Monday, January 2, 2023

Life-Ender, Psionically Elusive Assassin

This villainous assassin takes the stealthy approach to making a hit, employing not only physical but psionic concealment to get past defenses and set up ambushes.

Life-Ender

The freelance assassin known only as Life-Ender has a reputation as a reliable contract killer with a knack for getting in and out unnoticed, making a hit and leaving even eyewitnesses unclear as to exactly what happened.  He's also willing to accept "bring them to me...alive" contracts using sonics and drugged blades to bring down targets with non-lethal force, which is unusual for most of his kind.  His unique power set makes extracting a captive easier than usual.  He rarely works with other supers unless he expects to be facing multiple heroes, in which case he'll look for expendable allies who are tough and flashy enough to provide a meaningful distraction while he gets on with the real job.

Beyond that Life-Ender is a mystery even to those who employ his services.  Several other powered killers consider themselves rivals of his, but the relationship is strictly one-sided as he never deigns to even acknowledge their existence.     

Description: Tall heavily-built man with indistinct features and blank white eyes, strangely difficult to describe or even remember in greater detail.  He probably wears a voluminous trench coat over a dark suit and carries enough short blades that they almost qualify as de facto body armor. When he's using his powers he...wait, who were we talking about?   

Gender: Male          Age: Unknown           Height: About Six Feet        Eyes: Pure White

Hair: Black Buzzcut        Skin: Caucasian, Many Small Scars        Build: Broad-Shouldered

Approach: Generalist                     Archetype: Predator

Health: 40 + (5 x H)

Powers: Suggestion d10, Arsenal of Blades d8, Sonic d8, Invisibility d6                                       

Qualities: Stealth d10, Insight d8, Professional Killer d8, Investigation d6

Status: (# of Enemies Engaged) 0-1 - d10 / 2-3 - d8 / 4+ - d6

Abilities:

Ambusher (I) Double the value of any mods of your choice involved with taking action against a target that is unaware of your presence or distracted from remembering you're still around.

Blurred Senses (R) When an ally is Attacked, Defend them by rolling your single Suggestion die.  Boost yourself using the same roll.

Fadeaway Gimmick (A) Hinder multiple nearby targets using Suggestion.  Boost yourself using your Max die.

Luck of the Devil (I) Reroll any of your dice that roll a one once.

Stealth Takeout (A) Attack using Stealth.  Use your Max die.  If the target has a penalty you created or is in the Red zone, use your Max + Mid dice instead.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Thrown Off Guard (I) +10 Health.  The heroes act as being in the Green zone for status die, ability access, and all abilities.  Heroes may remove this ability with three Overcome successes.  If a hero takes a minor twist while attempting these Overcomes, you may use a reaction to Hinder them by rolling your single Suggestion die.

Master of Surprise (I) Automatically succeed at an Overcome when you throw out all the rules during a situation that is spiraling out of control.

Tactics

Life-Ender prefers to surprise isolated targets with deadly ambushes, but if it comes to a straight fight he'll initially concentrate on Fadeaway Gimmick to drop "dulled senses" and "slowed reactions" penalties on opponents while slowly erasing himself from their memories with "partially forgotten" bonuses on himself.  If the initiative order lets gives him an opportunity to strike before all his victims use up their penalties he'll try for a quick Stealth Takeout on one of them.  If not he'll try to Overcome to conceal himself with Invisibility while using Blurred Senses to protect allies and further Boost himself into obscurity.  This may lead to an exchange of Overcomes as heroes try to keep him in sight and in mind, but if they just let him fade away he'll use stacked up bonuses with Ambusher to drop a likely target using Stealth Kill.  It can take a while to set things up in his favor and he'll often only get one or two big hits in a whole fight even when starting the scene lying in wait.  All of die rolls are improved with Luck of the Devil, particularly his defensive reaction.

His upgrade reflects him pushing his Suggestion to its limits to leave even wary foes struggling to deal with an attack.  His mastery makes him much better at employing unexpected ploys to escape from a scene or get through to his assassination target if things go south.

His Suggestion power is strong but very narrow, basically only allowing him to avoid being noticed by onlookers and erasing himself from memory if he is spotted.  He can manipulate sound and light in his immediate vicinity as well, and while he prefers to use his concealed arsenal of bladed weapons in a fight he can also use ultrasonics as an weapon with Stealth Takeout in a pinch, usually when he has a "live capture" contract.


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