[b]Name[/b]: Adam Basset
[b]Age[/b]: 51
[b]Gender[/b]: Male
[b]Appearance[/b]: Standing at a respectable 5'10” and weighing in at 148 lbs, Adam is a dignified persona. Though his scruffy black hair has been gray for years, it is always clean and neatly-shorn, though he does have slight sideburns. Bright, almost youthful brown eyes glint beneath bushy eyebrows, giving him a look that when coupled with a dry smile and a few laugh lines give him a visage of good humor. He also sports a long, straight nose and a marvelous cleft chin. The rest of him is unremarkable despite an obvious genetic predisposition for body hair. His favorite color, a forest green, is evident in his decidedly old-fasioned wardrobe, and he will often wear black or khaki slacks. A tiny pewter crucifix pendant adorns his neck and he's kept his father's dingy old pocketwatch in one pocket or another for years.

[b]Superpower[/b]
[b]Name of ability[/b]: Psammokinesis
[b]Description[/b]: Adam is able to create and manipulate sand and dust, either projecting it in an attack, creating defensive structures, or forming partially-sentient beings that can act on their own.
[b]Level one abilities[/b]: In its most untempered state, Adam's ability is fitful. Sand will appear in his hands, both when he wants it to and not, which can be controlled in an extremely clumsy and limited manner. Occasionally, when enough sand is formed, it will coalesce into a small construct that almost always acts of its own accord. A headache will develop if his abilities go unchecked.
[b]Level three abilities[/b]: At this stage Adam can control his sand generation, able to make a lot in a short time and fire it off in blasts, though he is limited from. He can solidify it into rudimentary constructs and structures, though this is difficult.
[b]Level five abilities[/b]: When mastered, Adam's ability is frightening. In the span of seconds he can generate vast amounts of sand from any part of his body and even a few feet away. A raging sandstorm isn't hard to come by, and if Adam tries, he can create an entire legion of reasonably intelligent but totally loyal sand soldiers to fight for him.
[b]Weakness/drawback[/b]: Three noteworthy counters to Adam's power exist. Enough water will make his sand into mud, instantly nullifying its supernatural properties. Focused fire will fuse his sand into crude glass if its in a tangible form. Lastly, in cold conditions the sand practically turns to snow, halving its speed and its usefulness. In early stages, his untempered power can make everyday activities unpleasant.

[b]History [/b]
[b]History[/b]: Though the world has changed in the fifty years of Adam's life, he's somehow remained the same. The only son of a lower-middle-class family in Pennsylvania, he nevertheless grew up contented and remarkably well-educated, thanks in part to the compassion and powerful morality of his parents Wilson and Bee. He's been a faithful Roman Catholic all his life, and it is evident in almost every aspect of him, from grandiose way of speaking to dignified posture. Though he dreamed of becoming a pastor at his local church he ultimately chose to attend a community college to ensure a career that could afford him and his soon-to-be wife Jill Nephthis a comfortable life. As such, he developed a nagging fear that he had turned his back on his faith—a feeling that intensified when the majority of professors at his chosen college proved atheist, almost militantly so. Now long out of college but far away from his hometown and with two daughters of his own, one twenty and the other twenty-two, he seeks to return to his roots.
[b]The day before the bus ride[/b]: After needlessly making sure Jill -and her fresh Subway sandwich- was safe in the seatbelt, Adam tentatively shifted his parked sedan into reverse and backed out into the parking lot before gliding gently out onto the main street. The roads were congested, of course, as they always were at this hour, which afforded his dusty mind ample time to drift. A decade ago a similar trip to what Jill referred to as 'the best fast food around', the backseat would have been occupied by two little girls happily munching away on chips and babbling excitedly about school. Nowadays, school was (for his daughters) college, and it had been months since either Adam or Jill had seen them last. Of course, they maintained an almost daily phone call or e-mail, the latter of which both husband and wife still had trouble using effectively.

He was roused from his reverie as the light ahead flashed green and traffic lurched forward. Driving was, by now, second nature to him but it never hurt to be careful. A bratty [i]beep[/i] ejaculated from an impatient white Subaru behind him, annoyed at his caution. When the opportunity provided, the Subaru wound out from behind Adam's sedan and zipped forward. Though others may have taken offense, all the impatient driver sparked in Adam was a dry smile. He always found a gritty sort of amusement in people that furiously rushed through life. As the white vehicle thrust past, he shot a quick glimpse at the license plate and found himself momentarily enraptured; firstly, the license was from New York, the same place he would be driving to by himself to spend the weekend as a tourist starting tomorrow. Secondly, the inscription upon the plate read 'PMS24-7'. Unable to contain himself, Adam burst out laughing, startling Jill, who tore herself away from a delicious mouthful of meatball marinara to make sure all was well. A short-winded explanation and she, too, was snorting in laughter.

[quote=Mr_pink]
suggestions for powers? I can't think of any that aren't too OP or stupid.
[/quote]

Well, there's really quite a variety. Making things/self intangible, minor teleportation, shapeshifting (partially, or into a select form, such as a monster), all kinds of manipulation of matter, invisible finger bullets, illusions, the ability to find things, anything. A simple one that I found had a lot of potential was the ability to slow things in close range via projected 'stasis fields', to put it colloquially. Slowing things down or stopping them at later levels is a great defensive ability with a lot of application.