Shadow Dancer
by Miguel Sostre
Art by andi jones
Black hair, brown eyes, coffee (with milk)-colored skin, 5' 6" tall, 110 lbs., 28 years old, an attractive Brazilian woman. When transformed, a featureless being of three-dimensional shadow.
ST: 10 [0]
DX: 15 [60]
IQ: 12 [20]
HT: 10 [0]Speed: 6.25 Move: 6
Damage: Thrust 1d-2 Swing 1d (+3 from Karate)
Dodge: 6 Block: n/a Parry (Karate): 10Point Total: 745 (5 unspent points)
Advantages: Attractive [5], Unusual Background: Super [50], Wealthy [20].
Disadvantages: Cyber-Rejection [-10], Extra Sleep 1 [-3], Heroes' Code of Honor [-15], Intolerance: Drunk drivers [-2], Lecherousness [-15], Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents) [-10], Secret Identity [-10], Sterile [-3], Unluckiness [-15], Weirdness Magnet [-15].
Skills: Acrobatics-16 [8]; Area Knowledge (New York)-12 [1]; Cooking-12 [1]; Dancing (Brazilian)-15 [2]; Driving (Automobile)-14 [1]; English-11 [1]; Judo-14 [2]; Jumping-16 [2]; Karate-18 [24]; Knife-16 [2]; Musical Instrument (Drums)-10 [1]; Portugese-12 [0, native tongue]; Shortsword-14 [1]; Staff-13 [1].
Martial Arts Styles: Capoeira
Quirks: Lives modestly [-1]; Loves her aunt [-1]; Uncomfortable with her magical origin [-1]; Broad-minded [-1].
Psionics: Teleport Power 32 ("Shadowstepping") (Only usable in super form -50%; only to and from shadows -25%) [40].
Psi skills: Autoteleport-15 [10]; Combat Teleport-15 [10]; Exoteleport-15 [10].
Super Advantages: Absorption: Darkness, 3d [12]; Dark Vision (Can See Colors +20%) [30]; Doesn't Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn't Sleep [20]; Immune to Disease [10]; Immune to Poison [15]; Injury Tolerance: All [50]; Insubstantiality (Affects Substantial +100%; Up to No Encumbrance +10%; Not Effective Against Light Attacks -10%) [160]; Invisibility (Up to No Encumbrance +10%; Only In Shadows -40%) [28]; Instant Regeneration (Only in Shadows -40%) [60]; Silence x2 [10]; Transformation (Requires Shadows -20%) [12]; Vacuum Support [40].
Super Disadvantages: No Body Heat [-5]; No Shadow [-10]; Vulnerability: 3d vs. Light Attacks [-30].
Super-Powers: Animate Shadow-13 (10) (Rapid Fire x1 +40%; Shadows May Be Dismissed At Will +20%); Power cost: 80 points; Skill cost: 12 points. Create Darkness-14 (11); Power cost: 33 points; Skill cost: 4 points. Shadowbolt-14 (5) (Bought as Frost Jet; Special Effect: Bolt of Inky Darkness); Power cost: 30 points; Skill cost: 4 points.
Background
When Maria Vasquez was five years old, her parents moved to New York seeking better opportunities than they had in her native Brazil...Maria's Aunt Carmen, a Capoeira mestre ("master"), joined them. Maria's life went well until she was eight; that's when a drunk driver ended her parents' lives along with his own. The grieving girl was raised by her aunt, who encouraged her to study the dance/martial art of her native land. As her parents' insurance had left her well-off financially, Maria had plenty of time to devote to honing her skills. Little did she know how soon she'd need them . . .Recently, while cleaning out the attic of the house she shared with her aunt, Maria found an old, ornate mirror neither woman had seen before. A strange symbol was engraved in the upper edge of the glass, and things reflected by the mirror seemed dark and sinister. When Maria placed her hand on the top of the mirror's frame to adjust it, she sliced open her palm on an unseen nail point. As the two women headed downstairs to tend to the wound, neither one noticed the blood on the mirror flow into the strange symbol, causing it to glow redly. Then the mirror vanished.
Feeling lightheaded, and suspecting the dust in the attic to be the cause, Maria stepped out for some fresh air. As she walked, she rapidly realized that the mirror had affected her; stepping into a secluded alley, she triggered the transformation for the first time. Her shadow merged with her, turning her into a being of living, three-dimensional darkness (GM note: this is not the Shadow Form power, but something similar, reflecting Maria's powers). A few minutes of exploration -- including a teleport to the Moon -- revealed the extent of her new abilities. Maria was about to head home when she heard the sirens and saw the police cars. Quickly slipping back into the alley, Maria transformed and teleported into the back of a cruiser, remaining unseen in the shadows while she listened to the cops discussing the situation. She was able to quickly determine that a nearby bank was being robbed, and that the robbers had hostages and very heavy firepower. Realizing that the police were probably outmatched--and not wanting other children to be orphaned as she was -- Maria acted. Using the element of surprise, her martial arts skills, and the stealth granted her by her new powers, she was able to beat all the thugs unconscious with ease . . . including the one with the potentially-deadly Laser metapower which had cut through the bank vault door. She triumphantly turned them over to the police, and when asked who she was, announced herself to be New York's newest superheroine -- Shadow Dancer!
Conversions
Shadow Dancer doesn't have to be a heroine -- if her Code of Honor and Pacifism are removed and replaced with Berserk and Bloodlust, she'd make a dangerous villain for a Supers game . . . or, for a more bizarre twist, a Fantasy or Horror game!
Quotes
"Watch your shadow. You'll never know when I'll be there.""I may be a power of darkness, but I stand on the side of light!"
Article publication date: March 12, 1999
Copyright © 1999 by Steve Jackson Games. All rights reserved. Pyramid subscribers are permitted to read this article online, or download it and print out a single hardcopy for personal use. Copying this text to any other online system or BBS, or making more than one hardcopy, is strictly prohibited. So please don't. And if you encounter copies of this article elsewhere on the web, please report it to webmaster@sjgames.com.
