Technoholic Man

Melee RV 10

Coordination RV 10

Brawn RV 10

Fortitude RV 30

Intellect RV 20

Awareness RV 30

Willpower RV 30

Lifestyle RV 10

Repute RV 0

Health: Fortune:

60 80

Origin:

Sam Xerxes Robbins was originally a relatively normal, if technologically savvy normal human who found himself subjected to the test-run of an experimental organic circuitry 'sleeper' weapon, disguised as an ordinary soft drink - if in an odd flavor. This, combined with a normally lethal dose of hard radiation, has given him a variety of technological powers with which to fight the forces of evil!

Known Powers:

Organic Circuitry: Sam's entire body has been permeated by an organic circuitry matrix known by its creators as Technohol 13. This circuitry, disguised as a refreshingly new mint soda, was designed to transform Sam into the ultimate sleeper weapon, a living human arsenal. The only problem was that the accompanying mind control technology failed, due to a massive burst of hard radiation.

As such, the artificial intelligence inherent to the Technohol 13, which Sam has taken to calling 'Hoss', is now cohabiting in his body with him. The two get along pretty well, though sometimes one annoys the other to the point that they 'ignore' each other for long periods of time. When in dangerous situations, however, Hoss is more than ready to help Sam in the operation of these following, technological powers:

* Adaptive (Body) Armor: in its normal state, Sam's body is no more resistant to injury than any other human being. However, when either Sam or Hoss is aware of any incoming threat, one of the two minds resident in his body can form various body parts into shields as is necessary. As long as either of the two sense a potential, incoming attack, Sam can benefit from the following, rank value 40 protection from injury:

RV 40 / RV 20 / RV 6 / RV 2 / RV 0

* Computer Link: the Technohol is an incredibly complex organic circuitry matrix. Thanks to Hoss, his on-board artificial intelligence assistant, Sam can easily tie into other computers or computer networks via many methods - even when the target has no external access. This power works at rank value 50, allowing Hoss (and Sam) access to most computerized data, whether encrypted or not.

* Device Generation: this rank value 40 power allows Sam to manufacture complex mechanical or electronic (or both) items, though Sam most often sticks to one or the other (a hatchet, a firearm, a flashlight, a taser, etc.) Items so created by Sam always bear a trademark, cyan coloration, whether glowing a soft blue hue or composed of crystalline blue material, etc.

The problem with this power is that it is draining on Sam's body to use it. Every turn he uses it, Sam will lose one Health point, limiting him to minor amounts of technology at a time. Mind you, he has the capability of 'absorbing' materials similar to what he wants to create, which lets him bypass this limitation (assuming he has enough of the source material on hand to fuel this power's use).

* Electromagnetic Vision: while Sam usually doesn't know what to look for, much less what it might mean, the Technohol has the capability to interpret all of the electromagnetic spectrum. Usually wielded by Hoss, this power works at rank value 40, and combines the effects of infravision, radivision and ultravision, all in one convenient package (it can perceive anything from radio waves to cosmic rays).

* Regeneration: the organic circuitry permeating Sam's entire body allows him to heal at a highly accelerated rate. If not slain outright by an attack, Sam can usually regenerate from most damage with rank value 30 ability, meaning he recovers three (3) lost Health, NH or MH points per full turn, whether or not he's able to rest and recover from his injuries (barring SD damage).

* Shape Change: this highly versatile super-human ability allows Sam (or Hoss, depending) to reshape some - or all - of his body into mechanical and/or electronic implements. This can provide Sam the use of a large array of technological capabilities, though each of these 'bonus' powers are limited to the rank of this core ability, which is rank value 40 in scope (or their normal values, with conventional devices).

For example, Sam could concoct a hydraulic ram out of one arm and jump jets in his feet, but both will not function at a level higher than rank value 40. That ram would then inflict up to rank value 40 Bashing damage, while those jump jets would allow him to use up to rank value 40 super leaping. Anything greater in function would have to be developed as a separate power (like some of the above powers).

Limitations / Enhancements:

Double Fatigue: the use of Sam's Technoholic powers is quite draining on him physically. When using his Technoholic powers, Sam's fatigue rank value increases at twice the rate of other heroes (two points per power use, instead of just one), hence his reliance on pre-built gear. If fatigue rules aren't in play in your campaign, apply them to Sam as a limitation to account for this problem.

Dual Mind: not quite a multiple personality, Sam's mind is inhabited by 'Hoss', the artificial intellect built into his Technohol. This fully sentient organic circuitry life form is interwoven with his nervous system, and thus can take control of Sam's body when necessary (they have like Willpower scores). Mind you, Hoss won't usually do this unless the situation is critical - or he's critically bored...

Susceptibility: in addition to his other two weaknesses, Sam is particularly vulnerable to a special organic circuitry solvent concocted by the Technohol's creator as a means of controlling those it changes. This fluid inflicts rank value 20 AI SD Metabolic damage each turn it is applied to his person. Thus far, only the scientists at Permutational Industries seem to know how to make it - luckily for Sam.

Equipment:

Antigravitational Propulsion System: thanks to a bit of alien technological know-how given to him by Hate Ball, Sam was able to perfect his hover boots! When activated, they allow him to hover several inches above the ground, and can also propel him forward with rank value 30 land speed, or 81.81 miles per hour. While working, they (naturally) emit a cool blue glow beneath and behind Sam's feet.

Colt Rail Guns: while Sam used to wield dual standard Colt M1911A1 pistols, he's taken a shine to the current, O1980RG model - thanks to Seņor Surly's use of the things. Made from a striking blue-colored metal, each of these weapons can be fired to inflict rank value 6 Piercing damage in a single shot, raised to rank value 10 Piercing damage when Sam fires them in a semi-automatic fashion.

Sam has laser sights mounted on the each of the guns' M1913 Picatinny Rail, which emit a fully visible blue beam at whatever is in front of them. Sam doesn't use these for stealth purposes or even to improve his aim, so much as to make a blatant statement about just who's going to be imminently perforated. This psychological tactic is actually effective more often than not...!

Crazy Hate Communicator: wielding powerful tachyonic technology developed by Wendell Wherever, the Crazy Hate communicator allows the team instant, encrypted (at rank value 75) communications with infinite range within a given plane of existence. Slightly modified, Hoss can also use this item to talk to the team, which confuses them slightly (having originaly though Sam was just 'hearing things').

Dynamo Costume: Sam's clothing is wired with a plethora of microscopic motors and energy transducers. While it makes his clothing somewhat heavier than it appears to be, this serves to offer him considerable protection from injury, absorbing incoming injury and putting it to use elsewhere by his Technohol. In game terms, this amounts to 1 RS of damage reduction for Sam.

Hand Axes: in the event that he wishes to be a bit more personal, and to enter melee combat with someone who has irked his ire, Sam carries two small hatchets with him. Each of these weapons is built from a blue crystalline substance that is of m.v. 40. Sam can thus use them to inflict either Slashing damage upon living targets, or to hack through items of up to a like m.v., given enough time and inclination.

Station Wagon: an artifact of his former, mundane life, Sam still clings to this rather large relic. A 1982 Ford LTD station wagon, this conveyance was originally gold in color, but after it got wrecked by the Atomic Apocalypse, Hoss rebuilt it... and naturally turned it blue. Hoss even gave itself the ability to drive the car while Sam is otherwise engaged. Sam's wagon has these vehicular statistics:

Handling RV 10

Velocity RV 40

Durability RV 20

Protection RV 6

Quirks:

Enemy / Permutational Industries: it's hard to stay on the good side of a company when they invest bleeding edge, billion dollar technology in you, and you go and kill their owner as 'thanks' - never mind that they didn't ask if you wanted it in the first place. The company, now in the hands of the former C.E.O.'s daughter, has made it a point to 'deal' with Sam (and of course XII) - and do so painfully!

Natural Talent / Guns: Sam has no actual marksmanship skills to speak of, but his reflexes are enhanced by his Technohol - and Hoss has worked to make him a natural gunman. As such, Sam can utilize most standard, semi-automatic, or fully automatic firearms at his Coordination +1 RS. This has probably saved Sam's life more than he can possibly imagine, considering his tendency to get himself into trouble...!

Natural Talent / Natural Weapons: Sam has the natural ability (more or less) to utilize any of the bizarre melee weapons he can form from his body. Whether it be a chainsaw or hydraulic ram grown from his arm, Sam can use such weapons at his Melee score +1 RS. He tries to avoid doing so due to the strain it causes his body, but in a pinch Sam is more than happy to put this 'natural' talent to work for him.

Skills:

Electronics 2: the sole skill he possessed before he was enhanced by Technohol, Sam is well-versed in electronics technology - though his knowledge is greatly enhanced by his pal 'Hoss'. Sam's Intellect score should be considered +2 RS when dealing with all things electronic or electrical, whether designing, repairing or building them. This even applies to any applicable Lifestyle ACT rolls required!

Skill / Axes: while the Technohol permeating his body has given him considerable ability in the use of his spur of the moment techno-weaponry, not to mention a natural knack for the handling of firearms, Sam has trained himself hard in the wielding of axes - he'd always wanted to learn how to do so, after all. When holding axes, hatchets, and other similar weapons, Sam attacks at his Melee score +1 RS.

Contacts:

As a member of the Crazy Hate, Sam can count those heroes as reliable contacts; they're a tight-knit group of outcasts that have few other friends to lean on. Of course, Sam is also on good terms with XII (the recipient of Technohol 12) and the Technoholic Twins (the recipients of Technohol 14). He's even made friends of sorts with Agency 13's Seņor Barnett, who he speaks to via snail mail with some regularity.

Costume:

Sam's costume is... blue. It consists of a blue leather-esque trench coat, blue jeans, a white T-shirt, blue leather-esque gloves with the fingers cut off, a blue leather-esque belt with a blue steel belt buckle, blue steel, high tech boots, and of course his blue coke-bottle sunglasses. These components will change from time to time, but the one thing you can count on is that Sam will be wearing neon blue clothing.

Personality 1:

Sam is a somewhat stubborn individual, rather head-strong in nature, and has a tendency to get in other people's faces when they annoy him. He's not so stubborn that he can't admit that he's wrong though, as he's messed up all kinds of things in his life... and is trying to make amends in that regard. But having super-powers has freed him from putting up with the stupidity of others, as far as he's concerned.

Personality 2:

Hoss, as Sam calls him, is the Technoholic Artificial Intelligence resident inside his head. While Sam is admittedly technologically savvy even without Hoss, the truth is Hoss is much smarter than he is, and has a hard time dealing with his head-mate's lesser intellect. At the same time, he finds Sam's 'human' behaviors downright inexplicable at times, and simply doesn't understand them.

Real Name: Samuel 'Sam' Xerxes Robbins
Occupation: adventurer, former Atomic T.V. technical support expert
Legal Status: citizen of the United States with no known criminal record
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: the Crazy Hate

Height: 5' 10"
Hair: neon blue
Eyes: neon blue
Weight: 200 lbs
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: a side effect of the Technohol in his system is that some of Sam's features have turned neon blue as a result of its presence. Sam's hair and eyes are an unnaturally bright shade of blue, as are scars from the wounds he's received in the past (though these fade in time). Furthermore, Sam (and any device he creates) has a subtle, minty scent to him that he can't seem to shake.

Story:

Disgruntled with his job, Atomic T.V. technical support expert Samuel Xerxes Robbins abruptly quit and went for a long, long drive. He had no specific location in mind, and sort of drifted west for no particular reason. In Taos, he found himself targeted by a strange old man, one who was testing out an experimental new organic circuitry weapon - a weapon which was inexplicably disguised as a new mint soda pop.

After he drank it, Sam was supposed to have been transformed into a sort of sleeper weapon, a man wired with organic circuitry that could be remotely activated to destroy anyone - or anything - necessary. A chance encounter with a gamma radiation-spewing super-nutcase put a stop to that though, as the so-called Atomic Apocalypse's emissions caused the programming in Sam's organic circuitry drink to be wiped entirely.

Though this circuitry had been integrated into Sam's body, it didn't eradicate his mind and take its place, as it was designed to do. No, this circuitry chose to keep Sam around, feeling he had just as much a right to life as it did... so it made a bargain with him. This organic circuitry, Technohol 13, would allow Sam to lead his life as he chose, but only if Sam went along with any effort it felt necessary to preserve itself.

Sam thought this preferable to being mind-wiped, so he agreed... even if the Technohol's defensive actions would take place immediately. This because its creators wouldn't want Sam running loose with their highly experimental and suspect technology throughout his body. Naturally, they sent Sam's predecessor, a girl wired with Technohol 12, to come get him. She failed to kill him, which prompted Sam to go on the offensive.

Heading back to Taos, Sam found Mister Brewer, the man who had given him his Technohol 13, and confronted him. Of course, Brewer had also partaken of the Technoholic soft drinks, and assaulted Sam - while proclaiming himself Technohol Zero all the while. He took Sam down handily, and would've had his minion with the Technohol 12 - who'd followed Sam to Taos - kill him, had she not turned on Zero instead.

As it turned out, she too had shook off the whole Technoholic 'mind control' thing and was simply looking for a way to escape Zero's corporate masters - and thought Sam was it. Dousing Technohol Zero with the organic circuitry solvent intended for Sam, she - one Clarice Soto - then helped patch Sam up a bit. After a short encounter with Seņor Barnett, who was investigating them, the duo then went after Zero's bosses.

This involved a violent combat-assault on the Permutational Industries complex in Arizona. Racking up a truly heroic body count, the duo destroyed much of the company's data on Technohol, as well as all of the source samples that Zero had concocted for them, before slaying the C.E.O. and owner of the company, Horace Fromage. With that, the two left for greener pastures, quickly going their separate ways.

Over time, Sam and his Technohol grew into true friends, a good thing what with them being stuck in the same body together. Thinking they should use their exceptional abilities for the good of others, Sam and the Technohol, which he kept calling Hoss until it stuck, began a life of Adventure! While he originally ran solo (as much as he could, with an artificial intellect in his head), Sam eventually met the Everywhere Girl.

After a chance encounter with this strange woman at the Club Invertebrate, a bizarre night club in Omaha, Nebraska that caters to weird folks from across the multiverse, the two started working together. This partnership eventually grew into a proper team, the two attracting six other misfits like themselves into something akin to a family. This family, the so-called Crazy Hate, has stuck together ever since!

This vigilante crew tends to look for trouble that ordinary folks can't solve - and deal with it somewhat harshly. Of course, with people of their power and temperament, what do you expect? At least Sam and his fellows are on the side of the angels, though - for the time being, anyway...!

Legal Hoopajoob:

I offer my Edition 13 work under the Creative Commons Attribution license.

What this means is that if you wish, you may use this Edition 13 material in any way you see fit, whether copying, distributing, or displaying all or part of this text, as long as you credit my work, in either your own derivative texts or products.

If you would like more information about me for attribution, you can contact me via e mail (DashApostrophe@gmail.com).

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