Treecko Strength Agility Intellect Willpower 4d 7d 3d 6x Hand Size: 3 (17) Edge: 1 Powers: Pokémon Physique: Treecko is a Pokémon, a rare creature (in our reality, at least), of the - of course - Treecko variety. This small, gecko-like creature has several super-human powers, the following of which (not counting the Size Alteration, mind you) are common to all Pokémon: * Body Armor (s): being super-powered animals of various types, Pokémon are rather durable when you get down to it. Treecko, for instance, possesses intensity 2 (+2) body armor, giving him something of an edge in combat, as he's more resilient than his Strength would indicate. * Regeneration (s): tough little creatures, all Pokémon possess this power. Treecko has this ability at intensity 2, allowing him to restore one lost card of Health every exchange, assuming the Narrator makes a positive or neutral aura reading of 2 or less in said exchange. * Regeneration / Raising the Dead (s): a strange, mystical power that Pokémon all possess, this power allows them to raise the dead with their tears. Treecko possesses this power at intensity 0, and cannot actually use it without other Pokémon present - each of which raises this power score by one point. * Size Alteration (a): Treecko is rather short, really, even if he is much stronger than he looks. He stands at just one foot eight inches tall, being approximately a quarter of an average human's height. He thus has this power, though it's primarily meant as a mere description of his stature. In game terms, Treecko's size can be indicated by giving him this power at intensity 5, limited to Shrinking Only and Permanent in nature. This normally incurrs ability score shifts of 5 (-5 for Strength, +5 for Agility), but since Treecko's normal foes are of a similar stature, this adjustment is not reflected above. For the sake of simplicity, one could just apply those alterations and call it a day, or he may go for accuracy and vary them based on the size of his current opponent; whichever works for your game. Now, since Treecko tends to get on the bad side of super heroes and such, the first option may be simpler...! Pokémon Abilities: as do all other Pokémon, Treecko has a special ability, a sort of reflexive power that functions automatically under certain conditions. His is the 'Overgrow' ability, which enhances the intensity of his grass-type powers by 2 when he has but one card of Health remaining. Pokémon Attacks: a relatively high-leveled (level 46) Pokémon, Treecko has mastered a large number of special attacks inherent to his type. To date, he has demonstrated the following Pokémon attacks (if obeying the 'four powers only' rule, his preferred powers are marked with an asterisk): * Absorb (i): one of his first Pokémon attacks, learned at level six, absorb allows Treecko to drain the health of other beings, one card of which can be used to restore his own, lost health - if he can pass an easy absorb (willpower) action against his foe with this intensity 6 power. * Agility (w): this handy, psychic-type Pokémon power, gained at level 31, allows Treecko to dramatically enhance his, well, Agility. When he uses his agility, Treecko will receive a +4 boost to this ability score of the same name, making him much more nimble. This is an intensity 4 power. * * Detect (s): Treecko can use this fighting-type power, gained at level 41, to ward off attacks. If he can pass a average difficulty action with this intensity 10 power, Treecko can ignore any one attack per exchange. Each successive exchange this power is used raises the difficulty by one level. * Giga-Drain (i): gained at level 46, this grass-type power allows Treecko to drain the health of other beings, one card of which can be used to restore his own, lost health. If he can pass an easy giga-drain (willpower) action against his foe with this intensity 10 power, Treecko can strike them with the giga-drain! * * Leer (w): this normal-type power, which Treecko has known since he hatched, can be used to intimidate an opponent with a spooky stare. If he can pass a challenging difficulty (willpower) action with this intensity 9 power, Treecko will lower his foe's effective Strength and Agility (for purposes of defense) by 2. * Mega-Drain (i): Treecko can use this power, gained at level 26, to drain the health of other beings, using one card of which to restore his own lost Health - if he can pass an easy mega-drain (willpower) action against his foe with this intensity 8 power. Of course, his Giga-Drain is much more potent, really... * Pound (s): one of his original powers, known since he was hatched, Treecko can use this normal-type ability to hold his own in melee. A +3 assault, this Pokémon attack is much more potent than simply flailing at a foe with Treecko's own Strength - but is less effective than his Slam power. * Pursuit (i): this dark-type power, learned at level 16, attacks an opponent with shadowy tendrils to inflict intensity 7 damage per strike. If Treecko's foe flees or withdraws during the exchange this power is used, though, the damage is inflicted is doubled. Handy, no? * Quick Attack (s): using this normal-type attack, gained at level 11, Treecko can ignore the flow of initiative in a given round of combat and attack first - very handy for ambushes and surprise assaults. This melee strike, functioning at +3, isn't very strong... but quite effective nonetheless. * Screech (w): gained at level 21, Treecko can use this normal-type power to emit a jarring, high-frequency sound that intimidates / distracts others. If he can pass a easy difficulty (willpower) action with this intensity 8 power, Treecko will lower his foe's effective Strength and Agility (for purposes of defense) by 4. * * Slam (s): having learned this power at level 36, Treecko can use this normal-type power to perform enhanced body checks. This power acts as a +5 attack, allowing Treecko to inflict considerable damage in melee - definitely more than he could otherwise manage with just his standard Strength. * Pokémon Type Modifications: as a grass-type Pokémon, Treecko possesses various vulnerabilities. Versus Pokémon powers that are of a bug, fire, flying, ice, or poison type (or similar powers in the hands of non-Pokémon), Treecko is at something of a disadvantage, giving him a -2 to resist such effects. Similarly, Treecko has enhanced resistance to various types of Pokémon power types. When facing Pokémon powers of the electric, grass, ground, or water types (or similar powers in the hands of non-Pokémon), Treecko has a slight advantage, giving him a +2 to resist such effects. Hindrances: (none) Equipment: Magic Ring (s): given to him by Elys, this mystic doo-dad has ensured Treecko's survival time and time again. It serves to provide him +4 protection from attack, enhancing his own, natural +2 body armor for a total defense of +6. This is very useful when dealing with super-humans... Skills: Acrobatics (a): as if he wasn't already agile enough (especially with his agility attack), Treecko has worked on becoming ever-more nimble over the years in his spare time. When dodging attacks or attempting to lower falling damage, Treecko may do so at a reduced difficulty level. Climbing (s): this natural skill, enhanced by small spurs on the back of his feet, allow Treecko to easily scale most vertical surfaces (though these work best with trees). This skill should reduce the difficulty of any climb or related action (resisting strong winds, etc...) by one difficulty level. Languages / English and Pokémon (i): back in the day, Treecko was simply an ordinary Pokémon. However, after Elys captured him and made him her familiar, she gave him the mystic power of speech, allowing him to communicate with others in the English language - he can even read, too! Calling: Greed: while he wasn't originally so, having served as Elys' mystic familiar for years has made Treecko exceptionally greedy. He lusts for material things now, especially those that belonged to his former mistress, and is prepared to go to great lengths to acquire lots and lots of sparkly, worldly things. Likeness: Treecko is a Treecko, a wood gecko Pokémon, and he doesn't look any different than his fellows, really. Treecko is mostly light green in color, with a pink underbelly. While he is scaly, being reptilian, his scales are very small and subtle. Also, he has large yellow eyes, and climbing claws on the backs of his feet. Personality: Treecko is a surly thing, having been forced into veritable servitude by Elys at a very young age. He's learned all his best dirty tricks from that evil dragon technomage, and has evolved into quite a smarmy little smart mouth. Treecko is fast on his feet and quick to plot an advantage in most any situation. Real Name: Treecko (given name) Occupation: former mystic familiar, current troublemaker Legal Status: sentient being born on a variant earth, with no legal rights to speak of Marital Status: inapplicable Alias(es), if any: none Group Affiliation: none Height: 1' 8" Hair: inapplicable Eyes: yellow Weight: 11 lbs Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Treecko is an oversized wood gecko with super powers - he tends to stand out in a crowd (assuming you could see him within a crowd of humans, that is). Story: On a variant earth closer than you might think, there is a world teeming with super-powered animals, animals known as Pokémon. These animals generally live in harmony with both nature and man, and as a result life on this world is a bit more advanced - and more peaceful - than our own. One such Pokémon, a small creature known as a Treecko, found himself summoned at random from his world by Elys, an extraplanar dragon technomage who was invoking special magic she knows, magic to call forth a mystic familiar. A quasi-magical being, Treecko was apparently chosen by Elys' spell. Suddenly finding himself far, far away from home, and in the midst of a truly frightening creature, Treecko naturally agreed to serve Elys in exchange for not being eaten. However, Elys didn't just want a familiar - she wanted a minion she could trust, one that could interact with the world of men where she couldn't. As such, she granted this Treecko, who simply identified himself as such, the power of speech - he could communicate with both Elys and humans in their own 'common' tongue. This language is at least common to most humans in the planes from where Elys came from, though it is known as 'English' here. Armed with this new talent, not to mention a potent magical ring that considerably enhanced his defensive capabilities, Treecko was more than happy to run various errands for Elys - it got him away from the terrifying beast, after all. These were mostly simple jobs, too - steal this, find that, etc... In the course of these missions, Treecko grew rather powerful, mastering all the powers that a creature of his type can learn naturally. He felt ready to evolve, as beings of his type are wont to do, but Treecko held off knowing that, should he grow more powerful, Elys would probably see him as more useful. And thus keep him around longer. As such, he simply bided his time, and focused on retaining his original form while working for Elys. He's grown a bit bitter over the years, though, as he doesn't feel what he's doing is right - if he's going to do bad things, he wants to do it for his own benefit, and not for some murderous, deviant dragon. Eventually, Elys ran afoul of an enemy she couldn't defeat, in the form of a gang of quasi-heroes that Treecko himself crossed on one of his errands. This errand, to seize the severed hand of another technomage, Morbis, was interrupted when those heroes captured both him and the hand. Enraged beyond reason, Elys attacked them en masse, causing them to seek her out. Though he was far away from her, Elys managed to keep track of their progress through Treecko, as she can cast her various magics through him - something that tends to make Treecko very uncomfortable, but there you go. Her many and varied efforts to defeat and waylay these heroes failed, though, and Elys was ultimately slain by these so-called do-gooders. Though severely battered and bruised by his captivity (he was used as a club at one point), Treecko managed to survive this ordeal - and win out in the end. With Elys' death, you see, those heroes began to ransack her considerable hoard in her Antarctic lair. Distracted and rather drunk with greed, those fellows lost track of just where Treecko had gotten to - and didn't really realize it until he'd made his escape through a portal mechanism inside Elys' former home. This gateway, which emptied out into New York City, allowed Treecko to blend into the crowd, as it were, and hide until he could get his bearings. Thinking that Elys' hoard was rightfully his, what with him having assembled a large portion of it, Treecko has decided to seize it for himself - no matter the cost. So, the world has likely not seen the last of Treecko...!