The Tournament of Mastafal is run by the mysterious Order of Mastafal, a secretive world-wide cult offering - very generally - self-improvement and spiritual renewal. The tournament schedule is irregular, being apparently based on alignments of the Earth with other celestial bodies and energy cycles. The Order of Mastafal carefully selects tournament combatants, generally by invite only, but some adventuring persons have successfully dropped in. In 2017, the order's Millennium City chapter is playing host.
Rewards
The following are rewards offered at the tournament
| Item
|
Description
|
| Flora
|
A synthetic life-form which survives by symbiosis. Plant-based in nature, its human hosts slowly began to develop plant-like traits and superhuman abilities. At most a host can last about two weeks, though, before Flora begins draining too many resources. It will then move to the first desirable host available to it. It also takes memories and powers from the previous host to its next host, but those are accessible only briefly.
|
| Sceptre of Akrakatos
|
This sceptre went missing in 1906. It was the symbol of royalty on a small Mediterranean city-state. After it went missing, the royal family remained in power, but according to the ancient rites and laws of the island, anyone bearing the sceptre becomes leader. Today, Akrakatos’s volcano is a testbed for experimental geothermal energy and mineral farming, and its location gives it some economic value for tourism. The US State department leaks in 2010 showed that some global powers view Akrakatos as having possible military strategic value.
|
| Potion of Resurrection
|
The sooner this potion is applied after death, the better. Don’t spill any.
|
| The Seed of Fortune
|
One of a few remaining seeds from an ancient Chinese city, of a fruit-bearing tree fabled to have given its governor and his family excellent luck. Luck by no means makes one invincible, and when raiders conquered the city and toppled the tree, it seemed that was the end of the good fortune it bestowed. Attempts to plant the seeds elsewhere yielded nothing, but, those who ate the seeds were seen to have incredible luck throughout the rest of their lives. Mystics confirm that magic does indeed permeate the seeds.
|
| The Alien Circuit
|
An ancient meteorite was discovered which contains the remains of ancient alien circuitry. It is encased in a skin of slag from when it crashed to earth, with the silvery circuitry of unknown origin partially protruding. While the Earth science lacks the foundational knowledge to comprehend the workings of the alien technology fully, an enterprising inventor could, with years of painstaking study and experimentation, apply concepts present in the alien technology to advance human technology.
|
| The Hover Bike
|
The Millennium City costumed crime-fighter called Red Spider encountered a parallel universe version of herself named Dread Spider, who was a deadly international assassin. At the end of their encounter, Red Spider claimed her counterpart's hover bike, and brought it into this world. The bike is nimble, can reach high speeds, and can be easily outfitted with weaponry. Its one-of-a-kind construction & other-worldly origin gives it some value.
|
| The Palette of Dorian Gray
|
A palette and collection of paints of assorted colors; when used to create a portrait of an individual, the subject becomes effectively immortal. All effects of age and injuries are transferred from the subject to the painting, causing the image to become increasingly ghastly to look upon. If the painting is destroyed, or if the subject ever looks at it, the bond will break, and the subject will suffer all transferred effects immediately as the portrait reverts to its original image.
|
| Voltaic Ring
|
Estimated to be very old, it was discovered at an archaeological digsite in Peru. It was due for study at a university in the UK, but somewhere along the line it was stolen. It has changed hands several times, its owners dying under 'mysterious' circumstances. Though there is not much mystery to a ring that can discharge electricity.
|
Combatants
|
|
BERIMBAU BEAT
Aliases: Rafael Luiz Lima (secret)
Home: Rio Branco, Brazil
Fighting Style: Capoeira, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, archery
Powers: Enhanced reflexes
Alignment: Neutral Good
Bio: Born with natural grace and superhuman reaction time, Rafael Lima trained hard to become a vigilante and avenge his murdered brother. The following years saw him lighten up considerably into the patriotic goofball he is today, and now he travels his country, helping anyone in need, accompanied by his own personal soundtrack blaring through his headphones.
This is Rafael's third tournament, having come across its existence during an investigation of a crime lord and his elite enforcers. He enjoys the competition, seeing it as a chance to cut loose, have fun, and hopefully make some friends, even being irritatingly amicable with the more villainous entrants.
|
| Combat |
6
|
| Agility |
6
|
| Durability |
3
|
| Reflexes |
5
|
| Strength |
3
|
| Willpower |
6
|
| Stamina |
3
|
|
|
|
BLACK MASK
Aliases: Jennifer Ward (secret)
Home: Vibora Bay, United States
Fighting Style: Taekwondo; street brawling
Powers: None
Alignment: Lawful Good
Bio: Jennifer Ward is the 10th to take the costumed identity of Black Mask after her ancestor, John Michael Ward, who fought in the War of Independence. For over two centuries, Black Masks cultivated the mystique that it might be the same immortal hero seen in action across the United States through various periods of time. Jennifer was the first woman to take up her family's tradition. Jennifer moved to Vibora Bay, Florida in order to distinguish herself in a new city.
Black Mask came upon the body of a counterfeiter who was brutally maimed, poisoned, and disposed of in the bay. The special poison used alerted Black Mask that a dangerous terrorist known as Scorpia, a member of EuroStar, had entered the United States through Vibora Bay's port, and obtained a fake ID. Black Mask was able to track Scorpia to Millennium City. There, Black Mask and her ally White Star learned of the tournament, and Black Mask was invited to join.
|
| Combat |
4
|
| Agility |
3
|
| Durability |
4
|
| Reflexes |
4
|
| Strength |
3
|
| Willpower |
4
|
| Stamina |
4
|
|
|
|
BLUE NINJA
Aliases: Unknown
Home: Unknown
Fighting Style: Ninjutsu, jujutsu, judo
Powers: None
Alignment: Unknown
Bio: This mysterious ninja warrior, clad in blue and only ever seen with his mask on, has joined the tournament. He speaks not a whisper, and is often meditating when not in competition. Some believe he is an assassin sent to execute one of the competitors. Others suggest he has his eye on the Order of Mastafal's vault, for he covets one of the treasures within. His motives are unclear, but his martial skill is undeniable.
|
| Combat |
7
|
| Agility |
7
|
| Durability |
5
|
| Reflexes |
6
|
| Strength |
6
|
| Willpower |
6
|
| Stamina |
5
|
|
|
|
BRIGADE
Aliases: Chad Riley (Known)
Home: Sydney, Australia
Fighting Style: Street brawling
Powers: Enhanced strength, durability, and regeneration
Alignment: Lawful Good
Bio: Australian Chad Riley was an ordinary labourer at the Sydney port, working for a shipping company. He was just a regular guy, wanting to enjoy his days off with a beer while watching a football match. One day, an overloaded rack crumbled and a poorly-stored container of unknown chemical fell on Chad. He feared he was being burned alive by acid, and his clothing felt suddenly constrictive...because he had actually grown in size and strength! Subjected to a battery of tests, nothing could be found wrong with him. He took on the costumed identity of Brigade, and just did what he could to be an upstanding citizen with his newfound powers.
The Order of Mastafal's Sydney chapter extended an invitation for Chad to join the tournament being held this year in Millennium City, promising him a chance to earn the respect of some of the world's greatest fighters.
|
| Combat |
3
|
| Agility |
3
|
| Durability |
6
|
| Reflexes |
2
|
| Strength |
7
|
| Willpower |
3
|
| Stamina |
6
|
|
|
|
CHEN SHIH
Aliases: Chang Kuan-Fu
Home: South China Sea
Fighting Style: Kung Fu
Powers: Death touch(?)
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Bio: Chen Shih has many warrants out for his arrest. He is a notorious pirate, extorter, kidnapper, racketeer, and violent enforcer infamously known and feared on the South China Sea. He has fought, and won, numerous turf wars, and he routinely challenges rival leaders to single combat to prove his skill in battle. A practitioner of a rare style of Kung Fu, Chen Shih is rumored to have expertise in Dim Mak, or death touch; however, he has never displayed it publicly, and it may simply be rumors spread by his criminal organization to intimidate their enemies.
Chen Shih has attended the tournament before, and has there, before a group forbidden by oath to speak of the tournament, displayed that he does indeed know a form of death touch. He has never been a champion though, and fortune has seen him spared by more good-natured opponents who have chosen the high road, despite Chen's lack of mercy to others.
|
| Combat |
7
|
| Agility |
4
|
| Durability |
4
|
| Reflexes |
3
|
| Strength |
3
|
| Willpower |
4
|
| Stamina |
3
|
|
|
|
EL CALOR
Aliases: Miguel Pedro Rodriguez (secret)
Home: Tijuana, Mexico
Fighting Style: Popular western wrestling; street brawling
Powers: None
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Bio: El Calor is a popular Luchador wrester from northern Mexico, known for his brute strength and unbreakable holds. According to the rules of Luchador wrestling, he must not reveal his true face to the public - to be unmasked by a competitor would be a grave dishonor. El Calor has exceeded his competitors in skill, and was approached by the Order of Mastafal with the opportunity to test himself against other varieties of warriors.
|
| Combat |
4
|
| Agility |
2
|
| Durability |
4
|
| Reflexes |
2
|
| Strength |
5
|
| Willpower |
3
|
| Stamina |
3
|
|
|
|
GEAR HEAD
Aliases: Isaac Broder
Home: Tel Aviv, Israel
Fighting Style: Street boxing
Powers: Mechanical speed; steel plating
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Bio: An unfortunate assembly line accident left Isaac Broder with two amputated legs, no genitalia, and with a compromised renal and digestive system. A desperate solution gave him the ability to live, but confined to a medical suite where medical personnel had to check on him constantly. He filled his hours adapting his knowledge of robotics to cybernetics. Five years after his accident, he walked out of the hospital on robotic legs. The medical expenses and cost to manufacture his limbs were astronomical, well beyond his means, and 'Gear Head' took to a life of crime rather than try to live honestly in tremendous debt.
Gear Head was barely welcomed into the tournament given his artificial, heavily armored body, and lack of proper fight training. It is suspected that he shared an item of great value to the Order of Mastafal as an entry fee.
|
| Combat |
4
|
| Agility |
2
|
| Durability |
5
|
| Reflexes |
2
|
| Strength |
4
|
| Willpower |
5
|
| Stamina |
5
|
|
|
|
GREEN DRAGON
Aliases: Chow Deng (known)
Home: Los Angeles, California
Fighting Style: Kung Fu
Powers: None
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Bio: Chow Deng & his sister Lin were an orphans raised in a monastery. The monks were training Chow Deng in Kung Fu for a legendary Tournament of the Dragon. Deng was gifted, but impatient. After years of training, and besting all of his peers, Deng was told that he still had years of training ahead of him before he would be ready for the tournament. Deng defiantly took his sister and fled to the United States. Deng grew to despise American sloth and foolishness, while his sister's embracing their new home caused a rift between them. Prideful and arrogant, his first defeat was at the hands of an American hero, heating Deng's simmering rage for Westerners. In time Chow Deng found that he could sell his abilities as a mercenary and make considerable sums of money, while also finding an outlet for his pent up hostility.
Green Dragon, as Chow Deng now calls himself, has been aware of the Tournament of Mastafal for years, and has attended before. He has fought his way to the final round, but has yet to achieve victory.
|
| Combat |
8
|
| Agility |
5
|
| Durability |
4
|
| Reflexes |
4
|
| Strength |
3
|
| Willpower |
4
|
| Stamina |
4
|
|
|
|
INYOKA
Aliases: Winnifred Ginwala
Home: Pretoria, South Africa
Fighting Style: Krav Maga
Powers: None
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Bio: Inyoka is an international mercenary. She is a weapons master, experienced in hand-to-hand, melee weapons, and firearms of all shapes and sizes. Inyoka has seen action all over the African continent, hired by various warlords, and commanding fees that could otherwise be paid to entire squads.
In recent months she was ejected from the United States for causing too much property damage while engaged in bounty hunting. She discovered the tournament through a bounty who told her about it in a bid to save his life. Inyoka is attending for her second time.
|
| Combat |
5
|
| Agility |
4
|
| Durability |
4
|
| Reflexes |
2
|
| Strength |
2
|
| Willpower |
4
|
| Stamina |
3
|
|
|
|
LADY JUSTICE
Aliases: Silver Goddess, Allison Gray (secret)
Home: Millennium City, United States
Fighting Style: Mixed Martial Arts
Powers: "Hypersense" - Advanced Supersenses (Unknown to competitors)
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Bio: Lady Justice abandons her shimmering white armor all too familiar to the villainous occupants of Millennium City in favor for an older look, the black clad Silver Goddess, a known competitor in the tournament absent for over five years. So named for her piercing silver eyes and uncanny ability to detect and exploit her enemies' weaknesses the Silver Goddess utilizes a brutal and efficient fighting style that seems to favor critical blows and sinister joint-locks, chokes, and takedowns. As to why an individual with means like she does would descend into an underground tournament has always been a point of mystery for onlookers - is it glory she's after...or perhaps something else?
|
| Combat |
6
|
| Agility |
5
|
| Durability |
4
|
| Reflexes |
7
|
| Strength |
5
|
| Willpower |
7
|
| Stamina |
5
|
|
|
|
KENDRA MCKNIGHT
Aliases: None
Home: Vancouver, Canada
Fighting Style: Karate
Powers: None
Alignment: True Neutral
Bio: Kendra has found lucrative employment in movies as a stunt actress, and her home city of Vancouver in Canada is home to a bustling film industry. Her martial training and average build have given her the ability to stand in for many different actresses--but she never gets anywhere near the same level of recognition for her hard work. Her winning of several international competitions, as well as her Olympic contention, brought Kendra to the attention of the Order of Mastafal. The tournament is Kendra's chance to stand out.
|
| Combat |
6
|
| Agility |
5
|
| Durability |
4
|
| Reflexes |
3
|
| Strength |
3
|
| Willpower |
3
|
| Stamina |
3
|
|
|
|
PALE PANTHER
Aliases: Iminathi Singh (real name, secret); Nefertiti Singh
Home: Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Fighting Style: Panther-style kung-fu, Judo
Powers: None
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Bio: Born in America to South African Immigrants, Iminathi Singh never got the oppertunity to get to know them. As early into an expedition (and her infancy) to the African Jungles led to her parents being killed by an Infamous White Panther. Luckily for her she was still at Base Camp, being cared for by a Mysterious Hireling...
28 Years have passed since then, and now an Enigmatic Assassin prowls the world, known only to most as "The Pale Panther". Adopting a fighting style both unpredictable and eye-catching as it is deadly. She discovered the tournament whilst surveilling a Mark, hoping to prove to herself that she is capable of handling the World's finest. Regardless if she's hired to kill them or not.
|
| Combat |
6
|
| Agility |
6
|
| Durability |
4
|
| Reflexes |
4
|
| Strength |
3
|
| Willpower |
3
|
| Stamina |
5
|
|
|
|
RED SPIDER
Aliases: Cassandra Olsen (secret)
Home: Millennium City, United States
Fighting Style: Mixed Martial Arts; Evasive
Powers: Enhanced muscular system and minor regenerative boost
Alignment: Lawful Good
Bio: Cassandra Olsen was brought up in a privileged home, but she was raised by her parents to understand that her privilege came with obligations. Flash forward to her teen years, when she first wore a costume & mask to scare some high school friends out of a gang. It was an occasionally bumpy road for Olsen as she learned to be a proper crime fighter on the street level, employing her expertise in movement learned from gymnastics & dance into a unique fighting form. Jump ahead some years again, and after a failed attempt by a cabal of super villains to turn her into a monster, Olsen, now called Red Spider, actually has some super powers!
Red Spider's sister Samantha, who is studying martial arts in Japan, alerted Red Spider of rumors that a notorious South China Sea pirate named Chen Shih had smuggled himself into Millennium City. What purposes such a dangerous criminal figure could have in her city, halfway around the world from his normal haunts, were unknown, but Red Spider found Shih's trail. When Red Spider stumbled onto the cultic Order of Mastafal, she was extended an invitation to fight in the tournament. Red Spider sees participating as her chance to capture several of the world's most dangerous criminals, but privately, she wants to prove something to herself in the face of her sister becoming a superior fighter.
|
| Combat |
5
|
| Agility |
7
|
| Durability |
5
|
| Reflexes |
6
|
| Strength |
6
|
| Willpower |
7
|
| Stamina |
6
|
|
|
|
SCORPIA
Aliases: Fiona O'Brady (real name, secret); Maggie O'Donahue
Home: Belfast, United Kingdom
Fighting Style: Karate
Powers: None
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Bio: A terrorist reared in an IRA household in Belfast during the troubles, Scorpia found her calling in torture and murder. She has been a member of two high-profile super-villain groups: Terror, Inc. and her current one, EuroStar. While not as inherently powerful as her EuroStar teammates, Scorpia makes up for it in cunning and viciousness, usually picking off vulnerable targets. She holds a special hate for the British left over from her upbringing, but also shares her EuroStar allies' disdain for the United States & its American heroes.
Scorpia was invited to the tournament several years ago, and has made efforts to attend them ever since. She could be looking for a chance to satisfy her vanity, but perhaps she has her eye on one of the rewards stashed in the Order of Mastafal's vault (or, a way to access the vault outside of tournament time). She is a remarkably disciplined fighter, but has been known to kill opponents now and then.
|
| Combat |
6
|
| Agility |
4
|
| Durability |
3
|
| Reflexes |
3
|
| Strength |
2
|
| Willpower |
5
|
| Stamina |
3
|
|
|
|
SHADOW DRAGON
Aliases: Park Yong-sun (real name; secret)
Home: Daegu, South Korea
Fighting Style: Hwarang-do
Powers: None
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Bio: Shadow Dragon possesses a shadow power. He can flit between shadowed spaces like a teleporter, affect light to the point of darkening rooms or seeming invisible, and enhance his attacks with shadow energy. He is obsessed with darkness.
He has attended the Tournament of Mastafal before. He is a competent fighter, but would not be as effective without his shadow-powers. He was disqualified during the last tournament for using his darkforce energy attack at range - ranged attacks being forbidden. He returns with a burning desire to win and quench the humiliation he suffered last time.
|
| Combat |
7
|
| Agility |
5
|
| Durability |
3
|
| Reflexes |
3
|
| Strength |
4
|
| Willpower |
8
|
| Stamina |
3
|
|
