Copyright Linda Whitson 2016
CARDINAL
Concept: Winged Superheroine and Rocker Power Level: 10
Combat: Attack +13 [Unarmed +7], Init +6
Defenses: Dodge +10, Parry +10, Toughness +10, Fortitude +10, Willpower +10
Abilities: STR 4; STA 3; AGI 6; DEX 4; FIG 10; INT 1; AWE 2; PRE 5
Advantages: Benefits ([3 ranks] Cipher 1, Independently Wealthy), Close Attack 3, Evasion 2, Favored Environment: Air, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Takedown 2
Skills: Acrobatics 8 (+16), Athletics 2 (+6), Expertise: Music 6 (+7), Intimidation 2 (+7), Perception 6 (+8), Persuasion 4 (+9), Technology 2 (+3)
Powers:
Avenging Angel:
8″ Flight (Wings)
Strength-based Damage 3
Armored costume (Protection 7, Impervious, Removable)
Complications:
Motivation: Recognition
Avian-human mutant: Feathered wings & scalp, avian respiratory system & hollow bone structure. Blunt and crushing damage do +1 degree.
Obsession: Wants to be a rock musician.
Typical Teen: Cardinal is an adolescent and acts like it. She may defy older teammates, is prone to crushes, doesn’t always use the best judgment.
Backstory: Elyse was the child of a Senator and his wife, who somehow managed, even in the Internet Age, to keep her and her wings out of the public eye. When she was 16, they were assassinated and she was left alone. The estate’s trustee and executor, an old friend of the Senator was at a loss for what to do with the mutant girl–how to keep the Senator’s secret and keep Elyse out of trouble; especially from whoever ordered her parents’ deaths. While it was kept out of the news, AEGIS and other government agencies suspect that the crime was more related to Elyse than her father’s politics. AEGIS pulled strings and the trustee called in favors and a superhero team agreed to take her as an “apprentice” and so she became Cardinal, the only name she uses now.
This apprenticeship has not always been easy for Cardinal or her older teammates. Not only does she lack any experience in combat–she wasn’t even used to being around more than a handful of people. And she was a typical teen, who would argue with her surrogate parents on the team or try to get away with mischief between missions or training sessions.
While Cardinal found her new life cool and exciting, after being sheltered for her entire life, she has a different dream for the longterm. For years she was been a big fan of a rock band, The Scream, made up of several meta-humans, and Cardinal wanted to follow in their footsteps. She recently met them in person when she and her teammates “crashed” a party on The Scream’s private island in the course of a mission! Not only did she meet her idols but she got to jam with them–and they were impressed enough with her singing to take her under their wing. She has done some studio work with The Scream and even opened once!
Cardinal is sure that rock stardom is what she wants. But what about those who wanted her parents dead (and may still want her)? What about the criminals she has helped the team fight? Can she leave the superhero life completely? And who else might it endanger if she does follow that dream?
Description: Cardinal is a mutant with a mix of human and avian characteristics, the most dramatic being the red and black feathered wings that inspired her codename. She also lacks body hair; her head is covered with a cap of downy, black-tipped red feathers.
Design Notes: Cardinal was a favorite Champions PC of mine. Recently I was telling one of my current gaming buddies–Empty Bacta Tank–about her and he loved the concept. So I decided to rewrite her for Mutants & Masterminds for old times’ sake and to get a little more conversant with character builds, which I find difficult in M&M, even though I love playing it.I had put it aside, to work on other projects. For “Games of Yore” Week, I wrote about my fondness for that decades-long Champions game for which I created and played Cardinal, and two other superheroines. So I got back to work re-writing her. EBT gave me more than a little help and feedback on the stats.
Since it has been over 20 years, I have no idea where my original character sheet and notes might be (probably in storage), so this isn’t a conversion, really. It is a ground-up rewrite which I find works best for me when I re-do characters in different systems. I don’t recall all of her Champions Disadvantages, but I find these M&M complications work very well to define Cardinal. They fit Cardinal even better than the original Disadvantages did, partly because I didn’t have to stretch to find enough to cover a certain amount of points. So there’s nothing that isn’t likely to be used by the GM. Plus, I find that Complications allow more easily for personality traits than even the Psych Limit Disdavantages.
Credits: Empty Bacta Tank provided feedback and technical editing. The Scream were created by my Champions GM, the late Glen “Star Khat” Pettrie.
Linda Whitson
Latest posts by Linda Whitson (see all)
- Astral Projections – The Ripperdoc Is In - May 8, 2023
