Ebon Knight

Thus begins what might turn into an ongoing project. I'm going to to start constructing a Golden Age Super-Hero setting organically through characters, bite-sized bits of inspiration, and actual play reports (with human players or with the Mythic GME). I did a little of this back for Beyond Sanctuary, but recently released superhero RPGs and Trey's awesome City/Strange New World setting have inspired me to give it another go. 

Today's post (and I suspect many future posts) will use the random character generation system from ICONS to get my creative juices flowing.

EBON KNIGHT ("Black Angus" MacTavish)
   Prowess 6 [Extraordinary]
   Coordination5 [Excellent]
   Strength 5 [Excellent]
   Intellect 5 [Excellent]
   Awareness 5 [Excellent]
   Willpower 4 [Good]

   Stamina 9, Determination 4

   Powers: Invulnerability 4 (Ebonite Armor), Strike 5 (Ebonite Sword)
   Specialties: Athletics, Drive, Mechanics, Weapons (Blades) [Expert]

   Qualities:
      Identity: Brilliant but under-appreciated machinist at Blue Horizons
      Catchphrase: "Chivalry ain't dead!"     
      Vehicle: "Sable" the suped-up motorcycle
      Base: Mountainside workshop outside of town
      Motivation: Romantic notions of justice and honor

   Challenges:
      Connection: Harold Farmsworth, obnoxious supervisor at Blue Horizons
      Personal: Legal entanglements back east 
      Social: Oppressed minority
      Social: Secret identity
      Devices: Powers depend on his sword and armor

Angus MacTavish's was born twenty-five years ago to a young black maidservant on the grounds of disreputable country manor just outside of Savannah, Georgia. Left without a mother or any kind of family, the infant boy was adopted by the kindly Scottish blacksmith who effectively managed the estate for their eccentric and mostly unseen master.

For a time, life was idyllic. The old smith home-school the vigorous young lad in his own trade and instilled in him notions of romantic chivalry. It wasn't long, however, before the realities of the Jim Crow south shattered the innocence of "Black Angus" (as he came to be called). Accused of a crime he certainly did not commit, a lynch-mob assaulted the decaying estate and killed his adopted father. Angus put up a ferocious fight but in the end he was forced to escape on motorcycle. He didn't stop running until he arrived in the mountain metropolis of Silverlode, Colorado.

Angus took a job as a machinist at the famous Blue Horizons corporation. Even in progressive Silverlode, he encountered injustice at every turn. Drawing on the ideals of his adoptive father, he vowed to fight back as a champion of the underdog. Using his extraordinary talents (and some experimental alloys appropriated from his employer), Angus forged himself a suit of nearly indestructible armor and a matching sword. Now he rides forth on a custom motorcycle as the Ebon Knight, righter of wrongs and hero to the hopeless.

A Risus version will be forthcoming as soon as I work out how I'll be scaling super heroes in this setting.