From: life.of.riley@sfnet.com
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 94 10:48:14 
Subject: CHARACTER PART 1


Character Post: Proteus
 
Background/Personality: Proteus's background is a mystery. It has clear
memories of the last few years, hazy memories of the year before that, and then
a complete blank. It knows only that it lives under a curse: its appearance
shifts from time to time, and any identity it establishes will be lost when its
face changes yet again. Whenever the change comes, Proteus abandons whatever
menial job it holds, picks a new name, drifts to another town and starts over.
Even between changes, Proteus has a knack for running into injustices, and
blowing its mundane identity by using its powers to set things right. Proteus
also keeps moving because it's on the run from an investigative reporter who
wants to bring it to light, and from a mysterious killer robot whose ability to
transform into any machine parallels Proteus's ability to take any organic
shape.
Proteus is ashamed of its inability to maintain a consistent identity and its
ignorance of its origin, and doesn't expect any successes to last. Wherever it
goes, it tries to fit in inconspicously, and doesn't expect to be missed when
it moves on. However, its loneliness leads it to befriend and protect other
victims of life's misfortunes.
Identifying Quote: "Don't mind me, I'm just passing by."
Powers/Tactics: Proteus can take temporary control of its shapeshifting and
assume any organic form. It could mimic earthtones, but it cannot appear
metallic, crystalline, etc. (It could take on, for example, the form of a dog,
including an leash-shaped, leather-colored extra limb - but it couldn't make a
metal dogtag, and anyone holding the "leash" might notice its warmth.) Its
various abilities follow from this power. It can strike with multiple or
elongated limbs, assume any of a variety of specialized forms, and compress its
own substance to the density and strength of steel. It has developed a unique
and distinctive fighting style, surging its limbs at opponents, enveloping
them, or flowing around and away from their attacks. It takes the compacted
form for close-in fighting or when its reduced size will help it sneak up on
opponents. It uses the element of surprise wherever possible, attacking from
hiding or while impersonating someone or something harmless, or striking in an
unusual way for a Surprise Maneuver (using Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand,
Ambidexterity/Extra Limbs, etc.). It uses its more mobile shapes to close in
quickly, or to escape - and it may return in another form, if it knows one that
will catch opponents off-guard.
Appearance: Proteus has been tall and short, male and female, fair-skinned and
dark; its base form is always human, but other than that, anything's possible.
Proteus's voice and manner will generally be diffident and subdued.
Design Notes: Proteus was designed as a character with one mutant ability,
Shapeshift, and various separately-bought Powers following indirectly from that
one ability. Most are Linked to Shapeshift; if the Shapeshift were Drained,
Suppressed, etc. most of the secondary effects would also become unusable,
although the main practical disadvantage is having to pay END for Shapeshift in
order to use the secondary effects. Many of the powers which aren't Linked to
Shapeshift come from retaining some flexibility even in the base form.
Its major combat power is its ability to compress the substance of its body,
bought as a combination of Shrinking and Density Increase. (The x8 mass for
Density Increase neatly cancels the x1/8 mass for Shrinking.) This gives it
increased damage, defenses and DCV. It can also (but not at the same time)
reshape its hands and feet to cling to any surface, sprout wings and fly, swim
like a eel, or run with great strides. The powers listed under the Special
Shapes Multipower are mutually exclusive for several reasons. The body
compression makes it too dense for effective Clinging, Flight or Swimming
(consider the weight-to-area ratios) and too small to extend its legs for extra
Running. The movement powers are unusable simultaneously because the shapes
would conflict (not that one could run while swimming anyway). Adjusting its
features to become more impressive is a recently-developed trick which Proteus
can only use with sustained concentration; maintaining that effort while
forming the other special shapes is beyond its current ability.
We assume that Extra Limbs are normally bought in a fixed configuration.
Proteus, with the Variable Effects advantage, can form a third arm, or a tail,
or eight tentacles, or all of these at once... and often uses this power in
conjuction with Stretching, Ambidexterity and Sleight of Hand. One could Find
Weakness in any one of Proteus' forms, but finding a weakness that applies to
all of them is more difficult, hence the Lack of Weakness while shapeshifting.
In any form, it has a tough subdermal layer (Damage Resistance), its body is
resilient to impact (Damage Reduction), and it heals quickly, reshaping itself
from injured to whole (Regeneration). It can spread its eyes for a wider field
of vision; although it could put eyes in the back of its head, it doesn't have
the neurological capacity to make sense of 360¡ visual input.
Its Skill Level with DEX-based skills come from its innate flexibility and body
control. The levels with Skills which work against a PER roll reflect both its
expertise in altering its appearance and also its understanding of the
psychology of human perception - and how to exploit its weaknesses. The GM
might give a bonus to Concealment (for example) just for being able to
Shapeshift into a shape and color which blended into the background, and also
apply the Skill Levels to express Proteus' expertise with such tricks (thus
giving Proteus a higher roll than the typical amateur shapeshifter who doesn't
have such levels). Since these Skill Levels mostly represent Proteus' ability
to deceive others, they might only apply at, say, half value if Proteus uses
them in a Skill vs. Skill roll while using Concealment to find something which
someone else Concealed, or using Shadowing to spot someone tailing Proteus. The
Skills section of the character sheet lists both the base roll and the roll
with all applicable Skill Levels. The second figure for Breakfall and
Contortionist includes +1 from Double Jointed; although the bonus could go up
to +3, it's convenient to assume the minimum and apply more when the GM finds
the circumstances appropriate. Since each Skill Level only applies to one Skill
in a single Phase, Proteus usually puts all four of the levels vs. PER into
Disguise when Shapeshifting into a specific person's appearance, then splits
them (two each) between Mimicry and Acting for the duration of the
impersonation. (After Proteus finishes reshaping itself, the Skill Level
becomes available for other Skills even though Proteus remains Disguised. On
the same principle, if someone used a Skill Level applicable to Weaponsmith
while forging a sword, that sword would remain well-crafted no matter how the
maker subsequently used the Skill Level.) One of the slots in the Special
Shapes multipower raises its PRE from 15 to 25, when Proteus puts on a
particularly impressive appearance. Forming an impressive appearance works fine
for Presence Attacks, but doesn't provide the self-assured charisma which
underlies mastery of  PRE-based Skills, so Proteus should use the increased PRE
as the base for its Acting and Streetwise rolls (giving it an effective +2)
only when changing its appearance in specifically appropriate ways - for
example, looking like a gang member when using Streetwise, or making its face
look bruised while using Acting to feign injury or play possum. This isn't
included in the listed Skill Roll for Acting or Streetwise, since it's a
special case; Proteus can only this ability while spending END on Shapeshift,
and while concentrating on a form tailored for Skill use rather than the more
mobile or durable forms it uses in a fight. As a final note on Skills and
Powers, when Proteus is compacted, observers take -2 to all PER rolls against
it, including rolls vs. its Concealment and Stealth rolls, and possibly certain
Shadowing or Sleight of Hand rolls; with its skill levels, Shrinking, and
Shapeshift, Proteus can become very hard to see indeed.
Proteus has no background Skills, because its amnesia prevents it from
retaining them. Proteus has only the Skills with which it has innate talent
and/or practices regularly. Its deceptive abilities are rather close to its
core, and it gets into fights or other physically demanding situations often
enough to retain Acrobatics and Breakfall. It uses Streetwise mainly to get
fake IDs and find jobs that pay under the table; since it needs new ID as often
as its appearance changes, and generally drifts from one job to the next, this
has become routine. (Using Streetwise to investigate organized crime activity
or the like is a less familiar usage and sometimes takes a slight penalty.)
Campaign Use: Proteus has been a PC in several adventures. A PC superhero team
might stumble onto Proteus in its mundane (Secret ID) form, but an excellent
plot device is to have Proteus infiltrate an organization which the PCs are
fighting. If the heroes storm a VIPER base, and bite off more than they can
chew, Proteus could even the odds. "And this agent, unlike the others, doesn't
zap you with his blaster rifle; he fires harmlessly over your heads while the
next agent in the fireteam suddenly slumps to the ground..." Of course, Proteus
could just as easily infiltrate the hero group. If it had reason to spy on or
steal from the Champions, for example, it would enter Homestead in the shape of Wendy the housekeeper.

(Stats in following file.)
copyright 1994 by John "Riley" McLaughlin and Geoff Speare