Hi folks,

I recently purchased the new edition of Aaron Allston's Strike Force, largely on the strength of the GM-related advice and ideas for running a successful long-term campaign. With it came a few different conversions for the characters, most notably to the ICONS and Mutants & Masterminds 3rd edition settings. Since I found myself with a bit of time on my hands, I've started to convert the stats over to MSH stats. I've primarily used the ICONS converted stats for the Primary and Secondary abilities, and power ranks where provided. However, the power lists for the ICONS versions were a bit sparse, so I've done my best to assemble more comprehensive power sets from the Champions and M&M versions.

There are most certainly things I've misinterpreted, missed, or otherwise messed up, since I don't have a working knowledge of Champions, ICONS or M&M, but I've done my best to at least capture the spirit of the characters provided. All notes on character history, tactics, how to use the characters in a campaign, etc. come directly from the M&M conversion document, so I take no credit for those whatsoever. I'll continue to add to this thread as I complete each conversion.

Costumed Identity: Lightrune
Origin: Magically Enhanced Altered Human
Civilian Identity: Ken Robertson

Fighting – Excellent (20)
Agility – Excellent (20)
Strength – Amazing (50)
Endurance – Excellent (20)
Reason – Excellent (20)
Intuition – Typical (6)
Psyche – Typical (6)

Health: 110
Karma: 32

Powers
Mystic Light – Lightrune has been imbued with Light Magic, providing the following powers and abilities.
• Sword of Light – Amazing (50) energy damage
• True Flight – Typical (6) airspeed, 6 areas per round
• Limited Range Teleportation – Remarkable (30) ability, 1-mile maximum distance
• Regeneration – Unearthly (100) – 3 points per round (Endurance x Regeneration /60/10)
• Damage Resistance – Incredible (40) protection versus Physical and Energy attacks
• Super-Senses (Radar) – Typical (6) 5 area radius
• Enhanced Hearing – Typical (6) 5 area radius
• Immortality – Lightrune no longer ages and cannot be killed by standard means.
• Environmental Independence – Lightrune no longer needs to breathe or eat to survive, though he must breathe to be able to speak

Talents
Acrobatics
Martial Arts B
Leadership
Heir to Fortune
Musician (Piano)
Languages (English, Welsh)
Photographer

Background/History: Ken Robertson was the only child of Pulitzer Prize-winning New York newspaperman Al (Alistair) Robertson and his wife Gail Loomis Robertson. He grew up in New Rochelle, New York, in a real “go-getter” household. Al was a former Olympian, having competed in pistol in 1960, 1964, and 1968. Gail was a homemaker who referred to herself as a “domestic guerrilla”— she was also a Girl Scout leader, community organizer, war protester, feminist letter-writer, and guest editorialist. Raised in that environment, Ken was encouraged to develop each of his skills and aptitudes, to pursue each of his opportunities He inherited athletic impulses from his father and artistic leanings from his mother’s family. In high school and college, he boxed and studied photography and music (particularly piano and composition).

In July of 1981, when he was 22, Ken’s father financed a backpacking tour of Wales as a college graduation gift; Ken’s mother’s family was originally from Wales. Ken was accompanied by his cousin Brian Loomis, orphaned son of his mother’s sister. Brian and Ken had known one another all through childhood and had attended college together, and Brian, a cheerful star football player, got along very well with Ken. However, the backpacking tour was to spell disaster for them. Because they travelled on foot, without leaving an itinerary anyone could follow, and often travelled along ill-used roads, they attracted the attention of a malevolent magical society.

The organization called the Cult of the Beast was not intrinsically evil; it was merely mercenary and self-serving. But some of its semi-autonomous branches (or “cells”) were definitely evil, and one of them was the necromantic research cell, headed by BBC comedian Dennis Stewart. Stewart had redeveloped an ancient spell that animated the dead using the life-force of minor demonic beings from another plane. This resulted in a sort of imperishable super-zombie and he thought the two backpacking Americans would be perfect subjects. Thus, he had them kidnapped.

At the outdoor ritual where they were to be sacrificed, Stewart was in the process of casting the spell that would painlessly deprive Ken and Brian of their lives when the scene was discovered by a superhero sorcerer named Chance. Chance, who bore the title of Watchlord, was charged with the duty of limiting dimensional intrusions into the Earth, and Stewart’s demon-summoning spell had alerted him to this ceremony.

Before Chance could stop him, Stewart was able to cast his life-robbing spell. Ken and Brian collapsed, dead. Chance used spells of his own to try to revive them or at least preserve them, and then he and Stewart (and Stewart’s aides) fought a spectacular wizard’s duel. Because they were in the center of the action, the bodies of Ken and Brian were hit by “spillover fire” from the spells of both wizards.

In the end, a big chunk of Welsh countryside was torn up. Dennis Stewart was dead. Ken Robertson revived spontaneously but found nothing but a scorched crater where Brian’s body had been—it had been destroyed by battle damage. Chance helped Ken with the authorities’ inquiries and arranged for the disposition—and unlawful cremation—of Dennis Stewart’s body. And that was that.

Except... back in the States, Ken began noticing odd things happening. He would sometimes spontaneously glow. A sharp knife dropped point-first onto his bare foot didn’t penetrate it. He contacted Chance, who was based out of New York City, and the sorcerous hero determined that Ken was undergoing a transformation. His epidermis was now energy rather than physical matter, a force field that was identical in appearance to skin. He could choose not to breathe. He could project light. He could, with a little practice, even lift off from the ground and fly.

Go-getter Ken needed little encouragement to train in his new powers or to seek out the competitive world of superheroes. A lifelong admirer of supers, he created his own costume. He chose a name based on a vision he’d had as he lay dying, just a glowing, light-based symbol; he put the symbol on the breast and right glove of his costume and called himself Lightrune. He began flying out over the streets of New York, seeing evildoers to pound. One of his first victims was a mercenary supervillain named Blowtorch, whom Lightrune caught in the midst of an armored car robbery. Lightrune defeated Blowtorch, earning that villain’s enmity for several years.

ShadowWalker witnessed the end of the first Lightrune/Blowtorch fight. Months later, when investigating something he suspected might require more “raw power” than he possessed, ShadowWalker asked Lightrune to step in and offer some muscle. This investigation resulted in the formation of Strike Force.

Lightrune (often just called Rune) quickly became the team’s brick, or super-strongman. In the early days, he was often responsible for the team’s transportation as well, grabbing up as many people as he could carry or who could hang onto him and flying the whole group wherever they needed to be. (At one point, he built a metal framework with seats, seat belts, and handles; team members would sit in the frame and he would carry it. This unpopular device was called the Rune Buggy and lasted only until the team acquired Nightwing.)

As his transformation continued, he became stronger and tougher, eventually losing altogether the need to breathe. He also contributed to the expansion of Strike Force’s roster by bringing in new supers such as Ichi-ban and Nightmist.

During all this time, he began making his living as a photographer, sometimes playing musical gigs on the side. He met someone who shared two of his interests: United Nations Security Force (UNSec) agent Carol Graves, who was part of an elite anti-supervillain response team and also a photographer herself. The two soon became romantically involved.

In 1982, Strike Force encountered a school of super-sorcerors, the Circle, which was engaged in an investigation of vampires infiltrating New York’s police department. The teams, cooperating, solved the problem and eliminated the vampire plot. Lightrune also met WillowWitch, a beautiful sorceress with whom he shared some points in common: she was of Welsh extraction and had had difficulties with the Cult of the Beast (her own father and mother had individually been cell leaders). But he didn’t risk his relationship with Carol by pursuing WillowWitch; he kept her at arm’s length. Soon, however, Ichi-ban joined the Circle for more magical training, and Lightrune, feeling he needed some as well, also joined... so he was keeping WillowWitch at arm’s length on an almost daily, rather than irregular, basis.

In early 1983, when Phosphene disappeared, Lightrune was elected the third leader of Strike Force. On the advice of efficiency analyst Aubrey Langhorn, he hired agents for the Strike Force Main Mission Team, a corps of trained specialists who could handle crowd control and some anti-super actions; Carol Graves quit UNSec and joined the MMT. He reorganized things and made Strike Force a more effective operation, but never enjoyed managerial duties; late in the year, he handed the leadership position off to teammate Kinestra.

Ken’s work as a musician never attracted much notice, but he achieved considerable success as a commercial photographer. His perceptions of light and color, slightly alien by human standards, and his unusual compositions made him much sought-after, especially in the fashion world. He also picked up a reputation as a prima donna, caused by the fact that he would occasionally grow exasperated with the way a shoot was progressing, hand off his camera to an assist and, and leave for several hours or even days. (This was, of course, an inevitable consequence of having to respond to emergency Strike Force summonses.) But that reputation simply added to his luster as a New York “personality.”

It gradually became evident that Ken was becoming less and less human, in a physical sense. He never lost his emotional and cultural connection with humans, but he stopped aging, and magical analysis confirmed that he could never sire children in a normal fashion. These factors weighed heavily on the mind of the fully human Carol Graves. The two of them gradually drifted apart, and by early 1985 they called it quits as a couple. They remained friends afterwards. Lightrune soon afterwards began asking WillowWitch out on dates, and they quickly became a romantic item.

Lightrune was not as badly harmed by World War III as many people. His parents survived. His apartment, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, was destroyed, as was WillowWitch’s Greenwich Village apartment; they lived at their respective team base headquarters for some time, then moved in together in a home in the Hamptons (an enclave of the wealthy on upper Long Island), which they continue to occupy today.

In the years since the war, Lightrune has worked hard to maintain his connection with his friends, though he and his lady, unaging sorcerers, are probably destined someday to depart the known world of humans and travel the more esoteric magical realms.

In 1995, Lightrune and Strike Force Orbital clashed with a monstrous supervillain named Mayhem and a necromancer named Grave-Robber, the current leader of the Cult of the Beast’s necromantic research cell. To his shock, Lightrune discovered that Grave-Robber was his cousin Brian Loomis. Like Lightrune, Grave-Robber had revived from the spell that had cost his life. Like Lightrune, he was a living/unliving being with great powers. Unlike Lightrune, he had lost most of his humanity. Lightrune now prepares for further clashes with his cousin and onetime friend.

Personality/Motivation: Lightrune is best described as light-hearted and mercurial. Though he does take things seriously, he doesn’t generally let others see this. In addition, he is sometimes eerily distant and introspective. This is less a consequence of his transformation than of his artistic inclinations; he easily becomes absorbed in the composition of something he sees. As Ken Robertson, he demonstrates more ego than he actually feels, simply to keep up the impression that he is a talented prima donna in the photographic field.

Lightrune has a respect for and love of life that makes him tremendously opposed to killing. However, this attitude does not serve to protect the undead he faces. If he is certain that an opponent is both irredeemable and already dead, he will not hesitate to use his most lethal attacks. On top of this, he loves to fight, and this sometimes proves a problem, as he would rather throw himself into a good scrap than do strategic planning; he is also very reluctant to give up a good fight, even when the team desperately needs to retire the field.

Overall, Rune is a good-hearted man who makes friends easily. Among the closest of them are Phosphene, Lorelei, and Luster. WillowWitch is the love of his life. He has researched spells that will allow the two of them to conceive children together, but neither of them is ready for this step yet.

Quote: “Line up, you guys, I only have two fists.”

Powers/Tactics: Lightrune, though he does not care to admit it to others or himself, is the only known example of a very distinctive type of undead. He did die when sacrificed in 1981, and was resurrected as something that was not human. Over the years, his physical body was replaced by a body of energy structured in exactly the same form his physical body had taken.

The changes gave him tremendous strength and a gradually-increasing resistance to damage. Though he breathed and ate in the months after his transformation, he gradually ceased needing to do so (though he still must breathe to talk). His body developed the ability to repair damage quickly. His inherent light-based magic allows him to stimulate living things to heal. He can glow, either to illuminate his surroundings or to send out radar-type emissions and “see” his surroundings. He can teleport—instantly converting himself to pure energy and reassembling himself into a physical body not far away—but cannot teleport other people. And he can fly, which involves his personal “glow” superheating a centimeter or so from certain points on his body (usually his heels, knees, and shoulder blades, giving him a sufficient number of control and thrust surfaces), burning atmosphere and causing propulsion in very small, localized regions. He can also project concentrated light in the form of a blade. He is no swordsman, and tends to use this very destructive power for shearing through obstacles or confronting very dangerous enemies who have proved immune to all other attacks. His laser sword is eerily silent except when it strikes something; then, the objects struck make whatever noise is appropriate to something suddenly superheated to several hundred degrees.

When studying with the Circle and subsequently on his own, he has learned more pure forms of sorcery. These are flavored by the Japanese-magic rituals common to the Circle’s studies and the Welsh-magic rituals he has studied on his own, so his spells tend to have a distinctive flavor—persons with knowledge of earthly sorcerers can usually recognize his magical efforts.

In addition to being the team’s first high-strength fighter, Lightrune quickly learned to serve an essential role in Strike Force combats: he became the sponge for the enemy’s high-powered attacks. Rather than just dive into combats, he would initially hang back to see what the most powerful (or, in the case of opponents of unknown abilities, most powerful-looking) enemy would do, and would often try to dive in the path of damage that might otherwise hit his teammates. It is for this reason that news archival photos and footage often shows him being blasted through walls, hammered into the earth, engulfed in fire, other otherwise abused. (Usually, the same footage, a few frames later, shows him getting up, ready to reenter the fray.)

In combat, he uses his great strength and boxing skills to good effect, but he doesn’t fight like a bruiser. He is especially fond of performing Half-Move teleports and assaulting an enemy from an unexpected direction, or using his teleport skill to flick from enemy to enemy, causing consternation in the enemy ranks.

Rune has another critical role in the team: healer. His magical powers of healing have saved lives among innocents and his teammates on numerous occasions, starting back in 1981, when an attack by Shiva on the mind-controlled la Panthere nearly cost her life.

Since the arrival of Man Mountain Thunder and Copperhead in Strike Force, Lightrune has had to worry less about being the sole “team brick.” He works well with the other team strongmen.

Campaign Use: Lightrune can be consulted by PCs needing information on various types of undead, the Cult of the Beast, assorted magical rituals, or an introduction to the Circle. They could also meet him in his secret identity, that of Ken Robertson, photographer (especially if any female PCs have secret identities as fashion models and the like).

If you wish to use Lightrune as a villain, then assume this version had less strength of character than the Lightrune the hero; his transformation did leech much of his humanity away. This Lightrune enjoys fighting and showing off, but believes that only supers matter—normals don’t count, so such matters as endangerment of innocents don’t factor into his thinking. He looks identical to the Strike Force Lightrune except that his costume is a darker, bloodier red.

Appearance: Ken is a tall, broad-chested man in extraordinary physical condition. (He kept up an intensive exercise regimen all through his mortal life and through the years of his transformation, and his “normal” body is now locked into a very buff configuration.) He has very blond hair cut short, and deep blue eyes. His features are both handsome and accessible.

His Lightrune costume starts with a glaring red long-sleeved tunic that falls to mid-thigh. He wears boot and a broad mask in an identical red. His leggings, broad belt, and forearm-length gloves are white, and his eyes are hidden by semi-transparent white panels on the underside of the mask. On the right side of his chest is a symbol, the one that he saw as he lay dying on that field in Wales: Three lines radiating from a central point, superimposed over a white ring. The same symbol, but substituting a red circle for the white ring, is on the back of his left glove.

Costumed Identity: Phosphene
Origin: Breed Mutant (The Blood)
Civilian Identity: Richard McLean (alias Matt Quarry, mystery writer)

Fighting – Excellent (20)
Agility – Excellent (20)
Strength – Excellent (20)
Endurance – Excellent (20)
Reason – Excellent (20)
Intuition – Good (10)
Psyche – Typical (6)

Health: 80
Karma: 36

Powers
True Flight – Good (10) airspeed, 8 areas per round
Teleportation (Self) – Good (10), 12 areas
• Teleportation Merger Attack – Phosphene has learned to partially materialize his fingers inside opponents when he teleports. This attack inflicts Incredible (40) damage, ignoring Body Armor.
Dimensional Travel – Good (10) ability to return to the home dimension of the Blood.
Penetration Vision – Excellent (20)

Equipment
Body Armor – Phosphene wears protective armor that offers Excellent (20) protection from Physical and Energy attacks. It also provides the following advantages:
• Life Support – Remarkable (30)
• Resistance to Heat, Cold, and Radiation – Remarkable (30)
• Psi-Screen – Excellent (20)

Talents
Acrobatics
Leadership
Martial Arts A, B, D
Writer
Stealth (-2CS to Int of those trying to track/locate the hero)
Repair/Tinkering

Background/History: Phosphene is a member of the Blood, a race of mutants which originated on Earth thousands of years ago, but which have long lived in another dimension and all but forgotten about Earth. Phosphene’s family came to Earth in 1927; Phosphenes’s father, a charismatic sociopath with a tendency to use his flame powers on entire towns, settled briefly in New York City, fathered Phosphene with a love-smitten cashier, and then moved on.

Phosphene, born Richard McLean, grew to manhood in New York City, not knowing about his special heritage. He supported himself and his ailing mother through a variety of criminal activities. His Blood ancestry gave him remarkable strength and speed, boons to his criminal occupation. His mother died when he was 20, and by that time he was a bodyguard for one of the city's criminal syndicate leaders.

At a test of the syndicate's new particle-beam weapon, Richard was injured when the weapon broke free of its housing and sprayed the area, setting the facility afire. Richard awoke in the hospital in police custody. To avoid prosecution for his many crimes, he agreed to turn state's evidence. The strong-arm syndicate boys caught him, and eliminated him by hurling him from a window—or so they thought. But the beam had awakened Richard's latent Blood powers, and he glided to safety, surprised but unhurt.

Soon after, he used his knowledge of criminal techniques to change his identity. He became Matt Quarry, mystery writer, and also took the identity of Phosphene, chief superhero enemy of his former employers.

In August of 1981, Phosphene's aid was solicited by ShadowWalker, and he joined what was to become the core of Strike Force. He eventually discovered that his syndicate enemies were actually part of Carousel, and later that Carousel was part of the Reapers syndicate; this lead him to become a fierce enemy of the Reapers while they existed. In the course of his career, he met and fell in love with la Panthere; he became leader of Strike Force when ShadowWalker left the team; he met most of his Blood relatives on Earth, good and evil; he was brainwashed by Azor (ruler of the world of the Blood) into becoming the villain Phantasm but was cured by his Blood relatives; and he eventually married la Panthere.

Personality/Motivation: Phosphene (“Phos-Boss”) is an uneasy blend of responsible leadership and chaotic impulses. He is good at leading Strike Force but often wishes for a less responsible role, and bears the irrational conviction that he can outthink any villain. He is dedicated to the preservation of all human life (including villains). Misogynistic from his early days with the mob, he has learned to trust and care for some women—but only those who have earned his respect. His best friends are la Panthere and Lightrune. He is on good terms with all his Blood relatives except Affrighter, whom he has fought on numerous occasions. He despises Shiva for his attack on la Panthere.

Powers/Tactics: Phosphene's powers center around his Blood powers and are augmented by a variety of skills, most of which were learned during his criminal career. Since becoming Phosphene, he has added a variety of gadgets—an armored costume, subvocal-activated mask radio, a psi-shield in his mask, and a small gadget pool for various applications.

His powers make him versatile but not particularly powerful. In combat, Phosphene tends to hang back, directing his teammates' actions, using his teleportation to rescue innocents and allies and to baffle his opponents; he seldom engages an enemy with his martial arts abilities.

His Teleportation Merger consists of teleporting next to a target so that his fingertips are actually within the target; his Instant Change consists of teleporting out of his clothes while keeping his costume on.

As Phosphene was never entirely cured of his Phantasm persona, he sometimes draws upon it when things are desperate. This normally means he suddenly shifts into his Phantasm costume and then starts teleporting about trying to shake things up by doing unpredictable and chaotic things. This includes:
• Teleporting onto the shoulders of a villain and covering the villain’s head with either his (Phantasm’s) of the villain’s cape (all while cackling madly).
• Teleport next to an attractive villainess and draw her into a deep kiss.
• Teleport about randomly while mocking and insulting his foes (looking to draw as much attention and fire as possible, while dodging incoming attacks).

In short, Phantasm will pull off insane stunts designed to distract or momentarily incapacitate foes, allowing the rest of Strike Force to regroup and reverse the tide of battle. These stunts are not usually damaging in and of themselves, but Phantasm has been known to teleport a villain, and himself, into situations where they could both suffer significant damage.

When Phosphene becomes Phantasm, command of Strike Force falls to the next in line (usually Luster) as you don’t want Phantasm trying to run things. In addition, Phosphene does not like to change to Phantasm because once there he has little regard for his own safety, and he knows that La Panthere doesn’t like the idea of getting himself killed. So he reserves it for last-ditch efforts.

Campaign Use: Phosphene is an energetic, outspoken team leader, one well-known to other hero team leaders; he is a staunch friend to the more heroic of his Blood relatives. As Matt Quarry, he is a successful mystery novelist and a good amateur sleuth.

If you wish to use Phosphene as a villain, then Richard would have returned to the mob, beaten his former boss, and then taken the man's place as the cell leader of the Reapers in New York. His Complications concerning killing would be replaced by ones such as Greed and Cynicism, and he’d be Hunted by the New York police. Alternatively, he might never have stopped being Phantasm, and now commits crimes and robberies for the fun of it all. Give him Psychological Complications such as “Chaotic and Unpredictable”; he is Hunted by the New York police and Reapers (or other criminal organizations).

Appearance: Phosphene stands 6’1” and weighs a muscular 185 pounds. While he ages slower than normal humans due to his Blood heritage, Phosphene’s physical age reflects his emotional state; for example, he actually grew younger after recovering from a near-nervous breakdown. His hair is black and graying at the temples, while his eyes are brown. As Phosphene he wears a matte black body stocking, covering him head to foot (with mask slits for eyes and mouth), and gloss black boots, gloves, and belt.

Costumed Identity: Luster
Origin: Humanoid Race – half random mutant via mother, half Katari alien via father
Civilian Identity: Tanith

Fighting – Remarkable (30)
Agility – Excellent (20)
Strength – Remarkable (30) (Incredible (40) in armor)
Endurance – Remarkable (30)
Reason – Excellent (20)
Intuition – Excellent (20)
Psyche – Good (10)

Health: 110 (120)
Karma: 50

Powers
Total Memory – Unearthly (100)
Regeneration – Unearthly (100) – 5 points per round (Endurance x Regeneration /60/10)
Spectral Energy Projection
• Energy Blast – Amazing (50) intensity, 20 area range
• Blinding Flash – Amazing (50) intensity, treated as a Flash Grenade (Blindness 1-10 rds)
• True Sight – Good (10) (Green FEAT vs Excellent disguise/concealment, Yellow FEAT vs Remarkable, Red FEAT vs Incredible)
• Force Field – Amazing (50) protection vs physical and energy attacks
• Invisibility – Good (10) ability to bend light and become effectively invisible

Equipment
Body Armor – Good (10) protection vs physical and energy attacks
• Life Support – Incredible (40)
• Resistance to Heat, Cold, and Radiation – Incredible (40)
• Psi-Screen – Excellent (20)
• Flight – Good (10) airspeed, 8 areas per round

Talents
Martial Arts B
Resist Domination
Computers
Languages (English, German, Norwegian, Katari)
First Aid
Medicine
Sciences (Biochemistry, Biology, Psychology, Sociology, Neurology)
Engineering
Repair/Tinkering

Background/History: Tanith is the firstborn child of Overlord (by Prism). She grew up in the Lair, Overlord's New York State underground base. She was jealous and resentful that Overlord paid no attention to his daughters but trained and took much interest in Power Lord, his oafish eldest son. To gain her father's attention, Tanith left the Lair and persuaded Strike Force to train her, thinking that cooperation with her father's enemies would infuriate Overlord. Whether it did or not, the death of Power Lord overshadowed her departure.

Lightrune and (eventually) la Panthere took Luster under their wings, training her and launching her career as a fashion model. Eventually she began to care for her teammates; she eventually developed a heroic outlook and lost much of her feelings of superiority, while coming to understand the viewpoint of Strike Force’s heroes.

Personality/Motivation: Initially, Tanith shared much of her father's former arrogance and coldness. However, the changes in her father went through and the affection she earned and learned from the members of Strike Force forced her to reevaluate her opinions. Her friends in Strike Force include Stunner (whom she respects for his scientific work), Lightrune, la Panthere, and Man Mountain Thunder (whom she respects for his philosophies and because he always has tremendous patience when dealing with her).

Powers/Tactics: Luster has mutant spectral energy projection powers similar to her mother’s. They are backed up by technical skills she learned in the Lair and the martial arts she’s learned from Strike Force. In combat, she uses her RKA and Flash from range or utilizes her Gadget Pool, depending on the exact nature of the opposition.

Luster is also fairly knowledgeable about a broad range of scientific disciplines. She invented (and patented) the first three-dimensional television, and spent time studying neurology and working on light-based cyber linking after meeting her “twin” on Earth-Kaiser.

Campaign Use: Luster represents a problem for a superhero team: Do they drive her out because of her arrogance, perhaps pushing her toward a life of crime like her father, or try to befriend her and turn her efforts to the side of good? The villain version of Luster earned her father's affection and stayed with him.

Appearance: Luster is tall, taking after her father, and stands 5’11”. She was a svelte 130 pounds, with a mix of Katari and Terran features. Her mane-like hair is golden blonde, her eyes are black, and she has a tawny tint to her skin.

Costumed Identity: Kestrel
Origin: Demihuman – Avian (Angelic)
Civilian Identity: Kestrel

Fighting – Remarkable (30)
Agility – Excellent (20)
Strength – Good (10)
Endurance – Good (10)
Reason – Excellent (20)
Intuition – Excellent (20)
Psyche – Remarkable (30)

Health: 70
Karma: 70

Powers
Winged Flight – Kestrel flies via feathered wings that protrude from her back. These allow her to fly at Remarkable (30) airspeed, 15 areas per round.
Telescopic Vision – Typical (6), 250 miles
Phasing – Good (10)
Psionic Powers
• Mind Blast – Incredible (40) intensity, 11 area range
• Mind Probe – Incredible (40)
• Mind Control – Incredible (40)
• Telepathy – Incredible (40)
• Illusory Invisibility – Good (10)

Equipment
Body Armor – Good (10) protection vs physical and energy attacks
Gauntlet Claws – Remarkable (30) material, Good (10) edged damage
Psi-Screen – Incredible (40)

Talents
Aerial Combat
Psychology
Languages (English, Spanish, Sioux)

Background/History: Millennia ago, the star-faring Shivall race established a genetic sciences colony on Earth. The colony succeeded in creating a race of winged humans, but ended up stranded on Earth when the Shivall empire collapsed. Afterwards, the Winged Folk settled on a floating island, traveling about the world and developing a nomadic culture similar to that of Native Americans, and even merged with a Sioux tribe on one occasion.

Currently, the Winged Folk have placed their island over Victoria Island in Canada but still remain fairly reclusive from the rest of the world. That said, certain of members of the race have ventured into the outer world. One of these is Kestrel, a psionic mutant. She grew fascinated by the outer world, and her hatred of injustice prompted her to join Strike Force. She now spends her time fighting evil and learning about the outer-worlders. Unfortunately, she also interested the biological experts of the Reapers and VIPER—and for some time was sought by them.

Personality/Motivation: Kestrel is a wide-eyed observer of the outer world. Her greatest motivations are her innate curiosity and her hatred of injustice—but she is as likely to turn her anger on the authorities when she perceives them as unjust. Within Strike Force she long served as the Voice of Conscience: since she was unfamiliar with Earth culture, she asked many tough questions about things most humans took for granted. Although she is now far much more familiar with surface culture, she still serves a proponent for justice and fairness.

Powers/Tactics: Kestrel’s wings are the source of her flight abilities. She is also a mutant, possessing a suite of psionic powers. On top of this she also wears the claw weapons of her people, which give her a lethal slashing attack—an attack that becomes far more effective at high speeds. In combat Kestrel specializes in ranged attacks and aerial rescues.

Campaign Use: Kestral serves as an excellent ambassador from the surface world to the floating island of the Winged Folk. Player Characters who need to contact the Winged Folk can contact her first. If you wish to use Kestral as a villain, then assume she decided that all governments were uniformly unjust and now commits “victimless” crimes designed to harm governments but not individuals.

Appearance: Kestral is quite tall, standing 6 feet in height and weighing 130 pounds. Her hair is auburn and copper and her eyes brown. Her skin has a coppery Native American coloration while her wings have cinnamon-colored wings. She wears no regular costume; her outfits range from classical white robes to fringed Native Amercan outfits to striking clothes she sees in New York shops. She also wears the steel claw-glove weapons of the Winged Folk.

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Captain Knucklehead
I recently purchased the new edition of Aaron Allston's Strike Force, largely on the strength of the GM-related advice and ideas for running a successful long-term campaign. With it came a few different conversions for the characters, most notably to the ICONS and Mutants & Masterminds 3rd edition settings. Since I found myself with a bit of time on my hands, I've started to convert the stats over to MSH stats. I've primarily used the ICONS converted stats for the Primary and Secondary abilities, and power ranks where provided. However, the power lists for the ICONS versions were a bit sparse, so I've done my best to assemble more comprehensive power sets from the Champions and M&M versions.

Have you seen the Champions to Marvel conversion chart that came out in the Adventurers Club?

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Screaming Dean

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Captain Knucklehead
I recently purchased the new edition of Aaron Allston's Strike Force, largely on the strength of the GM-related advice and ideas for running a successful long-term campaign. With it came a few different conversions for the characters, most notably to the ICONS and Mutants & Masterminds 3rd edition settings. Since I found myself with a bit of time on my hands, I've started to convert the stats over to MSH stats. I've primarily used the ICONS converted stats for the Primary and Secondary abilities, and power ranks where provided. However, the power lists for the ICONS versions were a bit sparse, so I've done my best to assemble more comprehensive power sets from the Champions and M&M versions.

Have you seen the Champions to Marvel conversion chart that came out in the Adventurers Club?

The only Champions to Marvel conversion chart I've seen is the one currently posted on this site. I've made use of it here and there, but having never played nor read the Champions system before, a lot of it is over my head. ICONS slots pretty nicely into the MSH stats, though it lacks the Endurance ability, opting for Stamina (a combination of Strength and Willpower) instead. So with my initial attempt, I use ICONS, then I look at the Champions conversion to get Endurance. From there, I look at the ICONS, Champions, and M&M power sets and talents to try to come up with the appropriate powers and talents.

Someone with experience in Champions or M&M 3rd edition would likely do a more faithful and complete conversion, but as I've mentioned, I hope that my attempt at least captures the spirit of the characters, despite any inaccuracies or misinterpretations on my part.

Costumed Identity: Plasma Ranger
Origin: Normal Human (Hi-tech)
Civilian Identity: Michael Sterling

Fighting – Excellent (20)
Agility – Excellent (20)
Strength – Good (10) (Incredible (40) armored)
Endurance – Good (10) (Remarkable (30) armored)
Reason – Typical (6)
Intuition – Good (10)
Psyche – Excellent (20)

Health: 60 (110)
Karma: 36

Powers
None. All superhuman abilities come from his power suit.

Equipment
Plasma Suit – Michael wears a hi-tech power suit that provides the following powers:
• Plasma Projection – Amazing (50) intensity, 20 area range. Side effects: Remarkable (30) intensity Light, Remarkable (30) intensity Heat.
• Flight (Plasma Thrusters) – Amazing (50) airspeed, 25 areas per round
• Force Field – Good (10) protection vs physical, Excellent (20) protection vs energy
• Blinding Flash – Amazing (50) intensity, treated as a Flash Grenade (Blindness 1-10 rds)
• Protected Senses (vision) – Remarkable (30)
• Penetration Vision – Excellent (20)
• Life Support – Monstrous (75) independent environment, capable of surviving in the vacuum of space
• Resistance to Cold – Monstrous (75) ability to survive the vacuum of space
• Nova Blast – Amazing (50) intensity plasma burst, area of effect attack
• Targeting System – Michael gains a +2 CS to ranged attacks

Power Boost – Michael can temporarily boost various combat-related systems in his armor for a maximum of 10 rounds:
• Strength increases to Amazing (50)
• Endurance increases to Incredible (40)
• Force Field increases to Incredible (40) vs physical and energy attacks

Talents
Acrobatics
Criminology
Politics
Martial Arts A, B, C
Repair/Tinkering

Background/History: In an alternate Earth similar to the Strike Force Earth, Michael Sterling, a Texan policeman, met and fell in love with Ann Amos, a university teachers’ assistant. Later, he discovered she was actually Anya Andreyev, a Russian inventor in the federal witness relocation program; the developer of the Soviet “Tokamak” plasma suit program, she was continuing her work in a new identity in the United States. When her prototype suit was ready, Michael, wearing the suit, flew her to the USSR, where they infiltrated the plasma suit facility and destroyed all her developmental notes on the project. After that, both were hunted by the KGB for their actions against the USSR.

Michael helped found and acted as leader for the Good Guys, a Texan hero team, and in that capacity he met and befriended Phosphene and Ichi-ban of Strike Force on some of their cross-dimensional adventures. The Good Guys were a powerful team, but subject to ruinous personality clashes which tore the team apart, constantly bringing team members in conflict with one another. Additionally, the KGB activities against Michael and Ann were becoming too frequent; it would only be a matter of time before they were caught and returned to the Soviet Union.

So, during a visit by Phosphene and Ichi-ban to the Good Guys’ world, Plasma Ranger asked if they could help him and Ann—by taking them to the Strike Force world. Phosphene and Ichi-ban agreed. Abandoning their families and former lives—as well as their former enemies Michael and Ann fled to the Strike Force Earth. With Strike Force's help, Michael created new identities for Ann and himself. He took a private detective position with the Nora Page Detective Agency while Ann applied for federal grants for her plasma-physics work. As Plasma Ranger, Michael formally joined Strike Force.

During Strike Force’s adventures in the Chaos Zone, Plasma Ranger met the Strike Force Earth equivalent of Tokamak—not an analog of Anya Andreyev, but still a female Soviet scientist who invented the plasma suit on this world. As it turns out, the Michael Sterling of the Strike Force Earth, a villain, learned of her plasma physics suit and convinced VIPER to help him steal it, killing all of Tokamak’s co-workers in the process. Now, as Death Ranger, this Strike Force Earth villain hunts Tokamak; in turn Plasma Ranger is determined to hunt down the murderous dog who has blackened his family name on this world.

Personality/Motivation: Here is the key to Plasma Ranger’s personality: he’s a cop removed from his community. He is as insular as any career cop, but is also separated from the folk he would ordinarily be insular with, and Strike Force has not made up the lack (at least initially). Emotionally, he expects other members of Strike Force to be cops like him and can be angry and belligerent when they aren’t. Thus, Plasma Ranger can be said to have a very "law and order" personality; he does things by the book and is an honorable fighter. He is a born leader but not a compulsive one; especially in light of the disastrous collapse of the Good Guys, he’s more than willing to work under Phosphene’s leadership. He is devoted to Ann and is becoming a competent fusion tech under her tutelage. Of his Strike Force Earth acquaintances, he feels closest to his old friend Phosphene.

Powers/Tactics: Most of Plas’ powers derive from the plasma fields generated by his power suit. His Plasma Blast is notable for the accuracy of its targeting system and for the brightness of the blast (it’s a Blast with a dependent Flash); his other superpowers are relatively typical for those provided by a power-enhancement suit. Plas is also a skilled investigator and electronics tech, and is well-schooled in the world political situation. In combat, he is the team's long-range combat specialist; the No Range Modifier advantage on his Plasma Blast makes him a formidable long-range opponent.

Campaign Use: Plasma Ranger is mirrored and shadowed through multiverse more than most superheroes he knows; he is an avatar of some sort and variation of him (and Ann) can be met all across the multiverse. He is also the father of future Strike Force Earth hero Dr. Futurian. You can easily use Plasma Ranger as a villain by making him a murderous Michael Sterling who killed to steal the Tokamak Suit. Now, as Death Ranger, he is one of VIPER's favorite strongmen and a menace to any hero whose technologies he wishes to steal.

Appearance: Michael Sterling stands 6’ in height and weighs a muscular 185 pounds. His thinning hair is brown and his eyes are blue. As Plasma Ranger he wears a costume that is a stylized Texas flag: blue hood, goggles, chest, right arm and side; white left arm, side, left leg outside, and star on chest; red right glove, right leg, and left leg inside.

Costumed Identity: Man Mountain Thunder
Origin: Magically Enhanced Altered Human
Civilian Identity: Hisato Yamakawa

Fighting – Excellent (20)
Agility – Excellent (20)
Strength – Amazing (50)
Endurance – Incredible (40)
Reason – Typical (6)
Intuition – Good (10)
Psyche – Excellent (20)

Health: 130
Karma: 36

Powers
Hyper-Leaping – Monstrous (75) leaping ability, 100’ up/across, 150’ down
Dense Flesh – Incredible (40) vs physical and energy attacks
Lifeform Detection – Good (10) ability to detect the chi of others at a range of 10 areas
Psi-Screen – Remarkable (30)
Invulnerable to Heat and Fire – C1000 resistance to heat and fire-based attacks
Extra Body Parts – Kudzu vines – The vines act as Entangling weapons, ensnaring opponents with Excellent (20) strength at a distance of up to 4 meters away
Density Increase – Remarkable (30), increasing his mass to approximately 1 ton
Telekinesis – Typical (6) strength ability to move objects with his mind
Temporary Power Boost – By making a successful Yellow Endurance FEAT, Hisato can temporarily boost his Strength and Dense Flesh ranks to Monstrous (75). This effect lasts from 1-10 rds.

Talents
Languages (English, Japanese, German)
Medicine (Chinese)
Martial Arts A, C
Wrestling
Botany

Background/History: In 1942, the family of Ben (Iwao) and Amelia (Emiko) Yamakawa, like many other Japanese-Americans, were sent to an internment camp in Utah. This is where their son was born in 1943. They named him Hisato, forgoing a “Western” name out of their resentment for the way the United States was treating them.

As Hisato grew he picked up the nickname Hito. He was a large, healthy boy and a pride to his parents, though they feared that growing up in what amounted to a prison, for the crime of being of Japanese descent, might scar him for life. Fortunately, the war ended in 1945 and they and their two-year-old son were able to return to Hawaii in early 1946. Their life there was a struggle—their former property now in the possession of whites—but through hard work and skillful money-handling they were able to build a new, prosperous life.

Hisato grew up unusually strong and large, and as a teenager began to study sumo wrestling, the national sport of Japan. Smart and aggressive, he was able to become a proficient wrestler, and then a real contender for titles both in Hawaii and Japan, even while studying to be an acupuncturist. He grew in size and skill... and, inevitably, ego.

In 1964, at the height of his prowess, he entered a match with Kanada Yodo, a Japanese former national champion and the most powerful sumo wrestler he had yet faced. Their contest was unusually long, the more experienced Yodo an even match for the younger, stronger Hisato. Tiring and frustrated, Hisato managed to get a good grip on the older man and levered him powerfully to the mat. He heard a crack as his opponent hit and felt a powerful sense of satisfaction that he had not merely won, but had taught the “stubborn old man” a lesson as well. Then he realized that Yodo was dead, his neck broken.

No charges of wrongdoing were leveled against Hisato, but he knew that his pride and ego had something to do with the man’s death. He was devastated. He abandoned the sport, abandoned his family, and began wandering in search of enlightenment. He spoke with wiser men than he. He entered an order of Buddhist monks and sought solace in the religious life, but he never found anything but more guilt.

In 1968, four years after the accident, nothing had changed for Hisato except that he finally concluded that he would never find absolution, that he would never be able to make amends for Yodo’s death, so he resolved to kill himself. He climbed to the summit of the volcano at Komagatake, near Hakodate on eastern Hokkaido, and threw himself in.

Shintoists believe that all places are inhabited by kami, or living spirits. Whether or not that’s true, Komagatake certainly was. Its kami was a powerful being, strong in magic, and interested in the affairs of living beings. It saved Hisato, transforming him so that he could survive the volcano’s great heat. It also raged at him, furious at his failure to try to make amends for the deed that had changed his life. The kami told Hisato to go forth and make amends, and to kill himself only when his heart was at peace. In possession of new powers—and the ability to transform between his strange super-form and his original form—Hisato set out to do just that.

Still certain that he had shamed his family beyond any possible forgiveness, he abandoned his true name and adopted a cut-down version of it, Yama Hito. He returned to his studies of Asian healing techniques. He also took a superhero identity, naming himself Yamaarashi (“mountain storm”) in Japanese, or Man Mountain Thunder in English, and began traveling across the nations of the North Pacific, righting wrongs where he found them, seeking enlightenment when he could recognize it.

By the mid-1980s, Hito’s exploits had made him a hero in the eyes of Japanese all across the Pacific Rim. By this time his parents had both died and Hito himself had managed to achieve a certain level of personal peace, though he was still not certain he deserved to have a place among the living. He continued to travel, fight, and (increasingly) sternly lecture criminals on the error of their ways.

In 1987, after World War III, Hito traveled to North America, to meet with Strike Force, helping them track down the murderous ninja Darkwind, a member of the Star Knights (who were based out of Washington, DC). Together, Strike Force and Man Mountain Thunder captured Darkwind, broke his mental conditioning—then spent some time convincing him not to kill himself out of remorse. Afterwards, they exposed the villainous Star Knights battling them in a well-publicized combat in the downtown of the District of Columbia.

After all the dust had settled, Phosphene invited Man Mountain Thunder into Strike Force. He accepted, interested in the novelty of working with a team full-time, and enjoyed the experience.

In the years since, Thunder (as he is often called) has acted as a team brick, lecturer of bad guys, conscience for the team, exponent of Asian wisdom, and (often) protector of young lady team members. He took Luster under his wing almost immediately. Later, in 1991, when Overlord and Strike Force went time-traveling and rescued teen heroine SnowFalcon from her death in 1981, and SnowFalcon’s traditionalist father rejected her because of her modernism and disobedience, Man Mountain Thunder took her under his wing as well, effectively becoming her foster father. Recently, he has become engaged to Kami and the two of them have acquired a small volcanic island. Located in the Hawaiian chain, the island, formerly barren, is being transformed into a garden paradise via Thunder’s and Kami’s powers.

Thunder, a lifelong student of multiple martial arts (not just sumo wrestling) is now learning daragak, the Katari martial art known on Earth only by Overlord.

Personality/Motivation: Man Mountain Thunder is a mass of contradictions—perhaps expressed more appropriately as a study in duality. He’s as humorous as a drunken monk, with a self-deprecating sense of humor, but when circumstances warrant he becomes fatherly and even stern. He habitually lectures evildoers about the wrongness of their lives and their deeds—other members of Strike Force Orbital have been known to stay around just long enough to be sure that captured villains are well-tied, then sneak off so as not to have to endure another lecture.

Thunder believes strongly in many traditions of Japan and other parts of the world, but only so far as they benefit individuals and the world. He performs the ancient Japanese tea ceremony and keeps rock gardens in the most traditional fashion, for they are peaceful activities beneficial to all... but when his informal charge SnowFalcon defied her parents and refused to give up her superheroine career and act as an obedient daughter, Thunder supported her decision, not at all a traditional move.

Appearance: Man Mountain Thunder stands 6’2”, with a with a heavy, well-muscled build. He has leafy green hair made from kudzu vines and black eyes. His voice is deep and rolling, heavily flavored with a Japanese accent. His costume seems to simply consist of a sumo wrestler’s mawashi (a combination belt/loincloth).

Costumed Identity: Macabre
Origin: Magically Altered Human
Civilian Identity: Rosa Turmanin

Fighting – Excellent (20)
Agility – Excellent (20)
Strength – Typical (6)
Endurance – Typical (6)
Reason – Excellent (20)
Intuition – Excellent (20)
Psyche – Remarkable (30)

Health: 52
Karma: 70

Powers
Telepathy – limited to teammates and spirits – Excellent (20) – 64 area range
Magic Detection – Good (10) – 10 area maximum
Spirit Detection – Good (10) – 10 area maximum
Danger Sense – Excellent (20)
Precognition – Excellent (20) – Macabre sees flashes and impressions of the future, much like a fortune teller
Invisibility – Good (10)
Hypnotic Control – Incredible (40)
Spiritual Connection – Macabre can call upon spirits to grant her the following powers:
• Telekinesis – Remarkable (30)
• Force Field – Remarkable (30) protection from physical and energy attacks
• Flight – Poor (4) airspeed, 4 areas per round
• Shapeshifting – Excellent (20)

Equipment
Armored Costume – Good (10) protection vs physical and energy attacks
Browning Hi-Power handgun – Typical (6) damage, 3 area range
Knives (3 total) – Excellent (20) material, Typical (6) edged damage

Talents
Occult
Sleight of Hand
Guns
Thrown Weapons
Knives
Languages (English, German, Russian, Ukrainian, Romany)
History (Romany, Nazi)

Description: Born in 1965, Rosa Turmanin (a.k.a. “Madame Rosa”) was initially a spiritualist, a medium who gained true mystic powers after a brush with death. She joined Strike Force in 1990, taking the name Macabre. As her name implies, she can call upon and “command” spirits (or, at least ask their cooperation) and has even gained a companion in the form of Frederick Rutherford, a.k.a. “Ghost Fred.”

Macabre stands 5’7” and has brown hair and black eyes.

Costumed Identity: La Panthère
Origin: Induced Mutant (Altered Human)
Civilian Identity: Catherine Beauchamp

Fighting – Incredible (40)
Agility – Remarkable (30)
Strength – Remarkable (30)
Endurance – Incredible (40)
Reason – Excellent (20)
Intuition – Excellent (20)
Psyche – Good (10)

Health: 140
Karma: 50

Powers
Infravision – Excellent (20), 5 area distance
Hyper-Leaping – Incredible (40) ability, 50’ up/across, 75’ down
Longevity – Catherine ages at a slower rate than standard humans

Equipment
Body Armor – Excellent (20) protection vs physical and energy attacks
Clawed Bracers – Remarkable (30) material, Remarkable (30) edged damage
• Wall-crawling – Remarkable (30)
Psi-Screen Implant – Remarkable (30)

Talents
Acrobatics
Tumbling
Martial Arts B
Stealth (-2CS to Int of those trying to track/locate the hero)
Pilot
Sleight of Hand
Languages (English, French)

Background/History: Catherine is the daughter of French general Auguste Beauchamp, a military hero of World War II; Beauchamp was a leader of the Free French and saw much action in North Africa during the war. Auguste married late in life, and his wife was middle-aged when she bore Catherine, their only child.

It is an oversimplification to say that Auguste wanted a boy and so Catherine became a tomboy to please him. In fact, Catherine’s upbringing was largely due to Auguste feelings that he and his wife were simply not going to live long once Catherine reached adulthood. Thus, he drove Catherine to achieve at school and arranged for her to be taught how to fight; she spent years learning the art of savate. Auguste’s concern for her security led Catherine to develop an interest in the field of security, though by college age she didn’t know what part of that field would be her profession.

On a fateful night during her second year in college, she was with friends, exchange students, at a club that catered largely to tourists. Terrorists seized control of the club, herding the patrons into a back room. Their avowed intent was to destroy the establishment, as a blow against American interference overseas, but the speed with which they set up their explosives, followed by inexplicable waiting, seemed very odd to Catherine.

Then Bright Eagle struck. The French-German superhero, member of the worldwide martial arts society called Counterstrike, had had numerous run-ins with terrorists in recent months and was swift to respond to this new assault. What Bright Eagle did not know, however, was that this terrorist action was actually a trap for him. While Bright Eagle dominated the main room of the club, wreaking havoc on the terrorists sent against him and preventing them from setting off the false explosives, the rest of the terrorist crew readied the weapons that had been designed to bring Bright Eagle down.

Catherine saw what was happening and acted; she pushed one of her captors down and leaped through the door into the main room, calling a warning out to Bright Eagle. Then one of the terrorists, following her through the door, shot her in the back with a pistol. Catherine was lucky, The shot was a graze, ricocheting off her scapula and caused no serious damage. She didn’t know that at the time, though. What she did know was that someone had shot her in the back, and when she turned to look at the shooter, all she saw was cold-blooded inhumanity in his eyes. Before he could fire again, she kicked him, a perfect savate maneuver that cracked his skull. Then more terrorists began piling out the door, their trap prematurely sprung.

Fired up by anger, adrenaline, and fear that she might be mortally wounded, she lashed out at the men coming through the door, seriously injuring three of them before anyone could get off a shot at her or Bright Eagle. Then the costumed hero blasted past her and took the fight back to the terrorists, defeating them all in a matter of moments.

In the aftermath, as she went through treatment at the hands of a doctor at the scene, she realized just what parts of the security field interested her most: Bright Eagle’s. In a costume, his true identity concealed, he could storm cretins like the one who had shot her in the back, stopping crime without being hung up on legal niceties.

Bright Eagle stopped by the stretcher where she lay and complimented her on her fighting skills. “If there’s anything I can do for you in return,” he said, “you have but to ask.”
“There is,” she told him.
“What is it?”
“Take me on as your partner and teach me to do what you do.”
“Certainly not,” he said.

And that should have been that. After some time in the hospital and in front of media microphones and cameras, Catherine went back to her education. She also designed a costume for herself—little more than a black full-body leotard with an oval cutout for her eyes and a pair of broad metal bracelets with cutting/climbing claws attached. She became la Panthere (The Panther), a martial artist heroine for Paris, France.

Eventually, Catherine came to the United States, applied for American citizenship and joined a superhero team, the Lightbearers. Unfortunately, while on a mission the Lightbearers discovered a base belonging to the arch-villain Overlord. Overestimating their own power and capabilities, they attacked. Overlord and his minions scattered them to the winds; one Lightbearer died and la Panthere was captured and implanted with one of Overlord's mind-control devices.

Overlord, a biomedical experimenter, was intrigued with her cat motif and decided to give her a series of feline powers. In the months she was under his control, he boosted her strength from human normal to a superhuman level, as well as giving her a remarkable leaping capability and the ability to see in the dark. She became his favorite mind-controlled bodyguard.

Then, in the second clash between Overlord and Strike Force, she fought and nearly defeated Phosphene, who managed to overcome her but was impressed with her style and prowess. And it was Shiva’s attempt to finish off the unconscious Panthere that caused the still ongoing enmity between Phosphene and Shiva.

Strike Force captured la Panthere and removed her mind-control implant; then Phosphene arranged for the mystic supers of the Circle to restore her damaged sanity. In the course of her recovery, he was in constant attendance on her; he fell in love with her and she with him.

Sometime later, when Phosphene disappeared during his attempt to reach the Blood homeworld, la Panthere joined Strike Force and drew on its resources try to find him. She learned the business of the literary agent in order to represent his works while he was gone, and stayed with the team after he was found (as Phantasm) and restored to his true memories.

Phosphene and la Panthere married soon after the destruction of the Bloodletter. She continues to act as a part-time literary agent and full-time heroine.

Personality/Motivation: Catherine is very idealistic about helping the world through the defeat of criminals and, like her husband, is dedicated to the preservation of life. Like her feline namesake, she is somewhat hedonistic, likes to stalk and ambush her enemies, and has a wild streak to her nature.

On the down side, as a result of her time spent under Overlord’s influence, she is still afraid of him and doesn't like to discuss her time with him (although she did eventually reconcile with him… somewhat). Additionally, the damage done to her psyche has left permanent scars: her EGO will never achieve any high level; she’s not particularly self-confident and prefers teamwork to solo adventuring. Her best friends are Phosphene and her old teammate Dryad of the Lightbearers; she has become good friends with Luster, in spite of Luster’s family background.

Powers/Tactics: La Panthere has been trained in the martial art of savate and possesses a variety of abilities useful to her career as a stealth-based investigative heroine. The powers she received from Overlord include augmented strength, enhanced leaping, and the ability to see into the infrared. Though Overlord originally used artificial hormones to effect these changes, he also introduced viral gene replacement factors into her system causing the changes to become permanent.

She also uses a number of gadgets, including: a lightly armored suit, bracers with fold-out cutting and climbing claws (developed by the Shadow Warriors’ Man-o-War from his own designs, a high-tech implant designed to keep her from ever suffering mental domination as she did at Overlord's hands, and a vehicle that can be easily disguised.

La Panthere's powers are mostly support-based; on missions, she acts as a backup security expert. In combat, she's a front-line fighter, preferring to scrap with opponents who don't have obviously lethal attacks.

Campaign Use: Any PC who wishes to speak with Phosphene will probably run into la Panthere first, especially if the PCs are trying to contact his secret identity of Matt Quarry. Up-and-coming heroes who wish to learn savate or any number of useful security-related skills could talk to la Panthere about training.

If you wish to use la Panthere as a villain, then assume she was never rescued by Strike Force and remains under Overlord’s control, with thorough brainwashing having taken the place of the temporary mind-control implant. Replace her “Code versus Killing” with “Devoted to Overlord” and eliminate the Complication involving reminders of her being brainwashed.

Appearance: Due to retarded aging (courtesy of Overlord), la Panthere looks younger than she actually is (at age 31 she still looked around 25). She stands 5’7” tall, but weighs a well-toned 130 pounds. Her hair is a very dark brown (nearly black), and her eyes are brown as well. She wears a costume consisting of a tunic with black sleeves, gray torso, and a broad gray cuffed collar; black pants; gray mask and boots; and gold metal bracers with fold-out cutting and climbing claws. As Catherine, she speaks American-accented English, but as la Panthere she sports a strong French accent as part of her disguise.

Costumed Identity: Copperhead
Origin: Normal Human (Hi-tech)
Civilian Identity: Ben Anderson

Fighting – Excellent (20)
Agility – Typical (6) (Remarkable (30) armored)
Strength – Typical (6) (Amazing (50) armored)
Endurance – Typical (6) (Remarkable (30) armored)
Reason – Remarkable (30)
Intuition – Excellent (20)
Psyche – Good (10)

Health: 38 (130)
Karma: 60

Powers
None. All superhuman powers and abilities come from the Copperhead suit.

Equipment
Copperhead Suit – Ben wears a hi-tech suit that provides the following powers:
• Body Armor – Remarkable (30) protection from physical and energy attacks
• Hyper-Leaping – Monstrous (75) ability, 100’ up/across, 150’ down
• Wall-Crawling – Remarkable (30)
• Invisibility – Good (10)
• Radar Sense – Good (10)
• Resistance to Heat – Amazing (50)
• Resistance to Cold – Amazing (50)
• Life Support – Amazing (50)
• Regeneration – Good (10) – 1 point every 2 rounds (Endurance x Regeneration /60/10)
• Elongation – Good (10) – 10 meters (11 yards)
• Extra Limb – Amazing (50) strength
• Healing – Good (10)

Talents
Computers
Biochemistry
Bioengineering
Cybernetics
Microbiology
Skiing
Musician (Bass guitar)
Wrestling
Languages (English, Latin, Spanish)


Description: Born in 1969, Ben Anderson stands 6’3”, with brown hair and blue eyes. Initially a graduate student specializing in biology, Anderson now has his PhD and is a fully accredited doctor of biological sciences. He became a superhero by joining Strike Force in 1992, fighting crime in a hazardous environment power suit under the name of Copperhead. He helped found Strike Force Orbital in 1993, and currently serves with that arm of the organization.

Costumed Identity: Stunner
Origin: Normal Human (Hi-tech)
Civilian Identity: Dr. Robert “Bob” Grady

Fighting – Incredible (40)
Agility – Remarkable (30)
Strength – Good (10)
Endurance – Excellent (20)
Reason – Excellent (20)
Intuition – Good (10)
Psyche – Typical (6)

Health: 100
Karma: 36

Powers
Hyper-Running – Typical (6) land speed, 3 areas per round

Equipment
Armored Costume – Excellent protection from physical and energy attacks
Stun Gun – No Health damage, but those hit by its blasts must make an Endurance FEAT versus Amazing (50) intensity STUN or be stunned for 1-10 rounds.
Gadgets – Stunner brings a number of mission-specific gadgets and gear into the field with him. See WEAPONS LOCKER and various Game books for examples of potential gadgets. These may be modified prior to the mission (not during), subject to the Judge’s discretion and approval.

Vulnerability
Stunner has an increased vulnerability to radiation, and suffers an additional +1 CS damage from Radiation-based attacks.

Talents
Martial Arts B
Repair/Tinkering
Computers
Electrical Engineering
Neurology
Heir to Fortune

Background/History: After a childhood accident (a near-fatal fall from a roof), Bob Grady became withdrawn and studious, a determined student but not much of a mixer. He threw himself into his studies, and two subjects quickly emerged as his favorites: electrical engineering (later including stasis-field physics) and track and field, which would eventually lead to martial arts training. Eventually Grady became an educator, and among his more talented pupils was David Simons (a.k.a. Bolo). But he never stopped tinkering and inventing on the side, and struck pay-dirt when he learned to slow down the conscious responses of living creatures by means of an electrical beam. In effect, his Stun-Gun would slow humans and animals, a potential boon to law enforcement officers chasing criminals or prison operators holding convicts—especially super-powered ones.

Having developed his technology to the point that he could actually fire a stun-ray from a hand-held weapon, he decided personally to field-test the device. Taking a leave of absence from his university, he designed an armored costume and embarked on a crime-fighting career as Stunner—less out of a desire to save the world than to test his technological innovations.

Stunner participated in one adventure with Strike Force, was soundly beaten by a villain, and returned, humiliated, to solo adventuring. But after discovering the villain Halfjack involved in robbing a bank and singly defeating that criminal, Stunner felt sufficiently vindicated to return to Strike Force and apply for formal membership. After a period as probationary member, he was admitted to full membership. He soon attracted the attention of Strike Force's Reaper enemies, who tried to strip him of his technological information for as long as they existed.

In the course of his association with Strike Force, Stunner has emerged as the team's preeminent gadgeteer. He has worked alone and with the team's other scientifically inclined members (such as ShadowWalker, Vixen, and Luster) to create gadgets, restraint devices, vehicles, and robots. He has continued his leave of absence from the university, making his living by patenting devices derived from his inventions. Now, with the Governor gone, he anticipates making a fortune through the marketing of his discoveries, and could well be correct.

Personality/Motivation: Stunner is an archetypal gadgeteer—absorbed in his work, with barely anything resembling a social life. If asked about electrical engineering and the like, he will start talking until physically stopped. Thus, his closest friendships are with Luster (who understands his mania for science) and with Bolo of the Shadow Warriors.

His personality has some holdovers from the childhood accident which almost claimed his life. He's still afraid of heights and becomes panicky if anything happens to the Strike Force planes while he's in them. And enough physical damage sends him into flashbacks to the moments after his disastrous fall, when he lay broken and dying, and tends to drive him into a berserk panic. Because he works in a laboratory and has never become comfortable dealing with people, his physical presence is rather low for a costumed super.

Powers/Tactics: Stunner has normal strength for a man of his size who exercises regularly, but his other physical attributes—his running speed, reaction time, and dexterity—are extraordinary. These, coupled with his unusual susceptibility to radioactive emissions, make Strike Force doctors believe that he is a mutant—but one whose benevolent mutations are sufficiently low-level that he doesn't show up as a mutant to mutant scanners.

Most of his time goes into the creation of devices, especially those which are useful in crime fighting. His favorite is still the Stun-Gun. Stunner now utilizes other gadgets for specific missions. In combat he decides which foes his current gadget will probably affect most severely and concentrates on them—usually at range.

Campaign Use: Player Characters could come to Stunner to ask him about how to build an electrical device of some sort, see about getting him to build a Stun Gun for them, or even could be former students.

As a villain Stunner’s history closely follows that of the hero Stunner’s, but when he left the university, it was to profit from his inventions through crime. He now makes his living from creating gadgets for supervillain clients—plus the occasional robbery on his own. Replace his Hunteds with a New York superhero team and the police. He can be the Hunter of any gadget-oriented hero—or one who is vulnerable to gadgets.

Appearance: Stunner is quite tall, standing 6’3” and weighing a lean 180 pounds. He has black hair and blue eyes. His costume consists of a brown body-stocking which leaves his eyes and lower face open; it features stylized arrows on the chest, forearms and shins. He also wears accoutrements necessary to whatever gadget he is carrying: a belt and holster for his Stun Gun, for instance.