall. (Dex is 18, SPD is 4. I've been using the Bestiary as the basis for all the animal forms that Lily has been assuming, so that's where the numbers have been coming from.

69 mph NC is nothing to sneeze at; she should be able to keep up with most of the cars on the freeway. And the Bestiary works fine, though I don't think I'll be digging through it for stats. I prefer to let you handle that stuff behind the scenes and just see what happens.

Lily will able to assume the shape of a large turtle. She'll attempt to semi-change back, but instead she changes all the way back into human. (At the moment, Lily doesn't have the skill to go 'half-way' into a form. It's an all or nothing proposition. So she can become a turtle, but cannot make parts of her turtle like. This can change by spending future XP's.)

(The shell can be made as tough as the pts will allow, 50 in this case, so it could be around 16 PD/16 ED armor, lower if the Hardened Advantage was applied.)

Looks like Lily will have to figure out some other way to boost her defenses in human form. Since she can boost strength and speed while remaining human, I figure she should have some means of increasing her damage resistance as well. Of course, I could be wrong; she'll just have to continue experimenting.

The idea for partial forms came from her ability to access her enhanced senses while remaining in human form. It seemed like she was "going half-way" then, but I may have misunderstood.

[Goldstar]

Goldstar:

When Goldy hears about Lily being worried about breathing underwater, she'll add, "Well, if it'll make you feel any better, I can go with you to make sure nothing happens. I don't need to breath, so water's no problem to me."

[GM Mad]

GM Notes:

Lily:

Lily pauses to consider. "I guess that should work. My main concern is to avoid drowning; if it turns out I cannot breathe underwater in fishy form, then I could be in a lot of trouble very quickly. If someone could stand by ready to pull me out quickly, that may be sufficient."

"Ah, I misunderstood your request. There is the arrival dock for the shuttle platforms back to the mainland. It is only a few feet deep."

If that is sufficient, Lily will be able to change into a fish and comfortably breath underwater. Likewise shark and dolphin forms are doable as well.

---

69 mph NC is nothing to sneeze at; she should be able to keep up with most of the cars on the freeway. And the Bestiary works fine, though I don't think I'll be digging through it for stats. I prefer to let you handle that stuff behind the scenes and just see what happens.

Basically, what I've been doing is starting with the important changes to the form and working down to the less important ones. Since the pool is finite, buy the important stuff first. So for bear form, it was a little growth, density increase, HKA for the claws and so on. Most of the other stats were Lily's base stats.

Looks like Lily will have to figure out some other way to boost her defenses in human form. Since she can boost strength and speed while remaining human, I figure she should have some means of increasing her damage resistance as well. Of course, I could be wrong; she'll just have to continue experimenting.

The idea for partial forms came from her ability to access her enhanced senses while remaining in human form. It seemed like she was "going half-way" then, but I may have misunderstood.

My take on Lily is this. (You did want something out of the ordinary after all!)

She has 2 Basic Powers: One is the shape shift into other creatures and gain their base abilities or to make herself look like other people.

The second power is to enhance her own natural abilities, which is where the strength, speed, and enhanced senses come from. Making her skin tougher is something she can do, she just can't remain human and have a turtle shell around her, at least at this point. XP's can be used to buy off the limitations on her powers. In speedster mode I gave her some armor to help deal with damage, so she can up her defenses, it just not that visible of an effect.

And remember these enhancements only affect things that Lily could naturally do to begin with. Since she can run, she can run faster. Since she can hear, she can hear better and so on. She wouldn't be able to shrink or grow without changing into something non-human that was a different size. Likewise she couldn't breath underwater as a human, and so on.

New post will finally go up on Thursday, my next day off. The Young Champions finally arrive! Or rather the version of the YC team about 6 weeks ahead of the last published file. A few changes between then and now!

[Menagerie]

Lily:

"Ah, I misunderstood your request. There is the arrival dock for the shuttle platforms back to the mainland. It is only a few feet deep."

Lily thinks about it for a moment. Something about this particular test is scary, not surprising since she could conceivably drown. "Uhm... Yeah, that should do."

When Goldy hears about Lily being worried about breathing underwater, she'll add, "Well, if it'll make you feel any better, I can go with you to make sure nothing happens. I don't need to breath, so water's no problem to me."

Lily smiles at Goldstar. "Thank you. That would relieve some of my anxiety."

Proceeding outside, Lily walks into the water until it is about waist deep. The water's a bit colder than she expected, causing her to shiver involuntarily. Once Goldstar is in position, she crouches down and begins to concentrate on mimicing the shape of a large - though not giant - fish, something along the lines of a salmon. As before, the alterations come surprisingly easy, and she finds herself immersed in the water, about a foot off the bottom. Fighting the urge to panic, she concentrates on the gill structures that she can feel on the side of her head? neck? and takes a small breath. As strange as it feels, Lily notes that she is not, indeed drowning.

Greatly relieved, Lily begins to swim around, getting a feel for this new form. After a bit, she begins to shift to new forms of fish, from a goldfish, to a catfish, to a manta ray. For some reason, the manta ray form feels really odd, perhaps because it is so different from her usual configuration. Moving out into the bay a little, she alters her form to that of a hammerhead shark. The huge mouth full of teeth provides an odd sensation, and she also feels hungrier than she did moments ago.

Alright, time to try something a little different. Lily moves to the surface to get access to the air. Then she concentrates on transforming herself into a dolphin, abandoning the gills. The shift from gills to air-breathing concerns her, but she manages it with only a little sputtering. While dolphins require air, they can take in a huge amount, and swim for a long time on one breath. Breathing deeply, Lily begins to explore the form, swimming as fast as she can manage, then diving to come up in one of those huge leaps you always see performed at marine shows. This proves to be quite exhilarating, and Lily swings by the dock, doing the flipper wave.

Then back out into deeper water to try some larger forms. Lily attempts the size and shape of an orca, or killer whale. Afterwards, she goes for a true whale. They are so big, that she won't be entirely surprised if she becomes the smallest whale in history. That done, she shifts back to dolphin form and heads back, leaping up onto the dock on her belly. With a laugh, she shifts back to her human shape again, only to find herself lying there on her belly. A bit exhausted by it all, she rolls over and looks up at the others, breathing deeply.

"Well, how did I do?"
___________________________________________________
Mad, you really don't have to spoon-feed me all the details. The guessing, trying things and postulating is half the fun! If I'm wrong about something, I'll figure it out eventually or ask you offline.

[Bruce]

Flux:


"If you mean ' how did I do?' on the shape-changing, only you can judge, although the dolphin looked good. I will say that you did very well in not drowning. Spectacular success there."



"Seriously though I think you did very well. Any Ill effects?"


It's too bad. Miss Pak would be a welcome addition here. I wish, well , what's it matter now?

[GM Mad]

Post Closed