Tales of Jackson, IL: Val and Ami

 I have not done any NPC profiles in a long time. I wanted to do this because at EGG CON I had a player play Val, and he did such a great job bringing my "dumb jock" to life. I just had to revisit him. 

Ok, calling Valentino "Val" Michele Moreno a dumb jock in not fair. He is not the smartest guy in the room, but he has a lot of things going for him besides being on the football and baseball teams. I also want to talk about his other best friend Ami. It takes Val a bit, but he realizes that Ami is in love with him. 

Both Val and Ami are here for the "High School Jock" stereotypes, and honestly, if this were a horror movie, they would be among the first to die. But this is a game, and they both are really good kids and a lot of fun, so far they have lived and even taken some serious hits. Well...every hit is serious in this game.

Valentino "Val" Michele Moreno

Val has been Andy Thompson's best friend since 1974, when Val brought a Nerf football to preschool, and they played with it all recess. Val's family never had the money the Thompsons did, but Andy LOVED staying with Val because of his huge family. It is Val and his four younger sisters. Val was almost sent to St. Michael's Catholic School, but he convinced his parents that his chances at a football or baseball scholarship would be better at Jackson Public High School. He was right, of course. 

At the start of the game, Val is dating Stephanie Vale. Naturally, the captain of the football team is dating the head cheerleader. They break up when Stephanie discovers all the supernatural dealings in town. Plus, Stephanie can see that Ami is the one who loves Val. 

Val is a Divine Warrior, from the NIGHT SHIFT: Night Companion. He was originally just going to be a survivor, but something in him awakened when the Bell rang in Jackson. He was already a fairly devout Catholic boy with very strong opinions. Also, the idea of a monster preying on girls in his town was deeply offensive to him. Yes, this is me being political. So when he discovered that his ex-girlfriend and her friends were fighting monsters at night, Val did what Val always does; he grabbed a baseball bat and went to help, whether they wanted him to or not. Turns out that Val's moral compass is so true his bat actually damages supernautral creatures.

Valentino "Val" Michele Moreno
2nd-level Divine Warrior, Human

Background: Jock

Base Abilities

Strength: 16 (+2) A
Agility: 17 (+2) n
Toughness: 15 (+1) n
Intelligence: 11 (+0) 
Wits: 12 (+0) 
Persona: 14 (+1) 

Vit: 10 (2d6)
DV: 8
Fate Points: 1d6

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +2/+1/+0
Attack bonus (base): +2
Melee bonus: +4  Ranged bonus: +2

Saves: +1 to Wits and Persona-based saves, +1 to Toughness-based (Jock)

Languages: English
Skills: 

Divine Warrior Abilities
Danger Sense 1 (1d8), Heal injury 1d6 ("walk it off"), Supernatural Attack +1

Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Height: 6'1"
DOB: 1/12/1969

Archetype: The Jock
Quote: "It's not trash-talk if I am right."
Quirks: Is a lot more observant than he lets on.
Theme song: "Centerfield" by John Fogerty

His middle name "Michele" is a variant of "Michael," his patron Saint. St. Michael the patron saint of those who hunt demons. He wears a Saint Michael medallion, and Larina swears it glows when he is fighting. She is not a fan of Val, but knows he is good in a fight. She also knows that whatever makes his medallion glow doesn't particularly care for witches.

One day at school, Valentino was walking down the hall when someone shouted, "Hey Val!"  Both Valentino and Valerie Beaumont said "What?" at the same time, and both laughed. The next day, she said, "Hey Val!" to him, and he said, "Hey Val!" back. It became their thing until graduation and long after. The Assistant Principal, Glenn Daniels, wanted it stopped, but Valerie told him to pull the stick out of his ass. 

Spoilers: Val goes on to the U of I with Ami on that scholarship. He played ball for the minor-league Cardinals for a couple of years but injured his elbow. He ends up teaching at St. Michael's Catholic School and serving as its football coach. 

In 2019, Andy (head football coach at JPHS) and Val decided to do a charity game at the end of their seasons between JPHS and St. Mike's to raise money for local charities. They called the "Crosstown Classic," and it became a weekend-long celebration before the Thanksgiving break. 

Typically, the Hope Center, a place for women and children seeking assistance built by social worker Denise Carver, gets its funds. 

Ami Beth Reed

Ami Beth Reed is on the track team, the girls' basketball team, but most importantly (to her), the girls' softball team. Ami is tough, a little loud, and easy to spot. She stands nearly 6' tall and has short cropped black hair. She is attractive, but her rough exterior tends to intimidate most high school kids. She drives a beat-up '79 Chevy C/K truck that constantly blares Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and the Scorpions.

Also, everyone thinks Ami is gay. Everyone is wrong. Despite her rough exterior, Ami doesn't really know how to talk to guys. That is, except for Val. Val and Ami have a natural chemistry that people find "odd."  Val was known as the guy who was dating Stephanie Vale, and now he hangs out with Ami all the time. Val tells people that Ami is a great workout partner; they go running every morning. Plus Val will proudly say, "Hey, I am maturing. I have a girl as a best friend."

Ami is hopelessly in love with Val.

Well...not hopeless. In an early playtest adventure, Ami gets hurt when a monster claws her stomach, leaving deep wounds. This established a few things. First, Ami has this cool scar on her side. Secondly, it solidified Candy as my go-to medic, but most of all, it awakened Val's inner Divine Warrior. Ami got hurt, and Val went psycho on the monster. 

Ami Reed
1st level Survivor, Human

Background: Jock

Base Abilities

Strength: 14 (+1)
Agility: 13 (+1) 
Toughness: 14 (+1) n
Intelligence: 13 (+1) 
Wits: 16 (+2) V
Persona: 15 (+4) n

Vit: 5 (1d4)
DV: 8
Fate Points: 1d6

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +2/+1/+0
Attack bonus (base): +0
Melee bonus: +0  Ranged bonus: +0

Languages: English
Skills: 

Saves: +3 to death saves, +1 to Toughness-based (Jock)

Survivor Abilities
Improved defense -1, Open Locks 20%, Bypass traps 15%, Sleight of hand 25%, Move silently 25%, Hide in shadows 25%, Climb 55%, Danger Sense 1-2 (1d6), Perception 40%, Sneak attack +4

Hair: Black
Eyes: Blue
Height: 6'0"
DOB: 2/14/1969

Archetype: The Tough Girl
Quote: Rolls shoulder and points with her bat, "Dibs on the big one."
Quirks: Likes to think she is invincible and takes the hits the "little witches" can't. There is truth in this, but she is not indestructible. 
Theme song: "Invincible" by Pat Benatar

 Ami is from the "bad side" of town on the northeast side. She is not a bad kid, quite the opposite, really, but she has had to learn how to hold herself. She has been in some fights, but has learned that intimidation often stops most fights before they start. Consequently, she always has one of her bats handy. 

In truth, Ami doesn't really care for basketball, but as the tallest girl in the school, she felt kind of obligated to join. She does, however, really enjoy softball and often teases Val that she can outhit him. They spend a lot of time together at the batting cages. Only much later in life will they agree that those nights were in fact dates.

Much like Val, supernatural monsters preying on the helpless offend her sensibilities of right and wrong. 

Spoilers: Ami and Val did get together at the Senior Prom. They then went to the U of I together. Where they stayed together (minus a dramatic "break" their junior year that was short-lived) the whole time. 

Ami got her degree in physical therapy and does weekend sports casts on the local radio station (minor in Radio and Television Media). 

Years later, as married couples, Andy and Rowan, along with Val and Ami, get together on Sunday to watch whatever game is on. Rowan asks questions about what is going on, often just to get a rise out of everyone. 

She had gotten so much grief for her height and jock appearance in high school that when Playboy came around U of I for one of their college girls specials, she submitted pictures. She made the issue representing the University of Illinois. Later, when she shows the issue to Denise and Candy, Candy is pissed off that they airbrushed out her scars. But otherwise, they are thrilled to be friends with a certified "Fucking Amazon Goddess." Val is also pretty thrilled with the issue as well. 

Real-world influence: I went to college with Jenny McCarthy. No, I did not know her well. Her younger sister, Joanne, was one of my students, though. Interestingly enough, that was two different universities on opposite ends of the state. 

Night Shift^® is a registered trademark of Elf Lair, LLC.

#RPGaDAY2026: Day 18 Directness

 Sometimes subtlety is overrated, and the direct approach is needed.

One must have tact. There is a time for patience and for choosing one’s words with care, for the sake of hidden meanings or to let another arrive at the truth in his own good time.

But then there are also monsters.

In Jackson, IL, the characters know where directness is warranted. But at times it is necessary to put it bluntly: "That house is haunted." "Your boyfriend is no good for you, he is dangerous." "What is in the basement is not your grandmother." "That skeezy motel is built on a forgotten graveyard." 

Let people go on dancing around the facts and the horror will have all the time in the world to put in its appearance and get comfortable. Or worse, it will have the time to harm or kill someone.

Witches are well aware of this.

They can be as subtle as they like; half their art is in the silence, the symbols, and the timing. Yet a witch also knows when there is no room for subtlety, when a name must be spoken, a warning made plain, and the circle drawn. Some threats are answered with a quiet ritual; others have to be dealt with fire and fury.

To be direct is not to be rude. It is mercy without the frills. And if a witch can be kind about it, she will tell the truth before the screaming has a chance to begin.

Again, or worse, when the screaming has stopped.

Yog NPC

Today is Day 18, Tuesday, Instinct and Full of Grace. 

Sable Reed: A young Yog scout who moves like smoke and always knows which way the hunters are coming. She is tall for her age, but she is also one of the fastest runners around. She has avoided the Slavers and now acts as a scout, lookout, and messenger of the Liberation Front. 

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 17 Intensity

 Witches are intense.

That is fairly obvious at this point. Whether it is my Jackson, IL setting, my Yog setting or even (especially) my Advanced Witches & Warlocks.

 A witch does not take the things of consequence casually. She has a tendency to believe and see and feel and remember far more than most. There is an intensity to her that is the source of her power.

And her danger as well.

You will not find that kind of intensity in Jackson, IL, in the form of parlor tricks with candles or dramatic pronouncements made under the moon. It is more likely to be a young girl holding someone’s gaze in a school corridor. Or Larina, who will not let a matter rest because she can tell something is amiss even if the rest of them are content to feign ignorance.

Such intensity is capable of saving people. Of frightening them too.

This is what I look for in my Advanced Witches & Warlocks class. I do not want a student to come across as some sort of dispassionate technician of magic, merely ticking off a spell from a list. The witch brings her whole self to the circle: her will and devotion, yes, but also her anger, fear, and desire.

Intensity is focus with a certain heat to it. And when a witch puts her mind to something, heavens help anything that gets in her path.

Jackson NPC

Back to Monday, so Instinct and Fair of Face. Dana Marlowe is a beautiful Jackson Public High senior with a dangerous talent for knowing who is lying, who is lonely, and who is about to make a terrible mistake. She doesn't know, but suspects, that she might have fae background. Her grandmother used to have stories about how her own grandmother once spent an "evening" that turned out to be many years with an unearthly handsome "Gentleman Caller."

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 16 Composure

 Composure is not the same thing as calm.

There is a difference between having composure and being calm. Calm is the absence of fear. Composure is when you are terrified, angry, heartbroken, or worn out, yet you are aware of all the eyes on you. So you take a breath, put your back straight, and level your voice. You get on with what has to be done.

I would say that is very Jackson. 

In Jackson, IL, one needs composure to survive. It is what the cheerleader puts on her face for something truly awful. It is the witch in class after she has made eye contact with a ghost. The child who can tell the teacher is not being honest but has no way of putting it into words. Or the friend who insists "I’m fine" because a tear now could set off a flood.

Witches find it to be a form of practical magic as well. You need focus for your rituals and attention for your wards; panic will break a circle. A witch may be in a right fury or grieving or frightened half to death. But once the candles are going and others are looking to her, she has to hold the line. The same is true for the Spirit Riders, Divine Warriors, and other supernaturals who take up the fight against the darkness. And more importantly, it is true for the scores of normal people who do what needs to be done even when they have no chance of winning.

Composure is not about pretending there is no problem. It is seeing that everything is wrong and deciding not to let it have the upper hand.

Jackson NPC

Another Sunday for Day 16, Sunday, Associates and Blessed. Miriam Kestrel is a West Haven altar girl at St. Mark's Lutheran Church and novice herbalist who seems blessed mostly because frightened people calm down when she enters the room. She enters Jackson Public High School in the Fall of 1986.

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 15 Endurance

Endurance is not glamorous, but it is what is needed.

It's not in the dramatic speech before the monster makes its entrance, or in the final fight and the big spell. It is in the aftermath. The next morning comes, and one has to get up for school or work, field questions, and put on a poor show of lying to adults, all while making an effort not to let on that the sound of something scratching at the window last night is still ringing in one’s ears.

Jackson, IL is a town made of such stuff.

Its old buildings that still hold their secrets; the town puts up with its ghosts. The children have to make do with the fact that the grownups will not believe them. And the witches, they endure the price of seeing and knowing more than they should, and yet are expected to be there on Monday as if they had not.

In a game, this is what counts.

A character does not become interesting just because they survive one terrible night. If it was just about the fight, well, I have plenty of combat-focused games for that.  No, they become interesting because they keep going after it. They carry the scars, the memories, the bad dreams, the unfinished business, and somehow they are still there when the next bad thing happens.

Endurance is not the same as being invulnerable. It is simply standing your ground after you have been worn down. 

So for me, winning the fight is not enough. It is how they walk away from the fight that matters. Sometimes it is more important than the fight itself.

Irianador NPC

Today is Saturday of Week 3, so Associates and Works Hard. 

Rourke Flint is an Iriandor blacksmith who repairs weapons for heroes of the Last War and listens to their stories. He sometimes will do the work for free if the story is a good one. 

Jackson Soundtrack

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#RPGaDAY2026: Day 14 Regard

 Vera is a character I keep seeing differently with regard to the world she is in.

Take Jackson, IL for instance. There you have Vera Rook as a rival; she is sharp and selfish, with a dangerous edge to her because she will do as she pleases. Yet Jackson allows for some development. When, in the future, she becomes Megan’s adoptive mother and uses the name Vera Connors, my view of her shifts. The bad girl act is gone in favor of someone who has made a choice for love and protection. But to become Vera Connors, divorced mother of two and now adoptive mother of Megan Connors, she had to be Vera Rook first.

Or did she?

We get a slightly different Vera Rook in Carbon Vale. Here, one thing was changed. Vera's mother left her father and traveled south to finish her degree, taking teenage Vera with her. This Vera Rook saw her mother stand up for something better than what she had. Instead of becoming bitter and sullen, this Vera became open to the idea that better things happen because you can make them happen. I am not sure of what her future holds, but it is likely she will not become Vera Connors in this world.

And in Yog, she is Veyra Shadowraven. You see her through the haze of sword and sorcery and the light of a dying world there. A darker figure with more shadow and a name to match. Where Vera in Jackson has to improve herself, Veyra in Yog is left to make of her legend what she will.  The ruling class of Yog calls her a terrorist and a subversive. An "evil witch." She agrees with all of those and keeps on doing what she has always done, working to improve the lot of witches everywhere in Yog.

That is the nature of regard in gaming. 

It puts a different light on the same girl under a different set of rules, altering the character while leaving the core intact.

Each Vera shard is real and as valid as the other. She is just shaped in regard to her world. 

West Haven/Yog NPC

Friday, Associates and Loving & Giving: 

Constance, no last name, is a West Haven caretaker who welcomes Yog refugees with soup, blankets, and no questions. She is a former Yogian slave and now refugee who escaped to West Haven. Katrina of West Haven removed her brand with powerful healing magic, and now she spends her days trying to show the same kindness to others.

Jackson Soundtrack

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Tales of Jackson, IL: Jenny, Jenny Who Can I Turn To?

 Today is Jenny Everywhere Day!

I make no excuses for it. I love Jenny Everywhere. 

I love the character, I love the concept, and I love how and why she was created, and just all of it really. Today is the day we celebrate Jenny in all her multitudes. And we celebrate by contributing to her lore.

First and foremost, I must include her license. I don't do this because I have too, I do because it is also part of what I love about her.

"The character of Jenny Everywhere is available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving Jenny Everywhere, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed."

I felt like it was also a great day to finally introduce Jenny, the Shifter, to NIGHT SHIFT. I mean, really. A multi-genre game system needs equally multi-genre NPCs. Jenny can be in every Night World, every Solar Frontier, and by both her own logic and the logic of the Dreaming Age, Jenny was found in the Wasted Lands.

Jenny in Jackson, IL

Jenny: "This town is so weird, and so much more dangerous than any of you know. Seriously, you should all move out, like, now. You are all absolutely bonkers for staying here. But I can’t help it. I love it here."

Larina: "That...is not very reassuring."

Of course, Jenny would end up here eventually. Her "eventually" and our "eventually" are not really the same thing at all, but that is fine. I imagine the characters see her reflection in the glass of Paula's Bookstore one day. She is waving at them, but they can't see her standing inside the store or behind them. She walks through the glass and stands out on the sidewalk. She knows the characters and some of their details, but they are also out of order. Some details are from the future; others may deal with other versions of the characters. So questions like "wow, when did you start wearing glasses?" to characters who have always worn glasses, and so on.

She will exclaim with much pride that today is her birthday and that she was born on this day in 2002. Or will be. Hard to keep timelines straight when you are a Shifter.

Here is how I am planning to use her. Jenny is not a fighter. She is not a harbinger. She is not a warning or even a cautionary tale. Jenny is just fun. Now that doesn't mean something weird isn't happening. But her appearance should feel like the first episode after Sweeps Week or a slightly silly Monster of the Week one. BUT she can be used to move the adventure forward or provide some clues.

For example. In Jackson, the "Big Bad" is the Hollow King. He is trying to absorb special items and then people to fill the emptiness, sorry, Emptiness, inside. His ultimate targets are Candy and Denise. Why? They are "mirror shards," and while they seem to be just two party girls, they actually have connections to all their alternate universe selves. Candy even says all the time, "I contain multitudes." She says it because she thinks it makes her sound cool and deep. But in reality? She could not be more correct. She and Denise have enough to make the Hollow King whole again. And that is bad. Not just "in bringing back a very powerful Necromancer" bad (where the most powerful witch right now is only 2nd level), but because two very sweet and mostly innocent girls would be dead.

Jenny: "Yeah, the data plan is great, but I have to wait 35 more years for decent 5G."

Jenny is like a shard as well. But Jenny is aware of all her "shards," and they are aware of her. The Hollow King could no more consume her than I could eat all of the food in Chicago right now. It would destroy him.  BUT Jenny knows the importance of Denise and Candy. She knows their other shards. 

Now...she might not know why they are important to what is going on in THIS Jackson right now. And she might not even know they are part of the larger seasonal arc; she just knows they are important.

Because of course they are.

Jenny Everywhere
The Shifter

4th level Sage, Human (mostly)

Background: Multiversal traveler. 

Base Abilities

Strength: 11 (+0)
Agility: 13 (+1) 
Toughness: 16 (+2) 
Intelligence: 17 (+2) A
Wits: 13 (+1) N
Persona: 16 (+2) N

Vit: 22 (1d6)
DV: 7 (leather jacket)
Fate Points: 1d6

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +3/+2/+0
Attack bonus (base): +0
Melee bonus: +0  Ranged bonus: +1

Languages: All
Skills: A little bit of everything

Saves: +3 to spells and magic-based saves

Sage Abilities
Survivor Skills, Mesmerize ("Fast Talk"), Lore, Languages, Spells

Survivor Skills
Open Locks: 25%
Bypass Traps: 20%
Sleight of Hand: 30%
Move Silently: 30%
Hide in Shadows: 20%

Read Languages: 20%

Spells*
First-level: Bless ("Motivation Speech"), Command
Second-level: Knock

*Note about spells: Jenny doesn't actually cast spells. Her 'magic' allows certain disruptions of the local reality. She can talk to give someone an emotional boost ("Bless") or get them to do something else ("Command"). She also has an affinity for locks...or more to the point, she has an affinity for getting into places she really shouldn't, and locked doors are not going to be an obstacle ("Knock"). 

Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 101 lbs

Archetype: The Shifter
Quote: "I’m not lost. I’m just taking the scenic route through reality."
Quirks: Travels the multiverse or "shifts" to different realities.
Theme song: She tells everyone it is "867-5309/Jenny" by Tommy Tutone, because she loves seeing people's reactions. (I have to admit I always think it is "Donna Everywhere" by Too Much Joy, but she doesn't fit the girl in the song at all.)

Heroic Touchstones
1st Level: Psychic Power: Tele-empathic link (to other selves) 
3rd Level: Aura Sense/Sight (Mirror Shard Awareness)

The Mirror Shard: Mirror Shard Awareness

Jenny Everywhere does not see the future. Not exactly. She sees versions.

She has made the acquaintance of people before they were born and after they were dead. She has been in worlds where they are famous and in ones where no one remembers them; worlds where they made every wrong move and, impossibly, where they got it right. Jenny does not always have the wherewithal to tell which version is from which reality or which of her memories will be of use. But she will remember a face, a name, and the particular shape a soul has when you run into it more than once.

Jenny calls it her sight. I call this Mirror Shard Awareness.

It is not mind-reading, nor is it prophecy. Call it a multiversal memory. When she comes across someone of consequence, she might well recognize another version of them. Some days this makes her helpful, some days funny, and on occasion it makes her exceedingly careful.

In the course of play, this awareness lets Jenny know things about a character that she ought not to. A nickname that has yet to be used. A scar this world has not put on him. A debt, a rescue, a funeral, or a betrayal that never took place here. Her asides will sound like jokes or mistakes, but there is nothing random about them.

Take Larina Nichols in Jackson. Jenny will notice the glasses first. Many Larinas don’t wear them, but the one in Jackson does. And the one for the Mage RPG does. Jenny puts two and two together: the ones with the glasses are usually the sort who have seen too much and found a way to live with it. The magic they see all the time is just too much.

Or when she calls Faye "Fey." The rest of the room won’t catch it, but Faye will. It will land wrong, or perhaps too right. Jenny isn’t mispronouncing Faye Thorne's name; she is recalling a version of her for whom the name was something older.

The immortal Valerie will get a smile and an inquiry as to where the ten dollars she owes her are, even though Valerie has no recollection of owing Jenny a thing.

"Not yet," Jenny will say, unbothered.

When she sees Candy and Denise are together, Jenny goes quiet. 

"Oh," she’ll say in a low voice. "There they are." She doesn't know why they are important, just that they are. 

That is the awareness at work. Jenny has known Jacksons without them. Jacksons where only one of the pair made it, or where they never met, and the town was all the colder for the absence of two ordinary, impossible girls. She knows their futures. The daughter Denise adopts. The Hope Center that Denise and Candy built/will build in the 2010s to help families in need. 

People's pasts and futures are in her head, but they do not always belong to this world. This is one of the reasons she can't be trusted as an oracle. She is telling the truth; the problem is you can never be sure which truth applies here. She isn't psychic (normally); she just has a lot of incomplete histories and futures.

Game Use

A scene may warrant a comment from Jenny about an important NPC or PC by way of Mirror Shard Awareness. Let the GM make of it what they will: a clue, a warning, an emotional complication, or a jest. It should hint at a possible truth without writing the character’s future for them.

Examples:

"Still here. Good. That matters."

"You wrote the song already? No? My mistake."

"Wait, the scar isn’t there yet? Good. You want to stay off the gym roof in November."

"You are so much harder to convince in this version."

The GM is free to decide if such remarks are true, partly true, true in another timeline or merely symbolic. Jenny is not lying. She is just carrying around too many maps.

Limit: Too Many Truths

Jenny has trouble separating one world’s truth from another. If the players put her on the spot for a straight answer on the future, the GM can rule one of three ways: it is true here, it is true in another world, or it is true only if the characters make it so. Jenny is aware of this and would rather be irritating than put words to a possibility and turn it into a cage.

Edited to Add: This past weekend, I ran a "Next Generation" game in Jackson to see if the setting works outside of the 1980s time frame. It does, but I like the 1980s vibe better. But it does give me a new idea for when I use Jenny later on.

Jenny: "Oh! And say hi to Taryn for me!
Larina: "Who is Taryn?"
Jenny: "Oh. Sorry. Spoilers. Say hi to her in 2012."

Special Limit: Larina's Mirror

You will not catch Jenny looking in Larina's mirror. Not safely. 

While she has passed through a train window, or a comic panel, even a particularly judgmental snow globe to cross universes, Larina’s mirror is different. It doesn’t just show you alternate worlds; it throws back too many shards of Larina Nichols at once: the Witch Queen, the librarian, the schoolgirl, the red-headed girl with the black fingernails and a notebook, the woman with blood on her hands, the psychic storm that still uses her name.

If forced to look, she must save vs. magic (or equivalent). Fail, and she is stunned for 1d6 rounds, unable to shift and unsure of which Jackson she is in. Succeed, and she still sees one impossible Larina with too much clarity and will have nothing more to do with it.

"Nope. Uhn-uh. Absolutely not. That is a Larina-shaped traffic accident across twelve dimensions."

And if she is feeling less flippant:

"That thing doesn’t show you who you are. It shows you who you might be mistaken for. All of them."

She will describe this as akin to multi-versal feedback. Jenny can already see more than most people; she avoids objects that allow others to do what she can do naturally.

Links

• Her page at Public Domain Super Heroes

HAPPY JENNY EVERYWHERE DAY!