<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Dr. John C. Malta</div><div class="spoiler_body">In a world where the exceptional is commonplace, and supers of all kinds and moralities pop up seemingly at randomly, a supra-genius boy who graduated with multiple doctoral degrees when most of his peers were in Middle School is not quite the international headline grabber it would be in a more mundane world. An orphan of unknown origin, dropped off at the door of a church by a shadowy figure that vanished into the night, his infancy was unremarkable in a world where that sort of thing is quite commonplace, but once his towering intellect began to manifest he was quickly adopted by the wealthy Malta family. <br/><br/>At fourteen years old, after completing his first doctorate, the now Dr. John C. Malta began interning with various Super Scientists and other tech and/or magic based heroes. A very competent minion, he has worked in labs from Manila to the Moon. Due to his own inventions, family fortune, and the profitability of working for the greatest magical and scientific minds of the universe, he quickly built up a substantial wealth independent of his parents. <br/><br/>His cocky, arrogant disposition, complete confidence in his superiority, lack of regard for social niceties, and impatience with the idiotic masses made him a rather impossible person to deal with throughout most of his life. He alienated all those close to him, except his parents, with his utter contempt of all life that was not his own. Coupled with a disregard for most authorities, and a general misanthropy, he was well on his way to being a potential supervillain. Then his sixteenth birthday came, and his entire personality changed. He became humble, subdued, polite, and quiet. He redoubled his efforts, submersing himself completely in work, afraid to be caught idle for even a second, stopping even sleeping. Sometimes, he could be caught muttering to himself, or in heated argument with unseen powers. All in all, he acted rather suspiciously, but as he had become a model employee, people figured it was just one of those eccentricities superpowered individuals sometimes have, and promoted him to his current position.<br/><br/>Now a little past eighteen, Dr. John Christian Malta stands 5’6” and weighs about 110lbs. With golden blond hair, and hypnotically blue eyes, he would be incredibly good looking if he did not chronically skip meals and sleep, resulting in a willow-thin slip of a man with perpetual bags around his eyes. He is currently working with the other heroes in a support role, fixing items (and people), creating devices, filing paperwork, and hosting people at his country estate. Since his personality has changed so much for the better when dealing with others, he has gained a few female admirers (he is as good-looking as is normal for a superhero, in his geeky way, not to mention a multi-millionaire with a very nice house), but he has stridently avoided anything with the merest hint of sensuality.<br/><br/><strong>Basic Ability Scores:</strong> 36pp<br/><em>Strength:</em> -1  <em>Stamina:</em> -1  <em>Agility:</em> -1  <em>Dexterity:</em> 3<br/><em>Fighting:</em> -1  <em>Intellect:</em> 16  <em>Awareness:</em> 2  <em>Presence:</em> 1   <br/>Most of the time John Malta is a hyper-genius but otherwise rather ordinary teenager with the pitiful physical stats one would expect of an untrained, scrawny, glasses-wearing nerd.<br/><br/><strong>Defenses:</strong> 0pp<br/><em>Dodge:</em> -1  <em>Parry:</em> -1  <em>Fortitude:</em> -1<br/><em>Will:</em> 4  <em>Toughness:</em> -1  <em>Initiative</em> -1<br/>John C. Malta has no formal combat training. He prefers to avoid fights.<br/><br/><strong>Skills:</strong> 3pp<br/><em>Expertise: Magic</em>: +2  <em>Technology:</em> +2 <em>Treatment:</em> +2 <br/>As a Jack of all Trades, John Malta usually just relies on his pure ability scores for his skills, but he has a few ranks in magic, technology, and treatment from his research.<br/><br/><strong>Advantages:</strong> 24pp<br/><em>Artificer, Connected, Contacts, Eidetic Memory, Improvised Tools, Inventor, Jack-of-All-Trades, Ritualist, Trance</em> <br/><em>Benefit:</em> 5 Ranks: Multi-Millionaire, Ambidextrous<br/><em>Equipment:</em> 5 Ranks<br/><em>Language:</em> 3 Ranks: English, German, Welsh, Latin, Japanese, Tagalog, and Chinese.<br/><em>Skill Mastery:</em> 2 Ranks: <em>Expertise: Magic</em> and <em>Technology</em><br/>Dr. Malta has many perks borne of his research and hobnobbing around the world.<br/><br/><strong>Powers:</strong> 37pp<br/><em>Spellcaster:</em> Magic, 10 Ranks (20pp). Alternate Affects: Create, Mental Communications, Selective Environment Control, Force Field, Healing, Move Object, Sleep, Summon, Teleport. (9pp)<br/>Dr. Malta is a technomage. He can create a number of magical events, one at a time. Most of them are rather limited, and used more for work convenience than actual combat.<br/><br/><em>Hovering:</em> Flight, 4 Ranks (8pp).<br/>Technically one of his spells, this is the only one that he can cast at the same time as another one.<br/><br/><em>Rapid Calculation and Construction:</em> Quickness, 6 Ranks (6pp).<br/>Dr. Malta is very fast and efficient.<br/><br/><em>Insomniac</em> Immunity (Sustained), 1 Rank (1pp).<br/>Dr. Malta does not sleep. This is not a pure immunity, as he suffers exhaustion and distress for not sleeping, but nothing that seriously impedes him. This is a well-known facet of working with him.<br/><br/><em>Machine Empathy</em> Comprehend Machines, 2 Ranks (4pp).<br/>Dr. Malta can understand the machines he works with. He would be a pretty poor technomage otherwise.<br/><br/>PL 8, 110pp. <br/><br/><strong>Equipment:</strong> 25 Points.<br/><em>Crossroads Manor</em><br/>Size: Huge. Toughness: 10. Features: Communications, Computer, Defense System, Garage, Gym, Hangar, Infirmary, Laboratory, Library, Living Space, Personnel, Power System, Security System, Transport (Teleporter), Workshop.<br/>As a very rich man, Dr. Malta has a very nice house. He has a number of mundane vehicles, but nothing he uses as part of his job, especially since he commutes using the teleporter. • 20 Points.<br/><em>Undercover Shirt</em>: Tough and resistant to ballistics, this is part of the basic uniform for a technician. • 2 Points.<br/><em>Multitool</em>: Faster than improvising • 1 Points <br/><em>Cellphone</em>: Useful for calling people and accessing his home computer’s files • 2 Points<br/><br/>Motivation: Keeping busy. Dr. Malta seems to mostly work with the heroes for the sake of having something to do. Superheroes have the best tech, labs, spells, and research resources, so working with them is quite natural for a neutral party whose keen mind requires complex stimulation.<br/><br/>Secrets: A whole pile of them, encompassing 50pp. See spoiler.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">The Hospitaller</div><div class="spoiler_body"><div class="floatleft">(https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6114/6272234623_7b7879e216_z.jpg)</div>The truth of Dr. Malta’s sudden personality transformation on his sixteenth birthday was that a ghostly, winged woman calling herself ‘The Sealed Valkyrie’ appeared to him on this day, explaining that his true heritage was that of a child of the Otherworld, Faerie, mixed with the blood of humanity. Though by itself that ancestry was not even close to being unique, dozens of superheroes and supervillains can claim the same, somehow, his blood uniquely allowed her to communicate and empower him. Initially, Dr. Malta was reluctant to obey her, as he did not know who she really was, or what her true goals were, not helped by her evasive answers to any such questions. But by dint of persuasion, offers of immortality and power, and explanation that he had been promised to her even before his birth, and that any promise to a Fae power like her was unbreakably binding (meaning that she could force him if she wanted to) Dr. Malta finally decided to accept her powers, and the limitations along with them.<br/><br/>Said limitations are incredibly strict. Sealed Valkyrie had apparently been mostly inactive since about the time of the Crusades, and drew much of her morality and codes of actions and ethos from a particularly narrow, limiting form of medieval theological thought borne of a bizarre mixture of ancient moralism and bloodthirsty ‘justice’. Her final goals unknown, Sealed Valkyrie will pester Dr. Malta to do many things he finds rather unpleasant, such as executing anyone who would have earned death in Medieval Europe (a lot of them), in additional to behaving according to the chivalrous ideal at all times. Since keeping very busy, with very little sleep or downtime, helps to prevent her from goading him into near-homicidal fits of sinner-smiting, he is forced to keep busy.<br/><br/>So far, Dr. Malta has avoided ever using his Hospitaller alter-ego, and the existence of these powers is an absolute secret, known only by Dr. Malta (who does not want anyone to know) and Sealed Valkyrie (who cannot tell anyone).<br/><br/><strong>Powers</strong> 50pp<br/><em>Medium</em> Comprehend Spirits, (Limited): 2 Ranks (2pp)<br/>Dr. Malta can communicate with ghosts and other spiritual entities, mostly Sealed Valkyrie, normally invisible to even other mediums. Usually he can only communicate with her, but occasionally she broadens his sight. This is not even close to being a regular occurrence, however, being randomly at her whim.  <br/><br/><em>Fae Body</em> Immunity: 6 Ranks – Age, Disease, Poison, Radiation, Heat, Cold – (6pp), Regeneration (Limited): 8 Ranks (4pp).<br/>Dr. Malta, as an immortal fae, has massive resistance to a lot of common human problems, such as age. He regenerates most normal damage very quickly, but is allergic to iron. He takes damage from merely touching iron, and does not regenerate wounds caused by iron weapons. Steel is fine though, it is only more pure forms of iron, especially Cold Iron (iron ore that has not been fully smelted, only beaten into shape) that burn him with a mere touch.<br/><br/><em>Fae Speech</em> Comprehend Languages and Writing (Limited): 3 Ranks (4pp)<br/>Dr. Malta can instantly understand, speak, and write all spoken and written languages, by means of his access to the Faerie tongue. There is a tradeoff though: he is unable to lie in any language. If he manages to overcome an incredibly steep Will DC to force himself to lie, he instantly loses all access to this power until Sealed Valkyrie sees fit to return it to him. <br/><br/><em>Valkyrie Resurrection</em> Immortality (Limited): 5 Ranks (5pp)<br/>Since Sealed Valkyrie does not want her chosen champion (the only person who can see or hear her) to die, she uses her powers to resurrect him after about a day of death. This resurrection cannot be prevented by destroying his corpse, but can be prevented by beheading him (provided the both the head and the corpse is still in existence, if it is not, then see the part about ‘destroying the corpse’) or by leaving any iron implements embedded in his chest or head. In theory, he can be permanently killed by destroying Sealed Valkyrie (provided she is real and not the manifestation of Dr. Malta’s severe psychosis), though how one would go about killing a dreamlike, hallucinatory, incorporeal, intangible, invisible being is a mystery.<br/><br/><em>Crusader Form</em> All descriptions here have the (Limited) and (Activated) modifiers.<br/>Growth: 1 Rank (1pp)<br/>Enhanced Advantages: 6 Ranks – Attractive 2, Improved Initiative 2, Evasion, Uncanny Dodge – (2pp), Enhanced Abilities: 30 Ranks – Strength 5, Stamina 3, Agility 4, Dexterity 1, Fighting 7, Awareness 5, Presence 5. (15pp) Fortitude: 4 Ranks (2pp)<br/>This is Dr. Malta’s real power: a superpowered alter ego called The Hospitaller, meant for the smiting of the unjust and the destruction of the unholy. It takes a long time to activate and access to it is dependent purely on The Sealed Valkyrie’s whims. Dr. Malta must occasionally make Will saves to prevent from going into homicidal levels of righteous rage against lawbreakers and evildoers. Since he is bigger and older-looking in this form, he has a tendency to rip out of his clothes. This is not usually a problem, since he can instantly summon armour. It can be embarrassing when he leaves the form and loses access to the summoned armour, however...<br/><br/><em>Crusader Armaments</em> All descriptions here have the (Limited) Modifiers.<br/>Ranged Damage (Holy): 8 Ranks (4pp), Alternate Effect: Damage (Holy): 8 Ranks (1pp), Protection: 6 Ranks (3pp), Parry: 2 Ranks (2pp).<br/>As part of his Crusader Form, and only when in his Crusader Form, The Hospitaller can summon spectral armaments. Though they look like normal armor and weapons (Full plate armour, bow and arrows, sword and shield, sweet black tunic with a white cross…) they are actually manifestations of his powers, summoned and removed at will as long as he is in the Crusader Form.<br/><br/><strong>Hospitaller Stats</strong><br/><em>Strength:</em> 4  <em>Stamina:</em> 2  <em>Agility:</em> 3  <em>Dexterity:</em> 4<br/><em>Fighting:</em> 6  <em>Intellect:</em> 16  <em>Awareness:</em> 7  <em>Presence:</em> 6<br/><br/><em>Dodge:</em> 3  <em>Parry:</em> 8  <em>Fortitude:</em> 2<br/><em>Will:</em> 7 <em>Toughness:</em> 8  <em>Initiative:</em> 11<br/><br/>The Hospitaller stands 6’6”, with over 200 lbs. of muscle. His hair turns white, and his eyes glow purple. With Dr. Malta’s looks improved by not being a short, under-muscled, under-fed, exhausted nerd: he is incredibly good looking.<br/><br/><strong>Complications</strong><br/>Motivations: The Hospitaller is dedicated to justice, protecting the innocent, punishing the wicked, etc.<br/><br/>Power Incontinence: Dr. Malta does not have very good control over his powers, especially the way they warp his personality. He can slip into the Hospitaller alter-ego against his will, or completely loss access to it at inconvenient times. The exact reasons are not always clear, but he is more likely to go into the form when evil is committed around him, and he usually loses access when he does something to upset Sealed Valkyrie.<br/></div></div></div></div>