Penumbra



PENUMBRA
aka John Doe 47

Prowess 5 Coordination 5 Strength 6 Intellect 4 Awareness 5 Willpower 4

Stamina 10 Determination 5

Powers  Telepathy 8 (Device: the Crystal Sphere of Mu)

Specialties Martial Arts Mental Resistance Occult Stealth <span style="font: 12px &#39;Lucida Grande&#39;; margin: 0px">Investigation

<span style="font: 12px &#39;Lucida Grande&#39;; margin: 0px">Qualities <span style="font: 12px &#39;Lucida Grande&#39;; margin: 0px">Square Jawed Pulp Hero <span style="font: 12px &#39;Lucida Grande&#39;; margin: 0px">"This is how we deal with things where I come from." <span style="font: 12px &#39;Lucida Grande&#39;; margin: 0px">Intractable <span style="font: 12px &#39;Lucida Grande&#39;; margin: 0px">Connection: beat cop

<span style="font: 12px &#39;Lucida Grande&#39;; margin: 0px">Challenges <span style="font: 12px &#39;Lucida Grande&#39;; margin: 0px">Anachronism <span style="font: 12px &#39;Lucida Grande&#39;; margin: 0px">Destitute

<span style="font: 12px &#39;Lucida Grande&#39;; margin: 0px">Background <span style="font: 12px &#39;Lucida Grande&#39;; margin: 0px">The man who would become Penumbra was traveling the world as a merchant marine in the early 1930s, when he met a self-proclaimed Sorcerer in the Philippines. The sorcerer taught the sailor many amazing skills, honing his reflexes, increasing his strength to near super-human levels and teaching him martial arts; the sorcerer even gave him a small crystal sphere that allowed him to peer into the thoughts of other men. When the sailor returned to the United States, he joined the wave of mystery men that sprang up to fight crime. He later rallied to the cause to fight Hitler at home and in Europe. By the time World War Two was over, Penumbra was tired of fighting. He retired at the end of the war, but it was not to last.

<span style="font: 12px &#39;Lucida Grande&#39;; margin: 0px">In 1947, a new threat reared its head. A mysterious new crime boss was consolidating power on the streets of San Francisco. Against his will, Penumbra came out of retirement to confront this evil, only to discover it was the same sorcerer who trained him in the previous decade. Penumbra finally caught up to the sorcerer as he was completing a magical ritual that would have cost the life on an innocent young woman. When the spell was interrupted, a magical backlash exploded, sending Penumbra 60 years into the future.

<span style="font: 12px &#39;Lucida Grande&#39;; margin: 0px">He awoke in a library, very confused and not sure what to make of the world around him. Within a few minutes, he had caused a disturbance and was arrested by a local beat cop. He had no specific memories of who he was, only knowing the vague origin of the Penumbra identity. The police referred him as John Doe 47, and he has kept the moniker for when "Penumbra" seems inappropriate —not that John Doe is much better.

<span style="font: 12px &#39;Lucida Grande&#39;; margin: 0px">He is lost in the modern world. He has no resources, knows almost no one, and doesn't understand much of the technology. The police officer who found him has given him a couch to sleep on, but that can't last forever. His opinions and attitudes are dated, making him awkward at best, and impossible to excuse at worst. He is genuinely trying to understand the world around him and do the right thing, though when he sets his mind to something, he can be intractable. His telepathic ability frequently gets him into trouble; once he has "seen" that someone is in the wrong, he will act before getting more tangible evidence. He tries to make everything into clear-cut right and wrong, with no understanding of the shades of gray that might exist.

Notes: 42 point build (rolled randomly), build by Ryan G. (originally for DragonCon), art by Ryan G. using the marvel.com generator.