Target X

He enjoyed playing baseball, football, and basketball as a child. He was good at throwing strikes, passing, and making full court long basketball shots. He had a paper route from ages 13-15, and never missed any front porch with the paper the whole time!

He was, unfortunately, too good. He was accused of being "a mutant", and was banned from competition without even an official test. He was bugged by that a lot, considering it very unfair. When this happened his father blamed his mother, and beat her severely. This was the last straw. He dropped out of school and ran away from home. He hasn't communicated with his parents since then.

When he ran away at age 15 he lied about his age (claiming to be 18) and joined "The Traveling Titans Show of Wonders" (the circus run by the Braverman Foundation) as a knife thrower, juggler, and acrobat, taking advantage of Mike Braverman's experiment in using acts other than super-strong "bricks" in his show. With a little makeup and the right clothes he looked in his middle 20's when performing (as the "Flashing Blade"). He got to know "Big Jake" Steinberg quite well while at the circus.

Sam met his future wife, Alice Kirby, when he needed a "target" for his knife-throwing act and\ she volunteered. Alice was 16 at the time and was a member of the "Flying Kirbys", an aerialist and acrobatics circus family. While with the circus, some of the other performers started calling him "Bull's Eye," after his great accuracy with throwing knives. (He didn't take that for his nom de guerre for two reasons: first, it'd compromise his Secret Identity; second, some of the less savory characters - who didn't last long at the circus - took that nickname and started comparing him to a significantly different piece of bovine anatomy.)

When he was 19 he realized that he didn't want to stay in the circus for his whole life, studied for and got his GED, and went on to college to study sociology. Much of this was driven by his realization that he wanted to provide a good life for his wife-to-be and eventual children. He also wanted to understand better what made people behave like his father.

He graduated from college in the middle of his class at age 24 with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology. From there he joined the Portland Police Force. He has been a police officer for 9 years now, and has achieved the rank of Detective.

As an investigator, he has specialized in crimes that may have been committed by "supers", and had a small but significant part in breaking up a VIPER nest in the late 1980's. He was a member of the VIPER Special Taskforce for several years after that. Most recently, as Cassandra Steele has registered as a superheroine with the Oregon Paranormal Activities Board and announced her intention to form a new superhero team known as the Justifiers, Sam has been chosen to act as liaison between the Justifiers and law enforcement agencies.

He is a fanatic about not breaking his word. He hasn't (yet) gotten into trouble with the police force by letting someone go because he is very careful about what he says and how it could be interpreted so that he doesn't promise things he doesn't want to. He doesn't like to make ambiguous promises and then violate the spirit of the promise by twisting words.

He believes that people are allowed to defend themselves but he is only allowed to bring suspected criminals to justice, not judge them himself. He isn't always happy with the court decisions, but accepts that sometimes criminals will go free to keep from convicting innocent people. He really dislikes corrupt lawyers who get criminals off on technicalities because they interfere with justice.

He will kill in self-defense or defense of others but he will try really hard to capture suspects without the use of lethal force. He has witnessed one killing and had to fire his gun in the line of duty once. He still has nightmares occasionally about blood flying when he wounded his suspect. (The suspect surrendered after being wounded, and the Internal Affairs investigation determined that Sam had acted properly.) He will put himself in front of innocent people to protect them without even thinking about it. His wife thinks he is risking himself too much.

He would like to find all "bad" people and bring them to justice. He would like to get society to a state where it is safe for ordinary people to walk around without getting mugged, etc. He feels that anyone with special abilities has a responsibility to use them to help society.

He feels that the US government is the best government on the planet. There are individuals in the government who are corrupt and should be brought to justice. People opposed to the government usually don't understand what they are saying. That doesn't mean the government can't be improved. It tends to be a little rough and uncaring if people in government stop trying hard. Since he's (technically, at least) part of the government, he's determined to try as hard as he can.

He is a firm Republican and almost always votes the party line. He feels the world is getting more corrupt and wants to help make the politicians a good influence on society. He is a Christian, but not particularly devout. He goes to church most Sundays but doesn't feel too bad if he misses a week. He attends the Burlingame Baptist Church with his family.

He is below normal at planning ahead, though he does OK with a little guidance. He gets along with people well, but is still a bit immature. Deep down, he feels that he is "immortal". It hasn't sunk in yet that he could be seriously hurt or killed any time. He doesn't worry too much about the future because he feels that it will take care of itself if you just work hard.

He hates people who don't live up to their word, especially if they are lying to get away with something. He considers them to be less than human, feeling humanity is defined by truth and honor.

He loves Truth and Justice, his wife, and his country, in roughly that order. He feels that the police, the military, and "good" superheros deserve special respect because they put their lives on the line to protect others.

He still considers himself to be a normal person who is just good at something. He doesn't think that he is a "real" mutant. It is just used as an excuse to keep him from doing normal things by people who were jealous of his abilities.

He feels an obligation to use all of his abilities to help society. Being just a police officer is a bit limiting, especially in how other people react to police officers. He feels that a good superhero can help people without scaring them as much as a police officer does.

Target X (Sam's costumed identity) likes to throw anything that uses muscle power, especially things not often used, like shovels, hubcaps, chunks of pavement, and anything that can be found just laying around at the time. He is quite good at it, preferring to use called shots to disarm or disable rather than do permanent injury, if possible.

When possible, he tends to announce his intended "shot" in as humorous a way as possible before attempting it. For example, he might call, "goofball in the hip pocket!" if he is trying to hit Foxbat in the hip pocket.

His normal weapons are hand-sized beanbags filled with shot, which he throws with extreme accuracy. As a backup, he carries four throwing knives similar to those he used in the circus, though he prefers to use them only when the beanbags won't do the job. He's developed the ability to recognize weak points in materials, which he can use with either of these weapon groups. He carries a Desert Eagle .50 caliber, which is an extremely powerful handgun, but will exhaust all other reasonable possibilities before using it.

He also carries a shield, which was made for him by Captain Glory out of the same unique steel alloy as the mesh in Captain Glory's costume. He's become quite adept at blocking incoming attacks with his shield.

As part of his police training, Sam has taken instruction in the martial art Aikido. He has become quite adept at it, and expects to earn his black belt relatively soon, though he is nowhere near where he would need to be to go toe-to-toe with superhuman-level martial artists.

He stands erect, walks proudly and without any sign of being worried. He dresses reasonably casually, but feels that proper clothing makes a good impression, so he tries to dress well for any anticipated situation. He normally carries his handgun (whether his police-issue revolver or his Desert Eagle as Target X) in a sholder holster.

He looks a little intimidating (being quite muscular and with the "are you doing something wrong?" look most of the time, unless he's intentionally relaxing). The first impression is of a man who is tough and confident and a little pushy.

In costume, Target X wears a dull gray body suit and hood that covers all of his head except his eyes, nose, and mouth. His shield is painted the same color of gray with a dull black filled circle filling all but the outer three inches of the front, and a dull gray "X" crossing the black filled circle. He keeps his beanbags in individual pockets along his belt, and his knives in individual sheaths on a bandolier; both the belt and the bandolier are made of black leather.

Daily Life

Sam lives with Alice and Heather in a small house on the corner of SW 24th and Dakota Street in Hillsdale. Most of the stuff in the house is used but kept clean and neat by Alice. Alice has a job as as a sound technician for a news crew working for Super Beat, the syndicated evening tabloid news show (this being, in part, her "revenge" for his becoming first a police officer and then a superhero).

Each week day Sam drives his 1983 Ford LDT to work at the Downtown Portland Police Office, or to the Justifiers' liaison's desk at Cassandra Steele's law office.

The main duties of his job at present is as liaison between the Justifiers and the area police departments. He has occasional contacts with the other two supergroups in town (Lightstorm, and Captain Glory and the Glory Patrol). He also functions as parole officer for the few "super" criminals that are on parole in the Portland metropolitan area. This currently includes Bob Ramsey (qv). He tends to believe that Ramsey was falsely convicted and is looking for any evidence of this. Ramsey is also the first member of a "pilot program" to see whether becoming a member of a superhero group will help keep paroled "supers" from resuming a life of crime, an idea which Sam supports, at least in this case.

He is often called in to help investigate "superpowered" crimes that occur in Washington County, or in Portland west of the Willamette. He keeps posted on VIPER and any other organized crime groups with superpowered contingents, such as Card Shark and VOICE.

He usually eats out for lunch, but tries hard to be home for breakfast and supper. His cooking skills are rudimentary but sufficient to fend for himself in the kitchen if necessary.

He has a passing familiarity with his neighbors, but his wife would know them much better since he isn't home a lot. He plays card games with his wife and some of her friends on occasion.

His hero costume is in a bag in the trunk of his car most of the time (since Alice hits the roof every time she sees it). He also keeps a spare costume at Ms. Steele's office for emergencies.

He makes a low but living wage. Alice makes a little more than he does. They have a typical 30 year mortgage on their house. In addition to the aforementioned LTD, they also own a brown 1986 Ford Fairlane which Alice normally drives to her job. They have a joint checking account and a small savings account at Wells Fargo Bank.

Since his police superiors were the ones to assign him this job, they know about his superhero work and consider it a "necessary evil" of sorts. It is a dangerous job, but someone's got to do it, and Sam is probably the best qualified since he has the closest thing anyone in the Department has to an actual superpower.

If he is injured during normal police work he can get normal medical care, but if he shows up at home with unexplainable injuries his wife will NOT like it.

Alice was not too thrilled about his being a policeman, and is VERY unhappy with his thinking about being a costumed crusader. She has threatened to divorce him if he risks his life that way, though since he's joined the Justifiers no action has been taken on this.

Sam's parents are David and Simone Weber. Sam hasn't communicated with them since he ran away from home at age 15. He has no siblings. Alice's parents are Keith and Joan Kirby. Her siblings are Ian, Mercedes and Christopher (listed in order of age; she's the oldest). Sam gets along well with all of them.

Sam's Aikido sinsei is a middle-aged Japanese man named Oji Gojo. The two get along quite famously, though Oji-san sometimes hints at knowing a lot more about a lot of things than one might otherwise expect.

His favorite color is red, but he usually dresses in browns that complement his hair color.

He tends to carry juggling balls with him and uses them to keep his hands busy while he is thinking. Other than juggling, he tries not to show unusual throwing ability in public or around those members of the police force not cleared to know his costumed identity.

Between the long hours of his job, his aikido practice, and trying to spend some time with his family, he doesn't know how he is going to find time to try to be a superhero. His family life may start suffering.

He does like going to circuses when they are in town. He takes his wife and daughter back to see her family at least once a year (in the winter for sure, and sometimes when they are on the road with the circus). They also come to visit at least once or twice a year.

He doesn't particularly like to read. Watching football, basketball, or baseball on TV is more his style. He doesn't participate in any of the common sports, because of his past experiences.

STR Adds is a +½ Advantage means what it says: STR may be used to augment the amount of damage the Power does. Basically, a Ranged Killing Attack with this Advantage is functionally the same as a Hand-to-Hand Killing Attack with the Ranged Advantage.

Can Be Thrown is a +¼ Advantage similar to the Ranged Advantage, but combined with the Range By STR Limitation found in some of the published books. Essentially, the Power with this Advantage is used normally at no range, but may be thrown (with no STR bonus) at whatever range would be allowed by Range By STR. (I have a copy of the old first-edition Star Hero game, and use the Device Mass Table from that, in conjunction with the STR Table and the Throwing Table, to determine how far that is.)

Even with these House Rules, the Powers as shown are a bit awkward and don't represent the intended ability with 100% mechanical accuracy. When in doubt, however, I fudge; if the written Power is "close enough," let actual play reflect the intent of the application rather than the letter of the rules. If either the player (in this case, Larry) or I come up with something that looks better, then (and only then) the character is reworked.

Also, there is some overlap between the Perks he gets as a police officer (Police Powers and Concealed Weapon Permit) and the one he gets as a superhero registered in the State of Oregon (Oregon Hero Sanction); either can be used to allow him to carry a concealed weapon, carry a weapon into a courthouse or other public building, make arrests for violent or property-based crimes, etc. Besides the fact that each covers a different aspect of his life (the Oregon Hero Sanction only applies in his costumed identity, and the other two only in his non-costumed identity), they also each cover certain things that the other does not. For example, a registered superhero cannot get a search warrant without a police endorsement, and a police officer might get into trouble for carrying the array of weapons that Target X carries around (especially the Desert Eagle).