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Mahmoud Fassal was a latchkey kid, his mother workedmultiple undocumented jobs to keep a roof over theirheads. Mahmoud hated being cooped up at home orschool and he loved being out on the streets, on skates,boards, bikes, or anything else that helpedhim move faster than his feet allowed.Mahmouds cares melted awaywhen he felt the wind on his faceand he could forget his mothercrying when she didnt think hewas watching.

Those carefree times endedin a screech of tires and thesickening crunch of metalagainst flesh. The car didnteven bother to slow downwhen it hit Fassal. When theambulance got him to ahospital, Mahmoud was ina coma the doctors said hewould never recover from,his spine shattered and

his body was incapable ofsurviving long on its own. To make matters even worse,the police who investigatedthe accident discoveredInika Fassal, Mahmoudsmother, was an illegalimmigrant. The INSwas less than sym-pathetic withInika sinceshe was from

a countrylabeled aterrorist-stateand deportedher. Mahmoud couldnt be moved andbecame a ward of the state, and wouldhave remained such if Motherboardhadnt found the boy.

She abducted Mahmoudand plugged him into herHard Light Isomorphic Con-

struct, or HLIC, system. He awoke to

find himself in a new form that gave him all the speed hecould ever want, and he has been joyously thankful to hisbenefactor ever since.

PERSONALITY

Pulse is young, exuberant, and loves his newfoundfreedom. After being confined to a paralyzed body, hes

reveling in his new abilities. He loves nothingmore than the elation he feels while flying

and takes every opportunity to indulge inbeing freed from the shackles of gravity.He almost never lands and clearly prefersbeing airborne whenever possible.

Young and a bit headstrong, Pulse hasto consciously rein in his tendencyto move first and think second. Hesvery proud of his speed and is happyto race anyone willing to accept hischallenge.

POWERS & ABILITIES

Fassals consciousness is pro- jected into a humanoid-shaped

hard light construct. This body isprotected against most damagethat can affect a living body,

but it also lacks detail and truehuman appearance. While his

HLIC isnt as versatile as Rezor Digital Demons, Pulses

body allows him to fly atincredible speeds. Further,

Pulse possesses greatresistance to kinetic

transfer such as

high-speed impacts.

ALLIES

Pulses primary alliesare the rest of the Cy-

bertribe.

ENEMIES

Arwin Kessler would like to

see Pulse just as dead as hewants the rest of the Tribe.

PULSEREAL NAME: Mahmoud FassalOCCUPATION: Professional Thief BASE: Mobile

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PULSE PL10STR STA AGL DEX FGT INT AWE PRE

1 --- 6 3 6 1 1 2

POWERS

Freedom of Movement: Enhanced Advantage (ImprovedInitiative 4); Flight 12 (8,000 mph); Immunity 5 (ImpactDamage from Collisions; Limited to half-effect);Insubstantial 1 36 points

Integrated Navigation: Senses 8 (Communications Link (withteam HQ), Detect team HQ (Extended 4, Radius), DirectionSense) 8 points

Solid Energy Form: Immunity 30 (Fortitude effects);Impervious Protection 6; Regeneration 5 (Source Electricity) 45 points

SKILLS

Acrobatics 6 (+12), Deception 6 (+8), Perception 4 (+5),Persuasion 4 (+6), Technology 4 (+5)

ADVANTAGES

Agile Feint, Close Attack, Evasion, Improved Defense, ImprovedInitiative 4, Language (Farsi), Redirect, Seize Initiative

OFFENSE

INITIATIVE +22

Slam Attack+7 Close, Damage 13

Unarmed +7 Close, Damage 1

DEFENSE

DODGE 14 FORTITUDE Immune

PARRY 10 TOUGHNESS 6

WILL 7

POWER POINTS

ABILITIES 30 SKILLS 12

POWERS 89 DEFENSES 18

ADVANTAGES 7 TOTAL 156

COMPLICATIONS

Disability: Pulse suffers from debilitating medical problemsthat would kill him within hours of being removed from his lifesupport unit.MotivationSafety : Ultimately, Pulse wants to remain safeand alive. Nothing is more important to him than his and hisfriends lives.

Relationship : The Cybertribe is Pulses family and he is fiercelyprotective of them.

PURSUIT CHALLENGES

One type of challenge ( Heros Handbook, page 185) common for foes like Pulse is pursuit: the difficulty isnt in defeatingthe foe, but catching him!

A pursuit essentially works like any other challenge in that the pursuer must acquire a number of degrees of successbefore three or more degrees of failure. For a standard pursuit, the required degree of success is three as well, althoughthe GM may modify this depending on circumstances.

The traits used in a pursuit challenge are typically those involving maneuverability (Acrobatics or Vehicles), knowledgeof the terrain (Expertise), and so forth, although players can potentially find uses for traits like Deception, Stealth, and

various power effects. A key element is movement speed rank: characters within one rank of each other have no modifierto their challenge checks. Two ranks of difference gives the character with the higher rank a +2 circumstance bonus, whilethree or more ranks of difference gives the character with the higher rank a +5 circumstance bonus.

Example: Pulse (Flight 12) is leading Ultramarine and Kid Robot (both Flight 7) on a merry chase through the skyscrapersof downtown Emerald City. The GM declares a pursuit challenge to catch the fleeing Cybertribe member. Pulse has morethan three ranks advantage in speed over the heroes, gaining a +5 circumstance bonus on checks for the challenge.

Round one, the GM rolls an Acrobatics check for Pulse, getting a 28 result (a roll of 11 + Acrobatics of 12 + circumstancebonus of 5). Ultramarines player suggests an Expertise: West Coast skill check, but the GM says her skill is more related tothe actual coastline than the downtown area. She suggests a Perception skill check instead. She rolls a 10 for a result of 18.Thats 10 less than Pulses check, or two degrees of failure. Ultramarine is quickly falling behind. Kid Robots player suggestsan Expertise: Science check to calculate the appropriate vectors, and the GM agrees. He rolls an 18 for a 26 result! Its onlyone degree of failure, so Kid Robot manages to stay closer to Pulse.

The following round, Pulses check is only a 22 result (a roll of 5 + 12 + 5). Ultramarine gets another 18 and the final degreeof failure means she drops out of the pursuit. Kid Robot, on the other hand, rolls well: a 20 for a critical success! That giveshim a result of 28, two degrees of success, plus the critical increases it one more. Kid Robots vectored shortcut around acluster of buildings puts him in just the right place to intercept Pulse as he mockingly glances back at Ultramarine. Nowthe Kid needs to modulate his force field to contain Pulses energy form....

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System Reference Document , Copyright 2000, Wizards ofthe Coast, Inc., Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook,Skip Williams, based on original material by E. GaryGygax and Dave Arneson.

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Mutants & Masterminds Threat Report #10: Pulse,Copyright 2011, Green Ronin Publishing, LLC; AuthorAaron Sullivan.

Mutants & Masterminds Threat Report #10: Pulse

Writing and Design: Aaron Sullivan

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Mutants & Masterminds Threat Report #10: Pulse is 2011

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