Phlebo Tony

Origin:

The abomination known as Phlebo Tony is a vampire, an undead entity that must consume the living blood of humans to survive. Most of his powers come from this supernatural state of being, though he has been further augmented by ABBREVIATION's occult technology.

Known Powers:

Agelessness: transformed into one of the undead on his forty-eighth birthday, Tony has appeared on the cusp of middle age ever since. He's embraced the nature of his appearance, unlike most men his apparent age, which is lucky for him since it won't ever change.

Biological Vampirism: killed by an undead monster using its vampiric power, Tony rose from the dead as one himself. He possesses this extremely limited power at Excellent (20) rank, which forces him to feed on the blood of other human beings to sustain his existence.

His victims are allowed a Psyche (will) ACTION to resist this power, the failure of which allows Tony to drain up to twenty ounces of blood from them, either replacing lost Health or bolstering his Strength, Endurance, Psyche, and all his non-vampiric powers by +1 CS for 1d100 turns.

Clinging: an unusual ability Tony inherited from the vampire that created him, this power allows him to mystically adhere himself to various surfaces. Tony can do this with Remarkable (30) ability, letting him clamber up walls and on ceilings with relative ease.

Damage Reduction: greatly bolstering his survival as an undead being, Tony is highly resistant to conventional assault. He benefits from 2 CS of damage reduction against both physical and vampiric assaults, forcing his foes to get creative whenever they face off against him.

Environmental Independence: while dependent on the living blood of human beings to live, Tony is otherwise free from the normal constraints a normal person needs to persist. He need not eat conventional food, drink water or similar liquids, or even breathe to continue.

Fangs: one of the obvious physical alterations he received from his undead forebear, Tony has pronounced canines at all times, though he does try to hide them when possible. He can use these personal weapons to inflict Edged Attack damage in melee, greatly aiding his vampirism.

Mesmerism: aiding his feeding, Tony can place others in a stupor upon catching their gaze. Working with Good (10) ability, this power allows Tony to entrance those who cannot pass a Psyche (will) ACTION against its rank, raised by +1 CS against those who fall to his vampirism.

Regeneration: assuming he's relatively well-fed, or not currently on fire, Tony has the ability to rapidly regenerate from physical injury. He possesses this supernatural power at Good (10) rank, allowing for the recovery of one lost Health point every turn.

Cybernetics:

Golemonic Arm: his arm ripped off by his vampiric assailant long before it actually fed on his blood, Tony rose from the grave missing it. As such, the alchemical craftsmen of ABBREVIATION replaced the missing appendage with this one, using blood Tony himself acquired for them.

This kiln-fired, blood-infused, ensorcelled clay limb replaced his lost left arm, starting just above the elbow. Blood red and glossy, this sinister prosthetic is equipped with a palm-mounted, fiery eldritch bolt emitter, which inflicts Remarkable (30) SD Energy damage.

Implant Psychosis Statistics: Feeble (2).

Limitations / Enhancements:

Curse of the Vampire: those that Tony exposes to his vampiric ichor via a bite and subsequently die will rise as a biological vampire themselves. Survivors that fail an Endurance (res) ACTION against his biological vampirism rank will die and come back as a ghoul, instead.

Implant Psychosis: though minimally augmented by ABBREVIATION's occult implants, Tony is nonetheless subject to how they alter his consciousness. If under duress, he must pass a Psyche (will) ACTION against his IPS or succumb to the murderous rage that drives him.

Languorous Without Home Soil: should he sleep during the day without being adjacent to several pounds of his home, Philadelphia soil, Tony suffers from languorousness. He cannot heal, whether through regeneration or feeding, until he corrects this geographical limitation.

Susceptibility and Weakness to Garlic: Tony can no longer stand garlic, which flies in the face of his upbringing. He is reduced to Feeble (2) in all ability scores and cannot use his vampiric powers in its presence, and will lose a quarter of his maximum Health if he ingests it.

Susceptibility to Direct Sunlight: especially vulnerable to sunlight, Tony will suffer the loss of half his maximum Health total every turn he is exposed to it. This can rapidly bring him to ruin, particularly if he's already suffered damage before this exposure occurs.

Susceptibility to Wooden Stakes: should Tony's heart be pierced with a wooden stake, which requires a Kill result in combat, he will immediately lose all of his remaining Health. If he fails a subsequent, red Endurance (res) ACTION, he will almost immediately crumble to dust.

Equipment:

Golemonic Breastplate: the product of his ABBREVIATION masters, this highly magical clay piece was forged using blood Tony himself collected for them. This partial armor provides his torso (front and back) Incredible (40) protection against physical and magical assault.

Smartphone: Tony carries two of these devices on him, one for his legal business and one for ABBREVIATION. The latter is secured via some sort of hocus pocus above and beyond mere biometrics, but both can transceive radio signals with Poor (4) ability (five mile range).

Quirks:

(none)

Talents:

Advanced Guns: though he does not wield any of ABBREVIATION's strange energy-based occult weaponry as of yet, Tony has been trained in its usage. When brandishing any such implements, Tony may do so as if his Agility score was +1 CS higher than is indicated above.

Business / Finance 2: even before falling to a vampiric assault, Tony was an exceptional businessman. He may add a +2 CS to any ACTION required of him when financing or managing a corporate concern, handling his money or that of others, or when seeking business opportunities.

Martial Arts type B: while ABBREVIATION's gun training didn't do much for him, their martial arts education makes Tony an especially deadly vampire. He may add a +1 CS to his Fighting score when attempting any unarmed melee attack, whether punching, kicking, or even biting a foe.

Military: though he's an ABBREVIATION ringleader, Tony had to undergo their own style of combat training, just like everyone else in the organization. This education allows him to effectively function in a combat group, whether or not it is as enhanced or as powerful as he is.

Contacts:

Liberated from the vampire that caused his undeath by ABBREVIATION, Tony is especially loyal to that occult terrorist organization. Before his transformation into vampire, however, he had grown a vast array of additional contacts in the business world that he can rely upon.

Costume:

While working in his public persona of a mild-mannered businessman, Tony almost exclusively wears a black suit jacket over a white, collared long sleeved shirt, black trousers, black leather shoes, a black leather belt, black gloves to hide his artificial arm, and a black tie.

As Phlebo Tony, he wears a long sleeved, black stretch fabric shirt under his golemonic vest and arm, a red leather glove on his good hand, a red leather belt holding up his black trousers with their red racing stripes, large red leather boots, and a large red cape with a black interior.

Personality:

Tony was forever changed after he was transformed into a vampire. He went from a quiet, reserved businessman to a loudly extroverted, almost campy individual. But then his sanity cracked after his change, as tends to happen, and this is how he copes with his new reality.

His undead nature and his bizarre magic implants constantly chew away at the competent persona Tony tries to convince others (and himself) he still possesses, however. He's usually just one inconvenience away from a mass murder spree, and as such keeps others at a far, far distance.

Real Name: Antonio 'Tony' Goegan
Occupation: businessman, terrorist
Legal Status: citizen of the United States with no known criminal record
Marital Status: divorced
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: ABBREVIATION

Height: 6' 2"
Hair: black
Eyes: brown
Weight: 210 lbs
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Tony possesses fangs thanks to his undead transformation, which he cannot retract. He makes a point of hiding them as best as he can, though he isn't always successful. His undeath also granted him considerably pale skin.

One of his most obvious ascendant properties, however, is his ensorcelled cybernetic implant. Made from blood-infused, mystically enhanced clay, it works like an ordinary hand despite being incredibly hard to the touch. It also possess a distressing, blood-red hue.

Story:

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Tony grew up loving food. Not in a hedonistic fashion so much as having a simple yearning to try every possible flavor he could get his hands on. He grew up to be an excellent chef, and even founded a successful online cooking supply business.

His life took a tragic turn when he was targeted by a particularly sadistic vampire one day. This undead horror assaulted Tony out of the blue, abducting him and milking him of his precious bodily fluids for over a month before finally striking him down with his vampiric powers.

Plundering his business accounts, this fiend then enthralled Tony to do his bidding for over a year. This lasted until the enemies of this vampiric monstrosity came calling, occult terrorists known as ABBREVIATION, who were furious that he didn't follow through with certain promises.

Seeing a potential ally in Tony, they approached him to help revenge themselves upon the vampire that ruined his life, and Tony eagerly played along. Though he couldn't act against him directly, Tony set the man up for a fall easily enough, ensuring his timely demise.

Finally free of this monster's influence, Tony asked the agents of ABBREVIATION what the other vampire did to offend them. They revealed that his would-be master had agreed to procure large amounts of the living human blood they required, but that he ultimately betrayed them.

Sensing an opportunity, Tony offered his own services in that regard. There were any number of blood banks and plasma services that could be used in such a fashion, and if Tony couldn't get his financial fingers into them, he could just build his own. This offer intrigued ABBREVIATION.

Running it up their chain of command, the agents on site informed Tony that they approved of his plan. Between his business acumen and their funding, Tony set up several blood-based services for the group, services he could use to skim the blood they needed 'off the top'.

Once they had a steady new supply of fresh human blood, ABBREVIATION invited Tony to formally join their organization, which he did. After all, they got him out of a jam, and helped him to set up a blood supply for himself as well, so why not? What else was he going to do?

Quickly ascending to a position of power within ABBREVIATION, Tony met their dedicated enemies soon enough: the military organization known as the Bullet Sponges. As highly effective individuals, Tony even found himself the target of several of its members' very specific ire.

Some hate him for religious reasons, others out of a sense of righteousness. But in particular, Tony found himself the target of Cowcatcher's special form of violence, the new Bullet Sponge considering the destruction of an augmented vampire to be a supreme challenge!

Legal Hoopajoob:

I offer my Costumed Adventurer Simulation Engine work under the Creative Commons Attribution license. You may use this material as you see fit in your own, derivative texts or products, whether copying, distributing, or displaying it, as long as you credit me within said works.

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