Fiction Friday - Cuesta Sword Saint

Yaffa Gamila Cuesta

Background & Origin: She is a mutant who has also had special combat training (her swordplay is practically Zen). She is a licensed chiropractor. She was born in Vine, a parallel Earth that developed a medieval fantasy setting. She has been on Earth about ten years and shows no signs of aging. She turned her therapy skills into a daytime profession.

She was born a beyond the edge of civilization. She was raised by her birth parents, who were serfs or servants of some noble. They are alive and well.

She has the following siblings:

• An older brother that still lives with her childhood caretakers;
• A younger brother that suffered grave misfortune, unjustly imprisoned for some crime;
• A younger sister that is dead, dying under mysterious circumstances;
• An older brother that bears her a grudge for some past transgression;
• An older sister that she still keeps in touch with, but they're not particularly close;
• An adopted younger sister that is dead, killed in an accident;
• A younger brother that she still keeps in touch with, but they're not particularly close. 

She has experienced the following important events:

• She made an enemy, a childhood foe who resurfaced. They're annoyed by her presence. They have ties to the criminal world or the black market. The hate springs from a criminal charge, justified or false;
• She obtained a pet, a supernatural creature of some kind; 
• An incapacitating accident left her laid up for several months; 
• She made an enemy, someone that worked for her. There's lots of yelling when they're around each other. They have some close family ties that give them minor clout. The hate springs from a criminal charge, justified or false; 
• Oops, pregnancy! Her partner left her behind; 
• She obtained a pet, a bizarre creature of some kind; 
• Working with performers developed her oratory skills and presence; 
• She became involved in a serious relationship that lasted at least a year. 

Combat Tactics: Her first action is Evasion, then it's all about the sword.

Personality Traits: sly, inspirational, arrogant.

She had been on Earth for ten years, and long enough to get clinical training and licensing. Despite that, she - like a lot of people it turns out - still hasn't really assimilated and retains a chronic “fish out of water” problem.

This makes her hesitant and risk-averse in situations not related to performing her clinical profession (fixing people, no problem, as long as someone else is reassuring her the paperwork is done) or combat (the same precision with pressure points, joint locks and weak spots that makes her a good healer also makes her a deadly killer - or was that the other way around?).

Appearance: 5’6”, 135 lbs.

She wears her hair long and flowing. She has many tattoos and only regrets not having more skin. Each tattoo represents a personal achievement of some kind, including service to her family and (back on Vine) noble lady.

Powers: She has exceptional endurance and superhuman speed, coordination and reaction time.

She has a magic sword, and has mastery with any kind of sword, or sword-like weapon.

Notes: This was random chargen. Turns out she is kind of a combat monster. She typically has three actions per turn, a crazy high chance of hitting her foes (with the sword), and can do enough damage to take many opponents out of the fight in one hit.

I'm thinking V&V is crazy flexible, but also crazy fragile and easy to “unbalance” in a lot of ways.

We reconciled this a bit by playing up (but not overplaying to the point is irritation) the “fish out of water” hesitation thing, giving other PCs some screen time when otherwise Yaffa’s crazy high attributes might have made her a natural star. Because, you know, I may be a strong and dominant personality, but I have more fun when everyone at the table has a chance to shine :)

I'm working on Living Legends and Mighty Protectors hacks, but both systems have better controls over runaway damage powers, so I'm not really happy yet with either hack.

Model Ryan Ashley Malarkey

Yaffa Gamila Cuesta - Villains & Vigilantes

Str 15, End 24, Int 13, Agl 27, Cha 23, 135 lbs., level 7

Basic Hits 3; Hit Mod. (1.4) (3.0) (1.1) (2.8) = 7.8936; Hit Points 24; Power 79; Move 66” ground; Carrying Capacity 390 lbs.; Basic HTH 1d6; Accuracy +5; Damage Mod. +3; Detect Hidden 16%; Detect Danger 20%; Heal 2.1; Inventing Points 9.1

Heightened Agility B: +14
Heightened Attack: Damage +7 with all attacks
Heightened Charisma A: +8
Heightened Endurance B: +15
Heightened Expertise: Attack +4 “to hit” with swords, such as her Special Weapon
Heightened Senses: She has infravision, ultrasonic hearing, and enhanced (though not superhuman) senses of smell and taste, +6% Detect Rolls
Special Weapon Device: Magic Sword, Attack HTH +5 “to hit,” Damage HTH +2d6, unique and virtually indestructible, plus see below.
Special Requirement (Weakness): The magic sword has its own requirements to keep its enchantment active, or it just works like a normal sword.
Training: Attack +2 “to hit” with unarmed HTH, Attack +2 “to hit” with Special Weapon

Stormguard, Bringer of the Crown
Weapon: broadsword
Alignment: good
Wielded By: a specific bloodline
Look: seems to blur when moved
Fame: hardly known
Quirk: none
Main Effect: can blind opponents
Secondary Effect: gives the wielder semi-prophetic dreams
Restriction: can only be used by females
Restriction: gives the wielder mood swings
Current Status: undefined
Created: in secret
Created: to save a realm
Draws Power From: past triumphs

Combat Summary:
Unarmed: Attack HTH +7 “to hit,” Damage 1d6+10 or 3d8 (avg 13.5)
Sword: Attack HTH +16 “to hit,” Damage 3d6+10 or 3d12+1 (avg 20.5)

Boilerplate Stuff

Model  Ryan Ashley Malarkey. Character by I.A. Riley, July, 2017.

Document Copyright (C) 2017 by I.A. Riley. All rights reserved. Portions Copyright others; no attempt is made to infringe upon their rights.

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