National-tier Power Level, Alien Theme, Masks sheet
Bluescreen
The tormented recipient of an alien civilization's total knowledge“Get behind me. They can’t get through what I can do.”
Science student Lewis Carter was visiting a new observatory which used virtual reality to give the user a cosmic point of view. During his visit, the system caught a massive burst of energy. A dying civilization, long distant in space and time, had encoded their collective wisdom in the burst, in the hope someone else would intercept it and thereby remember them. The entire archive of konwledge, channeled through the VR interface, engraved itself into Lewis’ brain.
He tore off the apparatus, babbling wildly. As the observatory staff tried to calm him down, he tore apart machinery, and used the pieces to build an ultra-tech tool just so he could explain himself clearly. The staff were impressed - and terrified.
Lewis was given a clean bill of health, at least physically. He was prone to fits, wherein he’d feel compelled to express his knowledge somehow - creating alien devices, performing mysterious art pieces, or weirder displays. He could manifest the remnants of the cosmic energy itself as some kind of Cherenkov radiation. It let him create and shape fields of force into sophisticated patterns, from barriers to bubbles to more advanced constructs.
Lewis has taken up the mantle of superhero under the name “Bluescreen”. There’s a fire burning in his brain, pulsing like the heartbeat of a star, threatening to burn its way out through his skill. This way, living a life full of adventure and action, he reasons he can keep himself - and those around him - alive longer.
Playing Bluescreen
Bluescreen’s motivation is to express his inherited alien knowledge before it kills him. His body and mind are pressure cookers for whatever the aliens gave him, and he feels compelled to relieve that pressure however he can. There’s no sitting around or doing nothing for him, even when he really should be recuperating from one of his episodes.
Plots
- Build and/or use a new alien gadget
- Put obscure interstellar knowledge to use
- Achieve control over your own powers
Dialogue
“You’re not going anywhere!”
“I don’t want to use force to stop you. Please, please, can we not let it go that far?”
“Look, I’m okay, I’m just - um knaaka knakt - serhaib! - Augh!”
Comic Book Panels
A gang armed with automatic weapons open fire, only for the bullets to bounce off a glowing blue force wall! Bluescreen, holding out a hand, gestures, and the force wall becomes a cylinder, trapping the gang in place.
Bluescreen creates an enormous spherical force field in the sky, then shrinks it down, highly compressing the air inside. He directs the now-tiny sphere into a pack of enemies and releases it. The compressed air explodes outward, knocking everyone off their feet.
In the middle of a fight, Lewis clutches his head and starts screaming incoherent syllables. Multi-colored energies begin to rise from his body like steam. His fellow heroes waver between rushing to him to help, and fleeing to escape a possible explosion.
Background
When did you first use your powers?
When the beam hit, I immediately started babbling. The scientists on scene were alert enough to start recording it. It was astronomical knowledge, but it came with a bunch of innovative something-or-other. I tore apart the observatory’s equipment to build a device, just so I could explain what I was talking about. They were impressed. But they were honestly terrified too.
Who was the first person you accidentally hurt with your powers?
It’s not just knowledge. It’s inventions, and sometimes just explosions of cosmic energy that come out of nowhere. I was showing off one of those inventions when a burst happened. Dr. Dyson, the creator of the observatory’s telescope, was badly burned by gamma radiation. He’s going to eventually recover, but it got bad. That’s when they brought in another guy to watch out for me.
Who, outside the team, helps you control your powers?
Professor Pulsar, a scientist and reformed supervillain, was put in charge of me after Dr. Dyson got hurt. e’s really the only one who understands what it’s like to be me, to have all this, but I’m not sure if I trust what he’s doing with it…
Why do you continue to use your powers?
If I don’t, it’s going to burn out of me, like a fire inside my head.
Why do you care about the team?
Maybe they can help me control this. If they can’t, maybe they can survive me.
The Nova
Hero Name: Bluescreen
Real Name: Lewis Carter
Look: Man, White, marked skin, fashionable clothing Abilities: Cosmic energies (a civilization’s collected knowledge encoded in cosmic radiation)
Labels: Danger +1, Freak +2, Savior +0, Superior +1, Mundane -1
When our team first came together: We destroyed our surroundings in the fight. Where was it? What did we destroy?
TBD
Relationships:
- You hang out all the time with TBD to blow off steam.
- You once hurt TBD when you lost control of your power
Influence: Locked down facade; give Influence to one teammate
Nova Flares
Lewis’s extraordinary knowledge and latent cosmic energy sometimes manifest in weird ways. He’s learned to shape his latent energy into blue-hued fields of force.
- Constructs (shaping force fields into complex patterns)
- Moat: (erecting a force-field barrier)
- Overcharge: (letting the torrent of cosmic energy flow)
- Elemental Awareness: (unexpected and painful insights into a situation, seen through alien eyes)
Variations
Health
- The cosmic radiation that struck Lewis may be more or less harmful than feared. It may threaten Lewis’ life, forcing him to choose between the power and his lifespan - or it may be a hazard to those around him, forcing him into isolation.
- The cosmic burst may have had other effects besides knowledge. For example, it might somehow transform Lewis into a member of the alien species.
Tragedy and Hope
- Will Lewis’ use of the alien knowledge and technology lead to a repeat of whatever disaster doomed the aliens?
- Conversely, could the aliens be brought back somehow? Or are some still alive, perhaps as fellow heroes, villains, or travelers?
Jealousy and Danger
- Who wants to use Lewis’ inventions? Who won’t ask permission?
- Lewis already struggles to control his own powers and his own mind. The aliens’ knowledge didn’t include humans, and may not account for their needs. What if what he makes is inherently dangerous? Will he do it anyway, for the knowledge to have an outlet?