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Aera Caelum
Topic Started: Aug 10 2014, 09:29 PM (159 Views)
Amizrael
Member
[ *  * ]
Name: Unknown; no official records before S.H.A.R.D. service

Aliases (faction): "the Abattoir" (Hexumvirate); Commander Aera Caelum (S.H.A.R.D.)

Age: 72 years, appears ~25

Attributes:
STR 8 || AGL 5 || AWR 4 || DIS 5 || TCH 0 || ENG 2 || PER 1 || MAN 4 || PIL 4

COR 3 || SPD 2 || NV 6 || AV 14 || RAS 9 || MAS 4 || SAS 0 || RDS 5 || MDS 7

TV 20: 196|98|49


History:
1-4->no memory

Aera bears no recollection from the time following her birth, no murky memories of misplaced family nor stark phantom hauntings of their loss not even a loving name given at birth. The young girl's first experiences were of dirty undercities filled with children of similar misfortune. Harsh flickers of wondrous games played when food and survival were easy were interspersed with frantic, desperate fights and flights for her life, which now lurk only in the deepest most feral recesses of her subconscious.

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It was among the urchins that Aera first learned of loss. Her inveterate caretaker, an older girl, was clever and quick, a gentle but demanding teacher. She knew how to scam and steal and grift even the most cautious and skeptical of marks, and for a time Aera lived well under her wing. She came to trust and even love, and was in turn loved, an unaccountable rarity at those times. However circumstance intervened--implacably impersonal. A man, no more than a common thug, recognized Aera's benefactor during a routine con; the mark killed her without a thought. It could have happened to anyone--did happen to many, everyday, but it shattered Aera's broken little world. She had seen it every week, almost everyday, the weak and unfortunate dying as prey for the strong. But she had been insulated within her warm cocoon of another's desperate altruism.

No longer.

At no more than six, she had little in the way skills marketable to scum of the undercity, but Aera learned quickly and had watched her caretaker closely. And while the older girl had perhaps been too kind for the dark world in which she walked, Aera had learned from that as well. With appalling viciousness she floated through thief groups only staying long enough to pick up a new skill before disappearing. She was a ghost, having abandoned the name her first teacher had given her, Aera held to no particular identity only a central creed of survival. Eventually, at the age of fourteen, along the way one saw her for the selfish monster among monsters that she was and decried her. When she couldn't fade into the background Aera killed him and the group in a desperate scrabble.

The act opened doors Aera had never imagined. The power of death, the broken corpses of her victims, the warmth of the blood on her skin: all of it intoxicated her. Were it not for one thing the teen might have been destroyed walking a path drenched in viscera. Instead a planetary civil war erupted and carnage was the currency of the hour.

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Normally, someone of Aera's temperament would be unsuited for military service, too unstable and untrustworthy, fortunately the expectations those in charge have for child soldiers is minimal. Orders were usually vague such as, "Go down that street and kill any enemy you see!" or, "Take that building!" It was a perfect hunting ground for a young maniacal killer, just barely holding onto enough sanity not to get shot by her fellows.

As the years and the war wore on, Aera's blood furor abated in favor of a cold blooded professionalism. The better and more reliably she performed the better perks her superiors lavished upon her and the more apt they were to look they other way concerning certain diversions she indulged. But her side--in as much as she had a side--was losing. In a desperate bid the top brass and those bank rolling the insurgents hired S.H.A.R.D. Initially, Aera didn't meet them, but it wasn't long before her superiors jumped on a bit of intel and sent her in ahead of the S.H.A.R.D.s in an attempt to save face. Her efforts and willingness to work with the S.H.A.R.D.s on site impressed them and she found herself assigned to the "liaison" team and working with them frequently.

Ultimately the S.H.A.R.D.s intervention was too late to turn the momentum of the war and after just over six years the fighting came to a decisive close. S.H.A.R.D. pulled out and with them a young woman named Aera Caelum.

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During the initial period of Aera's involvement with S.H.A.R.D. she had trouble adjusting to the mindset of trusting others as part of a cohesive unit. But with time she adapted finding kindred spirit within the band of professional murderers that is S.H.A.R.D. For the first five years she wasn't involved in any campaign that netted her any notoriety but with the outbreak of the Banx crusade her career was made.

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Eventually, as the Crusade came to a close, Aera had earned quite a name for herself and caught the attention of one of the Hexumvirate families. With the civilized universe entering a period of peace and reconstruction in the wake of the destruction at the hands of the Banx, the public had lost the taste for broad open warfare, so when the same family offered to take Aera on retainer as a bodyguard and "troubleshooter" she happily accepted. And so began her career under the guise of "the Abattoir".

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Her work was solitary, bloody and immoral. Once the family learned of the Abattoir's lack of typical moral hang-ups they assigned her to the darkest of tasks; kidnapping, murder, torture nothing was beyond the purview of the Abattoir's expertise. For the most part she was sent to take care of anyone that opposed the family or whose existence was an inconvenience. However after twenty years the Hexumvirate's focus shifted to social perfection and Aera's existence and knowledge became a liability to the family.

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When they came for her, the family sent four of their top retainers along with a compliment of robotic enforcers. In the ensuing battle a building was nearly leveled, the robots were all destroyed and all but one of the agents were killed, the last falling into a coma because of his wounds. The disturbance drew the attention of the local authorities who took her into custody. In order to prevent her from revealing any secrets the family used their influence to keep her imprisoned and eventually placed aboard the Gehenna.

Conviction Record:
Murderer--much of Aera's work for the Hexumvirate family as a S.H.A.R.D. involved killing. Whether it was dissidents to the Hexumvirate, political rivals to the family in particular or enemies from outside, death dealing was "the Abattoir's" bread and butter. When her position with the family became tenuous it quietly locked her away, cutting her off from S.H.A.R.D. litigation and support, feigning ignorance as to her disappearance.

Guilt:
Given Aera's violent, sordid past, one might assume she suffers significant residual guilt over the many lives she has destroyed; one would be naive. In truth, killing has never touched the Abattoir's psyche. To her the act is as common and thoughtless as opening a door or flipping a light switch. And it's not that she's unaware of the gravity of her actions either, as she's often incorporated into her plans how others react to her violence as well as her casual attitude towards it. No, the actions she's come to regret in life are those she sees as having had the greatest negative effect, her lack of trust in others. When S.H.A.R.D. took her in, Aera was a devious, suspicious, brutal monster. But because of pure tactical necessity, working with S.H.A.R.D. forced her to learn to trust others. First it was just to trust that her comrades were competent, then that they wouldn't betray her when things went badly. And by the closing months of the Banx crusade she had even come to trust a few enough to allow them to get close to her. But it was too much, to be with someone, an actual person who could see her for who she really was. So she left at the first opportunity, taking a solo gig with the Hex. Looking back, it's always been when she abandoned the team, or her friends, or those that loved her and who maybe she loved too, that everything's fallen apart. And that is the guilt that gnaws on the Abattoir's twisted soul.

XP Purchases Total XP Spent/Earned 5500/6400
Survivalist
1750 XP Spent
Tier 1--Smack Talk (150)
Tier 1--Duck and Run 3 (150)
Tier 2--Massive Build +3 (225)
Tier 2--Improvised Weapon (225)
Tier 2--Back Step 2 (300)
Tier 3--Improvised Healing (400)
Tier 3--Nerves of Steel +2 (150)
Rifleman 2100 XP Spent
Tier 1--Quick Draw (150)
Tier 1--Run & Gun (150)
Tier 2--One Man 2 (300)
Tier 2--Close Quarters Handgun (300)
Tier 3--Killing Spree (400)
Tier 4--One Man Army (800)

Core Stats
Tier 0--Attributes (100) [STR +2, AGL +2, MAN +2]
Tier 0--RAS +2 (100)
Tier 1--MDS +1 (100)
Tier 1--NV +1 (100)
Tier 1--RDS +3 (300)
Tier 1--RAS +1 (100)
Tier 1--Attributes (200) [STR +1, DIS +2, AWR +1, AGL +2]
Tier 2--MAS +2 (300)
Tier 2--Attributes (300) [AGL +1, DIS +2, PER +1, ENG +1, AWR +1]
Tier 3--NV +1 (200)

BP Purchases: Total BP Spent/Earned 1100/1145
Brute (100)
Called Shot (100)
Cold Blooded (100)
Commando Fighting (100)
Legend (100)
Improvisation (100)
Refuse to Die (200)
Sixth Sense (100)
Scrounger (100)

BRUTE
Time is something all prisoners aboard the Gehenna
have plenty of, and time spent in the prison fitness
center has made you a hulking brute.
Prerequisites: STR 6, Convict, Lifer, or Old Timer.
Benefit: When you attack in melee combat, you do
an additional +3 damage per successful hit. You also
gain a +2 bonus to STR checks involving feats of
endurance.
Penalty: None.

CALLED SHOT
A character who learns this attack option can aim
precisely, waiting for a vulnerable spot to open up in
her opponent’s defenses, timing her attacks for just the
right moment.
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: Before you attack in a turn, choose a special
effect from the list below. If you succeed in a hit that
turn, in addition to normal damage the listed effect also
affects the target (note that effects are not cumulative):
Penalty: A character using this trait get -2 on their attack. This trait does not work against
demons or custodians.
Bleeding Wound Target suffers an additional
5 points of Health damage
Blinding Strike Target is blinded; on target’s
next turn she must roll D6; on a
1-3 she cannot act
Hamstring Reduce the target’s movement
by half next turn
*banned*Penetrating Hit Ignore the target’s Armor (if
any)
Stunning Blow Target is stunned, taking -2 to
the next dice roll she attempts

COLD BLOODED
Whether hateful of the world, spiteful of others, or
merely jaded to the suffering all around you, you have
become detached and indifferent.
Prerequisites: DIS 2.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to Guilt checks.
Penalty: +1 Insanity (permanent).

COMMANDO FIGHTING
A martial art specifically developed for the military,
commando training emphasizes the ability to strike
first, allowing a combatant to kill his opponent before
she knew what hit her.
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: In combat, add an extra card to the initiative deck. In addition, add +2 to your Defense Rolls when defending.
against melee attacks.
Penalty: None.

LEGEND
Your reputation in prison precedes you; few are bold
enough to challenge you.
Prerequisites: MAN 4.
Benefit: In combat, individual convicts must succeed
at a DIS check to attack you (unless you attack them
first, in which case they are free to fight back). Player-controlled
characters are immune to the effects of this trait.
Penalty: None.

IMPROVISATION
Possessing a rare combination of ingenuity and
cunning, you exhibit a knack at being able to fashion
functional improvised weapons from the innocuous
materials permitted in the cell block.
Prerequisites: Wits 3, Convict, Lifer, or Old Timer.
Benefit: You can build actual functioning items using
the Salvage rules (see Salvage). You are limited to
items of Rudimentary and Basic complexity.
Penalty: None.

REFUSE TO DIE
Life aboard the prison ship has always been dangerous,
with frequent riots and random prison violence. You’ve
become a veteran in the desperate fight to stay alive,
well aware that to drop in a fight means sure death.
Prerequisites: STR 8, Convict, Lifer, or Old Timer.
Benefit: Any time you are struck by a melee weapon
or unarmed attack, the damage you take is reduced by 5
(to a minimum of 5).
Penalty: None.

SIXTH SENSE
In order to survive, to avoid being knifed in the back,
you’ve developed a keen “sixth sense”.
Prerequisites: AWR 3.
Benefit: If you succeed in a AWR check at the start of a
round you gain a +1 bonus to your Defense rolls that turn.
In addition, you automatically awaken from your sleep
when danger is nearby.
Penalty: None.

SCROUNGER
You have always been the go-to man in your particular
prison block, having an uncanny knack at getting the
things other prisoners want. Typical high-demand items
include canned meat, home-brewed liquor, or heirloom
cigars, but you are equally resourceful when it comes
to finding components for jury-rigged weapons and
contraband devices.
Prerequisites: ENG 1, PER 1, Convict, Lifer, or Old
Timer.
Benefit: You begin play with extra smokes in the
amount of 300. In addition,
between every adventure your scrounging activities are
considered to net you D100 additional smokes. Finally,
add +1 to the number of components you recover when
salvaging (see Salvage).
Penalty: None.
Edited by Amizrael, Nov 22 2014, 07:22 AM.
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Amizrael
Member
[ *  * ]
Remaining traits.




BRAWLER
Whether its the age-old art of pugilism, the sport of
boxing, or just a simple hand-to-hand streetfight,
brawling has been a favorite method of settling disputes
in prison for centuries.
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: When fighting unarmed you may make up to
two attacks per turn, each with a separate Attack Roll.
Penalty: None.


COMSTOCK STYLE
Originating among the population of a certain prison on
Terra, this form of “martial arts” relies on classic “dirty
fighting” techniques. Comstock style is all about feints,
deception, and striking vital points.
Prerequisites: Brawler; Convict, Lifer, or Old Timer.
Benefit: When fighting unarmed or with a melee
weapon, once per combat you may roll 2d20 and take the higher.
Penalty: None.

FIND WEAKNESS
Patience sometimes has its own rewards.
Prerequisites: AWR 2.
Benefit: Instead of moving on your turn, you may
spend 3 AP to make an opposed AWR check with one opponent. If you
succeed, your Attack Rolls against that opponent get +5 for that activation.
Penalty: When using this against a demon or custodian,
you suffer a -1 penalty to your opposed Wits check due
to its unfamiliar anatomy.

HACKING
Whether you learned it on the Gehenna from other
cell-mates, or developed the skill from your criminal
activities on Terra, you have at least a passing
understanding of electronic security systems, permitting
you to bypass key card locks, hack computers, etc.
Prerequisites: TCH 5.
Benefit: You can use this skill to hack into computers
or override security systems. Success depends on
a TCH check. High-security programs will incur a
penalty to this check; attempts to access secure doors/
computers of Access Level 1 give a +2 bonus, Access Level 2 give no penalty, Access
Level 3 give a -2 penalty, and areas/computers intended
for Custodians-Only give -4.
Penalty: None.

JAILHOUSE ROCK
A character who uses this combat style is all about
brutal hand-to-hand combat. A “Jailhouse Rocker” puts
all of her effort into making reckless, powerful attacks
with little regard for her own safety.
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: If you successfully hit an opponent with a
melee attack, you do an additional 5 points of Health
damage. This stacks with other abilities that increase
melee damage.
Penalty: Because she becomes focused on landing a
powerful blow, a character employing this option gets -2 for her Defense Rolls
for the round she uses this trait.

KNIFE-FIGHTER
You are a master of fighting with shivs, knives, and
other bladed or piercing weapons.
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: You begin play with a shiv. In addition, when
fighting with a shiv, knife, or similar weapon you may
make up to two attacks per turn, each with a separate
Attack Roll.
Penalty: None.




PSYCHOPATH
You are unable to fully understand (or at the very
least conform to) the rules of society and civilization.
Whether you are simply amoral, or lack any ability
to distinguish between right and wrong, you find the
concepts of light and dark (or good and evil) arbitrary
and fettering. You behave as your whims compel you,
unrestricted by the sort of conventional morality that
binds the rest of society.
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: Your behavior is disturbing to others.
Whenever you attempt to Intimidate someone you may
re-roll a failed roll once (but you must accept the results
of the second roll).
Penalty: -1 PER, +2 Insanity (permanent).

PUBLIC MENACE
Whatever your crime was (killer, “chester”, dissident,
etc.), it has a nasty reputation that continues to mark
you. You have a hard time earning other’s trust as a
result of your particular criminal history.
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: +1 MAN.
Penalty: -1 PER.

QUICKNESS
Your lightning reflexes have saved your life on more
than one occasion.
Prerequisites: AGL 5.
Benefit: You always act first in a combat turn. If
another person or creature also has this trait, roll to see
who goes first between the two of you.
Penalty: None.

REFUSE TO DIE
Life aboard the prison ship has always been dangerous,
with frequent riots and random prison violence. You’ve
become a veteran in the desperate fight to stay alive,
well aware that to drop in a fight means sure death.
Prerequisites: STR 8, Convict, Lifer, or Old Timer.
Benefit: Any time you are struck by a melee weapon
or unarmed attack, the damage you take is reduced by 5
(to a minimum of 5).
Penalty: None.

SCROUNGER
You have always been the go-to man in your particular
prison block, having an uncanny knack at getting the
things other prisoners want. Typical high-demand items
include canned meat, home-brewed liquor, or heirloom
cigars, but you are equally resourceful when it comes
to finding components for jury-rigged weapons and
contraband devices.
Prerequisites: ENG 1, PER 1, Convict, Lifer, or Old
Timer.
Benefit: You begin play with extra smokes in the
amount of 300. In addition,
between every adventure your scrounging activities are
considered to net you D100 additional smokes. Finally,
add +1 to the number of components you recover when
salvaging (see Salvage).
Penalty: None.

SIXTH SENSE
In order to survive, to avoid being knifed in the back,
you’ve developed a keen “sixth sense”.
Prerequisites: AWR 3.
Benefit: If you succeed in a AWR check at the start of a
round you gain a +1 bonus to your Defense rolls that turn.
In addition, you automatically awaken from your sleep
when danger is nearby.
Penalty: None.

SMUGGLER
You spent a lot of time smuggling contraband before
being sentenced to the Gehenna.
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: The Concealability rating of all items you hide
on your person is increased by 1.
Penalty: None.

SOCIOPATH
You agitate when confronted by authority, peer
pressure, and a sense of community responsibility. You
cannot get along for long, and are often considered an
outcast. This could be the reason for your run-ins with
the law, or it could be a product of it. In either case,
you learned early on to become self-reliant to survive,
and the same is true here on the Gehenna. While there
certainly are power-blocks in prison, and gangs with
varying agendas, you always find yourself an outsider.
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: +1 to any one attribute (except for PER).
Penalty: -1 PER, +1 Insanity (permanent).

Advanced Traits

AWAKENED PSYCHIC
When the Gehenna crossed the barrier of known space
and drifted into the uncharted regions of the Nether,
it attracted not only demons, but strange powers that
affected the ship and its inhabitants in unpredictable
ways. Just as fear, guilt, and insanity can lead to
demonic manifestations, so too can stress lead to
random manifestations of uncontrollable psychic
phenomenon.
Prerequisites: You must have manifested a random
Psychic Power at least once.
Benefit: You can now manifest random Psychic Powers
at will as long as your Despair score remains at 5 or
greater. In addition, your Psy Strength increases by +1.
Penalty: None.

IRREDEEMABLE
Unlike some who seek redemption in the face of their
impending deaths, you have instead embraced the
darkness and seek to find your place in the order of
Hell. Demons tend to ignore your presence, sensing
in you a potential tool who ultimately aids their aims
instead of hindering them.
Prerequisites: Psychopath, may not have
“Redemption” as a personal goal.
Benefit: Demons ignore your presence 90% of the time
as if you were invisible to them (unless you provoke or
attack them).
Penalty: None.

JURY RIG
Without custodians breathing down your neck and
confiscating everything, you’ve actually been able
to find a lot of materiel on board for building useful
stuff…
Prerequisites: Scrounger, Improvisation.
Benefit: If you have the proper components, tools, and
time you can build virtually any item. See Salvage for
rules on crafting makeshift items. You are no longer
limited to items of a particular complexity.
Penalty: None.

LOOTER
You have an uncanny ability to find a little something
extra when searching.
Prerequisites: Scrounger.
Benefit: Whenever you roll on the Random Finds table
to determine what is discovered in an area, you may
modify the roll by +/- 1 (your choice).
Penalty: None.

MENTAL HEALTH
Whether you have an inner reserve of mental fortitude,
or have received help from your comrades, you have
managed to see the light and slowly recover from
insanity.
Prerequisites: Must have at least 1 point of Insanity.
Benefit: Your Insanity score is reduced by -1. This
may result in your Madness being reduced in severity,
or being altogether cured. You may take this trait
multiple times.
Penalty: None.

ROBOT KILLER
Having stood up and fought them before (and won),
you are not afraid of the custodians the way most
prisoners are. You know they can be destroyed!
Prerequisites: Must have defeated at least one
custodian in combat.
Benefit: Your attacks are not reduced by the “Armor”
ability of custodians.
Penalty: None.

SUPERNATURAL SENSE
Recently you’ve found your sixth sense alerts you
not only to mundane dangers, but also to the arrival
of creatures manifesting from the Nether. This often
occurs as a strange tingling in the hairs on your neck, a
sulfurous odor that only you can detect, or maddening
whispers/screams that only you hear.
Prerequisites: Sixth Sense.
Benefit: Whenever there is a manifestation, if you pass
an AWR check you predict exactly when (in terms of
turns or minutes) the demon(s) will appear.
Penalty: None.

SURVIVOR
Despite being almost killed on several occasions, you
always seem to come back from the brink of death.
Prerequisites: Must have been reduced to Health 0 and
survived at least three times, or have “Survival” as your
personal goal.
Benefit: Whenever you are required to roll on the
Recovery Table, you may roll twice and pick from the
two results.
Penalty: None.

TANK
*banned*

WEAPON GURU
*banned*

WEAPON MASTER
You are an expert at using a specific kind of weapon,
whether a shiv, knife, or flamethrower.
Prerequisites: Weapon Specialist.
Benefit: Whenever you attack using a weapon you
are a specialist with, you add an additional +1 to your
attack roll. You may buy this trait more than once, each
time applying your bonus to a different weapon.
Penalty: None.

WEAPON SPECIALIST
You’ve grown accustomed to using a specific weapon
in combat, developing a “feel” for it.
Prerequisites: Must have killed three enemies with the
same type of weapon.
Benefit: Whenever you attack using a weapon of that
specific type, you may add +1 to your attack roll. You
may buy this trait more than once, each time applying
your bonus to a different weapon.
Penalty: None.
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Amizrael
Member
[ *  * ]
Stuff:
Precision - 2
Rigid - 3
Conductor - 3
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