It’s an exciting day! Today we discover the last piece of our starting party’s puzzle. Who will be the third protagonist, member of our erstwhile Crusaders adventurers, joining Emah and Kami? What sort of stories will be possible once the set is complete? Let’s find out… right now!

Background Rolls

As before, I love me some Background Generator tables in ICONS Origins. For any PC in any superhero game that doesn’t have random backgrounds, I can’t imagine starting anywhere but here. Also as before, I’ll include my d6 rolls (sometimes 2d6, sometimes a single d6 or series of d6s) in parentheses. I’ll also include a bit more commentary on each roll than the previous two, since this character completes the picture of the party.

Gender (7): Female! Alright, then… it’s a trio of women as our protagonists.

Ethnicity (6): Stone Isles. That’s a nice balance with Emah and Kami. All the main cultures in Oakton are represented except the Mesca (which will certainly get covered by NPCs).

Age (7,4): 24 years old, the exact same age as Emah and five years younger than Kami. It’s easy to decide, then, that Emah and this character are friends.

Manner (12): Anxious, nervous, or jumpy. Ha! Stark contrast with the other two, and likely makes this character the comedic one of the trio.

Who do you value? (8): Pet. Pet?!

What do you value (6): Friendship. Well, that tracks. She and Emah are definitely besties.

Attitude (5): People need strong leadership and guidance. Truth be told, I originally rolled a 10, which is the same attitude as Emah, and I wanted more diversity. This result is interesting for someone who’s anxious… I’m guessing that she’s a follower more than the leader, but feels leadership is important.

Birthplace (2): Urban. Born and raised in Oakton.

Status (6): Solid and stable, economically speaking.

Tragedy (4): No childhood tragedy.

1^st Past Experience (3,6): Windfall. She received some material or financial gains.

2^nd Past Experience (6,3): Imprisoned. She was abducted, held hostage, sent to prison, or otherwise held against your will for some reason.

3^rd Past Experience (3,3): Opportunity. She found a new opportunity, whether it was a new job, an invention, or a new way of looking at things.

I roll on these tables until either I feel “done” or I get a result that doesn’t fit the story building in my head from the initial rolls. Today, after only three results, she crystalized early and I’m ready to sketch out her backstory. Here it is…

Maly Wywich was an only child to a mother and father who owned a modest business in Oakton. Much to her surprise, when she turned eighteen years old, her last remaining grandparent died of natural causes, leaving Maly a large inheritance. Her parents were offended by the slight but pleased for Maly’s fortune. That is, until news of the inheritance made its way through the town, and an underworld gang intimidated and threatened Maly and her family, forcing her to hand over the deed to her grandfather’s estate and wealth. Infuriated and defiant, Maly tried infiltrating the gang’s headquarters to get back her inheritance but was caught by the town guard and imprisoned for it. The scandal and shock of the events led Maly’s parents to effectively disown her.

Having lost everything and her world shattered, Maly was eventually released from prison without any prospects for the future. She adamantly refused to turn to a life of crime, instead joining the Adventurer’s Guild. There she met Emah, a strong and capable warrior that Maly immediately idolized. The two became fast friends, and Maly sees in Emah someone who may yet help her right the wrongs she’s suffered, restoring her fortune and the relationship with her parents.

I like it! There’s a strong connection between two of our initial party members, and as I mentioned last time, I see Emah and Maly being hired by Kami as the beginning of our adventure.

Origin

Now the all-important (for most superhero games) roll… What sort of character are we talking about here? As a reminder, I’m using the tables from my variant rules post to figure out the rest of Maly’s character sheet.

The Origin is equivalent to class in many d20 games and provides the overall flavor of Maly’s archetype. Here we go… I roll 31 or 13, which is either Wyrding – Arcane or Companion – Animal. Either Maly is, like Kami, directly transformed by the Wyrding, manifesting magical abilities, or else she has an animal companion who was transformed. Well, well, well… remember how Maly values a pet? This is an easy decision, then. Maly will be a non-powered human, as Emah. Unlike our Warrior, however, Maly will have a powerful bond with a powerful animal.

I’ve thought about how to handle a “Companion” character if I rolled one, and my plan is to create TWO character sheets, one for the human and one for the companion. As a result, my three-person party just effectively became four, which is in part why I went for a limited initial number of PCs. If I enjoy this story and want to continue it, I imagine an ensemble cast that at various times bulges and splits off, creating factions that we can follow narratively.

Powers and Attributes

Let’s stick with Maly for now, focusing on her 3 Power rolls and 10 Attribute points. As a nonpowered human, I’ll automatically trade one of those rolls for an additional 4 Attribute points with the Intensive Training option. I’ll also burn a roll for Privileged Background – Maly is independently wealthy, though she won’t have access to that wealth at the beginning of the tale.

That leaves a solitary Power roll, which is: 09 or 90. That gives me Armor, Vigor, Clairvoyance, Telepathy, Energy Blast, Weather Control, Acrobat, or Weapon Master. Even though a lot of those are cool, the only options that make sense, really, are Armor, Acrobat, and Weapon Master. Since Emah is a capable swordswoman, I won’t pick Weapon Master. And given that she’s currently penniless, I have a hard time seeing Maly wearing a sweet suit of platemail armor. That leaves Acrobat, which is a lovely complement. With this power, Maly can vault, somersault, walk tightropes, swing from rooftops, and perform other spectacular feats of agility. She is, in other words, a thief-type of PC. Mechanically, it means she can make acrobatic dodges, adding +5 to her Alertness when defending against melee and missile attacks. She can also break her falls, reducing damage from falls by 20.

For Attributes, Maly will spend her 14 points first and foremost on Alertness, beginning with a 15. She’ll drop a single point onto Physique, four on Prowess, and three on Psyche. She’s vigilant to danger and skilled, with an above-average will. With a 10 Physique, her Vitality is 30, same as Kami.  

Now the juicy part: What kind of animal companion does Maly have? A long time ago, I made an Animal Spirits table for another game, conveniently providing a d100 percentile table upon which to roll in situations like this one.

Some of these obviously won’t work, but let’s allow the dice to tell the story and see what I roll: 68. Panther. Well, that’s just cool as hell. Maly has a friggin’ panther as a companion! I’m guessing that this isn’t an animal that’s ever been seen in or around Oakton, which makes it both a startling companion and something that will immediately cause problems in town. Wonderful stuff.

I’ll also burn a Powers roll for our new panther friend for Intensive Training. Then come the two Power rolls:

Roll 1: 35 or 53, which is Flight, Molecular Morphing, Psychic Blast, Psychic Sense, Energy Manipulation, Force Field, Detective, Marksman.

Roll 2: 90 or 09, which is the same roll as Maly! Once again, that’s Vigor, Armor, Telepathy, Clairvoyance, Weather Control, Energy Blast, Weapon Master, or Acrobatics.

As always, lots of ways to go with those rolls. Unlike Maly, I’m perfectly comfortable going weird here. Off to the Crusaders rulebook I go, reading up on the various powers.

One option is to simply make a Super Panther, taking Detective and Vigor/Acrobatics. I like the addition of an investigative character, but I think we’ve got melee combat handled between Emah and Kami, so I like this option least. I’m also ditching the Molecular Morphing and Vigor combo, which makes a panther that can become stone or wood, which is wandering too close into Kami’s territory.

Another option is to take Energy Manipulation and Energy Blast, making a lightning-cat, or fire-cat, or ice-cat, or whatever. It’s a fun, Pokemon-ish idea and gives the party some range, but I would have liked it more if it had been a regular housecat or less impressive creature than a panther.

A flying panther that Maly could ride? A pega-panther, with Vigor, Acrobatics, or even Weather Control? I love the visual here, but if Maly is going to be our thief analogue, it makes a little less sense for her to be riding a winged panther.

Much to my surprise, then, I find myself drawn to a panther with mental powers. I’ll give the panther Telepathy, which means it can read surface thoughts of other individuals (requiring a Psychic attack if it’s an unwilling target). The panther can also communicate, sending thoughts into the minds of others. This power, then, is how Maly and the panther talk to one another. I’ll also give the panther Psychic Blast, which does indeed provide the party some ranged attack options. Instead of a generic “I assault you with my mind,” I’m going to say that the panther’s stare can cause abject fear in opponents. Maly will provide some comic relief, but the panther will be scary as hell.

I don’t have enough Attribute points to make the panther as bad ass as I picture in my mind, so I’ll have to justify it as a relatively small version who will grow as his and Maly’s Rank grows. For now, I’ll put five points in Psyche and distribute the remaining nine points evenly among the other stats. With a 12 Physique, our animal companion panther will have a Vitality of 26.

Final Touches

Maly’s motivation is front of mind for me. She’s an Avenger, sworn to reclaim her inheritance and, more importantly in her mind, punish the Oakton gang responsible (I’ll have to flesh out that gang at some point). To keep things simple, I’ll say that her panther—whose name I’ve decided is Destiny—chose Maly precisely because of this motivation because he is himself a spirit of vengeance. What Destiny the panther wants to avenge, I have no idea but will figure out over time.

Equipment-wise, Maly will have a dagger and thieves’ tools, and Destiny will of course have claws (which act the same as a dagger).

Here, then, are our two-for-one character sheets:

I’m extremely pleased with what my random rolls have created here. I can picture Maly and her panther Destiny clearly in my mind, and they complement Emah and Kami well both in terms of personality, party composition, and story potential. I can’t wait to get started!

Of course, first I don’t actually have to picture them in my mind, because once again Roland Brown (drawhaus.com) has stepped in with awesome artwork for Maly and Destiny. Here is the initial sketch and final result:

Finally, here’s a little splash of fiction to get a sense of our remaining protagonist(s)…

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“‘You’re no fighter,’” Maly said, her tone mocking, her pale, freckled face a mask of abject disgust. She blew out a long, exaggerated breath in frustration, her slim body seeming to deflate against the wooden wall. In a tired voice, she muttered, “I never said I was a fighter. I’m just trying to get my inheritance back!” She yelled those last words, clenching eyes shut and fists tight. With a sob, she sank slowly down to a crouch, her back still against the wall. Somewhere distant, a dog began barking.

Her tirade had disturbed an alley cat, which darted across Maly’s path, escaping the scene. The young woman opened one eye and watched it depart into the shadows, darting around crates as it went. Her other eye, of course, was swollen shut. The unseen dog continued to bark.

“Ow,” she sighed. “Yelling hurts. Everything hurts.”

She lowered her slim hips delicately to the alley floor and stretched out her legs, groaning in pain. Two fingers touched her lip, which felt puffy and split. Maly glanced left and craned her neck right to look down the narrow gap, lit only by streetlamps outside the alleyway. No sign of the cat, or anyone else this late at night.

“Just me and the trash,” she muttered. “And that damned dog.”

For what felt like almost a full bell, Maly sat there, miserable and eyes closed. At some point she placed her forehead against her knees, crying softly.

“Alright,” she sighed, sniffling. “Let’s review. I am penniless, my fortune stolen by one of Oakton’s scariest and biggest gangs. I’ve tried to get it back, and all that’s gotten me is time in a dark stinky jail, my parents disowning me, and now a bunch of scary men and women beating me up. Is that all? That seems like all.” She bonked the back of head a couple of times against the wall behind her.

“Ow,” she said, and stopped.

It must have been well past midnight now, and Maly had never known the town to be so quiet. Even the dog, it seemed, had gone to sleep. Maly sighed, only now fully realizing how much the alleyway reeked of rotting food and urine.

“What am I going to do?” she asked the darkness.

You’re going to fight, a male voice said from somewhere, low and growling. You’re going to tear the East Bay Dragons apart, person by person, brick by brick, until you have your birthright restored.

Maly yelped and scrambled to her feet. “Who’s there?” she gasped. “What?”

You’re going to fight, it repeated, and now Maly felt certain that the man’s voice had no origin. It did not echo in the confined alley, but felt instead whispered, purring, directly into her ear like a lover’s coo.

Something was moving through the shadows towards her. Maly’s breath came fast and shallow.

When she saw the twin yellow eyes, advancing in the darkness, Maly ran.

Age of Wonders: The Adventure Begins!