Day 21: Doctor Larceny (for B.A.S.H.)

Doctor Verity quickly realized that the team needed a thief. Someone who could deal with security measures quickly and without fuss. Doctor Babylon suggested Larceny (Verity bestowed the honorary doctorate). Larceny, Babylon argued, was ideal for the task as he is usually not behind bars (too difficult to keep in, too harmless to put in MetaMax). “Besides the man’s a pacifist” Babylon added with a smile. 

It is true that Larceny (real name Keith Anders) doesn’t have a violent bone in his skinny frame. He’d rather turn tail, which he is good at. 

His extraordinary skill with theft and stealth is the result of something a few eggheads call a probabilistic mutation. Certain people of Gen Z and forward seem to buck probability in certain narrow but consistent ways. Too limited to really be considered a superpower, but significantly off the curve. The existence of probabilistic mutations is not generally accepted by any branch of science. 

Keith was the fourth of six children, and grew up in a ramshackle Baltimore rowhouse. His father was a construction worker, but supplemented his pay with some light theft. His mother was a school secretary at St. Jean-Baptiste Elementary School (where the Anders kids were enrolled). Keith found that he was good at shirking responsibilities, even if they came back with a vengeance sooner or later. Still, being overlooked when you want to is pretty neat for a kid. For a while Keith had ‘friends’ who only seemed to stay around when he stole stuff for them. This even included a “girlfriend”, Bronwen, if only briefly. It left Keith slightly suspicious of people’s motivations. 

Keith never saw the inside of juvie, but a sharp-eyed local super, the Inner Harbor Eagle, caught him casually driving off with a pallet of gaming consoles. Keith did not learn the intended lesson from this, but rather realized that he had to supplement his gift with a bit of training and elbow grease. He started reading about security systems, CCTVs and state-of-the-art locks. Then he started building a small empire. Keith often had to rebuild, partly due to serious people who wanted him to work for them, partly due to attracting new hangers-on. 

Keith was caught twice more, once by being daubed in by a fair-weather friend, once by the semi-legendary detective John Elder. 

He’s out as quickly as he was in though. Cameras develop brief glitches, guards notice a stain on their uniform just as he walks by, and a small brownout briefly unlocks the gate. 

Motivation: Now that he’s in the big leagues, things are looking up. Doctor Verity is clearly a genius, and she has hooked him up with some great gadgets. He’ll do all he can not to let her down. She’s kind, when she isn’t extremely scary. 

The others are a bit scary too, especially the bodybuilder and the bear guy. Doctor Babylon seems oddly familiar, which is a bit distracting. 

BRAWN 1 AGILITY 2+ MIND 3 (20 pts)

Defense x2, Mental Defense x3

Damage x1/x2(+3) Soak x1 (x2/x4)

100 hits

POWERS

Heightened Agility (Level 1) (1 pt)

Heightened gives Larceny a +3 Result Bonus to all rolls with Agility

Skillful (Level 2) (2 pts)

Larceny has 4 extra Skill Slots. . 

Luck Ninja (Level 1) (1 pt)

It isn’t so much that Larceny cannot be seen… it’s that nobody is looking when he  doesn’t want to be seen (maybe something distracting just happened and drew their attention away). Any difficulty of 30 or less on a Stealth/Hiding, Shadowing, Prowling, or Evading Security Cameras and Alarms Check automatically succeeds. Difficulties of greater than 30 require a roll, but he gets a +2 Multiplier Bonus.

Lucky Thief  (Level 1) (1 pt)

Larceny doesn’t think safes are so hard to crack. All he does is turn the knob three times and money comes out. Any difficulty of 30 or less on a Security/Cracking Safes, Picking Locks, or Disabling Security Cameras and Alarms Check automatically succeeds. Difficulties of greater than 30 require a roll, but he gets a +2 Multiplier Bonus.

Rocket Skates (Level 2) (2 pts)

This functions like Super Running 2 by creating a retractable pair of rocket-powered skates for Larceny  to ride. Larceny’s base movement speed becomes 5 Squares per point of Agility per Panel.

Limitation: This is an easily taken device. 

Utility Belt (Level 1) (1 pt)

This Power functions exactly like Conjuring, except that the largest object Larc can conjure would fill a 3-foot by 3-foot cube (once unfolded from its presumably compact state in the belt). Generally, the objects he has access to are hightech in nature.

Kevlar Vest (Level 1) (1 pt)

A vest that gives +1 Soak Multiplier, but gives a +3 Soak Multiplier vs. ballistics. Because it only covers the torso, it also has the Activation Limitation. 

Whenever Larceny is hit, roll 1d6; on a 1, the damage hits an unprotected area. Enemies can also make Called Shots to do the same

Skills: Physical: Athletics (Running), Stealth (Hiding, Evading Security Cameras and Alarms)

Mental: Security (Cracking Safes, Picking Locks, Disabling Security Cameras and Alarms), Streetwise (Shortcuts, Crime)

Advantages:

Dumb Luck: Once per Issue, you may re-roll any dice roll. You can re-use this ability for 3 Hero Points. 

Disadvantages: 

Non-Combatant: Keith is completely unskilled in combat. The character takes a -2 Dice

Penalty to all combat rolls, including Priority, To Hit, Damage, Defense, and Soak.