Nebulum is a rogue Chinese posthuman, developed in the Jade Talon program but leading the Crew Mururoa team of posthuman criminals.

Concept, Art and Background: Thom Chiaramonte

:::

Nebulum

Name: Lin-Chiang Shen
Affiliation: Crew Mururoa

Attributes:

Melee: 30
Reflex: 20
Muscle: 20
Vigor: 75
Acumen: 20
Observation: 10
Will: 10

Life: 145
Influence: 640

Abilities:

Plasma Generation and Control: Nebulum’s brain has been psiomutated to tap into the core of an unknown energy source at the core of a distant black hole. This allows him to draw energy from the energy source, through an undefined psychically linked energy stream, into his own body. The limits of his ability to do so, and the working maximum yield of his energy discharging capability have not been proven. Nebulum can create arcs of offensive energy as a weapon, power plasma-based equipment and fuel cells, and create plasma cores of intense power that orbit his body in three distinct paths, acting as instantaneous defense against incoming attacks that Nebulum can anticipate. Because of the unstable nature of his abilities, his containment suit was developed to restrain his ability to release unintended surges of plasma energy, to protect himself and others. When not wearing the suit, his ability to control his power is severely stunted, and he fears using anything but the smallest amount of energy release possible, for fear of an accidental, uncontrolled conduit of the black holes power source into the Earth’s atmosphere.

The ‘distant black hole’ that his handlers, and Nebulum himself, believe power his abilities is not, in fact, a stellar event, but rather a bleed-off of radiation from the fringes of a shunt dimension, from which Western scientists tapped what they call ‘black matter’ in their research. In Nebulum’s case, his brain and nervous system have become infused with a microscopic pinch point into the shunt dimension, making his body a living seal onto that breach. As the source of his powers was entirely misunderstood, no data is available to suggest what would happen in the event of critical injury or death, however Western experiments with access to the shunt dimension determined the dimensional membrane to be malleable and fluid, with far less risk of cataclysmic destruction from the dimensional matter interacting than was once feared. Nebulum’s access to the shunt dimension is involuntary, and offers the following abilities:

Black Matter Immunity: Immunity to damage from black matter plasma attacks and exposure [1000 AP].

Black Matter Manipulation: Nebulum can control black matter with exceptional skill over long distances [30 IV; 30 RV]. (Note: black matter is not generated, but merely siphoned from the dimensional pinch.)

Black Matter Attacks: When formed in sheathes around his fists Nebulum can cause 50 points of damage from melee attacks; Ranged attacks against single targets result in 40 points of damage, and 20 DP against multiple targets.

Black Matter Defensive Actions: three orbital spheres provide black matter shield generation by revolving around on their respective orbital paths to intercept an incoming ranged attack: this is an automatic defensive action, and causes no action penalty: an Ability Intensity Save vs. the incoming Attack will be made, modified based on difficulty level (Nebulum’s awareness of the incoming attack, his ability to perceive the threat and will the defense, and the degree to which he is engaged in other action of complexity, all influence the level of difficulty and require a Yellow, Orange or Red Cell per the GM’s discretion) and provide, if successful, 30 AP resistance from physical object strikes 40 AP resistance from energy-based attacks. If Nebulum is incapacitated, stunned or suffers more than half his Life in a single attack, his ability to control his spheres fails, and they drop to the ground, restoring activity once he himself becomes conscious. If they are separated from him while he remains incapacitated, they will attempt, on his revival, to return to him, levitating and becoming bludgeon weapons [10 IV] until they are released from barriers that contain them. If separated by more than 5 miles, they will remain dormant.

Flight/Levitation: Nebulum can fly or levitate, with 30 Intensity, Range and Speed.

Life support: Nebulum enjoys near-permanent life support, and does not require food, rest, or oxygen for sustenance, as his body converts black matter into the necessary energy sources required for life.

Origin:

Lin-Chiang was part of the fourth generation of posthumans developed by the Chinese government’s clandestine posthuman engine, Jade Talon, which had roots in a number of post-Communist government-funded research projects seeking to outdo the Western posthuman experiments of the Second Cold War. Though originally groomed for an incendiary or thermal energy generation capability, posthuman development is rarely an exact science, and the experimental process used in his generation of candidates, which relied heavily on tapping the not-yet-understood energies of shunt dimensions, resulted in a nearly cataclysmic energy conduit between Lin-Chiang’s unconscious body, and an unknown energy source later estimated to be at the core of a distant black hole. The Jade Talon researchers were able to stall the impending disaster by inducing a coma, where the candidate remained until his containment suit was developed, based on the energy readings taken at the time of his latent ability’s maturity.

Though as much a danger to Post-Communist China, elements of the new government’s embrace of old world mysticism saw his manifestation as the potential realization of prophecies thousands of years old. These war clerics, now seated in positions of authority in the new government, insisted on Lin-Chiang’s further development and training as a posthuman guardian of the Chinese people. However, after undergoing two years of intense psychic training and physical conditioning, Lin-Chiang began to have other ideas. Resenting the mysticism that permeated the Chinese posthuman programs of the period, the soldier, who’s atheism and disdain for the rise of pseudo-religious prophecy worship among Post-Communist Chinese had been well hidden during his pre-qualification interviews, decided to break ties with the Jade Talon program and venture as a free agent. The Chinese military made a valiant effort to restrain him from leaving Qinghai Province, but the troops were ultimately withdrawn before greater losses could occur.

Lin-Chiang had planned on attempting a space exploration effort, in search of the black hole which had granted him his powers and abilities, once he discovered that he could survive, without food, water or rest, in the vacuum of space indefinitely. However, before this could occur, he was sought out in his place of rest, his family’s farm, by Outré, who represented Crew Mururoa, a criminal terrorist organization of posthuman aggressors which had begun mercenary work in Asia and Eastern Europe, and had had several run-ins with Western posthuman heroes. She correctly deduced, with the help of Crew Mururoa’s intelligence team, that Lin-Chiang was at odds with his abilities, struggling to rationalize the power at his disposal. She persuaded the former soldier that the burden of his abilities, the power at his disposal, was causing him to sacrifice simple pleasures, and satisfactions that only normal, mundane efforts could offer. She appealed to his competitiveness, his moral ambiguity and his enjoyment of martial combat, and literally dared him to join her in Crew Mururoa for a period of time, to embrace that lifestyle and seek opponents that might be worthy of his attention. In doing so, Outré was also able to engage in a sexual relationship with Lin-Chiang, despite the potential risks of exposure to his body without the containment suit. He knew this, and was intrigued by her, but what he did not know at the time of his agreement to join the team, was that Outré had employed a cocktail of nanobots designed to reduce inhibition and secretly rewrite elements of the target’s personality, just enough to dull their ambition. She would go on to use this same technique on others, but her efforts would lead to Lin-Chiang not only joining Crew Mururoa, but leading them.

:::

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Universe Gallery.

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Related posts:

1. TRDL Character Factory, No. 68: Sol Invictus
2. TRDL Character factory, No. 76: Crew Mururoa
3. TRDL Character Factory, No. 108: Outré

This may not actually apply to any of our regular conscripted R3 Army, as I *think* I might be the only one with an iPhone so far, but for those keeping track, the iPhone and Touch now have the ability to capture an icon and land it on the home screen of the device, as a bookmarking alternative to Safari’s typical bookmarks. It’s a fun little way to customize and add graphics. Cool enough. It does this by taking a snapshot of the index page of a given site, and shrinking it down to a certain size and then aqua-fying it, with the rounded corners and sheen to it. But what if you want a custom icon of your site’s logo or whatever? You have to make one, and trick the device of the incoming user to see your custom icon over the one it will try to generate in the absence of something already existing.

So, here we have the TRDL iPhone/Touch icon, which visitors will get if they bookmark the site from an Apple mobile device:

And here is a shot of it in action. Number three, of course.

The one bummer is that I can’t do icons for TRDL, R3 and Finit-e, unless I have unique root folders. Since both are sub-sites of TRDL, it’s not possible. The unique web addressing [ http://www.finit-e.com] just auto-forwards back to the TRDL site. Ah well! Technologies!

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Related posts:

1. R3 Designer Jam: Design a TRDL R3 Footer!
2. Build the TRDL/R3 Network of Awesome!
3. TRDL v2.0 and the Finit-e Graphic Serial are Live!

Any version of the jade archer (Queen, Conner, Smallville’s, etc)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Arrow

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Related posts:

1. R3 Jam: Design Challenge: Create a Green Lantern!
2. R3 Jam: Bucky
3. R3 Jam: Green Lantern Corps

This was a commission piece done for one of my regular clients, a character i *think* loosely based on him, but one never really knows. The original imagery I was given as source material was done in a sunday comic strip style, and had very different colors going on, like purple pants and much brighter tones for vest and shirt. I tried to adapt that origin material to inform a TRDL style design. I really like the hair and the face the most.

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Tribute Gallery.

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Related posts:

1. TRDL Tribute: Arana
2. TRDL Tribute: Kenya
3. TRDL Tribute: Captain John Hamilton

This is a piece done for the R3 Jam, the subject being Bucky Barnes.

I was very reluctant to get into the whole Winter Soldier thing when i learned that Brubaker had brought back Bucky. But I love his work, and I gave it a try, and frankly, it’s the best Cap’s title has been in decades.

While I’ve had a loooong list of issues with Alex Ross’ design for the new uniform, I found that by matting it out, I could handle it a lot better. My issues still lean towards design and composition issues (the shield shape unflatteringly sloping on the torso; redundancy in symbols) but the darker colorway works for me. Again, matte.

The three items many fans or casual readers reacted to most (canteen, knife, pistol) I actually quite like. This is a SOLDIER who has spent years in black ops. He’s going to make his own mark as Cap.

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Tribute Gallery.

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Related posts:

1. TRDL Tribute- Captain America
2. This Week Jam: Captain America
3. TRDL Tribute – Angel 2008

Hammerfall is a former British government weapon gone rogue.

Concept, Art and Background: Thom Chiaramonte

:::

Hammerfall

Name: Davis Woodman
Affiliation: n/a

Attributes:

Melee: 40
Reflex: 20
Muscle: 30
Vigor: 30
Acumen: 10
Observation: 30
Will: 20

Life: 120
Influence: 60

Abilities:

Hammerfall can generate plasma energy, which can be used in offensive melee and ranged attacks, or defensively to deflect attacks. More importantly, however, the plasma energy continues to burn on the target area, and is difficult to break down. It will eventually dissipate but cannot be easily removed physically or through suppression, as it is not an incendiary form of energy in the literal sense. It can be shed by moving at sufficient speed, through chemical means, or by making contact with Hammerfall again, triggering his own posthuman latent plasma absorptive capabilities. In addition, his armor protects him from physical and some energy attacks, while his own physiology allows him to resist plasma and other energy-based attacks.

Plasma Generation/Control: Hammerfall generates and controls plasma [30 IV; 30 RV]; energy may be generated and accumulated at +1CS damage every three turns until reaching a maximum intensity of 75 points and requiring release within 2 turns or damage [10 IV] will occur each turn until discharged. Can be used defensively as a targeted shield against physical attacks [20 AP] as well. Once an opponent has been struck with the attack [up to 75 IV], the energy will adhere to them and continue to deliver damage at full intensity for the first first round, 50% Intensity in the second, and then a decrease at a rate of 5 points per round until dissipated. It can be removed by attaining above average speed [30 IV], through a chemical bath or energy nullification field, or by making contact with Hammerfall physically. Hammerfall enjoys resistance to energy based damage [100 AP].

Body Armor: Hammerfall’s armor provides resistance from physical and some energy attacks [20 AP]. In the event that damage passes through his plasma shield, the armor will resist the additional damage up to its Armor Value. If the armor allows more than 50% of his Life reduction in damage, it becomes destroyed and offers no further protection.

Flight: Hammerfall can fly [20 IV; 20 RV].

Origin:

Davis Woodman was the third successful graduate of a controversial posthuman development exercise developed by the British government with an emphasis on high-yield destructive capabilities. The British military’s Special Security Office, placed in charge of developing posthuman living weapons for use on foreign soil, had been initially unsuccessful in securing the infrastructure and technical knowledge to make the program a reality, as the majority of British posthuman efforts had been incorporated into the Northern European Achievement Initiative, a program which included, in it’s mandate, a ban on living weapon operatives. Ultimately, the SSO commandeered a radiation research station in Bermuda and converted it into a posthuman development facility through the black market recruitment of engineers and technicians employed in the growing posthuman industry in the private sector. Despite the protests of several nations in the European Union, and the disapproval of the American government, which had suffered significant foreign policy setbacks as a result of the negative international response to the Liberty Group’s occasional use as a military deployment, the SSO succeeded in maturing the program, and developed several high-yield posthuman graduates within three years.

The posthuman soldiers were then deployed overseas in conflict areas throughout the world where British forces were taking heavy losses in a variety of problem scenarios, from political uprisings in British territories, to anti-terrorism activities, to regional military conflicts. As international pressure gradually forced the Prime Minister to distance herself from the SSO and its relationship with the British Armed Forces, four of the high-yield posthumans were repurposed in national defense roles and positioned away from foreign conflict areas. Two posthuman soldiers were killed in combat in the the months following the announcement of the SSO’s decommissioning, and one, codename Hammerfall, simply disappeared.

Davis Woodman had been the most experienced posthuman candidate in the SSO program, a former SAS soldier and accomplished military man with a hard edge and years of overseas combat exposure. He believed very rigidly in British national power and was vocally opposed to the political isolation of the SSO and eventual decommissioning, and refused to return to the UK from his field of deployment in South Asia. Ultimately, a British naval detachment was sent to force his return, and the confrontation devolved into open hostilities, with Hammerfall obliterating the recovery team and sinking a British naval vessel, the RMS Wellspring.

Officially wanted as an international criminal, and pursued by British agents, American intelligence, various military arms in South Asia and the Middle East, and some posthuman agencies, Hammerfall’s deep-seated xenophobia worsened, until he began striking at targets of any national origin, civilian and military alike. He would continue to elude capture for years, moving underground and then re-appearing to attack military installations, universities, even the headquarters of the Rampart team, before his capture in Vancouver by Covert Star, in retaliation for his recent ambush of a Japanese research fleet off the coast of Alaska.

:::

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Universe Gallery.

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Related posts:

1. TRDL Character Factory, No. 52: Temper
2. TRDL Character Factory, No. 122: Lenin’s Hammer
3. TRDL Character Factory, No. 06: Surujin

It’s the worst-kept secret in comics, so anyway, you can do any version of Bucky you like!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucky_Barnes

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1. R3 Jam: Beast
2. R3 Jam: Shi’Ar Imperial Guard
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This is a piece done for the R3 Jam, the subject being the Marvel comics character Scorpion, any version.

Having just drawn the classic Gargan Scorpion last week in the Moon Knight piece, I decided to pull this newer character out to draw, as she’s been in my to-draw queue file ever since I caught wind of the design when Marvel publisher her a few years ago. I thought the design was incredibly subdued for Marvel, with a monochromatic color scheme and a techie, espionage look to her bodysuit. Looks a lot like my own design work, frankly, so no surprise I was drawn to it, so to speak. One change: I wanted to show her full face, so i took a page from the classic Scorpion design and made her mask translucent. Kind of a cheat, but it’s just not as fun if I don’t get to draw the lips…

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Tribute Gallery.

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Related posts:

1. TRDL Tribute – Storm
2. TRDL Tribute: Madame Masque (Iron Man Adventures)
3. TRDL Tribute: Rikku [Final Fantasy]

Mach Maiden is a member of the posthuman disaster relief and defense team Rampart!

Concept, Design and Art: Joao Marques and Thom Chiaramonte
Background: Thom Chiaramonte and Joao Marques

:::

Mach Maiden

Name: Sarah Tanaka
Affiliation: Rampart

Attributes:

Melee: 20
Reflex: 40
Muscle: 20
Vigor: 50
Acumen: 20
Observation: 20
Will: 30

Life: 130
Influence: 70

Abilities:

Hyper-Speed Reflexes: Mach Maiden has the latent posthuman ability to accelerate her range of motion over time, increasing her ability to run, lunge, maneuver and dodge blows, when able to plan her motion and given ample time to build up sufficient excitement in the molecules of her body. She does not have instantaneous, ‘snap’ muscle reflexes, and must use her acceleration to strategically employ her abilities, but one in motion can rapidly shift her course and physical actions at a split-second need. She can attain a top Speed of 40, with acceleration and deceleration occurring at +1CS/ -1CS per round; when at speeds greater than 10, she enjoys +3CS to Dodge/Evade and +1CS to Strike.

Enhanced Physiology: As a result of the posthuman process, Mach Maiden’s Muscle, Reflex and Vigor have been enhanced as reflected in the Attributes above, and she is resistant to physical and energy damage [10 AP]. In addition, she wears elements of Body Armor comprised of a ultra-low-traction slip material that causes physical attacks to lose purchase. This is treated as an effective Armor of 20. Damage of 20 or less is not resolved, and greater than 20 makes effective contact and is resolved against her skin’s latent resistance to injury as described.

Reflex Boots: Mach Maiden wears a variation of the same technology designed for her sometime teammate Mercury, which provide the necessary resilience, traction and integrated cooling system to keep her in control when maneuvering at high speed.

Origin:

Sarah Tanaka was a world champion figure skater by the time she was 16 years of age, and was a multi-millionaire before she could drive. The fourth daughter of a Japanese automotive industry executive and a Brazilian television actress, Tanaka enjoyed a life of luxury and solitude, training for hours each day, and wanting for nothing… except the freedom to act her age and be with other kids. On her seventeenth birthday, she persuaded the family attorney to assist her in claiming independence from her parents, making her responsible for, and giving her access to, the fortune in award money and sponsorships which she had amassed in her skating career. Despite her parents’ legal opposition, and poised to sign a four year contract with a software developer giant as spokesperson and public speaker, she moved out of her family estate in upstate New York, and into a penthouse flat in Boston. She was young, free and had more money than she knew what to do with. She became addicted to cocaine by year’s end.

On a freezing winter’s evening, despite the snowstorm buffeting the curtain wall of her luxury tower, she was roused from a binge partying stupor by the buzzing of her security system, announcing guests in the outer residential lobby on her own floor, which was a private accessway. Confused, and justifiably paranoid thanks to three years of fending off a relentless stalker, she refused to acknowledge her visitors, insisting that they leave, and tried to call the police, but was too disoriented from the drugs to coherently communicate to the dispatcher. Moments later, three men were in her living room, inexplicably unrestrained by her home security, formidable as it was.

As she scrambled for a defensive weapon, the third man, a grizzly, puzzle-faced old soldier with a peppered crew cut and fitted suit, merely took a seat on her sofa while his men guarded the exit to the suite. He introduced himself as a representative of interested parties who knew, not only about her illicit drug habit, but about the accounting irregularities that had allowed her attorney to successfully hide the majority of her earnings from her parents’ legal team during her emancipation procedure. Shocked by these words, struggling to say focused, Tanaka shivered with adrenaline, and listened. The company man offered her the opportunity to attain physical perfection in a way she would never achieve through training and natural skill, even if she were still taking her skating regimen as seriously as her sponsors believed. She could have abilities the likes of which she’d never dreamed, abilities normal people could never have. She could make more money than God, and attain a level of celebrity that dwarfed her sports career. And unlike the borrowed time her skating fame would allow as she aged, this opportunity would allow her to remain youthful, powerful and amazingly popular, for decades to come. She knew immediately they represented someone in the burgeoning posthuman movement, but didn’t appear to be government agents, which puzzled and scared her further. She was in trouble, and she knew it.

While the men packed her bags, and the pepper-haired operative toyed photos of her on the marble mantle over her fireplace, she contemplated trying to escape, trying to fight them off, something, but she knew she had no choice but to comply.
They ushered her into a waiting military-style off-road vehicle, and drove off into the storm. Within the hour they were driving directly onto the tarmac at Boston International, pulling up to a large, unmarked jet. As she ascended the skyway stairs, with the men behind her, staring into the dark, plainly-furnished aircraft cabin beyond, she heard a high-pitched whine, as 21st Sentry landed next to them, his armored head eye-level with her, half-way p the star. With one shove, he pushed the jet 10 meters away from the skidding across the wet tarmac with a groan, then simply plucked her from the stair with his gauntlet, while kicking the stair into fragments, sending the men tumbling to the ground while trying in vain to draw their weapons. Six seconds later, all three men lay crumpled on the tarmac, the pepper-haired operative staring at her with an ashen face, his neck broken. As she passed out, she felt the rush of air against her face as 21st Sentry’s boot jets began to whine again, and he pulled her tight against his armored chestplate.

While recovering at a private corporate retreat in the forest outside of Boston proper, a small phalanx of government operatives guarding the perimeter, 21st Sentry, who remained in the courtyard while she sat on a couch within the glass doorway beyond, explained to Tanaka that the operatives who had tried to kidnap her were agents of the Gorgon Gang, a known posthuman terrorist cell, which had begun forcibly recruiting potential new members through intimidation and blackmail, using a black market posthuman biolab as their breeding ground. The Liberty Group had been attempting to locate that lab for months, and while the plan had been to follow the jet to it’s destination, Tanaka’s father had pulled strings with his government connections, and begged for his daughter’s rescue. Though the operation involving the Gorgon Gang network was ongoing, 21st Sentry admitted that his handlers on the Liberty Group’s support team had reported that Tanaka was an understandable target for the Gorgon Gang’s scouts, being a young, energetic, record-breaking athlete with potential. If only to keep her out of the Gorgon Gang’s hands and protected from any acts of retribution at the deaths of the operatives who had tried to bring her in, he suggested she consider requesting consideration for the United States’ own posthuman programs.

Six months later, Tanaka graduated from the privately owned, but covertly American funded, JEJ Group, as Mach Maiden, with her hyper-speed posthuman abilities, considered a rising star posthuman with great potential. She was picked up by the international Rampart team, and would become a popular, if controversial member, to be plagued by infighting and personal conflicts with teammate Arctica. Despite exemplary performance on the team, she would be forced to resign amidst a sex scandal involving Sol Invictus, though would have an opportunity to prove herself again when the team would be rebuilt a second time after it’s greatest tragedy.

:::

You can see this illustration herein the TRDL Universe Gallery.

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Related posts:

1. TRDL Character Factory, No. 73: Rampart
2. TRDL Character Factory, No. 71: The Liberty Group
3. TRDL Character Factory, No. 111: Adder

Any Version, any attitude!

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1. TRDL Tribute : The Scorpion [Amazing Fantasy]

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