Heartache

“Surely a big, strong, handsome man wouldn’t stoop so low as to hurt a defenseless woman, would you?“

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Real Name: Claire Dawn

Aliases: Stephanie Raymond

Threat Level: Gamma-P

Age: 24

Height: 6 feet

Weight: 132 lbs.

Native Language: English

Occupation: CORE operative, model

Base: None

Once a New York-based model whose star was rapidly rising, that star fell when she was blacklisted under a veil of secrecy. It was rumored that she used sex to help negotiate contracts, something not all that strange for the modeling world, but she apparently took it to extremes.) Claire used the powers she had always hidden from her friends and family to get even with her hypocritical accusers, making her a fugitive. CORE found her soon after and gave her a chance to strike back. As Heartache, she would have her revenge against a world that had set the game’s rules and then punished her for getting caught playing.

Stamina: 10

Abilities

Prowess                  Good                                   5
Coordination        Average                              3
Strength                 Poor                                     2
Intellect                  Average                              3
Awareness            Great                                   6
Willpower             Amazing                            8

Specialties

Performance (Acting)—Expert
Performance (Dancing)—Master
Performance (Singing)

Powers

Heartbreaker: Blast

Amazing              8
Extras: Level Duration, Mental Blast 5
Limits: Concentration, Males Only

Psychic Barrier: Force Field

Amazing              8

Psychic Senses: Super-Senses

Average                3
Enhanced Detect Psionics, Psychometry
Extra: Danger Sense 3

Psychic Shield: Mental Resistance

Amazing              8

Qualities

Fight the Patriarchy!
Persecution Complex
She’s Got the Look

Appearance

Tall, buxom, blue-eyed, and blonde, to say that Heartache is stunningly beautiful would be an injustice. Her costume displays CORE’s standard blue and white, but she has added some red highlights and lining “for color.”

Behavior

Claire is a vindictive woman who will do whatever it takes to get what she wants, holding little remorse for anyone who stands in her way. She resents the way men tend to view her—as a sex object—while at the same time acknowledging the power that her charm and beauty grant her. She detests chauvinism and will go to great lengths to harm such men.

Heartache believes men are out to get her—to keep her down and suppress her superiority—for no other reason than because she is a woman. She filters her interactions and relationships through this perception, which can easily and quickly drive her to anger and vengeance.

Powers & Abilities

Her psychic abilities include mental defenses, a psychic force field, and a psychic blast. However, Heartache’s primary attack is her ability to induce cardiac arrest in men.

Besides the edge she brings to the battlefield, her beauty, skill with makeup, and intense charm make Heartache a natural for covert intelligence operations.

Strategy & Tactics

Heartache will use her beauty and “innocent, weak woman” routine to get male opponents to lower their guard long enough for her to use her psychic talents. She will use every bit of her beauty and feminine guile to gain what she wants, including the advantage in combat. She despises the people this tactic works on because they reduce her to little more than a sex object.

Enmities & Alliances

Heartache is (mostly) loyal to CORE. This relationship is justifiable in her mind because she believes Center is a woman (and thus would not be able to retain the organization’s allegiance were the truth known.) She will take orders from whoever is in charge of a mission, but only reluctantly if it is a man (usually the case.)

Animosity tends to spring up between Heartache and female superheroes with strong, public ties to men. This is especially true of female heroes in male-led groups or those in romantic relationships with male superheroes.

Caper Ideas

The following may give Gamemasters ideas on incorporating Heartache into their game.

Heartbreak City

Something has enabled Heartache to drastically boost her abilities, allowing her to use her Heartbreak power over an entire city block. As time goes on, the power continues to get more powerful, giving it an increasingly wider area of effect. In another 24 hours or so, she can use it over a whole city!

If this was not of concern enough, the strain on Heartache mounts as her abilities become more potent. This makes her increasingly prone to uncontainable fits of rage, headaches (and eventually, nose bleeds), and an inability to control her powers. Something must be done quickly before an insane Heartache gives all the city’s men heart attacks.

Only a Fool Gives Away Her Heart

Heartache has ignored her own rule and fallen in love. This could be a good thing, possibly undermining her motivation to be a man-killer, but there is one catch: she has fallen for a hero (ideally one of the player characters.) After an act of kindness from the hero, this villain’s cynical worldview was stripped from her eyes long enough to become enamored of her benefactor.

The Gamemaster may use this opportunity to cultivate a “star-crossed lovers” scenario, or things could play out that neither can fully cast aside the rest of who they are, leaving their love to idle in limbo. Worse yet, however, would be a situation where the hero does not return Heartache’s feelings (or does, but a tragic breakup results), an outcome that would undoubtedly send Heartache on a rampage.