Thread: CHARACTER PROFILES [updated 4-26]

Re CHARACTER PROFILES I have been browbeaten into establishing a character here, and since I am feeling creatively bankrupt I'm going to employ a PC I created on old Darker for the Supers group RP, which never did anything after his initial introduction. I had another Supers PC, Baker, but I never did write up a profile on him all you needed to know about him was established in his introductory post, and that's been lost with the old website. So instead, I give you my super-sensory Superhero. Name John Thomas Blevins Description Caucasian male, near 40 years old, 6', fit but tending to paunchy. Close-cropped brown hair and goatee, blue eyes, Roman nose, wears glasses though does not need them. Powerset Immensely increased sensory processing capability, side effects including excellent memory, superior interpretive and evaluative cognition. General psychic, rated high in telepathy, e.s.p., and precognitionpostcognition unreliable. All powers receptive no ability to implant thoughts, project images, teleport, or affect time. Negligible telekinetic ability can lift and manipulate a coin-sized mass, or push a greater mass along a surface. John's life was relatively normal until age 10 or so. That was the first time he had a very specific bad feeling about going on a particular ride on a school trip to an amusement park. He therefore was not a victim in the ensuing tragedy. Soon thereafter, he was able to sense when people were lying, and over the years, his powers grew. However, even at a young age, he was fairly pragmatic about the usefulness of his abilities. He could do very little compared to the heroes who made the news sure, he could learn things about the enemy, but could he use it before his face got pounded in? He didn't think so, early on. By the time he could answer yes to that question, his habit of non-involvement was well-established. Instead, he lived as regular a life as he could, using his powers for personal amusement and occasionally for small justices, as he perceived them. He got a job as a building inspector for the City of Chicago, where he became known for his uncanny ability to correctly detect flaws in construction and failure in building codes, and his notable unwillingness to accept bribery. Bloodhound Blevins has turned down a supervisors position four times, preferring to stay in the field. CAMPAIGN MOTIVATION NOT RELEVANT HERE Not long ago, John experienced a series of long-range premonitions some were images, some were mere knowledge, some were things he had to do, some were possibilities that could happen depending on his action or inaction, some were promises, and some were warnings. Never one to deny the truth of his own abilities, he grumblingly set about to do the most good he could. He may not be a hero, but what kind of human being would he be if he didn't at least try to avert the possible deaths of millions? My telepathy is such that I can perceive an entire mind, including current thoughts, memories, and mental processes, merely by concentrating. I cannot alter or affect minds through telepathy, but I can gather information to make normal means effective. Mind-shielding for non-telepaths is effective to a point, but there is still data to glean. Imagine the mind is a light bulb. Unshielded, I can examine the bulb, its construction, etc. A shield is a plank between me and the bulb I can't see the details. However, the bulb still shines, and I can deduce things based on the light cast around the plank. Similarly, even with a shielded mind, I can sense emotional states, strong relationships, and truthfulness. The only short-cuts around my truth-sense are being a telepath with the consequent total shielding, being outside my sensory sphere, or honestly believing the statement in which case it isn't a lie. I can also shield my own thoughts, although with my senses extended, my shield is as leaky as described above, though considerably more resistant to psychic attack than artificial shields. It should be noted that any shielding of a mind is obvious to a telepath trying to read said mind. Through e.s.p., I continuously perceive a sphere of sensation around myself. Rule of thumb contents of any enclosed area with some extension into surrounding materials, or approximately 10 meters, reliably, whichever is more applicable. Though I have total perception within the sensory sphere, I only have one center of sensory attention all else is like peripheral vision, so I don't know details until I turn my attention to them. Side effects I can see in utter darkness within the sphere, and I can perceive as if with normal eyes in any direction regardless of location of physical eyes. E.s.p. traditionally allows perception at a distance, so I can see or hear from afar as if I were standing close. Range of perception point is any point within line of sight from my physical body, albeit line of sight usually means a line from my head in any direction extended distance is limited to line of sight as compensation for the sensory sphere effect. Projected senses are not limited to sight and hearing, although others are employed only rarely. I have difficulty perceiving through solid objects at a distance, although I can penetrate thin or less dense materials via a stepping-stone process. Extra-sensory perception implies extra senses my vision and hearing have expanded ranges, I possess electrosensation detecting electricelectronic signals, radiosensation detecting generalized electromagnetic radiation, and spectrosensation determining chemical properties of materials via light absorption. Precognition acts reliably in the extremely short term, allowing a danger sense about threats, especially violence. It can be specific and detailed, which may allow pre-emptive counterattack, when feasible. When conscious and able to move freely, I am almost impossible to physically hit. As the time frame extends forward, precognition becomes less and less reliable, and I am unable to voluntarily trigger visions of the less-than-immediate future. I have more success with applying postcognition, but triggering that function is also less than reliable. I have but one real attack that involves my powers. The effect of my attack is that, in the space of an instant, I look into my opponents mind and find a knot of pain central to hisher makeup, examine it with an outsider's eyes, and tell my opponent a basic truth that heshe is either in denial about, is too close to the situation to perceive, or simply has't considered. I, the writer, don't actually have to know what this truth is I, the character, do, and that's fine for these purposes. Point is, the effect is shocking, both because I know about this secret or trauma, and because I tell my opponent something true that challenges or sheds new light on it. At the very least, my opponent should be stunned into temporary inaction from the mental shock, and depending on the trauma and how he or she chooses to react, in the long term it could effect personality change. Yes, it's the attack that can bring about better psychological health! In any case, I dont like to use my attack often, because Im not comfortable getting that up close and personal with even my friends, much less my enemies.