From: [Chuk Goodin] at [mindlink.bc.ca] (Chuk Goodin)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.super-heroes
Subject: HERO:  Character:  Wild Cards: St. John Latham
Date: Tue, 07 Nov 1995 16:20:01 GMT

Name:   St. John "Loophole" Latham

Value   Char        Pts      Pts    Abilities
10      STR    0    5  PS: Law 16-
14      DEX    12   5  High Society 15-
12      CON    4    13  Acting 18-
10      BODY       5  Streetwise 15-
23      INT    13   3  Computer Programming 14-
23      EGO    26  3  Well Connected
20      PRE    10   4  Contact: Kien Phuc,
14      COM    2       head of Shadow Fists 14-
                        4  Contact: NYC judge 14-
5       PD      3      4  Contact: Various informants 14-
5       ED      3      5  Resistance +5
3       SPD     6     10 20 pts. PRE, Defense Only (-1)
4       REC     0     48 8d6 Transform, Extra Time: 5 min. (-2),
24      END    0       no range (-1/2), Conc. 1/2DCV (-1/4),
21      STUN   0      1 recoverable charge (-1 1/4), Invisible
Char cost:      79        to sight and sound (+3/4), Personal
Abilities:      109        Immunity (+1/4).  Normals to jumpers
Disads: 188
EP spent:
Total:  188

Pts.    Disadvantages
5       Age 40+
5       Distinctive Features: Emotionless
20      Watched: Shadow Fists (11-, NCI, as pow.)
10      Psych Lim: Baser instincts coming forward
        (common, moderate)
15      Psych Lim: Ambitious and Manipulative
        (common, strong)
10      Reputation:  Cold and ruthless lawyer
20      Normal Characteristic Maxima
103     Wild Card Bonus

Story:  St. John Latham is a lawyer in the high-powered firm of
Latham, Strauss.  The running joke about him is that nobody's really
sure whether the wild card virus has destroyed all his emotions, or
he's just a really good lawyer.  He has ties to organized crime, but
he's never been under suspicion from the authourities.

When Croyd "The Sleeper" Crenson came up with a contagious form of the
wild card virus, St. John picked it up.  It gave him the ability to
turn people into jumpers by having sex with them.  Jumpers have the
ability to switch bodies with anyone they can see.  This power is
somewhat unhinging Latham.  He has created a whole gang of jumpers who
know him as "Prime".  Many of them are attractive blond teenage boys,
which seem to be his type, but there are also female jumpers.  Also,
since a jumper can switch bodies with anyone, they can look like
anyone.

Powers:  Latham's Transform is basically a plot device.  The Personal
Immunity is to model the fact that he can't be jumped himself, which
might be a slightly "unofficial" use of it.  The jumpers themselves
are really hideous in terms of power, too.  Basically, if they can see
you (in person, not over TV etc.), they can jump you, then run around
in your body while you sit there in theirs going "Huh?".  Some people
have a variety of defenses against being jumped.  These are very
specific, and seem to work on a case-to-case basis.  For example, when
the shapeshifting Jerry Strauss was jumped, the jumper couldn't
control his shapeshifting powers and returned to her own body because
of the disorientation.  I've defined the jumper power as follows:
        8d6 Major Transform (mind transfer), Based on ECV (+1),
        Works vs. EGO, not BODY (+0), Jumpers Body is at -10 STUN but
        under victim's "control" (-1/4), NND (defense is varied) (+2)

All together, it's a 480 pt power.  I know that the Mind Transference
thing (taken from Ultimate Mentalist for those who don't recognize it)
is decidedly optional, and a lot of GMs would probably frown on it.  I
kind of felt the same way; I don't mind a Transform that changes the
target, but this one changes the attacker, too!  Still, I can't think
of a better way to do it, and it's not like any players are going to
be taking it at these point levels.  The STUN thing is because people
who are in jumpers' bodies usually don't react for the first little
while that they're in the new, unfamiliar body.  Exceptionally
strong-willed people might be able to, though.  Maybe some kind of EGO
roll, at -5, then +1 for every level on the time chart, would make
sense.  Except that it should never take more than ten minutes for
someone to recover, if they're left in the new body that long.  Oh
yeah, and in the books both the Transforms would be permanent, which
is a no-no in Hero.  I guess the second one (the jumping) could have
the reversal condition of being jumped back into your body, but that's
kind of cheesy...