TEXT: #0: Master of Earth
  #0: Master of Earth
  A Hero High Adventure
  for 4 heroes of PL 8+
  by Crystal Frasier
  
  SuggeSted PL: 8, plus special
  RequiRed BookS: M&M Deluxe Hero’s HanDbook,  
  M&M Deluxe GaMeMaster’s GuiDe
  SuggeSted BookS: FreeDoM city, Hero HiGH
  Adrian Eldritch, Earth’s Master Mage—the guardian of its arcane forc-
  es and shepherd to the wild streams of magic—has vanished, and 
  now his young apprentice, Seven, has inherited the title. But Eldritch’s 
  disappearance has left so many of his arrangements and spells to un-
  tangle, and chief among those is Una, Queen of the Netherworld. The 
  Master Mage once outwitted the interdimensional sovereign and se-
  cured a bargain that forbade her from interfering with Earth directly, 
  and this embarrassment has since made Earth the target of her rage 
  and obsession. With Eldritch gone, nothing but an inexperienced ju-
  nior sorceress stands between the Queen of the Netherworld and her 
  prize. But Una’s plans are far grander than to simply add another world 
  to her empire, and to fully realize her potential, she needs Earth’s new-
  est Master Mage to choose champions, demand a duel, and ultimate-
  ly… defeat her!
  Master of Earth is a prequel adventure, set a year in the past of the cur-
  rent timeline and describing the confrontations between Seven and 
  Una that established the current arcane status quo of Earth-Prime and 
  the rising tide of dark magic. It is not necessary to play Master of Earth 
  to enjoy the rest of the NetherWar adventure arc, and this adventure 
  likely uses different characters than the ones players will create for the 
  rest of the story, but it provides more background for the events of 
  the arc.
  USING YOUR OWN HEROES
  Unlike most Mutants & Masterminds adventures, Master of Earth in-
  cludes a team of five pre-built heroes. Seven, along with four teenage 
  members of Next-Gen—Blue Bolt, Miss Kitty, NGM, and Catalyst—bat-
  tle Una in what is essentially a prequel to the upcoming NetherWar 
  adventure arc. If you have access to Hero High, feel free to swap in 
  other members of Next-Gen (although Elflight’s magic powers will be 
  hampered by many of the same effects that weaken Seven, unless you 
  decide Una has tailored these defenses explicitly to Seven’s magic).
  You may also use your own PL 8 heroes to assist Seven in this adven-
  ture, use Next-Gen to assist your own PL 12 Master Mage, or allow your 
  players to create all the characters from scratch: four PL 8 heroes and 
  one PL 12 magic-using hero. This has some impact on the storyline 
  that plays out on Earth-Prime (particularly if you replace Seven) but 
  doesn’t need to impact anything if you set the adventure in your own 
  world or want to swap out Seven’s limited role in the rest of NetherWar. 
  Part of what helps Next-Gen feel relevant in this adventure is that they 
  0: MASTER OF EARTH
  0: MASTER OF EARTH
  2
  
  possess skills Seven does not, such as Technology, Intimidation, and 
  Persuasion; try to encourage a similar diversity of skills and Advantag-
  es among your players if they create their own heroes.
  Make sure at least one custom hero is a magic-wielder with some 
  reason for Una to target them. Master of Earth assumes the most 
  powerful hero is also the one with magical abilities, and as Master 
  Mage, Una must defeat them to claim the Earth for her Netherworld 
  empire. It may be interesting to instead place this title on a PL 8 he-
  ro-in-training.
  You may opt to set Master of Earth even further back in time—perhaps 
  three or four years—and have your players create PL 8 teen-hero ver-
  sions of their current heroes to help tie the events of this adventure 
  into their own stories.
  SECRET ORIGINS
  Una was born a peasant in her magic-rich home realm and taken as a 
  slave by the Wizard-King, Archon. She clawed her way up from noth-
  ing to become first the Master Mage of her world, then its Dark Lord 
  as her rage and cruelty corrupted it into a Netherworld, and finally the 
  queen of an empire as she broke the Dark Lords of other realms and 
  forced them to bow before her.
  But her rise stopped when she came to conquer Earth. Adrian El-
  dritch challenged her to a duel; if she won, he would surrender the 
  Earth, but if he won, Una would depart the Earth realm and cease 
  meddling with it directly. Una agreed, but discovered mid-battle the 
  Master Mage of Earth had fomented rebellion in her Netherworld, 
  and she abandoned the duel to put down the uprising. Ever since her 
  forfeit, she has been barred from Earth, and the humiliation of defeat 
  has burned in her chest.
  Una’s ambition knows no bounds, and she began long ago studying 
  how she might ascend to godhood, becoming a dark deity who could 
  spread her influence not only through physical might, but the very 
  substance of magic itself across the metaverse. Her ritual for ascension 
  requires the conquest of a thousand worlds and tying her soul to the 
  magical energy of each. With her humiliation by Eldritch still burning 
  in her chest, she resolved to take Earth as the thousandth world that 
  will complete her transformation. Her plan requires the sacrifice of her 
  mortal body; it must be consumed in the flames of another world’s 
  purest magic—the power of a Master Mage.
  With Adrian Eldritch gone, Una has designed a plot to trick the Mas-
  ter Mage’s young apprentice into destroying her and bringing her 
  plan to fruition. She will stage an invasion, knowing Seven will arise 
  to stop her, and in the pivotal moment of the duel, let the new Mas-
  ter Mage’s magic annihilate her body, merging her spirit with Earth’s 
  magical essence.
  IN THIS EXCITING ISSUE…
  The young sorceress Seven has only just inherited the mantle of Mas-
  ter Mage—the final proof that Adrian Eldritch’s disappearance must 
  have meant his death—when an army of Fomorians, led by Bres the 
  Beautiful, assault Freedom Hall. With the rest of the Freedom League 
  gone, Seven attempts to summon her former teammates from Next-
  Gen, only to conjure the younger and more inexperienced current 
  holders of that title. The heroes defeat the invading force, only to dis-
  cover from Bres that he arrived as a herald for the mighty sorceress 
  Una. Bres also reveals that Una is currently consolidating her power 
  within her Netherworld for an all-out invasion in the next few days. 
  When pressed, he agrees to transport the heroes to Una’s Nether-
  world, where they can bring the fight to her.
  The heroes explore this corrupt dimension and aid its miserable occu-
  pants. They finally reach Una’s citadel, battle her demon guards, and as-
  cend to her sacred sanctuary, the Alloy Adytum, only to discover a trap.
  By the time the heroes escape, they discover that Una has launched 
  her invasion from one of the secondary realms she controls, claiming 
  ASYMMETRICAL ADVENTURES
  ASYMMETRICAL ADVENTURES
  Master of Earth assumes that the heroes have very different ca-
  pabilities. As the story opens, Seven has just become the Mas-
  ter Mage of Earth and is PL 12, while the heroes of Next-Gen are 
  all PL 8. This asymmetry of power might make it seem like the 
  less-powerful heroes are redundant and can’t hope to keep up 
  with their more powerful colleague, but the adventure assumes 
  all the heroes have important contributions, and takes a few sim-
  ply steps to equalize the playing field:
  • Combat: Seven’s combat abilities—her offensive and defen-
  sive magic—are what make her Power Level 12 (without her 
  Defensive Magic and relying on unarmed combat or simple 
  weapons, she’s only PL 7). But four PL 8 heroes are approxi-
  mately as effective in combat as a single PL 12 hero; Seven 
  has more powerful individual attacks, but Next-Gen act more 
  often, have more varied abilities, and can use the Aid action 
  to assist each other. Most of the combat scenes in this adven-
  ture break the opposition into two, roughly equal challenges 
  between which the heroes must divide their attention. It is 
  assumed Seven will square off against more powerful threats, 
  while Next-Gen battle the threat with numbers on its side—
  with members of Next-Gen able to peel away and assist Seven 
  as their foes’ numbers dwindle—but the heroes should be fine 
  either way.
  • Skills: In terms of skills and other non-combat abilities, Seven 
  is only recently out of high school herself and isn’t more capa-
  ble than any of the members of Next-Gen. Mechanically, she 
  has some special advantages and so most of the skill challeng-
  es in the adventure are written for a PL 8 team.
  • Immunity to Magic: Magic is a common weapon in Una’s 
  empire, and several creatures stand out in this landscape 
  by being especially resistant to it with Immunity 10 (Mag-
  ic), either at full or half effect. Full immunity renders Seven 
  mostly powerless against such foes (though she retains her 
  magic-based Toughness bonus against their attacks), while 
  half-effect immunity reduces Seven’s effective rank in most 
  powers to 6 (and her effective PL to 9). While a clever player 
  can circumvent this limitation (such as by using her Elemen-
  tal Mastery to lift several tons of stone as a Standard action, 
  then slamming it into the opponent as another Standard 
  action), it still slows Seven down in combat and forces her 
  to rely on her peers. Note that while Miss Kitty’s powers are 
  magically granted, the damage she inflicts is still physical and 
  is not subject to this limitation.
  • Playing Defense: Some encounters require skills and powers 
  Seven doesn’t possess, or employ opponents immune to her 
  magic powers, and so Seven might serve a better role defend-
  ing the members of Next-Gen with her Deflect power or ready-
  ing her Nullify Magic to counter an opponent’s powers.
  3
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  Earth as her own while its Master Mage was her prisoner, however 
  briefly. The champions return to Earth to find Una’s dark heart already 
  corrupting the world, and together help wipe out her magical guard-
  ians and defeat the Queen of the Netherworld.
  INVOLVING THE HEROES
  Master of Earth includes five pre-generated heroes—Seven, Blue Bolt, 
  Miss Kitty, NGM, and Catalyst—as player characters, with their involve-
  ment written into the script. If you alter the adventure to use your own 
  characters, or don’t like the idea of Seven accidentally summoning the 
  younger heroes, consider one of these possibilities:
  • 
  As the newest member of the Freedom League, a lot of communi-
  ty service work falls on Seven. Today, that means giving students 
  from the local hero high school a tour of the Freedom Hall, which 
  overlaps with Bres the Beautiful’s attack.
  • 
  Located in the City Center, Freedom Hall is within screaming dis-
  tance of many popular Midtown teen hangouts, including Liber-
  ty Park, Millennium Mall, and the Super Museum. Less willingly, 
  teen heroes might also be at the Freedom City Historical Museum 
  or Franklin D. Roosevelt High School. Either way, they are close 
  enough to hear the commotion when the Fomorians begin their 
  attack.
  • 
  Teen heroes with any precognitive gifts might receive an impres-
  sion of “giant troubles emerging in Freedom’s center” warning 
  them to a literal attack by giants in the City Center.
  SCENE 1 
  CONFLICT SCENE
  A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR BATTLE
  If a player is playing Seven, begin this adventure by reading the follow-
  ing text. If you are portraying Seven as an NPC, you can skip to the next 
  section of this scene, The Arrival, to introduce your teenage heroes.
  Now that the rain has stopped and the clouds have parted, it’s 
  shaping up to be a beautiful day in downtown Freedom City. A 
  perfectly quiet day of blessed solitude as the rest of the Freedom 
  League has left you—their newest member—to mind Freedom 
  Hall as they departed into space to stop a... maybe it was a gravity 
  monster? There’s been a lot to catch up on.
  But just as you find a quiet place to study, a booming impact 
  makes the entire building shudder. Alarms blare to life and 
  viewscreens display the street outside. Hulking men—maybe 
  10 feet tall and clad in rough metal armor—have gathered, with 
  more arriving in flashes of lightning. They bow as a final arrival—a 
  devastatingly beautiful man in a kilt—shouts unheard orders to 
  them, then points directly at Freedom Hall.
  You’re outnumbered, easily a dozen to one. But you have been 
  designing a ritual that will summon your old friends from Next-
  Gen—your former team from your days at the Claremont Acade-
  my—to your side in an emergency. At least… in theory.
  The initial impact came from Cleirigh, the first Fomorian to arrive, hurl-
  ing a car into the side of Freedom Hall in her enthusiasm to begin the 
  assault. The warriors who followed have regrouped to await Bres’ ar-
  rival, though, delaying them for a minute. As the read-aloud text men-
  tions, Seven is alone to mind Freedom Hall and handle any local emer-
  gencies, with the rest of the Freedom League well beyond her reach. 
  Allow Seven a moment to assess the situation—she is the character in 
  this scene most likely to recognize Bres—but encourage her to use her 
  summoning ritual to bring Next-Gen to assist in the fight.
  EXPERTISE: MAGIC
  RESULT INFORMATION
  DC 15
  The attractive gentleman in the kilt is Bres the Beautiful, a sorcerer 
  who leads a secret nation of deformed mutants called the 
  Fomorians.
  DC 18
  The Fomorians are the same mythic people described in Irish 
  folklore and possess a wide variety of abilities. Bres is one of their 
  number, born unusually beautiful and gifted in magic.
  DC 20
  The Freedom League fought Bres several months ago and seized 
  a powerful magical artifact from him—the Eye of Balor—which 
  likely has something to do with this attack. If they told you where 
  they kept powerful relics of Celtic folklore during orientation, you 
  weren’t paying attention.
  DC 25
  Bres and his Fomorians were exiled to another dimension called 
  Annwn. He shouldn’t be able to arrive on Earth without help.
  THE SUMMONING RITUAL
  Seven’s ritual to summon Next-Gen is a plot device and is not detailed 
  on her character sheet. It doesn’t use the usual ritual rules outlined 
  in the Deluxe Hero’s Handbook—Seven doesn’t need to spend a Hero 
  Point to activate it, and it happens in just a few moments rather than 
  an hour or more. Its effects also last longer than this one scene. 
  Being a plot device, the ritual’s effects are entirely out of her control.
  The ritual is intended to teleport her allies from Next-Gen to her in an 
  emergency. Given her position as Earth’s newest Master Mage, having 
  emergency preparations is sensible. An attack by an extradimensional 
  sorcerer and his army of giants is exactly the occasion for which she 
  began developing this ritual.
  THE ARRIVAL
  Once Seven casts her ritual to summon her allies, read or paraphrase 
  the following:
  Math class is hell, as Mr. Skyler is so eager to prove once again. He 
  started off lecturing about logarithmic functions, and somehow 
  that turned into a rant about wasted potential and it’s still half an 
  hour until lunch! But then he looks at you and scowls.
  SIDEBAR: PROBLEM POWERS
  SIDEBAR: PROBLEM POWERS
  While not problematic, this adventure assumes that only one 
  character wields magic as a sorcerer or similar concept, and mul-
  tiple magic-wielding heroes might find themselves at a disad-
  vantage. The adventure also assumes that the heroes can’t move 
  through magical dimensions themselves and rely first on Bres’ 
  magic and later Una’s portal to move to and from the Nether-
  world. While being able to return to Earth doesn’t affect the plot 
  of the adventure, it may remove some sense of urgency.
  4
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  “I believe I have already explicitly stated that there is to be no 
  sparkling in my classroooooo…”
  Mr. Skyler and the rest of the classroom quickly fade away, and 
  suddenly you find yourselves—already in your costumes—stand-
  ing in a wide room decorated with memorabilia and photographs 
  of the Freedom League. Before you stands a woman in a black 
  cloak and hood: The mystic superhero Seven!
  You can also read the following to Seven’s player:
  You complete the invocation and streamers of magic energy in-
  tertwine and reach through the cosmos to retrieve your friends. 
  A burst of smoke reveals several figures, but as the air clears you 
  don’t see familiar faces like Bowman, Nereid, or Sonic. Instead you 
  see… kids. You vaguely recognize them from your last guest lec-
  ture at the Claremont Academy.
  These aren’t your old Next-Gen teammates… you’ve accidentally 
  summoned the current members of Next-Gen!
  With the ritual still new and untested, Seven has accidentally conjured 
  several current members of Next-Gen. She hasn’t had the time to de-
  velop a return ritual, either, leaving the teens stuck in Freedom Hall, a 
  dozen miles from school and under siege by hostile Fomorians.
  Allow the heroes a few minutes to interact and roleplay, and award 
  Hero Points to anyone who helps keep the adventure on track and en-
  courages the reckless teens to rush outside for an adventure.
  When things start to drag or the heroes seem deadlocked in an ar-
  gument, have the Fomorians finally break the door down and begin 
  their attack.
  The front doors explode into flinders as a small sedan tumbles 
  through and comes to rest twenty feet away. Beyond, the giants 
  have already begun striding through the broken frame. The man 
  behind them laughs. “Seems our partner was right. Not a thing 
  guarding our enemies’ halls but a slip of a mage and a handful of 
  wee babes. Oi then! We’ve come for me Eye of Balor, and if’n ye 
  give it over swiftly, I swear ta leave yer children intact!”
  ASSAULT ON FREEDOM HALL
  Freedom Hall’s front foyer is grand by design: 100 feet long and 60 
  feet wide, with ceilings reaching 30 feet overhead. The walls are lined 
  with portraits, news clippings, publicity photos, fan art, and awards 
  for visitors to peruse while they wait for appointments. Comfortable 
  retro chairs and couches line the walls as well. A reception desk half-
  way down the hall is normally where the robotic receptionist, Cynthia, 
  waits to greet visitors but can provide emergency cover in a pinch.
  Cynthia herself politely greets the approaching giants and, looking 
  completely human, young heroes might feel inclined to save her. 
  Award anyone who does so a Hero Point. 
  TACTICS
  Several months ago, the Freedom League battled Bres the Beautiful and 
  his Fomorians in Ireland, ultimately exiling the invaders back to their 
  prison dimension of Annwn, but not before taking the Eye of Balor. Bres 
  and his warriors want to recover the Eye of Balor—a powerful magical 
  artifact and relic of the fomorians’ falled god. Una needed agents to 
  draw Seven out into a direct confrontation, and approached the humil-
  iated Fomorian shapeshifter. She offered to transport him and his war-
  riors to Earth to reclaim the Eye when the League’s guard was down.
  Bres normally prefers subterfuge to get what he wants, but Una has 
  given him a very narrow time window and so he resorts to this very 
  direct assault, believing he can easily overpower a single human girl. 
  He plans to simply overwhelm the Hall’s token defenders, find the 
  “vault,” and retrieve his treasure. He has no idea how large Freedom 
  Hall actually is, nor that the Freedom League also has an orbital sat-
  ellite headquarters. As a last resort, he plans to take one or more de-
  feated defenders as hostages to trade for the Eye of Balor once more 
  of the League return.
  THREAT 1
  The Fomorians’ forward assault consists of a number of Fomorian war-
  riors equal to the number of Next-Gen heroes plus two. If you use all 
  four teen heroes included with this adventure, that means a total of 
  six Fomorians.
  The warriors are tough, but not tactically minded. They rush forward 
  to attack the heroes with their clubs or hurl benches or their knives at 
  enemies beyond their reach. For the first two rounds, one giant each 
  turn attempts to demoralize a hero using their Intimidation skill, but 
  after this they all focus on trading blows.
  FOMORIAN WARRIORS 
  PL 7
  See the Cast section. These characters are minions.
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +0
  Club 
  +5 
  Close, Damage 9
  Knife 
  +5 
  Close/Ranged, Damage 9
  Unarmed 
  +5 
  Close, Damage 7
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +3
  +3
  +7
  +3
  +10/7*
   
  *without Armor
  THREAT 2
  Bres the Beautiful is the most powerful threat but remains back near 
  the Hall’s entrance where he uses his Fomorian magic to blast away 
  at opponents, mostly alternating between his Mystic Blast and Grasp 
  of Ghorummaz. He’s eager to test his mettle against the new Master 
  Mage—”the wee slip of a girl”—and a part of him even thinks this 
  could be his chance to seize that title for himself.
  Two Fomorian warriors remain by Bres’ side as bodyguards.
  BRES THE BEAUTIFUL 
  PL 10
  See the Cast section. 
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +6
  Grasp of Ghorummaz 
  +8 
  Ranged, Affliction 8
  Mystic Blast 
  +8 
  Ranged, Damage 8
  Unarmed 
  +7 
  Close, Damage 4
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +12
  +10
  +8
  +12
  +8/6*
   
  *without Defensive Roll
  5
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  FOMORIAN WARRIORS (2) 
  PL 7
  See the Cast section. These warriors have training as bodyguards and 
  also possess the Interpose Advantage, which they use to intercept attacks 
  against Bres. These characters are minions.
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +0
  Club 
  +5 
  Close, Damage 9
  Knife 
  +5 
  Close/Ranged, Damage 9
  Unarmed 
  +5 
  Close, Damage 7
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +3
  +3
  +7
  +3
  +10/7*
   
  *without Armor
  WRAP-UP
  While his Fomorian warriors are bold to the end, Bres is more practical. 
  If all the warriors in his group fall, he casts the Scarlet Shades of Sirrion 
  spell and shapeshifts into a human in an attempt to escape. If Bres 
  falls, his warriors enter a frenzy of vengeance and continue fighting 
  until they are all defeated or restrained.
  If he can’t escape, Bres is surprisingly amiable, bordering on charming. 
  War is largely a game for him, and a game he would prefer to play 
  again and again rather than risk his immortal hide. He surrenders if 
  cornered, trusting that his guile and magic will help him escape such 
  simple, young opponents.
  SCENE 2 
  ROLEPLAY SCENE
  THE COMING STORM
  With the attackers subdued, the heroes can question them to learn 
  more. Bres specifically referenced a “partner” providing them informa-
  tion about Freedom Hall. Bres knows the most information, but any of 
  the subdued giants can provide at least the following information with 
  a successful DC 13 Deception, Intimidation, or Persuasion check:
  • 
  The Freedom League seized the Eye of Balor several months ago 
  when Bres tried using it in a bid to conquer Ireland. If returned, 
  they absolutely intend to keep using it as a weapon.
  • 
  Bres struck a deal with a dark sorceress from the Netherworlds 
  to help them escape their dimensional prison, Annwn. That same 
  sorceress told them to attack now, because the “palace” of the 
  Freedom League was mostly undefended.
  • 
  If the heroes generate three or more Degrees of Success while 
  interrogating a warrior, one of them recalls hearing the dark sor-
  ceress’ name: Una.
  If the heroes also captured Bres, he is a more stubborn target of inter-
  rogation, requiring a successful DC 22 Deception, Intimidation, or 
  Persuasion check to convince him to talk. The heroes can use the Aid 
  action to improve their chances of persuading Bres, and if they think 
  to point out that his partner probably set him up or has abandoned 
  him, they gain a +2 circumstance bonus on their check.
  6
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  • 
  The dark sorceress is a powerful spellcaster named Una.
  • 
  Una told Bres in confidence that Seven—the only guardian—was 
  Earth’s new Master Mage, and that he could potentially take that 
  title for himself by defeating her.
  • 
  While she didn’t say so, Bres suspects Una was gearing up for 
  her own attack on Earth and gave him this opportunity, because 
  having the Master Mage of Earth owe her a favor would make a 
  conquest much easier.
  Heroes with Expertise: Magic can attempt a skill check to recognize 
  the name Una.
  EXPERTISE: MAGIC
  Result
  Information
  DC 10
  Una is a powerful evil sorceress of legend, who rules a mystical 
  dimension called the Netherworld.
  DC 15
  Una is a Dark Lord, an evil Master Mage whose wicked heart has 
  corrupted her entire dimension. She has conquered hundreds of 
  worlds to add to her empire.
  DC 17
  Adrian Eldritch fought Una decades ago and tricked her into never 
  returning to Earth.
  DC 25
  Una was forbidden from re-entering the Earth realm due to a deal 
  Eldritch tricked her into, and has sworn to conquer the Earth ever 
  since to punish her enemy for this snub. Without Eldritch present, 
  Una is no longer barred from Earth.
  UNA’S THREAT
  Once the heroes have questioned the Fomorians or otherwise learned 
  as much as they wish to in the wake of the attack, read or paraphrase 
  the following:
  Discordant notes echo throughout the hall and the air seems to 
  ripple and squirm before the image of a face—a stern woman 
  with black hair and immaculate makeup—appears, ten times 
  larger than life. She speaks, and you hear the voice reverberating 
  in your skull.
  “It seems my vanguard were not the peerless soldiers they claimed 
  to be. It is little matter. Bres was a coward, and his Fomorians were 
  little more than a bee to prick at your ears and warn of my approach.
  We have not been formally introduced. I am Una, Dark Queen of 
  the Netherworld, Empress of nine-hundred ninety-nine worlds! 
  Adrian Eldritch may have temporarily barred my ownership of 
  your paltry realm through his ‘wizard’s duel’ and cowardly tricks, 
  but he is dead. And even now, here in my Netherworld—so far 
  beyond your childish grasp—my armies prepare to march across 
  your world.
  “Only a Master Mage could hope to stop me, and Adrian so palely 
  filled that role. And you, oh swaddled infant, are no Adrian.”
  The image of Una is an illusion; Seven can’t harm it, but she can negate 
  it with her Abjurations of Abriddon spell. Una remains a few minutes 
  longer to trade barbs and mock the young sorcerer. If Seven’s player 
  lets the barbs affect her and succumbs to her Insecurity complication, 
  award her a Hero Point.
  ROLEPLAYING UNA
  Una’s ultimate goal is to goad Seven into a one-on-one confrontation 
  and let the neophyte Master Mage “destroy” her with magic, but only 
  after an ordeal. She suspects that Seven is too kind-hearted normally 
  to unleash her most powerful spells and potentially kill her, and so 
  her goal at every step is to push Seven to her limit without breaking 
  or killing her, until the young hero can unleash all that frustration and 
  anger out against her and complete Una’s apotheosis.
  To that end, Una constantly pokes and prods Seven’s insecurities and 
  makes her feel like a failure, first in comparison to Adrian and then by 
  losing control of Earth. Una is condescending and confident in her in-
  teractions, emphasizing Seven’s inexperience and youth, and intimat-
  ing that she is ultimately helpless to stop the Dark Lord from doing 
  whatever she likes to the Earth. 
  Keep the following goals in mind before she finally vanishes:
  • 
  Una drives home that she is beyond Seven’s reach in her Neth-
  erworld.
  • 
  Una sees Seven as a laughably poor substitute for the already-in-
  competent Adrian Eldritch.
  • 
  Una doesn’t care about the Eye of Balor or the fate of the Fomori-
  ans. If they return to her Netherworld, she’ll kill them herself.
  • 
  Una may “accidentally” reveal that the only way to bar her from 
  Earth again is to defeat her in a wizard’s duel between two Master 
  Mages and their selected champions.
  REACHING THE NETHERWORLD
  Ideally, the heroes resolve to attack Una’s Netherworld themselves. If 
  they don’t, you can have Bres offer the suggestion. Though a coward 
  and a bully, he remains an egomaniac who resents Una’s insults and 
  manipulation, and if he can turn two people he hates against each 
  other, that’s just a smart deal for him. The Fomorian leader already 
  knows a spell for dimensional travel and has visited Una’s Netherworld 
  before—he needed her help to open the gates of Annwn, but now 
  free he can move to mystical dimensions more easily. At first, he offers 
  to send Seven and Next-Gen to the Netherworld in exchange for the 
  Eye of Balor, but with any pushback he’ll agree in exchange for letting 
  him and his warriors go free to return to Annwn.
  If Bres escaped earlier, he might remain nearby in hopes of slipping 
  into Freedom Hall in disguise in the chaotic aftermath, placing him 
  close enough to hear Una’s condescension. In this case, he risks ap-
  proaching the heroes so long as they weren’t unrelentingly violent.
  A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO DIMENSIONAL TRAVEL
  How the heroes reach the Netherworld isn’t as important as their de-
  cision to go, so be open to creative ideas. Seven can use Extra Effort to 
  use Movement (Dimensional) as part of her Magic array, or a hero with 
  the Ritualist or Inventor Advantage can create an ad-hoc dimension-
  al portal. Heroes might also suggest that the Freedom League might 
  keep a dimensional portal, spell, or other McGuffin as a trophy some-
  where in Freedom Hall, using a Hero Point to edit the scene. Be open 
  to suggestions.
  7
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  WRAP-UP
  This scene primarily serves to get the characters to Una’s Netherworld, 
  planting the seed of the idea or outright suggesting it if they don’t. In 
  the aftermath, they also have time for dramatic roleplaying or for per-
  sonal scenes to play up any Complications and earn Hero Points. Once 
  they decide to take the fight to Una and finish any preparations they 
  might want to make, you can move on to the next scene.
  SCENE 3 
  CONFLICT SCENE
  ARRIVAL AT THE BOTTOM  
  OF THE WORLD
  Once the heroes depart for Una’s Netherworld, read or paraphrase the 
  following:
  The world twists and deforms around you, resettling into a 
  strange new shape. No sun hangs above you; instead the en-
  tire sky churns with a dull fire of orange and purple. Ashen grey 
  plants sprout from the rocky ground. You’ve arrived on a bluff 
  overlooking some sort of riverside factory town below, and in the 
  distance, impossibly tall and slender mountains stretch up dis-
  turbingly high.
  Below you can see chalk-white figures rounding up villagers, 
  dragging them into a rough circle, overlooked by two figures in 
  black robes and a third in bright red.
  The town below is Tarabahva, one of thousands of factory towns 
  spread across the Netherworld. Residents toil in the nearby mines 
  during the spring and summer, then spend the fall and winter in the 
  mill, rendering ore into slag, and finally into finished weapons ranging 
  from spears to rifles. In preparation for her invasion, Una dispatched a 
  lieutenant, the necromancer Kada’vrus, and her undead creations to 
  crack down on the local governor, extract any stockpiles the commu-
  nity had, and press one-quarter of their number into military service. 
  She brought her skeleton soldiers and two more powerful creations: 
  Cayrne and Slymme.
  Kada’vrus has gathered the populace in town square while her aco-
  lytes and undead monsters search the homes. If the heroes move into 
  town quietly, using stealth or disguises, they can overhear the necro-
  mancer as she lectures the residents.
  A sneering young woman in a red cloak and skull makeup march-
  es before the cowering villagers, flanked by two hulking figures 
  obscured by their own black cloaks. “Stockpiles of food? Hidden 
  weapon caches? If one didn’t have unwavering faith in our Dark 
  Queen, one would almost think you rodents were concerned for 
  your survival under her rule. Or perhaps even contemplating 
  treason! How fortunate for you that Queen Una saw fit to dis-
  patch me to assume control of your little town from this sniveling 
  governor of yours. I have come to save you from yourselves. And 
  all my grace will cost you is one volunteer from every household 
  to join my army of undying glory!” She punctuates her lecture by 
  kicking an older woman in chains beside her.
  The chained woman is Rada, the town’s former governor, who used 
  her position to shield the locals from Una’s cruelty as much as she was  
  able while still enforcing extreme production quotas.
  The heroes can watch and simply not interfere. Kada’vrus’ skeletal sol-
  diers continue looting the homes over the course of the day while the 
  mystic herself begins taking prisoners—one from each family, as she 
  promised—to hold in the factory and begin transforming into new 
  undead forces.
  TARABAHVA
  Tarabahva resembles a medieval village or the set from a fantasy tele-
  vision show, with cobblestone streets and stone-and-timber buildings 
  capped with slate roofs. A few anachronistic elements set the Nether-
  world apart from a historical setting, including the ubiquity of magic 
  used for public services, as well as bits of technology akin to Earth’s 
  own 19th and early 20th centuries—penicillin, radio, and industrial 
  fabrication all help keep the residents productive and alive, if misera-
  ble. Most buildings stand two stories tall.
  Most of the walls are made from wood and stucco (Toughness 3), 
  but the town hall, the granary, and other large buildings have stone 
  walls (Toughness 5). The nearby mill itself is as large as the town, with 
  concrete walls (Toughness 8) and filled with a variety of ore-crushing 
  rollers, automated forging hammers, large spinning centrifuges, and 
  crucibles filled with molten iron that heroes could use to their advan-
  tage or be knocked into (treat these as Affliction 8, Damage 8, or Move 
  Object 8 hazards, depending on the exact device).
  IF YOUR HEROES DON’T WANT TO LEAVE
  IF YOUR HEROES DON’T WANT TO LEAVE
  If your heroes don’t want to leave Earth and decide to instead 
  stay and defend the world with the expectation of a full invasion, 
  you don’t need to force the issue. Simply transplant most of the 
  later scenes to Earth to represent a sudden and overwhelming 
  invasion. In this scenario, other heroes across the world have their 
  hands full battling the mystic incursion and aren’t any more avail-
  able to help than they would be if the adventure took place in 
  the Netherworld; and protecting Earth from magical threats still 
  remains Seven’s duty.
  In this case, Una simply teleports her entire citadel and all the 
  magical armies it contains to Earth, anchoring it deep in Wharton 
  State Forest, west of the city.
  Scenes 3 and 4: Kada’vrus and her forces are overseeing the 
  conquest of an industrial facility and transforming it to produce 
  weapons for Una’s troops. Any information the heroes might 
  learn about Una’s citadel comes from prisoners or soldiers who 
  escaped shortly after Una brought it to Earth.
  Scene 5: Shanmai and the citadel guards can still guard the cit-
  adel itself, or you might transplant them to be a strike force at-
  tacking an important site in the city, such as a hospital, city hall, 
  the Claremont Academy, or something important to one of the 
  heroes.
  Scene 6: Una’s Alloy Adytum remains a trap inside her throne 
  room. In previous scenes, seed the idea that Una is directing the 
  invasion from there. Afterward, the heroes don’t need to worry 
  about finding their way back to Earth.
  Scene 7: This scene remains unchanged. 
  8
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  In the wake of Kada’vrus’ raid, several homes have been smashed, 
  most of the town’s available food, water, and weapons (used as much 
  for barter as defense) sit piled in town square, and the factory has suf-
  fered damage to some of its machinery.
  Like most settlements in the Netherworld, Tarabahva is an industrial 
  town, built with 30-foot-wide roads to accommodate armies and in-
  dustrial transports.
  TACTICS
  If the heroes opt to jump in and save the people of Tarabahva, award 
  them a Hero Point each.
  ROLEPLAYING KADA’VRUS
  Kada’vrus is young and overcompensating for her tenuous position in 
  Una’s military, hoping that brutal efficiency will earn her more respect. 
  She isn’t expecting any pushback from the townsfolk and certainly 
  doesn’t expect to face anyone with powers. She immediately orders 
  her minions to kill anyone who resists.
  Kada’vrus is only loyal to Una out of fear. She begins to panic if she 
  starts losing, becoming increasingly upset as her minions fall or she 
  takes damage. The heroes can try to talk her down, assuring the nec-
  romancer they’re here to destroy Una, with three or more Degrees of 
  Success on DC 22 Persuasion checks made as Standard actions. If 
  convinced, Kada’vrus orders any remaining undead minions to stand 
  down, and agrees to leave Tarabahva and take up hiding in the mines. 
  With five or more Degrees of Success, she can be persuaded to stay 
  and help defend the town. She will not join the heroes in a direct at-
  tack on the citadel or Una.
  Kada’vrus doesn’t think to use governor Rada or any of the scattering 
  townspeople as hostages, but if the necromancer falls before her intel-
  ligent agents, Slymme or Cayrne tries to grab a hostage and negotiate 
  for their escape. You can also have a panicked local stumble into the 
  fray to cause complications, especially if a hero is prone to accidents 
  or uncontrolled power fluctuations. Award heroes who take the time 
  to save Rada or a hostage a Hero Point.
  ROLEPLAYING RADA
  The town governor isn’t an especially good person or an especially 
  bad person, but she is a very practical person who wants to keep her 
  town functioning and healthy. Rada is a coward (“nonconfrontational,” 
  by her estimation) with no interest in rebellion, but she also has no in-
  terest in upsetting these heroes or turning Tarabahva into a warzone. 
  She’s simply a long-suffering administrator who wants to be left to run 
  her town in peace.
  Rada is a middle-aged human woman, with long brown hair and a 
  sun-kissed complexion. She possesses a “demon eye”—a brilliant yel-
  low eye with a slit pupil—a relatively common birthmark in the Neth-
  erworld that provides no special abilities but that the locals generally 
  consider lucky.
  THREAT 1
  Kada’vrus and her hulking bodyguard Cayrne throw themselves into 
  combat together. The mystic alternates offensive spells with using In-
  timidation to Demoralize or Feint, transferring the effects of successful 
  checks to Cayrne thanks to her Set-Up Advantage.
  KADA’VRUS 
  PL 10
  See the Cast section. 
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +1
  Aging 
  +8 
  Ranged, Affliction 8
  Death Grip 
  +8 
  Ranged, Affliction 6
  Ghostly Grasp 
  — 
  Perception, Move Object 6
  Necrotic Blast 
  +8 
  Ranged, Damage 11
  Staff 
  +4 
  Close, Damage 2
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +8
  +7
  +6
  +13
  +12/0*
   
  *without Mystic Shield
  CAYRNE 
  PL 10
  See the Cast section. 
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +3
  Unarmed 
  +10 
  Close, Damage 10
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +9
  +9
  Immune
  9
  +11
   
  THE NETHERWORLD
  THE NETHERWORLD
  Una’s Netherworld is just one of thousands that exist across the 
  multiverse, but her power, reach, and the sheer size of her em-
  pire earn her home dimension the status of the Netherworld 
  rather than a netherworld. It is a world of perpetual twilight, 
  where plants struggle to grow in the dry, rocky soil after eons 
  of over-farming. Much of the industry is turned toward mining 
  and manufacturing for tools of war, which Una uses to oppress 
  the hundreds of mystic dimensions now under her control—and 
  whose still-abundant fields now feed her starving populace. Fluc-
  tuations in gravity allow for strange geological features, like im-
  possibly tall mountains and cliffs or floating islands, and many 
  permanent gates between the Netherworld and other dimen-
  sions in Una’s empire allow foreign cultures, flora, and monsters 
  to trickle in to create a world of extremes.
  The people of the Netherworld are generally a miserable but 
  cowed lot. They are human, but centuries of exposure to their 
  realm’s corrupted magic marks most with physical abnormali-
  ties, such as horns, fangs, skin discolorations, or other monstrous 
  traits. What amusements do exist—some music and games sur-
  viving from before Una’s reign—are generally contraband and 
  jealously guarded from prying eyes.
  The Netherworld is a realm of magic rather than science, and sci-
  entific theories and technology don’t always function as intend-
  ed. There is no space or stars above, no core to the world below. 
  All the universe exists in a single, continuous continent pock-
  marked by rivers, mountains, oceans, and lava fields. Whenever a 
  player rolls a 1 while activating or repairing a piece of technology, 
  have the device backfire in some clearly supernatural way and 
  award that hero a Hero Point.
  9
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  THREAT 2
  Slymme leads a force of skeletal soldiers—two for every Next-Gen 
  hero (eight if you use the included four). The skeletons pair off against 
  opponents, with one using the Aid action to assist its partner. Slymme 
  waits until she faces a physically gifted foe or is grappled before acti-
  vating her Insubstantial power.
  SLYMME 
  PL 10
  See the Cast section.
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +3
  Unarmed 
  +10 
  Close, Damage 10
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +9
  +9
  Immune
  +9
  +11
   
  SKELETAL SOLDIERS 
  PL 4
  See the Cast section. These characters are minions.
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +5
  Spear 
  +3 
  Close, Damage 5
  Unarmed 
  +3 
  Close, Damage 2
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +3
  +4
  Immune
  Immune
  +4
   
  GOVERNOR RADA 
  PL 3
  Use the statistics for a Cult Adept on page 146 of the Deluxe Gamemaster’s 
  Guide. Rada has ranks in Expertise: Current Events rather than Cult Lore.
  WRAP-UP
  Once Kada’vrus is defeated or surrenders, the people of Tarabahva 
  begin to peek out from the windows and hiding places. If governor 
  Rada survived, she eventually thanks the strangers who saved them, 
  but bemoans that Queen Una will soon send more agents to search 
  the village and learn Kada’vrus’ fate.
  If the heroes care to ask about Una, Rada is hesitant, but ultimately 
  says that the queen retires to her sacred sanctum, the Alloy Adytum, to 
  rest. This pocket dimension can only be accessed from a large mirror 
  overlooking the throne room in her citadel. None but Una are permit-
  ted to enter, and those few who have tried never return.
  Rada can point the heroes toward Una’s citadel, some 50 miles to the 
  south, but she remains untrusting for now and shares little else.
  SCENE 4 
  CHALLENGE SCENE
  MENDING TARABAHVA
  Tarabahva is a small community, already pressed to the margins by 
  harsh production quotas and limited food rations. After generations 
  of oppression, its people have little trust for outsiders. The heroes can 
  simply move on, but they also have the option of trying to help the 
  citizens, who are even now beginning to discuss how to deal with an-
  other investigator dispatched by Una.
  The heroes have twelve hours they can spend in Tarabahva trying to 
  make friends, helping, and learning more about the Netherworld and 
  Una. Keep track of the total number of Degrees of Success and De-
  grees of Failure the heroes earn over their twelve hours.
  Heroes can help in the following ways. Each hero can select what they 
  spend their time doing.
  FACTORY REPAIRS
  Tarabahva’s factory is the town’s lifeblood. Part foundry and part forge, 
  it converts the raw ore the citizens mine into useable metal and then 
  provides the tools and facilities to smith the metal into a variety of 
  weapons. Kada’vrus’ minions smashed some of the machinery to make 
  a point, and if the town can’t repair it and resume work, then Una is in-
  creasingly likely to dispatch someone to investigate—or simply wipe 
  them off the map.
  101010
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  Heroes can assist with the repairs with a successful DC 13 Technology 
  check. Each check represents six hours of work.
  FORMULATE A PLAN
  One or more heroes can help Rada come up with a believable expla-
  nation for what happened to Kada’vrus (if the heroes persuaded the 
  necromancer to stay and defend the town, they can instead coach her 
  into negotiating with anyone Una sends to investigate). 
  Strategizing requires a successful DC 18 Deception or Investigation 
  check to build a convincing story that integrates real details. Each 
  check represents four hours of work.
  HIDE SUPPLIES
  The locals need a better hiding place for the food and weapon stock-
  piles and have resolved to dig a concealed bunker just outside of 
  town. This task is more brute labor than a skilled pursuit.
  Digging out the bunker will require a combined of two months’ worth 
  of worked hours (Time Rank 20). To determine how long it takes a su-
  per-powered character to clear the earth, subtract the digger’s Strength 
  (or ranks in earth-moving powers like Move Object) from Time Rank 20. 
  Multiple characters can contribute to the effort, adding +1 to the stron-
  gest character’s rank for every helper, to a maximum of five; a helper 
  must be within 5 ranks of the strongest character’s Strength or effect 
  rank, otherwise their efforts don’t meaningfully affect the outcome.
  Digging out the bunker automatically earns one Degree of Success. 
  This can only be earned once.
  MAKE FRIENDS
  The locals are suspicious, but not entirely out of reach. Heroes can try 
  to make friends with a successful DC 20 Persuasion check. Allow cre-
  ative heroes to substitute other skills, such as using Acrobatics to put 
  on a tumbling performance or telling stories to the kids with an appro-
  priate Expertise, but a hero can only use any given skill once, whether 
  they succeed or fail. Each check represents three hours of work.
  REPLENISH THE FIELDS
  The locals try to grow what food they can to supplement their meager 
  rations, but the soil around the Tarabahva is overtaxed and rocky, and 
  their crops are pitiful. Heroes with plant-related powers can use them 
  to boost the crops while heroes with healing or earth-based powers 
  can replenish the soil. None of Next-Gen have appropriate powers, but 
  characters like NGM or Seven can use Extra Effort to create the appro-
  priate effect with their respective powers.
  Replenishing the fields doesn’t require a check. Any attempt automati-
  cally generates two Degrees of Success. Doing so requires three hours. 
  This can only be earned once.
  UNCOVER SPIES
  While most in Tarabahva are sick of struggling under Una’s thumb, 
  some have earned extra privileges for themselves by reporting any 
  disloyalty they see and hear to officials above Rada’s head. Rada men-
  tions this problem and her concern that unknown townsfolk will re-
  port what happened to Queen Una’s forces. Rada agrees to deal with 
  any traitors the heroes bring her.
  The informants are average citizens and gossips, not master criminals. 
  Routing out spies requires a successful DC 13 Insight or Investiga-
  tion check. Each check represents six hours of work.
  WRAP-UP
  After twelve hours, subtract the total number of Degrees of Failure the 
  heroes earned from their total Degrees of Success.
  TOTAL DEGREES 
  OF SUCCESS
  RESULT
  -1 or less
  The heroes have caused more problems than they’ve 
  helped solve and find themselves ejected from town.
  0
  While the heroes’ efforts don’t cause any harm, they’re 
  mostly in the way and awkward. They can stay the 
  night, but locals encourage them to move on quickly.
  1-4
  The heroes have chipped in to help grateful locals and 
  even make a few new friends. Every hero gains one 
  Hero Point.
  5-10
  The heroes have proven themselves trustworthy as they 
  prepare Tarabahva to weather Una’s scrutiny. Every hero 
  gains one Hero Point. Medari, a local who once worked 
  as a cook in Una’s citadel, comes forward to tell them 
  about secret servants’ corridors within the citadel that 
  allow the heroes to circumvent the guards (Scene 5) 
  and proceed directly to Una’s Alloy Adytum (Scene 6).
  11+
  The heroes have left Tarabahva self-sufficient and 
  well-defended. Every hero gains one Hero Point and 
  Medari comes forward to tell them about the citadel’s 
  servant corridors. The heroes also raise some ghost of 
  community spirit within Rada, who pulls them aside 
  and gives the heroes her blessing and a bottle of 
  ambrosia, a magical elixir the town brewed in the days 
  before Una’s takeover. See the sidebar for details.
  SCENE 5 
  CHALLENGE/CONFLICT SCENE
  CITADEL OF SORROWS
  You can read or paraphrase the following as the heroes travel the 
  Netherworld to provide some atmosphere:
  The road itself seems to have little connection to the terrain, and 
  at times rises high above it on precariously thin struts, providing 
  a dangerous view of the rolling hills and swamps of the Neth-
  erworld. Strange silhouettes flap through the twilight skies on 
  AMBROSIA
  AMBROSIA
  Before Una transformed her dimension into a netherworld, sev-
  eral species of enchanted flowers could be gathered to brew am-
  brosia, a nectar filled to brimming with life. The plants are now 
  extinct, and what little ambrosia still exists is secreted away by lo-
  cals and mostly used to give life to crops during desperate times.
  AMBROSIA 
  11 POINTS
  Energizing Healing 5; Stabilize; Limited (every time ambrosia is used, 
  reduce its effect rank permanently by 1; when it is reduced to 0, the last 
  of the ambrosia has been consumed)
  111111
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  four wings, while odors of rot and brimstone waft up from the 
  streams and springs you pass. Even the plant life has adapted to 
  the hostile climate, with everything covered in vicious barbs and 
  thorns, or snapping shut with the slightest touch. Here and there, 
  shadows move near the roadside, only to dart away when you 
  draw near.
  Eventually, a sprawling metropolis replaces the harsh country-
  side. Dark clouds loom over the gray city, dropping an ashy rain 
  on every street and surface. Above it all towers a wicked, writhing 
  citadel of black stone and iron spires.
  Una’s citadel towers high above the surrounding landscape, with her 
  capitol city stretching outward from it for a dozen miles in every di-
  rection. A huge variety of strange beings—mutated and magical hu-
  mans, elves, dwarves, demons, lizard-kin, and stranger—wander the 
  streets, all representatives and traders from the 999 worlds the Queen 
  of the Netherworld has conquered. This amazing diversity means that 
  even unusual-looking heroes can blend into the crowd without draw-
  ing attention.
  Una’s citadel contains hundreds of rooms that house servants 
  and soldiers, with amenities for all, as well as vaults, libraries, 
  and laboratories for Una and her dark magician servitors. 
  Most of the offices and courts for administering her em-
  pire are spread throughout the city; the citadel itself is 
  more palace and fortress than government building.
  SECURITY FEATURES
  Una’s citadel is sturdy, with organic-looking walls 
  of magically reinforced stone (Impervious Tough-
  ness 8) and windows of transparent cold iron 
  (Toughness 7, Immunity [Magic]). The entire 
  complex is warded to silently alert Una or her 
  guards when magical beings arrive (of the in-
  cluded characters, Seven and Miss Kitty may 
  trigger this alert). Characters who can detect 
  magic can recognize these protections with 
  a successful DC 15 Perception check, and 
  temporarily disable it with a DC 25 Expertise: 
  Magic check.
  If the wards alert security, four Warrior Demons 
  (see the Deluxe Gamemaster’s Guide, page 147) ar-
  rive to investigate. If they find nothing, they return 
  to their normal stations. If they find intruders, or fail 
  to report in after a few minutes, Shanmai and his de-
  mons arrive to investigate personally (see the Tactics 
  section).
  BREAKING INTO THE CITADEL
  Breaking into the citadel requires stealth, trickery, and the ability to 
  disable magical and technological locks. The process is a challenge 
  sequence, requiring the heroes to accumulate 7 De-
  grees of Success to finally locate Una’s throne room 
  and access to her Alloy Adytum. The heroes can use 
  the following skills: Athletics (DC 16), Deception (DC 
  15), Expertise: Magic (DC 20), Stealth (DC 20), and Tech-
  nology (DC 18), and must succeed with at least three 
  different skills. You might allow a hero to make a pow-
  er check in place of a specific skill check if they have an appropriate or 
  creative use for one of their powers. Failed checks have increasingly 
  dire results:
  • 
  On the first failure, the heroes alert a band of four housekeep-
  ers (use the Bystander archetype from the Deluxe Gamemaster’s 
  Guide, page 145). The servants can be coaxed or threatened into 
  silence with appropriate skill checks, or incapacitated, but other-
  wise alert the guards (see the second failure).
  • 
  On the second failure, a squad of guards arrive to investigate the 
  growing disruptions. Two Warrior Demons (see the Deluxe Gam-
  emaster’s Guide) arrive for every one hero to search the area. The 
  121212
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  demons capture anyone they find for questioning, taking them to 
  the dungeons below the citadel. While the demon guards can’t be 
  persuaded to keep quiet, the heroes can still incapacitate them.
  • 
  On the third failure, the heroes fully alert security to their pres-
  ence and Shanmai quickly arrives with his most powerful rein-
  forcements (see the Tactics section).
  If the characters learned of the servants’ corridors from their time in 
  Tarabahva, they can bypass this challenge and head straight to the 
  throne room and the Alloy Adytum (see Scene 6).
  TACTICS
  Una’s guard commander is a towering yaomo—a demonic being simi-
  lar to those depicted in Chinese myth—named Shanmai. Her demonic 
  minions are recruited from dozens of different netherworlds and pos-
  ses a wide variety of features and—at your descretion—powers.
  ROLEPLAYING SHANMAI
  Shanmai is large and confident, though he has little patience for talk 
  or games. Subordinates (which means everyone except Una) will fol-
  low his orders, or he will crush them. If he suspects someone is hiding 
  nearby, he simply begins smashing furniture and walls, knowing it is 
  someone else’s job to repair everything once he’s done his own work 
  of “securing” the grounds.
  Shanmai’s vulnerability to the color yellow puts him at a serious disad-
  vantage fighting NGM, and if that teen hero attacks, Shanmai orders 
  one of his demonic guards to respond rather that retaliating directly. 
  Heroes can intuit some significance from this behavior with a success-
  ful DC 20 Insight check.
  THREAT 1
  Shanmai is a serious threat on his own, though slow and clumsy com-
  pared to most PL 13 foes. He hopes to subdue intruders for question-
  ing and eventual transformation into demons. Shanmai’s infernal 
  nature also renders him resistant to magical attacks—though like his 
  impervious hide, this immunity is overcome if the heroes can figure 
  out how to deliver their magical effects with yellow special effects.
  SHANMAI 
   PL 13
  See the Cast section. 
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +1
  Shockwave 
  — 
  Close Burst, Affliction 9
  Thunderclap 
  — 
  Close Burst, Dazzle 9
  Unarmed 
  +8 
  Close, Damage 18
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +8
  +8
  +17
  +9
  +17
   
  THREAT 2
  Shanmai travels with a group of elite guards, enormous brute demons 
  that serve as the citadel’s most fearsome guardians. There is one fewer 
  guard than there are members of Next-Gen (three if you use the four 
  included characters).
  ELITE GUARDS 
  PL 8
  See the Cast section. 
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +1
  Unarmed 
  +6 
  Close, Damage 10
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +6
  +6
  Immune
  +6
  +10
   
  WRAP-UP
  If the citadel guards defeat the heroes, they take the intruders to the 
  dungeon below the complex and report to Una. With part of Una’s plot 
  hinging on Seven battling her personally, she orders Shanmai to leave 
  the prisoners unguarded in hopes that they escape.
  If the heroes fail to escape on their own, the queen dispatches Xarqui, 
  a tempter demon (see the Deluxe Gamemaster’s Guide, page 147), to 
  disguise himself as a sympathetic servant and help the heroes escape. 
  Xarqui points the heroes to the secret servants’ corridors, allowing 
  them to reach the throne room without another confrontation with 
  the guards.
  The heroes don’t necessarily need to fight Shanmai and his guards; 
  they can simply flee. In this case, consider using the rules from The 
  Chase scene from Chapter 6 of the Deluxe Gamemaster’s Guide for 
  ideas to make a chase scene more exciting.
  Once the heroes reach the throne room, they find it dark and som-
  ber—completely empty.
  SCENE 6 
  ROLEPLAY SCENE
  THE SEAT OF POWER
  Once the heroes reach the throne room, read the following:
  Titanic pillars of black marble support this massive throne room 
  near the citadel’s summit, while black-flamed candles shed a 
  gloomy ambiance. Sparse decor in gold and red provides some 
  color, drawing your attention to a golden throne of bone and 
  twisted faces. A large mirror behind the throne reflects the room 
  and the dancing flames of the candles... but not any of you.
  Una’s throne room is currently abandoned. The heroes likely learned 
  that the Queen of the Netherworld retires to her sanctum within the 
  enchanted mirror—the Alloy Adytum—to prepare herself for inva-
  sions and other grand events. If they didn’t learn this in Tarabahva, 
  mystically aware characters like Seven can still sense the mirror’s pow-
  erful magic and discern its purpose with a successful DC 15 Expertise: 
  Magic check.
  Characters can enter the Alloy Adytum by simply stepping through 
  the mirror.
  The throne is gold and requires Strength 6 to lift or carry, but is un-
  wieldly, leaving even super-strong characters Vulnerable while carry-
  ing it. If the characters were being pursued by guards, they can use the 
  throne to barricade the doors to the throne room. This delays Shanmai 
  by 4 rounds, or just the elite guards by 8 rounds.
  131313
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  INSIDE THE ALLOY ADYTUM
  If the heroes step through the mirror, read or paraphrase the following:
  The world beyond the mirror looks—at first glance—to be the 
  same as the one you just left, swapped left-for-right. But the can-
  dles here shed a soothing golden light rather than a chill gloom, 
  and beyond the great columns of the throne room lie walls lined 
  with shelves. Ancient books, scrolls, and instruments of wood and 
  brass and crystal line the displays.
  At the chamber’s far end, where grand double-doors should 
  stand, instead lies a pillow-lined chapel. A raven-haired woman 
  in green robes—Una—sits among the pillows, her eyes shut in 
  deep meditation.
  The Adytum is a sacred sanctuary created by Una as a repository for 
  her greatest knowledge and treasures. Here she has peace from the 
  stresses of running an empire and safety from would-be spies and as-
  sassins. Her strongest spells and wards normally prevent all outsiders 
  from entering the mirror, but in preparation for her confrontation with 
  Seven she has removed these protections to allow anyone to enter... 
  and none to leave.
  The documents within are a wealth of spellbooks, histories of magical 
  beings, arcane secrets, biographies, and catalogues of magical dimen-
  sions. The heroes can explore these to learn any magical secrets you de-
  sire or justify developing new magical spells and powers using power 
  points they have earned. Likewise, you can plant any future plot devices 
  among the magic items here or allow players to spend accumulated 
  power points to gain a magical tool from Una’s treasury. Otherwise, the 
  enchantments that allow people stuck inside to escape (see Escaping 
  the Adytum) keep all the documents and treasures within the pocket 
  dimension, even if they are being carried by a creature that escapes.
  The Una at the far end of the hall is a simulacrum—a mindless puppet 
  made from clay and given the appearance of life via magic. It cannot 
  move or react, and if attacked it falls apart to reveal its true nature.
  There is no mirror on this side of the portal, and no doors or windows, 
  implying no way out. Una has her own vile means of escape (see Es-
  caping the Adytum), and can depart with a dimensional movement 
  spell if necessary, but she has specifically warded the Adytum against 
  such magic now to transform it into a snare, by which her enemies can 
  enter but not leave.
  Once the heroes attack the simulacrum or realize they are trapped, 
  they trigger an illusory threat left behind by Una. Read or paraphrase 
  the following:
  The clay simulacrum’s face twists and ripples, then its eyes 
  open with malicious glee. “So, the Master Mage skulks into my 
  bedchambers to slay me like a thief in the night. Truly the hero.” 
  Though the figure’s mouth moves, Una’s voice booms from every 
  corner of the room.
  “You’re too late. While you played in my garden, I strolled into Earth. 
  Without a Master Mage there, it was mine from the moment my feet 
  graced her soil. You failed. Everything Adrian spent his lifetime pro-
  tecting... you betrayed in... how many days?
  Oh, but you left such a thoughtfully prepared gift for me, how could 
  I not return the favor? My Adytum—my sacred place—only respects 
  courage and power.” The clay melts like snow, revealing a simple iron 
  dagger. “The only way to leave is through sacrifice. If you want to come 
  take your little world back, well... I fear not all of you can make the trip!”
  Award Seven a Hero Point for the ordeal Una has revealed at this point. 
  Remember that Una’s intention is to infuriate Seven and grind down 
  her humanity, not to kill or contain her.
  ESCAPING THE ADYTUM
  Una’s words are true: on the off chance she ever found herself stripped 
  of magic, she constructed a loophole into her pocket dimension, forc-
  ing it to eject everyone if someone dies within it. While she implies 
  this must be a human sacrifice, killing anything will accomplish this. 
  She normally brings small animals—mice, songbirds, or fish—into the 
  chamber with her to allow her exit.
  Players should devise their own means of escape, based on what little 
  information Una provided. Let tensions rise and allow the heroes (and 
  players) to discuss what they should do and potentially argue over 
  whose blood to spill, before ultimately finding a better solution. Good 
  roleplaying here may be a hero’s last chance to earn Hero Points be-
  fore finally confronting Una herself. 
  The following suggestions provide you with some guidelines:
  • 
  A hero might surmise that Una also needs to sacrifice something 
  to escape and spend a Hero Point to edit the scene and add a pet 
  (or less morally dubious, a plant) they can sacrifice to escape.
  • 
  While Una’s disposition equates “sacrifice” with “death,” that isn’t 
  necessarily true. A hero might sacrifice their pride by admitting 
  a shameful secret or personal insecurity or confessing to some 
  wrong they’ve done. To make this more of a bonding moment, 
  you might require every character to do this, having characters 
  who have already confessed float into the air and begin to fade 
  away, but getting “stuck” until everyone sacrifices something per-
  sonal. This option earns each participating hero a Hero Point.
  • 
  The heroes might decide to sacrifice something important to Una 
  by destroying her library and/or the collected treasures.
  • 
  The heroes might opt to build a ritual or plot device to punch 
  an exit out of the pocket dimension. In that case, turn this into a 
  challenge sequence requiring a variety of skills and impose some 
  consequences for each failed check—the Adytum might create 
  monsters to protect itself or shock the characters with a Damage 
  or Affliction effect (see the Traps section in Chapter 5 of the De-
  luxe Gamemaster’s Guide for ideas).
  • 
  A hero can sacrifice themselves as a last resort. You might rule 
  that the ambrosia the heroes might have earned in Scene 4 can 
  restore a recently dead character, if they haven’t already used it.
  WRAP-UP
  Escaping the Alloy Adytum returns the characters to Una’s throne 
  room (and possibly to any guards they left behind). Inside the prison, 
  they learned from Una herself that the dark queen has already made 
  her move to conquer Earth.
  Returning to Earth, like arriving in the Netherworld, is mostly a matter 
  of scene transition. Seven has to use Extra Effort on a Power Stunt to 
  transport the entire team back to Freedom City, or characters with the 
  141414
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  Ritualist or Inventor Advantages can take time to build a system to 
  return to Earth (or spend a Hero Point to quickly jury-rig a solution). 
  Movement 1 (Dimension [Earth]) only costs 2pp, or 4pp with the Portal 
  extra, taking about 20 hours for an invention or 17 hours for a ritual 
  (or half that if they take a -5 penalty to their skill checks). Una’s mirror 
  was designed for dimensional magic, and if any heroes think to incor-
  porate it into their ritual or invention, it cuts the time required in half.
  If the heroes allied with any local NPCs, you may also have them ar-
  rive and provide a deus ex machina to return them home. Save this 
  option, however, as heroes usually like to take a shot at solving their 
  own problems before turning to outside help.
  SCENE 7 
  CONFLICT SCENE
  MASTERS OF EARTH
  Once the heroes return to Earth, read or paraphrase the following:
  Your familiar city looks like it has collided with the Netherworld 
  you just left. A storm-cloud of orange and violet light churns 
  overhead. The sites seem distorted, stretched, or twisted—sharp-
  er than you ever remember seeing them. A low rumble, like dis-
  tant thunder, drowns out the normal sounds of urban life.
  “Oh, you’ve decided to join us, have you?” Una’s voice echoes 
  across the skyline. “You are here before Adrian. I suppose that 
  means he’s... late. Finally here for our duel, child?”
   Seven (or whoever is taking on the role of Master Mage) can feel Una’s 
  presence as an ache in her gut—the magic of the world churning as 
  two separate entities make the claim for Master Mage of Earth-Prime. 
  With this effect, the heroes can easily locate Una, but that benefit 
  works for Una too. 
  Una has perched herself and some of her forces atop the city’s tall-
  est skyscraper, Pyramid Plaza, but she doesn’t waste any time in ap-
  proaching Seven now that the young mage has returned. She is happy 
  to trade jibes and aggravate the young heroes as much as possible.
  THE PLAZA
  Una confronts Seven and her champions in the recessed plaza be-
  tween the three towers. A 20-foot-wide fountain fills the center of the 
  plaza, while planters, food stands, and coffee kiosks line the sides. A 
  monorail line runs 50 feet overhead.
  Despite the obvious state of emergency, intrepid Freedonians are still 
  commuting and the monorail overhead remains functional, with a 
  train running through every few minutes. The first time Una is Dazed 
  in combat or suffers another major setback, a monorail begins to ar-
  rive overhead, and the sorceress uses her turn to blast the overhead 
  track. If the train falls, it does line area damage 9 (in addition to injur-
  ing dozens of passengers).
  Award a Hero Point to any heroes that leap to save the monorail before 
  it crashes.
  TACTICS
  This final confrontation is fairly straightforward. At PL 15, Una is a dire 
  threat even for the entire assumed team of five heroes, and the adven-
  ture offers the heroes many opportunities to generate Hero Points for 
  this exact reason. The dark queen’s greatest weakness is in numbers; 
  the heroes can act five times as often as she can or combine their at-
  tacks to create more powerful effects. If your players get frustrated by 
  Una’s apparent power, encourage them to push their powers or com-
  bine their powers into team attacks.
  Una starts the fight strong, with a full-powered Elemental Blast to 
  demonstrate her power. She is comfortable splitting her dynamic 
  magic array into multiple effects—such as using weather control to 
  maintain a storm over the plaza (Environment 2) and unleash lesser 
  Elemental Blasts (Ranged Damage 10), or splitting her blast into two 
  Damage 8 attacks against two separate targets.
  151515
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  Una begins the confrontation alone, but after failing her first Toughness 
  save she scoffs, insisting that if Seven has brought champions to the 
  fight, then she will bring out her own champions. At this point, she calls 
  down two dragons waiting on the tower roof, hoping they’ll distract 
  Seven’s “minions” and force the Master Mage to confront her personally.
  Remember that Una’s ultimate goal is to have Seven “destroy” her, 
  sacrificing her mortal body to merge with Earth-Prime’s magic. While 
  she is too proud to completely take a dive, she’ll pull her punches, use 
  sub-optimal tactics, and take turns to gloat or demonstrate her power 
  rather than fight if she’s doing too well. If she kills Seven, then her as-
  cension to godhood could be delayed by months or years.
  For Una’s purposes, any result of “Incapacitated” from a failed Tough-
  ness save or resistance check against an Affliction is enough to accom-
  plish her needs, but only as part of an attack from Seven (or a team 
  attack in which she participates).
  If the combat seems to run on long enough that it grows dull, have 
  Una turn her magic against bystanders instead, threatening to wound 
  or kill innocents, but leaving herself vulnerable to an attack.
  ROLEPLAYING UNA
  Una is an ancient and powerful sorceress on the verge of godhood, if 
  only she can push an insecure child over the edge. Una needs Seven to 
  lash out at her with magic, and is happy to gloat, threaten innocents, 
  and poke at insecurities to get the reaction she wants. She considers 
  the new Master Mage of Earth a “feeble infant” and makes it clear she 
  doesn’t consider the young woman a threat. While she’s generally im-
  mune to childish barbs and name-calling, she will show genuine rage 
  if the heroes reveal (or claim) they destroyed her library in the Alloy 
  Adytum or coaxed one of her lieutenants to defect.
  WRAP-UP
  Once Una is defeated, her body disintegrates, leaving nothing but 
  gray dust. Read or paraphrase the following:
  The world shudders as Una dissolves into gray dust and the 
  strange mutations her presence caused leech away, leaving only 
  a pleasant early evening.
  After a few moments’ rest, the air parts and a door between worlds 
  opens. Beyond it, you can see the twisted landscape of the Nether-
  world. The hulking demon from Una’s palace emerges. Then bows. 
  “My queen is dead,” he intones with reverence. “By magic law, all that 
  was hers is yours now. The worlds she took. The legacies she left. With-
  out the will of a Dark Lord, our Netherworld and hundreds like it she 
  has claimed will crumble into dust as she has.”
  The demon opens his massive fist to reveal a silver diadem. “Our 
  world needs a queen.”
  The demon emissary is Shanmai, chief of Una’s palace guard (see 
  Scene 5). If the heroes somehow destroyed Shanmai earlier, replace 
  him with another official or powerful being. The message is the same 
  regardless of who delivers it: The netherworlds are too damaged by 
  their Dark Lords’ corruption to survive without a powerful, magical will 
  holding them together. With Una’s defeat, her destroyer inherits that 
  IS THAT REALLY HOW IT ENDS?
  IS THAT REALLY HOW IT ENDS?
  Master of Earth is an adventure to showcase events that are already assumed to have happened in Earth-Prime’s recent history and create 
  the status quo as it exists in books like the Atlas of Earth-Prime and Freedom City. In these books, Una’s defeat and Seven inheriting the 
  Netherworld are assumed to have happened, and so the adventure directs characters and events toward that climax. But playing an adven-
  ture with a pre-determined outcome isn’t always a lot of fun, so don’t feel like you need to force your players to act  out this script.
  If you’re running Master of Earth as a standalone adventure, then you can let it have whatever resolution you like. Rather than part of 
  a scheme to merge with Earth’s magical energies, Una’s invasion may be a genuine attempt to add the world to her empire, and the 
  heroes can defeat her however they like. If you do intend to play through the rest of the NetherWar adventure series, the resolution 
  as-written sets up the events later adventures use to explain the growing arcane threat to Earth-Prime, but you can adapt those later 
  adventures to reflect the players’ actions in this adventure. If they instead imprison Una, you can decide that her lingering presence 
  is quietly tainting Earth’s magic, or that she manipulates Toy Boy and other magical villains via her Astral Projection rather than as a 
  disembodied intellect. If the heroes don’t defeat Una, then you can instead decide she falls back to begin a more subtle effort to use 
  Earth’s magic to complete her ascension.
  Don’t feel constrained by the stories just because the books decide this encounter ends one specific way. Your home campaign can and 
  should diverge whenever it makes the players feel more invested in the world, gives everyone a sense of agency, or adds to the fun.
  UNA, QUEEN OF THE NETHERWORLD 
  PL 15
  See the Cast section. 
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +1
  Elemental Blast 
  +10 
  Ranged, Damage 15
  Elemental Control 
  — 
  Perception, Move Object 15
  Iron Hand of Una 
  +10 
  Ranged, Affliction 10
  Mental Blast 
  — 
  Perception, Damage 9
  Unarmed 
  +6 
  Close, Damage 2
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +11
  +9
  +10
  +19
  +19/5*
  *without Mystic Shield 
  DRAGONS (2) 
  PL 9
  See the Cast section. 
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +0
  Bite and Claws 
  +6 
  Close, Damage 12
  Fiery Breath  
  +6 
  Ranged, Damage 12
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +3
  +3
  +12
  +6
  +15
   
  161616
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  magical legacy, but unless Seven is physically present in the Nether-
  world, its reality will begin to unravel.
  There is a silver lining, however: Netherworlds reflect their Dark Lords’ 
  will, and so a good soul ruling over one can slowly purge the evil from 
  the realm and return it to normal... provided the world and its dark 
  magic don’t corrupt her first.
  While Seven can reject this burden, it dooms billions of people to 
  death. Accepting it, however, leaves Earth once again without a Mas-
  ter Mage to protect it... but surely, with Una defeated, Earth will be safe 
  from mystical threats.
  EPILOGUE
  Seven has some time to say good-bye before she must depart for 
  the Netherworld, but ultimately—history records, at least—she must 
  leave, giving up her title of Master Mage and leaving Earth-Prime with-
  out a dedicated magical defender. If your group created custom char-
  acters for this adventure, she may pass the title on to a magic-themed 
  teen hero who assisted her in this adventure. Otherwise the title be-
  comes vacant, and players will have a chance to inherit it at the end of 
  the NetherWar adventure series.
  REWARDS
  Characters who participate in this adventure should gain 2 power 
  points for completing the adventure, and one additional power point 
  if they went out of their way to act heroically. If you are only using the 
  included character sheets, you might consider granting these power 
  points to your players’ normal characters instead. Seven herself inher-
  its a great deal of magical power as part of acquiring the title of Dark 
  Lord (see Freedom City, Third Edition).
  The heroes have managed to stop a dire threat to the world and do-
  ing so comes with rewards and notoriety. Teen heroes might be able 
  to spin that into television appearances, or at least some extra credit. 
  If nothing else, their sudden disappearance from Mr. Skyler’s math 
  class is excused.
  CONTINUING THE ADVENTURE
  There are several ways to potentially extend this adventure into a lon-
  ger adventure or story arc:
  • 
  The easiest way to expand on Master of Earth is to extend the 
  heroes’ stay in the Netherworld and make reaching Una’s citadel 
  more of an ordeal. They may have to cross dark forests and sin-
  ister swamps, all crawling with monsters, but also deal with the 
  warped inhabitants of the Netherworld, many of whom are loy-
  al to Una and eager to capture outsiders and suspected rebels. 
  The magical nature of the Netherworld means you can borrow 
  tropes and plots from your favorite fantasy adventure games that 
  would normally be inappropriate for a superhero game. They 
  may instead need to spend more time in Una’s unnamed capitol, 
  learning about her citadel and how to gain access to it. Finally, the 
  citadel itself is enormous, but mostly glossed over. There’s plen-
  ty of room for more encounters with guards, prisoners, servants, 
  monsters, and traps within the sprawling complex as the young 
  heroes try to find their way.
  • 
  The heroes’ adventure with Seven—now Lady Seven—means 
  they have a powerful magical ally they can turn to for advice or 
  insight. Seven may provide additional assistance in the future or 
  opportunity for future adventures in the many chaotic magical 
  realms now under her control.
  • 
  The NetherWar adventure series specifically continues the events 
  of this adventure, showing Una’s efforts to use Earth’s magical en-
  ergy to ascend to godhood.
  ROLE-CALL
  The following are the major characters encountered in Master of Earth, 
  including their backgrounds and the relevant game stats.
  FOMORIANS
  Exiled monsters of Celtic folklore, the Fomorians resent the domin-
  ion of humans on Earth and plot to someday invade and seize con-
  trol of the world. More information on Fomorians can be found in the 
  Sub-Terra section of the Atlas of Earth Prime.
  BRES THE BEAUTIFUL
  Born an unusually handsome Fomorian, apparently devoid of their ra-
  cial mutations, Bres is a shapeshifter and a mystic of some skill who led 
  his people to war with the ancient tribes of Ireland. More information 
  on Bres can be found on page 19 of Rogue’s Gallery, but this version 
  of him does not include the powers granted by his Eye of Balor.
  FOMORIAN WARRIORS
  Fomorians possess a wide variety of physical mutations, but for this as-
  sault, Bres selected only his largest and most intimidating warriors—
  giants standing ten to twelve feet tall. They are nearly indestructible, 
  but also weak-willed and easily manipulated.
  FOMORIAN WARRIORS 
  PL 7
  STR 7
  STA 7
  AGL 0
  DEX 0
  FGT 3
  INT 0
  AWE 4
  PRE 0
  Powers: Growth 4 (Innate; Permanent)
  Equipment: Chain-mail (Protection 3), Club (Damage 2), Knife (Damage 1)
  Advantages: Close Attack 2, Equipment 2
  Skills: Expertise: Survival 4 (+4), Insight 2 (+2), Intimidation 4 (+6), 
  Perception 4 (+4), Ranged Combat: Throw 4 (+4)
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +0
  Club 
  +5 
  Close, Damage 9
  Knife 
  +5 
  Close/Ranged, Damage 9
  Unarmed 
  +5 
  Close, Damage 7
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +3
  +3
  +7
  +3
  +10/7*
   
  *without Armor
  Totals: Abilities 18 + Powers 9 + Advantages 4 + Skills 9 (18 ranks) + 
  Defenses 10 = 50
  KADA’VRUS AND HER FORCES
  The necromancer and her undead forces act as Una’s enforcers, con-
  scripting resources for her invasion.
  171717
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  KADA’VRUS
  Kadamethe Vrusik was born on Naroth, a mystical Netherworld con-
  quered by Una a generation before her birth. A land of perpetual, fog-
  gy night where the borders between life and death are thin, many of 
  the dimension’s residents can see and hear spirits. Kada was born with 
  this gift and her wealthy family paid mystical tutors to teach her the 
  art of necromancy, and Una soon found a use for such a sorceress in 
  her magical armies.
  Kada’vrus is a mean-spirited rich girl, but only now that she serves Una 
  does she realize how tenuous her life is. The Queen of the Netherworld 
  has no patience for failure, and little regard for spellcasters from the 
  dimensions she has conquered. Her experience of not being the most 
  important person in the room is beginning to fan the flames of empa-
  thy, making her worry even more about her tenuous position within 
  Una’s military.
  KADA’VRUS 
  PL 10
  STR 0
  STA 0
  AGL 1
  DEX 3
  FGT 4
  INT 3
  AWE 6
  PRE 4
  Powers: Spirit Sight Comprehend 2 (Spirits), Senses 4 (Vision Counters 
  Concealment, Ranged Detect Spirits), Levitation Flight 4 (30 MPH), Mystic 
  Shield Sustained Toughness 12
  Necromancy (Array, 24 points) 
  • Aging Ranged Cumulative Affliction 8 (Resisted and Overcome by 
  Fortitude; Fatigued, Exhausted, Transformed [into an elderly version])
  • Death Grip Ranged Progressive Affliction 6 (Resisted and Overcome by 
  Fortitude; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated)
  • Ghostly Grasp Perception Move Object 6 (3,200 lbs.; Damaging)
  • Graveturning Burrowing 12 (Alternate; Speed: 250 miles/hour, 0.5 
  miles/round; Penetrating) 
  • Invisibility Concealment 4 (All Visual Senses)
  • Necrotic Blast Ranged Damage 11 (Affects Insubstantial)
  Equipment: Staff (Strength-Based Damage 2)
  Advantages: Artificer, Equipment 1, Ranged Attack 5, Ritualist, Set-up, 
  Startle, Trance
  Skills: Expertise: Magic 7 (+10), Expertise: Religion 7 (+10), Insight 6 (+12), 
  Intimidation 6 (+10), Perception 4 (+10), Sleight of Hand 4 (+7)
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +1
  Aging 
  +8 
  Ranged, Affliction 8
  Death Grip 
  +8 
  Ranged, Affliction 6
  Ghostly Grasp 
  — 
  Perception, Move Object 6
  Necrotic Blast 
  +8 
  Ranged, Damage 11
  Staff 
  +4 
  Close, Damage 2
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +8
  +7
  +6
  +13
  +12/0*
   
  *without Mystic Shield
  Totals: Abilities 42 + Powers 57 + Advantages 11 + Skills 17 (34 ranks) + 
  Defenses 23 = 150
  Complications: Duress: Kada’Vrus is an unwilling solder, but fears Una 
  more than she fears any heroes. Power Loss: Kada’Vrus can only cast spells 
  by using a bone or other human remains, such as her staff.
  CAYRNE AND SLYMME
  Cayrne and Slymme were two childhood friends of Kada’vrus who 
  were felled in Naroth’s latest outbreak of the Gray Plague, and the 
  young sorceress preserved her friends as best she could by infus-
  ing them with necromantic energy from different sources—Cayrne 
  from talismans and monuments and Slymme from ectoplasm. The 
  process restored their bodies and memories but left them devoid 
  of emotions and utterly loyal to Kada’vrus—her pets more than her 
  friends nowadays.
  Cayrne’s rocky flesh repairs itself constantly, drawing new stone from 
  the ground to heal almost any damage. Slymme’s body is infused with 
  ectoplasm, allowing her to dissolve into a gaseous, white form while 
  still retaining her incredible strength, though the fluid that binds her 
  undead body together is vulnerable to dilution.
  CAYRNE AND SLYMME 
  PL 10
  STR 10
  STA —
  AGL 3
  DEX 3
  FGT 9
  INT 5
  AWE 1
  PRE 0
  Powers: Undead Hulk Protection 11 (Impervious 6), Immunity 30 
  (Fortitude Effects)
  • Cayrne: Regeneration 10
  • Slymme: Insubstantial 2 (Strength Affects Corporeal)
  Advantages: All-out Attack, Close Attack, Great Endurance, Ranged Attack 
  5, Takedown
  Skills: Insight 4 (+5), Perception 6 (+7), Persuasion 4 (+4), Vehicles 2 (+5)
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +3
  Unarmed 
  +10 
  Close, Damage 10
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +9
  +9
  Immune
  9
  +11
   
  Totals: Abilities 52 + Powers 47+ Advantages 9 + Skills 8 (16 ranks) + 
  Defenses 14 = 130
  Complications: Detachment: Can’t benefit from any positive effects 
  based on emotions or encouragement. Power Loss (Cayrne only): 
  Cayrne losses her regeneration when not in contact with the ground. 
  Vulnerable (Slymme only): Slymme takes damage from ordinary water, 
  even when insubstantial; damage rank ranges from 4-10, depending on 
  how much water is used.
  SKELETAL SOLDIERS
  Kada’vrus’ preferred minions are powerful soldiers made from animat-
  ed bone. Most are made from multiple skeletons, and the bones have 
  been carved with wards to render the soldiers resistant to magic.
  SKELETAL SOLDIERS 
  PL 4
  STR 2
  STA —
  AGL 1
  DEX 0
  FGT 1
  INT —
  AWE –1
  PRE —
  Powers: Undead Immunity 45 (Fortitude Effects, Cold Damage, Half 
  Damage from Slashing and Piercing Damage), Wards Immunity 10 (Magic; 
  Limited to Half Effect)
  Equipment: Spear
  Advantages: Close Attack 2, Equipment 1, Improved Initiative
  Skills: Perception 6 (+5)
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +5
  Spear 
  +3 
  Close, Damage 5
  Unarmed 
  +3 
  Close, Damage 2
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +3
  +4
  Immune
  Immune
  +4
   
  Totals: Abilities -24 + Powers 50 + Advantages 4 + Skills 3 (6 ranks) + 
  Defenses 9 = 42
  181818
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  THE CITADEL GUARDS
  Una has some human guards but relies heavily on ensorcelled demons 
  recruited from other netherworlds and hells she has conquered.
  SHANMAI
  Shanmai is a yaomo, a demon from a netherworld reminiscent of  Diyu, 
  a hell-like afterlife from Taoism and Chinese mysticism. Like many oth-
  er yaomo, Shanmai’s purpose is to break the souls of the dead to purify 
  them before reincarnation, and he ruled the Hell of Shattering Upon 
  Rocks until Una arrived. Shanmai respects the chain of command, and 
  while he misses breaking sinners, he finds pride in breaking and re-
  forming trespassers (or lazy servants) into loyal guards. In addition to 
  his strength and durability, he possesses a unique ability to transform 
  incapacitated creatures into demon servants. This is a plot device but 
  acts as a Cumulative Affliction 5 (resisted by Will; Transformed; Limited 
  to Third Degree). He can only perform this power in his forge.
  Shanmai has a mystical aversion to yellow. He cannot cross a yellow 
  line and he saves against yellow weapons with only half his normal 
  Toughness bonus. He deliberately avoids opponents dressed in yellow 
  (such as NGM). Una has used this knowledge to imprison him in the 
  past, and some palace servants trade it as gossip. If the heroes help 
  a servant, they may show their gratitude by revealing this weakness.
  Use the Brute villain archetype from the Deluxe Gamemaster’s Guide, page 
  82. Shanmai also has Immunity 10 (Magic Effects; Limited to Half Effect).
  SHANMAI 
  PL 13
  STR 18
  STA 17
  AGL 1
  DEX 0
  FGT 4
  INT –2
  AWE 0
  PRE –1
  Powers: Big Growth 4 (Innate; Permanent), Strength Tricks Strength 
  Damage Array (18 points): Shockwave Burst Area Affliction 9 (Resisted 
  and Overcome by Fortitude: Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated), Thunderclap 
  Close Burst Area Dazzle 9 (Resisted and Overcome by Fortitude; Impaired, 
  Disabled, Unaware, Limited: Auditory), Strong Leaping 12 (4 miles), 
  Enhanced Strength 4 (Limited to Lifting), Tough Impervious Toughness 
  12, Immunity 12 (Cold Damage, Disease, Heat Damage, Poison), Magic 
  Resistance Immunity 10 (Magic Effects; Limited to Half Effect)
  Advantages: Close Attack 2, Great Endurance, Improved Hold
  Skills: Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+6), Intimidation 12 (+13), Perception 2 
  (+2), Ranged Combat: Throwing 8 (+8)
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +1
  Shockwave 
  — 
  Close Burst, Affliction 9
  Thunderclap 
  — 
  Close Burst, Dazzle 9
  Unarmed 
  +8 
  Close, Damage 18
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +8
  +8
  +17
  +9
  +17
   
  Totals: Abilities 58 + Powers 51 + Advantages 4 + Skills 12 (24 ranks) + 
  Defenses 24 = 149
  ELITE GUARDS
  Shanmai creates most of Una’s elite palace guards personally, reforg-
  ing the souls and bodies of trespassers, traitors, and disrespectful staff 
  into hulking demonic soldiers in his forge below the citadel.
  Use the Brute Demon minion archetype from the Deluxe Gamemas-
  ter’s Guide, page 147.
  ELITE GUARDS 
  PL 8
  STR 8
  STA 8
  AGL 7
  DEX 3
  FGT 8
  INT 0
  AWE 4
  PRE 2
  Powers: Immunity 32 (Critical Hits, Fortitude Effects), Leaping 2 (30 feet), 
  Protection 5 (Impervious) 
  Advantages: Diehard, Improved Grab, Power Attack
  Skills: Intimidation 8 (+7)
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +1
  Unarmed 
  +6 
  Close, Damage 10
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +6
  +6
  Immune
  +6
  +10
   
  Totals: Abilities 36 + Powers 44 + Advantages 3 + Skills 4 (8 ranks) + 
  Defenses 13 = 100
  UNA THE UNRELENTING
  Una began her life many centuries ago as a peasant girl, and then con-
  cubine to a powerful wizard-king. Clever and ambitious, and quickly 
  schooled in the cruelties of palace intrigue, she studied her master’s 
  tomes and mastered magic herself in secret. She used her arcane skills 
  to first master her king’s courts, then his heart. His sudden death on 
  their wedding night left Una alone to rule. In time, she won the title of 
  Master Mage for her realm, and her ambition and brutality twisted this 
  power until she became a Dark Lord. Her will had won her a kingdom, 
  and then it reshaped all her reality to suit her whims.
  Unfettered by the constraints of the cosmos, Una has spread her con-
  trol across hundreds of worlds, expanding her magical knowledge 
  and armies through intrigue, trickery, and bloody violence. Her first 
  encounter with Earth brought her face-to-face with a relatively pow-
  erless Master Mage, Adrian Eldritch, and what should have been an-
  other world easily added to her collection instead turned into humil-
  iation when Eldritch tricked her into withdrawing from their duel. In 
  the years since, Una grew increasingly obsessed with the paltry little 
  dimension that escaped her grasp.
  Now that she stands on the cusp of ascension, Una has resolved that 
  Earth and only Earth must serve as the lynchpin in her ritual.
  UNA’S DRAGONS
  The dragons accompanying Una are feral beasts tamed by her magic. 
  They are aggressive and powerful pets, but not especially clever.
  DRAGON 
  PL 9
  STR 12
  STA 12
  AGL 0
  DEX 0
  FGT 6
  INT –2
  AWE 1
  PRE –1
  Powers: Ranged Damage 12 (Fiery Breath), Flight 6 (120 MPH), Growth 12 
  (Innate; Permanent), Protection 3 
  Skills: Perception 4 (+5), Ranged Combat: Fiery Breath: Damage 12 (+6)
  COMBAT 
  INITIATIVE +0
  Bite and Claws 
  +6 
  Close, Damage 12
  Fiery Breath 
  +6 
  Ranged, Damage 12
  DODGE
  PARRY
  FORTITUDE
  WILL
  TOUGHNESS
  +3
  +3
  +12
  +6
  +15
   
  191919
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  Dazed?
  One standard action each round
  Staggered?
  One standard action, –1 movement
  Incapacitated?
  Defenseless, Stunned, Unaware
  Damage
  NOTES
  UNA THE UNRELENTING 
  PL15
  UNA THE UNRELENTING 
  PL15
  STR
  STA
  AGL
  DEX
  FGT
  INT
  AWE
  PRE
  2
  5
  1
  3
  6
  3
  11
  6
  POWERS
  Air-Walking Flight 3 (16 MPH) • 6 points
  Astral Form Remote Sensing 15 (Sight, Hearing, and Touch; 120 miles; 
  Dimensional 2 [mystic dimensions], Subtle; Limited [physical body is 
  defenseless]) • 48 points
  Dark Lord Comprehend 3 (Read, Speak, and Understand Languages), 
  Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support) • 17 points
  Mystic Shield Sustained Protection 14 (Impervious) • 28 points
  Witch Sense Senses 3 (Acute Analytical Magic Awareness) • 3 points
  Elemental Magic: Dynamic Array (36 points)
  • Iron Hand of Una Ranged Cumulative Affliction 12 (Resisted by Dodge, 
  Overcome by Damage; Hindered and Vulnerable, Defenseless and 
  Immobilized; Limited Degree) • 36 points
  • Elemental Blast Ranged Damage 15 (Affects Insubstantial 2, Split, 
  Variable Descriptor 2 [elemental effects]) • 2 points
  • Elemental Control Perception Move Object 15 (Limited to Air, Earth, 
  and Water) • 2 points
  • Mental Blast Perception Damage 9 (Alternate Defense: Will) • 2 points
  • Shadow Control Shapeable Area Concealment Attack 4 (All Visual 
  Senses) • 2 points
  • Stepping Disk Teleport 12 (16; Extended [4,000 miles]) • 2 points
  • Stepping Gate Teleport 9 (Extended Only [500 miles], Portal) • 2 points
  • Weather Control Environment 6 (Extreme Cold, Impede Movement 2, 
  Visibility [-5]; 900 feet) • 2 points
  SKILLS
  Deception 4 (+10), Expertise: Magic 18 (+21), Insight 4 (+15), Intimidation 8 
  (+14), Persuasion 8 (+14), Sleight of Hand 8 (+11)
  ADVANTAGES
  Benefit 5 (Queen of the Netherworld), Connected, Contacts, Defensive 
  Attack, Ranged Attack 7, Ritualist, Trance, Well-informed
  OFFENSE
  INITIATIVE +1
  Elemental Blast +10
  Ranged, Damage 15, Affects Insubstantial 2
  Elemental Control  —
  Perception, Move Object 15
  Iron Hand of Una +10
  Ranged, Cumulative Affliction 10
  Mental Blast —
  Perception Damage 9 (Will)
  Unarmed +6
  Close, Damage 2
  DEFENSE
  DODGE
  11
  FORTITUDE
  10
  PARRY
  9
  TOUGHNESS
  19/5*
  WILL
  19
  *without Mystic Shield
  POWER POINTS
  ABILITIES
  74
  SKILLS 
  25
  POWERS
  152
  DEFENSES
  26
  ADVANTAGES
  18
  TOTAL
  295
  COMPLICATIONS
  Ego: Una’s will is all that matters, and any amount of disrespect is enough 
  for a “lesser being” to earn a lifetime of pain.
  Mystic Pacts: As a powerful magical being, Una is bound by the cosmos to 
  honor her promises and bargains.
  Motivation—Power: Una doesn’t merely want power. She wants to be 
  power!
  202020
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  SEVEN
  Real Name: Serena Vervain
  Occupation: Superhero, Master Mage
  Base: Freedom Hall, Freedom City 
  Serena Vervain grew up in the West End of Freedom City, raised by 
  her grandmother Lillian after her parents died in an accident. Her 
  Nana taught Serena about herbs and folk remedies, read her stories 
  and faerie tales, and told her about the little people and the spirits, 
  both good and bad. Serena learned not to talk to other children about 
  these things; they were part of the secret world she shared only with 
  her Nana.
  When Serena turned thirteen, she learned the truth. She came from a 
  bloodline of witches that stretched back to the founding days of Free-
  dom City. The gift often skipped generations, as it did with her mother, 
  but Serena showed signs of being the most gifted witch in her family’s 
  history and the seventh to wield a witch’s true power. As Serena’s gifts 
  awakened, she learned her family had enemies, some of them ancient, 
  and she would need protection from them.
  Her grandmother enrolled Serena at the Claremont Academy, where 
  she could hone her gifts and benefit from both its protection and its 
  education. There she took the codename “Seven,” as seven is a magical 
  number and she was the seventh fully realized witch of her bloodline. 
  Serena proved an exemplary student, and soon began learning from 
  Adrian Eldrich as his personal apprentice and heir apparent.
  With Eldrich now dead, Seven has risen to become Earth’s new Master 
  Mage, a heavy title with more responsibility than she feel prepared for
  PERSONALITY
  Serena is a vivacious young woman with a love of life. 
  She’s friendly and cares about others, doing her best to 
  make them feel comfortable. In many ways, she’s the spiritu-
  al heart of Freedom City’s supernatural community, helping settle 
  fights and getting everyone to cooperate. While retired from her old 
  team, the Claremont Academy’s prestigious Next-Gen, she has earned 
  her new place on the Freedom League.
  While she was once the model of balance between her lives as a 
  normal teenage girl and a superhero, her new responsibilities have 
  opened her eyes to the vast array of supernatural problems threaten-
  ing Freedom City and the Earth and she has begun to worry she isn’t 
  ready yet to take on such a heavy burden. She tries to remain positive, 
  keeping her doubts to herself.
  POWERS & ABILITIES
   Seven is able to cast various spells. Her primary power is control over 
  the elements (air, earth, fire, and water), which she can shape and move 
  with her mind. These same abilities allow her to ride the winds to fly or 
  create wards of elemental force to block incoming attacks against herself 
  and others. Before his death, Eldrich also began tutoring Seven in more 
  formal magic, granting her spells to teleport, shatter magical effects, or 
  bind both mortals and spirits in magical chains. She is also sensitive to 
  mystical forces, and can sense when they are nearby. 
  Without her magic, Seven remains a clever and resourceful woman with 
  a deep and thorough knowledge of the supernatural and a natural gift 
  for misdirection and disguise.
  Note: Seven is created with 160pp rather than the 180pp  normally allot-
  ed to PL 12 heroes. This reflects her relative inexperience and keeps her 
  non-combat abilities closer to those of Next-Gen.
  212121
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  Defenses
  Combat
  STR
  STA
  AGL
  DEX
  FGT
  INT
  AWE
  PRE
  0
  3
  1
  1
  5
  3
  4
  3
  Close Damage
  Toughness 
  Defense, 
  Fortitude 
  Defense
  Dodge 
  Defense, 
  Initiative Bonus
  Ranged Attack 
  Checks
  Close Attack 
  Checks,  
  Parry Defense
  Intelligence 
  Checks
  Will 
  Defense
  Presence 
  Checks
  Seven 
  PL 12
  Seven 
  PL 12
  REAL NAME 
  AGE 
  HAIR
  OCCUPATION 
  PLACE OF ORIGIN
  Attack 
  Bonus 
  Targets 
  Effect 
  Save
  Bindings of Bal’Hemoth +11 
  Dodge 
  Ranged Affliction 12 
  DC 22
  Elemental Mastery  
  +11 
  Dodge 
  Ranged Move Object 12 
  DC 27
  Magic of the Modrossus +11 
  Dodge 
  Ranged Damage 12 
  DC 27
  Unarmed 
  +5 
  Parry 
  Close Damage 0 
  DC 15
  Initiative
  +10
  Toughness
  12
  3 w/o Shining Shield of Sirrion
  Dodge
  10
  Parry
  9
  Fortitide
  7
  Will
  9
  Abilities 40 + Powers 65 + Advantages 11 + Skills 22 (43 ranks) + Defenses 22 = 160 TOTAL
  Serena Vervain 
  19 
  Black
  Superhero 
  Freedom City
  Damage: 
  Dazed? 
  Staggered? 
  Incapacitated?
  Skills
  Skill 
  Ranks 
  Bonus
  Athletics 
  2 
  +2
  Deception 
  6 
  +9
  Expertise (History) 
  4 
  +7
  Expertise (Magic) 
  7 
  +10
  Insight 
  5 
  +9
  Perception 
  5 
  +9
  Ranged Combat (Magic) 
  10 
  +11
  Stealth 
  4 
  +5
  Advantages
  Advantage 
  Details
  Benefit 4 
  Status (Master Mage of Earth)
  Inspire 2 
  Spend a Hero Point to grant all allies a +2 bonus
  Languages 
  Speaks Altantean, English (native), Latin, Sanskrit, and Spanish
  Ritualist 
  Use Expertise (Magic) skill to create single-use spells
  Trance 
  Feign death and slow bodily functions
  Complications
  Motivation—Responsibility: Seven has both 
  a family legacy to uphold as well as that of 
  Master Mage. She feels responsible for the 
  mystic happenings around the world.
  Insecurity: Seven is overwhelmed by her new 
  responsibilities and questioning her readiness 
  for the role. She suffers a –5 circumstance 
  penalty on Insight and Will checks to resist 
  taunts, intimidation, and other effects that use 
  this fear.
  Power Loss: Seven can’t fly or cast spells if she 
  can’t speak or move her arms.
  Powers
  Defensive Magic • Array (22 points) • 24 points 
  Mystic
  • Elemental Deflection: Deflect 11 (Reflect) • 22 points
  • Fourth Wheel of Weyan: Burst Area Deflect 11 • 1 point
  • Shining Shield of Sirrion: Sustained Protection 11 (Impervious) • 1 point
  Magic • Array (31 points) • 25 points 
  Mystic
  • Abjuration of Abbridon: Nullify Magic 12 (Broad, Precise) • 25 points
  • Baleful Bindings of Bal’Hemoth: Ranged Affliction 11 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Damage; 
  Hindered and Vulnerable, Defenseless and Immobile; Affects Insubstantial, Extra Condition, Limited 
  Degree) • 1 point
  • Crooked Path of Kar’Kradas: Teleport 11 (16 miles; Accurate; Medium [shadows]) • 1 point
  • Elemental Mastery of Ghorummaz: Perception Move Object 12 (100 tons; Limited to Air, Earth, 
  and Water) • 1 point
  • Magic of the Modrossus: Ranged Damage 12 (Affects Insubstantial) • 1 point
  • Second Wheel of Weyan: Remote Sensing 20 (Audio and Visual, 4,000 miles; Feedback, Medium 
  [reflective surfaces]) • 1 point
  • Shining Suns of Sirrion: Ranged Affliction 12 (Resisted and Overcome by Will; Vision Impaired, 
  Vision Disabled, Vision Unaware; Limited to Vision) • 1 point
  Mystic Sense • Personal • Permanent • 2 points 
  Mystic
  Senses 2 (Extended Magical Awareness)
  Whirling Winds of Weyan • Personal • Sustained • 8 points 
  Mystic
  Flight 4 (30 MPH)
  222222
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  BLUE BOLT
  Real Name: Jae Murphy
  Occupation: Student
  Base: Claremont Academy, Freedom City 
  Jae Murphy grew up in Irvine, California, the son of a Korean former 
  model and sometimes actress and a very successful American event 
  planner. There were only two things unusual about Jae’s life: one, that 
  he was a jinx when it came to computers, phones, and anything elec-
  tronic, and, two, that his mother insisted he was the son of an alien she 
  met at a concert on New Year’s Eve in 2000. Jae didn’t believe her, of 
  course, but she only told him about it and insisted he not mention it 
  to anyone. She also told him to tell her if he ever felt strange or expe-
  rienced anything unusual.
  On a trip to Los Angeles, Jae was witness to a fight between the Em-
  erald City hero known as Xeno and black-clad agents working for 
  Majestic-20. During the fight, Xeno phased through a wall and the 
  men in black started scanning the surrounding area. When their scan-
  ner passed over Jae, they stopped and yelled, “Alien! She must have 
  shapeshifted! Get her!” And with that they came at Jae, sending the 
  crowd scattering. Jae, for his part, freaked out. There was a flash of 
  light just as the men in black raised their guns, and Jae found himself 
  standing on top of a nearby parking lot, a scorch mark at his feet. Feel-
  ing exhausted, he dropped to the ground, and when he looked back 
  up a couple minutes later, Xeno was floating nearby. She asked where 
  he was from. When Jae replied "Irvine", Xeno laughed and told him 
  Majestic-20’s sensors detected aliens, so there was apparently more 
  to him than he knew. 
  Xeno got Jae in touch with Duncan Summers, who flew the boy to 
  the Claremont Academy for testing. With a little coaching, he was able 
  to manifest a wide array of electrical powers with a surprising degree 
  of natural control. After that, he was admitted to the school with his 
  parents’ permission and has been at the school since.
  PERSONALITY
  In both his heroic and secret identities, Blue Bolt acts first and thinks 
  later. He likes to have fun and hasn’t quite realized that the things 
  he gets involved in might actually be seriously dangerous. He 
  doesn’t think of himself as irresponsible—even though everyone 
  tells him he is—but rather that he’s fun-loving and spontaneous. 
  Perhaps because of his powers, Blue Bolt is very fidgety.
  POWERS & ABILITIES
  Due to his alien heritage, Blue Bolt can generate massive amounts of 
  electrical energy and harness it for a number of different effects. He can 
  produce enough energy to fire off blasts of lightning, bright flashes of 
  light, and a field of energy capable of shorting out electronics, but he’s 
  also capable of more delicate feats, which allow him to power any device 
  requiring a power source and move small objects around by controlling 
  static electricity. Blue Bolt can perceive the presence of electricity cours-
  ing through power lines and circuits. The excess energy in his body in-
  terferes with mental powers directed at him, something he’s unaware 
  of at this point. Perhaps his most impressive ability is that he can turn 
  himself into electricity for brief moments and arc from one place to an-
  other nearly instantly.
  232323
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  Defenses
  Combat
  STR
  STA
  AGL
  DEX
  FGT
  INT
  AWE
  PRE
  1
  4
  2
  4
  2
  3
  2
  1
  Close Damage
  Toughness 
  Defense, 
  Fortitude 
  Defense
  Dodge 
  Defense, 
  Initiative Bonus
  Ranged Attack 
  Checks
  Close Attack 
  Checks,  
  Parry Defense
  Intelligence 
  Checks
  Will 
  Defense
  Presence 
  Checks
  Blue Bolt 
  PL 8
  Blue Bolt 
  PL 8
  REAL NAME 
  AGE 
  HAIR
  OCCUPATION 
  PLACE OF ORIGIN
  Skills
  Skill 
  Ranks 
  Bonus
  Expertise: Science 
  3 
  +6
  Insight 
  3 
  +5
  Perception 
  4 
  +6
  Ranged Combat: Powers 
  3 
  +7
  Technology 
  3 
  +6
  Advantages
  Advantage 
  Details
  Improved Initiative 2 
  +8 Initiative
  Second Chance 
  Re-roll a failed Will defense against mental control
  Complications
  Motivation—Thrills: The fun and excitement 
  of having super powers is still new and fresh to 
  Blue Bolt. He’s in love with the idea of being a 
  hero and gets a kick out of the adventures he 
  has.
  Accident: Blue Bolt sometimes loses control of 
  his electrical powers, inadvertently damaging 
  electronics and other sensitive equipment 
  nearby.
  Identity: Blue Bolt keeps his identity as Jae 
  Murphy, one of the students at Claremont 
  Academy, a secret from everyone but his 
  teammates.
  Disability: When Blue Bolt is immersed in 
  water or has his excess electricity drained from 
  him, he immediately becomes fatigued, then 
  after an hour, he becomes exhausted, and 
  finally, after a few hours, he is incapacitated. 
  He recovers quickly when removed from such 
  situations.
  Attack 
  Bonus 
  Targets 
  Effect 
  Save
  Chain Lightning 
  +7 
  Dodge 
  Ranged Multiattack Damage 6 
  DC 21
  Lightning Bolt  
  +7 
  Dodge 
  Ranged Damage 9 
  DC 24
  Taser 
  +7 
  Dodge 
  Ranged Affliction 9 
  DC 19
  Unarmed 
  +2 
  Parry 
  Close Damage 1 
  DC 16
  Initiative
  +10
  Toughness
  8
  4 w/o Electromagnetic Field
  Dodge
  8
  Parry
  8
  Fortitide
  6
  Will
  10
  6 w/o Mental Static
  Abilities 38 + Powers 54 + Advantages 2 + Skills 8 (16 ranks) + Defenses 18 = 120 TOTAL
  Jae Murphy 
  17 
  Blue
  Student 
  Irvine, California
  Damage: 
  Dazed? 
  Staggered? 
  Incapacitated?
  Powers
  Power Features • Personal • Sustained • 3 points 
  Alien
  Charger Feature (Can power electrical devices when touching them)
  Jump Start Feature (Can jump start or reset constructs by touch)
  Static Electricity: Feature (Can move items in arm’s reach of about 1 lb.)
  Electromagnetic Field  • Personal • Sustained • 4 points 
  Alien
  Sustained Protection 4
  Electrosense  • Personal • Permanent • 3 points 
  Alien
  Senses 3 (Ranged Accute Detect Electricity)
  Electrical Control  • Array (18 points) • Instant • 22 points 
  Alien
  • Lightning Bolt: Ranged Damage 9 • 18 points
  • Blackout: Burst Area 3 (120 feet) Broad Simultaneous Concentration Nullify Electronics 3, Reduced 
  Range (Close) • 1 point
  • Chain Lightning: Ranged Multiattack Damage 6 • 1 point
  • Lightning Flash: Perception Area Cumulative Affliction 8 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by 
  Fortitude; Visually Impaired, Visually Disabled, Visually Unaware), Limited to one sense • 1 point
  • Taser: Ranged Affliction 9 (Resisted & Overcome by Fortitude; Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated) • 1 point
  Electrical Resistance  • Personal • Permanent • 5 points 
  Alien
  Immunity 10 (Electrical effects), Limited to Half Effect
  Lightning Flight  • Personal • Instant • 12 points 
  Alien
  Teleport 3 (250 feet), Accurate, Easy, Extended (8 miles), Limited: Must pass through intervening space 
  in lightning form
  Mental Static  • Personal • Sustained • 5 points 
  Alien
  Enhanced Will 4, Enhanced Advantage (Second Chance (Mental control effects))
  242424
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  CATALYST
  Real Name: Reena Sarin
  Occupation: Student
  Base: Claremont Academy, Freedom City 
  Reena is a daughter of Indian immigrants who moved to Boston to 
  attend medical school. Her parents met while at school and ended up 
  marrying, moving to Florida for work, and starting a family. Reena is 
  the youngest of four children. She was a bright, precocious, and willful 
  child, which didn’t change much as she aged. 
  Life changed for Reena when she started going through puberty at 12. 
  Sure, there were all of the normal changes, but she also experienced 
  paralyzing headaches, extended bouts of hyperactivity bordering on 
  mania followed by exhaustion and extended periods of sleep. She had 
  a difficult time concentrating some days, but was super-focused oth-
  ers. Her parents, both doctors, were alarmed by all this and examined 
  her themselves and took her to specialists to find out what was going 
  on. The only answer seemed to be that her metabolism was out of 
  whack and sent her body all sorts of uncontrolled, conflicting messag-
  es. After a couple of years, during which her symptoms disappeared 
  and reappeared seemingly at random, Reena came to believe she’d 
  have to deal with this her entire life.
  One day when she was walking home from school, Reena was ap-
  proached by a very nice, well-dressed woman with a Russian accent 
  who introduced herself as Vila (see Lady Vila & Treker in Threat Re-
  port). Reena remembers having a nice conversation with Vila, then 
  getting in her car and going to her very nice house. There she was 
  introduced to some other kids about her age and was told this was 
  her new family. Reena thought that sounded like a fine thing. 
  Reena eventually realized she’d been brainwashed somehow and kid-
  napped. The few kids Lady Vila had mind controlled chased after her 
  and a running battle ensued, with Reena firing off blasts of energy 
  as she ran for home. Reena was arrested, but news of super-powered 
  kids running wild travels fast and Duncan Summers used his influence 
  to get her released, then spoke to her and her parents about teaching 
  her about her powers at the Claremont Academy. The Sarins agreed it 
  was for the best.
  Since arriving at the school, Reena has trained with her powers, but 
  has been frustrated by how tiring and inefficient they are. A few 
  months ago, she got sick of it and spent all of her break 
  creating a control rod to help her store, control, and di-
  rect her powers. 
  PERSONALITY
  Catalyst is, without a doubt, a genius. Unfortunate-
  ly, she’s not very smart. She takes too many chanc-
  es, doesn’t consider the consequences of her actions, 
  and is much too interested in finding out if she can do 
  something to think about whether she should. She’s 
  slowly learning that thinking things through first is 
  a good thing. Because her powers are innately dan-
  gerous, she constantly needs to prove herself. She 
  doesn’t lack confidence, and she wants to be seen as 
  helpful rather than hurtful (or destructive, in her case). 
  Her catchphrase could be, “I was just trying to help!”
  POWERS & ABILITIES
  Catalyst is a mutant. She was born with the ability to generate pow-
  erful blasts of bio-energy. Without the aid of her control rod, she can 
  loose powerful, uncontrolled blasts that exhaust her and lose power 
  quickly because the energy is so unfocused. With her control rod, 
  Catalyst is able to focus, store, and direct her bio-energy into a num-
  ber of powerful effects, including a number of attacks, the ability to 
  surround herself in energy, flight, a force field capable of sustaining 
  her life, and the ability to heal people. Unbeknownst to her, the con-
  trol rod allows her to fly through space—a fact she will likely discov-
  er on her own soon. In addition to her energy powers, Catalyst is a 
  genius, capable of inventing things on the fly and in more controlled 
  environments. In fact, she’s the one who built her control rod. She’s 
  constantly tinkering with it to improve its efficiency.
  Catalyst’s control rod can’t be taken from her while she’s conscious 
  due to precautions she took during its construction. For all intents and 
  purposes, it’s welded to her body as long as she’s conscious and able 
  to channel energy into it.
  252525
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  STR
  STA
  AGL
  DEX
  FGT
  INT
  AWE
  PRE
  0
  1
  2
  2
  0
  6
  2
  0
  Close Damage
  Toughness 
  Defense, 
  Fortitude 
  Defense
  Dodge 
  Defense, 
  Initiative Bonus
  Ranged Attack 
  Checks
  Close Attack 
  Checks,  
  Parry Defense
  Intelligence 
  Checks
  Will 
  Defense
  Presence 
  Checks
  Catalyst 
  PL 8
  Catalyst 
  PL 8
  REAL NAME 
  AGE 
  HAIR
  OCCUPATION 
  PLACE OF ORIGIN
  Reena Sarin 
  16 
  Brown
  Student 
  Tampa, Florida
  Defenses
  Combat
  Skills
  Skill 
  Ranks 
  Bonus
  Deception 
  4 
  +4
  Expertise: Science 
  2 
  +8
  Insight 
  0 
  +2
  Intimidation 
  0 
  +0
  Investigation 
  1 
  +7
  Perception 
  3 
  +5
  Persuasion 
  0 
  +0
  Ranged Combat: Control Rod 
  4 
  +6
  Stealth 
  0 
  +2
  Technology 
  2 
  +8
  Advantages
  Advantage 
  Details
  Eidetic Memory 
  Total recall, +5 bonus to remember details
  Inventor 
  Use Technology skill to create temporary devices
  Languages 
  Speak English (native) and Hindi
  Speed of Thought 
  Use Intellect to determine Initiative bonus
  Well-Informed 
  Immediate Investigation or Perception check
  Complications
  Motivation—Acceptance: Catalyst’s powers 
  are inherently difficult for her to channel and 
  use effectively. In her early experimentation 
  with them, she caused a lot of unintended 
  damage and injury, and felt terrible about it. 
  She now uses her powers to prove she’s not a 
  danger and can actually be very helpful—she 
  hopes. 
  Accident: Catalyst is both unlucky and accident 
  prone. In addition, her energy blasts often cause 
  unintended scorch marks, fire, or damage.
  Identity: Catalyst is careful to keep her identity 
  as Reena Sarin a secret from everyone except 
  her teammates..
  Attack 
  Bonus 
  Targets 
  Effect 
  Save
  Energy Blast 
  +6 
  Dodge 
  Ranged Damage 10 
  DC 25
  Energy Burst 
  — 
  Dodge 
  Ranged Burst Area Damage 6 
  DC 21
  Shock Blast 
  +8 
  Dodge 
  Ranged Cumulative Affliction 6 
  DC 16
  Unarmed 
  +0 
  Parry 
  Close Damage 0 
  DC 15
  Initiative
  +6
  Toughness
  11
  1 w/o Force Field
  Dodge
  5
  Parry
  5
  Fortitide
  6
  Will
  10
  Abilities 26 + Powers 60 + Advantages 5 + Skills 8 (16 ranks) + Defenses 21 = 120 TOTAL
  Damage: 
  Dazed? 
  Staggered? 
  Incapacitated?
  Powers
  Bio-Blast • Ranged • Instant• 5 points 
  Mutation
  Ranged Damage 10, Fades, Tiring
  Bio-Energy Control Rod • Removable • Array (20 points) • 23 points 
  Technology
  • Bio-Feedback Aura: Reaction Damage 5 (Contact) • 20 points
  • Bio-Energy Blast: Buys off Fades and Tiring from the Bio-Blast power • 1 point
  • Bio-Energy Burst: Ranged Burst Area Damage 6 • 1 point
  • Healing Energy: Healing 4, Energizing, Persistent, Restorative, Stabilize • 1 point
  • Bio-Shock Blast: Ranged Cumulative Affliction 6 (Resisted by Dodge, Overcome by Fortitude; 
  Dazed, Stunned, Incapacitated) • 1 point
  Force Field  • Personal • Sustained • 16 points 
  Mutation
  Sustained Protection 10, Impervious 6
  High Speed Flight  • Personal • Instant • 19 points 
  Mutation
  Flight 9 (1,000 MPH)
  AE: Space Flight: Movement 1 (Space Flight 1 (Within solar system))
  Life Support Field  • Personal • Permanent • 10 points 
  Mutation
  Immunity 10 (Life Support)
  262626
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  MISS KITTY
  Real Name: Amelia Cero
  Occupation: Student
  Base: Claremont Academy, Freedom City 
  Thirteen-year-old Amelia Cero’s family founded and owns CeroSoft, 
  a successful software manufacturer based in Chicago, where she 
  grew up. Amelia’s maternal grandmother passed away on her 11th 
  birthday, and she received a final, mysterious gift from her grand-
  mother: a beautiful Egyptian cat statuette, supposedly an old family 
  heirloom. That night, in her bedroom, the statuette came to life in 
  the moonlight, becoming Mau, an immortal cat-servant of the god-
  dess Bastet. He explained to Amelia that she was the latest in a long 
  line of women in her family chosen as emissaries of the goddess in 
  the world. With that, she transformed into her feline form for the first 
  time.
  Calling herself “Miss Kitty,” Amelia took it upon herself to use her pow-
  er for the greater good to help people. Eventually, her parents discov-
  ered her secret and—after overcoming the initial desire to forbid her 
  to use her abilities—got in touch with the Claremont Academy. The 
  school was happy to offer Amelia a place in its freshman class, and 
  now Miss Kitty has peers and teammates who understand her unique 
  situation for the first time. She’s both excited and a bit intimidated by 
  life at Claremont, and is sometimes homesick, although having Mau 
  with her helps. She sometimes has to remind herself, and her fellow 
  students, that she’s had her powers for a couple of years now, longer 
  than most of them.
  PERSONALITY
  Amelia is an enthusiastic and smart girl who sometimes feels a bit 
  overwhelmed with her new responsibilities and the world they have 
  opened up to her. Still, she’s brave and does her best to live up to ex-
  pectations. She downplays the whole “chosen by a goddess” thing, for 
  the most part, and is fairly humble. In her feline form, Miss Kitty is even 
  more of a go-getter and sometimes leaps into action before there’s 
  a chance for much planning or discussion, 
  something her teachers and teammates are 
  trying to help her with.
  POWERS & ABILITIES
  Blessed with superhuman abilities by 
  the Egyptian cat goddess, Miss 
  Kitty can speak with felines, and 
  they generally recognize and 
  respect her (although they 
  won’t necessarily obey her). 
  With a moment of concen-
  tration to call upon Bastet, she 
  can transform into a humanoid 
  feline with great strength and agili-
  ty, coppery claws on her hands, and an agile tail. 
  She moves quickly and easily through crowded 
  environments, becomes nearly impossible to see, hear, 
  or smell, and recovers quickly in darkness or shadows.
  272727
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  STR
  STA
  AGL
  DEX
  FGT
  INT
  AWE
  PRE
  5/2
  3/1
  7/3
  3
  6/2
  1
  3/1
  2
  Close Damage
  Toughness 
  Defense, 
  Fortitude 
  Defense
  Dodge 
  Defense, 
  Initiative Bonus
  Ranged Attack 
  Checks
  Close Attack 
  Checks,  
  Parry Defense
  Intelligence 
  Checks
  Will 
  Defense
  Presence 
  Checks
  Miss Kitty 
  PL 8
  Miss Kitty 
  PL 8
  REAL NAME 
  AGE 
  HAIR
  OCCUPATION 
  PLACE OF ORIGIN
  Amelia Cero 
  13 
  Pink
  Student 
  Chicago, Illinois
  Defenses
  Combat
  Skills
  Skill 
  Ranks 
  Bonus
  Acrobatics 
  4 
  +11/+7
  Athletics 
  4 
  +9/+6
  Deception 
  0 
  +2
  Insight 
  1 
  +4/+2
  Intimidation 
  0 
  +0
  Perception 
  4 
  +7/+5
  Persuasion 
  0 
  +0
  Stealth 
  4 
  +11/+7
  Technology 
  1 
  +2
  Advantages
  Advantage 
  Details
  Agile Feint 
  Use Acrobatics skill to feint
  Animal Empathy 
  Use interactions skills normally with animals
  Beginner’s Luck 
  Spend a Hero Point to gain 5 temporary ranks in a skill
  Close Attack 3 
  +3 to Close Attack checks
  Defensive Roll 2 
  +2 active bonus to Toughness
  Improved Grab 
  Make Grab attacks one-handed
  Move-by Acton 
  Move both before and after a standard action
  Note: All Abilities marked with a slash (/) indicate Amelia’s Feline Form first, followed by her human form
  Complications
  Motivation—Doing Good: Inheritor of a 
  proud legacy, Miss Kitty is devoted to doing her 
  heritage proud and using her abilities for good.
  Divinely Chosen: As the chosen Emissary 
  of Bastet, Miss Kitty has certain mystical 
  responsibilities and duties she is only beginning 
  to learn.
  Attack 
  Bonus 
  Targets 
  Effect 
  Save
  Claws 
  +9 
  Parry 
  Close, Damage 7 
  DC 22
  Unarmed 
  +9/+4 
  Parry 
  Close, Damage 5/2 
  DC 20/17
  Initiative
  +7/3
  Toughness
  5
  3 w/o Defensive Roll
  Dodge
  11
  7 in human form
  Parry
  11
  7 in human form
  Fortitide
  7
  5 in human form
  Will
  7
  5 in human form
  Abilities 30 + Powers 56 + Advantages 8 + Skills 9 (18 ranks) + Defenses 17 = 120 TOTAL
  Damage: 
  Dazed? 
  Staggered? 
  Incapacitated?
  Powers
  Blessing of Bastet • Personal • Permanent • 4 points 
  Mystic
  Enhanced Advantage (Animal Empathy)
  Speak Cat: Comprehend 2 (Animals, Speak, Understand, Understood, Limited to Felines)
  Divine Advisor: Feature 1 (can get hints or guidance, but also lectures)
  Favored by Cats: Feature 1 (cats are always friendly to her)
  Feline Form • Activation (Move Action) • Personal • Sustained • 52 points 
  Mystic
  Cat Senses: Senses 5 (Acute Scent, Darkvision, Tracking (Olfactory), Ultra-hearing)
  Cat-like Abilities: Enhanced Agility 4, Enhanced Awareness 2, Enhanced Fighting 4, Enhanced Stamina 
  2, Enhanced Strength 3
  Cat-like Agility: Movement 5 (Environmental Adaptation: Urban, Safe Fall, Sure-footed 2, Wall-
  crawling) 
  Claws: Strength-based Damage 2
  Healing Factor: Regeneration 2, Limited to Shadows and Darkness 
  Move in Shadows: Concealment 7 (All Aural, All Visual, Smell; Limited to in Shadows and Darkness, 
  Passive)
  Tail: Extra Limbs 1
  282828
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  NGM
  Real Name: Martin Conte
  Occupation: Student
  Base: Claremont Academy, Freedom City 
  NGM, or Martin, had to get by without a lot of things most of his life: 
  no father, a grandfather in jail, a mother who had to work multiple 
  jobs so had no time for him, and no money to make life easier. Then, 
  his grandfather earned a pardon from the president after the book 
  he wrote was made into a critically acclaimed movie, Golden Marvel: 
  The True Story of Leroy Conte, and brought attention to his terrible 
  treatment by the system. Newly freed, with money from the movie 
  and various fundraisers, Martin’s grandfather made life almost good, 
  but the two had little in common and Grampy Leroy was always 
  talking about confronting racism and fostering a sense of commu-
  nity between the races—nothing Martin was interested in. His life 
  involved avoiding the cops, hanging out with his friends in the lo-
  cal gang, and figuring out where his spending money was going to 
  come from. 
  Grampy Leroy saw what the boy’s life was like and understood what 
  he was going through. The system had failed Martin, just like it had 
  failed him when he was unfairly thrown in prison at Buckner Ridge, 
  better known as Lockdown (see Atlas of Earth-Prime: USA), for life. 
  It was in prison Grampy Leroy discovered new ways to manipulate 
  the golden light he used to become the Golden Marvel, the “first 
  black superhero,” in the 1960s. So Grampy Leroy decided to change 
  Martin’s world and hopefully make it possible for Martin to make 
  an even bigger impact on the world than he had. 
  Martin called home late one night to ask Grampy Leroy to pick him up 
  from the police station. He’d been caught by the police and beaten 
  because they thought he’d been selling drugs, or knew people selling 
  drugs, or knew what drugs were, but they had nothing to charge him 
  with, so he was free to go. Grampy Leroy picked him up, fixed him a 
  late dinner, and told him what had happened that night wasn’t fair, 
  that he had rights just like anyone else, and that he had to stand up 
  for the downtrodden however he could—whether it was for himself 
  or someone else. Martin laughed, telling his grandfather he couldn’t 
  do anything, that everything was stacked against him, the system was 
  rigged and not in his favor. With that, Grampy Leroy summoned the 
  golden light he was known for. It filled the house with light and he 
  touched Martin on the chest. The light flowed into Martin, suffusing 
  him with power while simultaneously draining it from his grandfather. 
  When it was done, Grampy Leroy said, “Now you have the power to 
  change things.”
  Unfortunately it wasn’t that simple. Martin loved the new 
  power he had, but had a hard time thinking of himself 
  as a “hero.” He was a disadvantaged kid with superpow-
  ers, that was all. And there was no way he was going to 
  use a lame name like “the New Golden Marvel,” but he 
  was okay with using the initials for his name. Despite 
  Grampy Leroy’s attempts to train and educate Martin, 
  he decided the boy would be better off with people 
  who knew what they were doing, so he called up Duncan Sum-
  mers and got him enrolled in the Academy.
  PERSONALITY
  NGM presents himself as competent and capable of handling any-
  thing thrown his way. Inside, however, he suffers from a lifetime of 
  rejection. To mask his feelings and to protect himself from being re-
  jected by others, he is confrontational, pushy, and a little mean. In 
  his view, it’s better to be alone than to let anyone in because they’ll 
  eventually leave. NGM feels best about himself when he’s recognized 
  for doing something well…not that he can take a compliment. NGM 
  has seen Yuna Tanaka (see Shadow in Hero High) around school and is 
  interested in her, but hasn’t done anything about it yet. 
  POWERS & ABILITIES
  The powers passed on to him by his grandfather allow NGM to man-
  ifest a number of different powers. The powers make him incredibly 
  strong and tough. When he wishes, he can also use them to fly, fire 
  blasts of golden light, glow brightly, protect himself, and see in the 
  dark. His powers aren’t as powerful as his grandfather’s were, but it’s 
  not clear if that’s because the powers were passed to NGM, because of 
  his lack of maturity, or for some other reason. It’s entirely possible his 
  powers will grow stronger as he ages.
  292929
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  STR
  STA
  AGL
  DEX
  FGT
  INT
  AWE
  PRE
  10
  8
  4
  2
  4
  0
  2
  2
  Close Damage
  Toughness 
  Defense, 
  Fortitude 
  Defense
  Dodge 
  Defense, 
  Initiative Bonus
  Ranged Attack 
  Checks
  Close Attack 
  Checks,  
  Parry Defense
  Intelligence 
  Checks
  Will 
  Defense
  Presence 
  Checks
  NGM 
  PL 8
  NGM 
  PL 8
  REAL NAME 
  AGE 
  HAIR
  OCCUPATION 
  PLACE OF ORIGIN
  Martin Conte 
  17 
  Black
  Student 
  Freedom City
  Defenses
  Combat
  Skills
  Skill 
  Ranks 
  Bonus
  Acrobatics 
  1 
  +5
  Deception 
  0 
  +2
  Insight 
  3 
  +5
  Intimidation 
  5 
  +7
  Perception 
  4 
  +6
  Persuasion 
  3 
  +5
  Ranged Combat: Light Blast 
  6 
  +8
  Stealth 
  0 
  +4
  Advantages
  Advantage 
  Details
  Close Attack 2 
  +2 to Close Attack checks
  Complications
  Motivation—Recognition: NGM has had a 
  difficult life and has had very little support. He 
  says he’s training to be a hero because that’s 
  what others expect of him, but really, he’s 
  hoping someone pays attention to him and 
  recognizes him for being good at something.
  Identity: NGM is the grandson of the disgraced 
  Civil Rights-era hero and ex-con known as 
  the Golden Marvel. In fact, NGM stands for 
  “New Golden Marvel.” He keeps his identity as 
  Martin Conte a secret to avoid trouble with his 
  grandfather’s enemies, to keep people around 
  him safe, and so his friends at home don’t 
  realize who he is and what he’s doing.
  Overconfident: NGM believes he can handle 
  anything that comes at him. He thinks he’s the 
  strongest, toughest, fastest, most powerful 
  member of Next-Gen and he shouts down 
  anyone who says otherwise.
  Attack 
  Bonus 
  Targets 
  Effect 
  Save
  Light Blast 
  +8 
  Dodge 
  Ranged Damage 8 
  DC 23
  Unarmed  
  +6 
  Parry 
  Close Damage 10 
  DC 25
  Initiative
  +4
  Toughness
  10
  8 w/o Force Field
  Dodge
  6
  Parry
  6
  Fortitide
  8
  Will
  6
  Abilities 36 + Powers 63 + Advantages 2 + Skills 11 (22 ranks) + Defenses 8 = 120 TOTAL
  Damage: 
  Dazed? 
  Staggered? 
  Incapacitated?
  Powers
  Flight • Personal • Sustained • 14 points 
  Legacy
  Flight 7 (250 MPH)
  Force Field • Personal • Sustained • 2 points 
  Legacy
  Sustained Protection 2
  Gold Vision • Personal • Permanent • 2 points 
  Legacy
  Senses 2 (Darkvision)
  Golden Light • Array (16 points) • 17 points 
  Legacy
  • Light Blast: Ranged Damage 8 • 16 points
  • Golden Glow: Environment 3 (120 feet), Light • 1 point
  Infused with Energy • Personal • Sustained • 28 points 
  Legacy
  Enhanced Stamina 6
  Enhanced Strength 8
  303030
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
  CREDITS & LICENSE
  CREDITS & LICENSE
  OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a
  The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, 
  Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wiz-
  ards”). All Rights Reserved.
  1. Definitions: (a)”Contributors” means the copyright 
  and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open 
  Game Content; (b)”Derivative Material” means copyright-
  ed material including derivative works and translations 
  (including into other computer languages), potation, 
  modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, 
  improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form 
  in which an existing work may be recast, transformed 
  or adapted; (c) “Distribute” means to reproduce, license, 
  rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or 
  otherwise distribute; (d)”Open Game Content” means the 
  game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, 
  processes and routines to the extent such content does 
  not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement 
  over the prior art and any additional content clearly 
  identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, 
  and means any work covered by this License, including 
  translations and derivative works under copyright law, 
  but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) “Product 
  Identity” means product and product line names, logos 
  and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; 
  creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic el-
  ements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, 
  designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, 
  themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or 
  audio representations; names and descriptions of charac-
  ters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, 
  likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environ-
  ments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural 
  abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; 
  and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly 
  identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product 
  Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game 
  Content; (f) “Trademark” means the logos, names, mark, 
  sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to 
  identify itself or its products or the associated products 
  contributed to the Open Game License by the Contrib-
  utor (g) “Use”, “Used” or “Using” means to use, Distribute, 
  copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create 
  Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) “You” or 
  “Your” means the licensee in terms of this agreement.
  2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game 
  Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open 
  Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of 
  this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open 
  Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to 
  or subtracted from this License except as described by 
  the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be 
  applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this 
  License.
  3. Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Con-
  tent You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this Li-
  cense.
  4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agree-
  ing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a per-
  petual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license 
  with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open 
  Game Content.
  5. Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are 
  contributing original material as Open Game Content, You 
  represent that Your Contributions are Your original cre-
  ation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights 
  conveyed by this License.
  6. Notice of License Copyright: You must update the 
  COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the 
  exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game 
  Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and 
  You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copy-
  right holder’s name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any orig-
  inal Open Game Content you Distribute.
  7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any 
  Product Identity, including as an indication as to compat-
  ibility, except as expressly licensed in another, indepen-
  dent Agreement with the owner of each element of that 
  Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or 
  co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trade-
  mark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game 
  Content except as expressly licensed in another, indepen-
  dent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Reg-
  istered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open 
  Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the own-
  ership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product 
  Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, 
  title and interest in and to that Product Identity.
  8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content 
  You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that 
  you are distributing are Open Game Content.
  9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents 
  may publish updated versions of this License. You may use 
  any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and 
  distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed 
  under any version of this License.
  10. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this 
  License with every copy of the Open Game Content You 
  Distribute.
  11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or 
  advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any 
  Contributor unless You have written permission from the 
  Contributor to do so.
  12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to com-
  ply with any of the terms of this License with respect to 
  some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, ju-
  dicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not 
  Use any Open Game Material so affected.
  13. Termination: This License will terminate automati-
  cally if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to 
  cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the 
  breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this 
  License.
  14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to 
  be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to 
  the extent necessary to make it enforceable.
  15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
  Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the 
  Coast, Inc. 
  System Reference Document, Copyright 2000, Wizards of 
  the Coast, Inc., Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip 
  Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and 
  Dave Arneson. 
  Modern System Reference Document, Copyright 2002-2004, 
  Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, 
  Rich Red-man, Charles Ryan, Eric Cagle, David Noonan, 
  Stan!, Christopher Perkins, Rodney Thompson, and JD Wiker, 
  based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip 
  Williams, Richard Baker, Peter Adkison, Bruce R. Cordell, John 
  Tynes, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker. 
  Mutants & Masterminds, Copyright 2002, Green Ronin 
  Publishing; Author Steve Kenson. 
  Advanced Player’s Manual, Copyright 2005, Green Ronin 
  Publishing, LLC; Author Skip Williams. 
  Silver Age Sentinels d20, Copyright 2002, Guardians of 
  Order, Inc.; Authors Stephen Kenson, Mark C. Mackinnon, 
  Jeff Mackintosh, Jesse Scoble. 
  Freedom City, Copyright 2003, Green Ronin Publishing; 
  Author: Steve Kenson
  Mutants & Masterminds, Second Edition, Copyright 2005, 
  Green Ronin Publishing, LLC; Author Steve Kenson. 
  Freedom City, Second Edition, Copyright 2005, Green Ronin 
  Publishing, LLC; Author Steve Kenson. 
  DC Adventures Hero’s Handbook, Copyright 2010, Green 
  Ronin Publishing, LLC; Author Steve Kenson. 
  Mutants & Masterminds Hero’s Handbook, Copyright 2011, 
  Green Ronin Publishing, LLC; Author Steve Kenson.
  Mutants & Masterminds Astonishing Adventures: Master of 
  Earth, Copyright 2020, Green Ronin Publishing, LLC; Author 
  Crystal Frasier.
  MutantS & MaSteRMindS aStoniShing adventuReS: MaSteR of eaRth
  Writing: Crystal Frasier; NextGen by Lucien Soulban
  Design: Crystal Frasier
  Editing: Michael Matheson
  Art Direction: Hal Mangold
  Graphic Design: Crystal Frasier
  Interior Art: Chris Balaskas, Darrem Calvert, Alberto Foche,  
  Tony Harris, Sean Izaakse, Domenico Nezitti, Ramón Pérez 
  Publisher: Chris Pramas
  Team Ronin: Joseph Carriker, Crystal Frasier, Jaym Gates,  
  Kara Hamilton, Troy Hewitt, Steve Kenson, Ian Lemke,  
  Nicole Lindroos, Hal Mangold, Chris Pramas, Evan Sass,  
  Marc Schmalz, Malcolm Sheppard, Will Sobel, Owen K.C. Stephens, 
  Dylan Templar, Veronica Templar, and Barry Wilson
  Mutants & Masterminds Astonishing Adventures: Master of Earth is 
  ©2020 Green Ronin Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. References to 
  other copyrighted material in no way constitute a challenge to the 
  respective copyright holders of that material. Mutants & Masterminds, 
  Super-powered by M&M, Green Ronin, and their associated logos are 
  trademarks of Green Ronin Publishing, LLC.
  The following is designated as Product Identity, in accordance with 
  Section 1(e) of the Open Game License, Version 1.0a: hero points, 
  power points. All characters and their associated images, descriptions, 
  backgrounds, and related information are declared Product Identity.
  The following text is Open Gaming Content: all game system rules and 
  material not previously declared Product Identity.
  Green Ronin Publishing
  3815 S. Othello St., Suite 100 #304
  Seattle, WA 98118
  Email: custserv@greenronin.com
  Web Sites: www.greenronin.com
  www.mutantsandmasterminds.com
  313131
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  0: Master of Earth
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Super Hero Games/Mutants & Masterminds/3rd Edition/M&M3e - Astonishing Adventures 06 - NetherWar 00 - Master Of Earth.pdf