[ShadowBright]

Manhattan. July 31st, 23:57:00

Craig Rodriguez took his own pulse. It was an odd habit, one that he had had since a child. It was something he did when he was worried. And right now he was more than just worried. And for good reason.

Mayor Cutler - or Cutter as he was known - was bent. So bent everyone knew he was bent. So corrupt that he was practically public about it. But not quite. He needed that veneer of respectability, however thin, to protect himself. True, he had a an army of thugs and murderers at his disposal (not /all/ of them cops) but he needed the public on his side. He knew well that you needed both a carrot and a stick.

Craig was a journalistic reporter. He had sacrificed the last ten years of his life trying to out Cutler, since he had 'just' been police commissioner, before he was even mayor. He had lost his wife, career and his youth so single-mindedly had he pursued his goal. And what had it gained him? Nothing. Nothing at all, discounting death threats, a few beatings, a divorce, AA sessions etc etc.

Until tonight.

Tonight he was meeting with Eric Jung, a junior in the mayor's office. A decorated war hero. An honourable man. He had information, hard facts that could take down ever the Cutter. And he was going to share it with Craig tonight.

Craig paced. His footfalls echoed through the empty concrete car-park. Storeys below was his car, parked out of sight in an alley. He had paid the local gang fifty bucks to keep an eye on it. They were a reliable sort for a gang. He'd had contact with them before. There was at least a thirty percent chance he would get his car back in one piece.

Craig stopped pacing, checked his pulse again. Over a hundred and pounding.

A quiet bing came from the centre of the building, the elevator block. Odd, he thought, the elevator was out of order. There was nothing for it now though. The stairs were next to the elevators, he wasn't going anywhere.

Multiple sets of feet marched his way. Slowly, surely. The figures came into sight. Cops. Craig swallowed.

The feet stopped a little distance away. Craig could just make out features, identify two of the cops. He took his own pulse for the last time ever but couldn't keep up with the pounding in his wrist.

"You have been a bad boy Craig, a bad boy."

This came from an older cop. Hitchin. A stone-cold killer. Craig started to cry. Not from fear of death but from sheer frustration. To die now would just be so pointless. He would have lost everything for nothing. All those years...

"We are arresting you on suspicion of - Ah hell, it doesn't matter. Boys. He is resisting arrest. Shoot him."

The sound of guns being drawn from holsters. A single shot fired, one man quicker than the others. Before anyone else could react the overhead lights went out and the area was thrown into darkness.

"He must have rigged the lights. Grab your flashlights and keep shooting boys. I went to get home to watch the tube."

Craig's shoulder felt like it was on fire. The shot had hit him with enough force to make him step backwards. The pain was enough to send him to his knees. He had heard being shot was painful but he was not prepared for the whole-body agony he was experiencing. It was excruciating. He was dimly aware that the lights went out, vaguely curious that the cops blamed him for that. But it was all secondary to the pain.

Two of the cops found their flashlights, switched them on and then trained the beams on the prone form of Craig. "Hey look at that," came a deep voice. "One shot and he's squirming. Must have been a good shot."

"Just finish you him you idiot," replied Hitchin.

The others complied, firing off multiple rounds each, just to be sure. In the torchlight it was hard to be sure but he didn't seem to be bleeding.

"Check him boys."

Two of the cops moved carefully up to Craig. One covering the other, professional, smooth, easy.

Craig sat up and the men fired from point blank range, emptying their clips. He did not even flinch. The rounds hit him squarely, flattened and fell to the ground. He punched the nearest policeman in the jaw, breaking it and sending fragments of the upper jaw up into and through the brain. As the other struggled to reload he grabbed him by the collar and threw him the twenty feet to the open window. The man sailed through and then down, ten storeys into the darkness.

Hitchin pushed his last man forward, "Get him!" And he ran. He ran as fast as he could for the elevators, his feet fueled by fear.

The other cop hesitated then followed Hitchin. He would get a ball-busting for this but it was better than the alternative.

Craig sat down. He was too tired, too full of pain, too surprised to be alive and too freaked out. He had just killed two men. Two cops. He grunted a laugh. It was not like he was in any more trouble. They had already wanted him dead apparently. But now... now maybe he could earn that wrath.

He touched his hand to his wrist and felt smooth, cold metal where his skin should be. He looked down at his watch. The hands glowed with soft green light but they did not move. They were stuck at thirty seconds to midnight.

Game Type and Setting
Mutant and Masterminds 2nd edition. Modern-day New York City, with a twist.

Game Master
Little ol' me.

Game Explanation
The player characters are all 'mutants', individuals that have developed super powers as a result of a device that was detonated in Manhattan (see game description above). The game will focus on how the character's lives are affected by their powers and by the changes in the world around them. While there will be some combat it won't be the focus of this game. Also, within reason, the game will strive for realism.

Application Process
Please put the following into your application:
* Character bio (name, age, description, background, personality)
* Notes on significant NPCs in their life (family, friends, boss, minions, enemies...)
* Some information about what they were doing at the time of the 'Event'
* Optional: which other PCs your character knows
* Your intended posting rate (see below for more details)

Feel free to put parts of your app in private tags if you want to keep any secrets.

Application will be open for two weeks and I am looking to take approx. 4 players.

Character Creation
Character creation will be a multi-step process. You don't have to do any of this yet but you can if you like.
1) You create your initial character with no powers using between 20 and 50 build points.
1b) The starting Power Level (setting your trait caps for example) is 4
2) I will assign your character a number of bonus power points. You won't know this number at first but you might work it out later.
3) You chose roughly what percentage of the bonus power points will be assigned into powers. Chose 0-24%, 25-49%, 50-74% or 75-100%.
4) I will assign a percentage in that range to buying powers. I will chose your character's powers.
5) Any remaining points will be used to boost your existing traits (stats, skills, attack/defense, saves, possibly feats)

At the start of the game you will not know how I have assigned these points or what powers your character has.


Acceptable Source Material
Main 2e source book plus material from other books on request.

Any additional information or requirements
I am completely open to anyone unfamiliar with MnM. It is a d20 game, pretty easy to pick up and I am happy to help.

Posting rate: I would like you to say what posting rate you intend to keep. To keep things flowing I will try to match the players based on their intended posting rates, at least at the start of the game. I ask for a minimum of 2 posts per week.

If you are unable to post for any reason, or you would like to lower your posting rate please let me know. Failure to let me know could be interpreted as you having chosen to leave the game.