The DC Adventures Hero's Handbook has been nominated for Best Art, Interior and Product of the Year in the 2011 ENnie Awards. We are honored to have garnered these nominations, along with our other six, and offer our congratulations to all the nominees.
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Now available for pre-order in our Green Ronin Online Store: DC ADVENTURES Heroes & Villains Volume I. The DC Universe features a dazzling array of characters who have thrilled readers for generations. Now they come to life for tabletop gaming in DC ADVENTURES Heroes & Villains! Volume I covers characters A-K, from Abra Kadabra and Adam Strange through Kid Flash and Kobra. With Heroes & Villains in-hand, you have a tremendous wealth of material for your DC ADVENTURES games, all usable with the award-winning Mutants & Masterminds game system! Pre-order the book and we'll offer you the PDF for just $5 during checkout! (Or, you can of course buy the PDF by itself.)MEET THE BEETLES, Part II
We continue with our look at the Blue Beetle legacy with the write-up of...
Blue Beetle II PL11
Abilities
Strength 3 Fighting 8
Stamina 3 Intellect 7
Agility 6 Awareness 4
Dexterity 6 Presence 2
Powers
BB Gun: Array (16 points), Easily Removable (-8
points)
• Blinding Strobe: Cumulative Cone Area Affliction 8 (Resisted by Fortitude;
Impaired Sight, Disabled Sight,
Unaware), Limited--Visual Only • 16 points
• Air Burst: Cone Area Move
Object 3, Diminished Range 3, Instant Duration, Limited Direction: Straight Away • 1
point
• Air Hammer: Ranged Damage 8 • 1 point
Equipment
The Bug: Vehicle • 68 points
Huge; Str 8, Speed 8 (Flight), Def 8, Tou 9; Alarm 3
(DC 30), Navigation System, Remote Control; Swimming 6 (30 MPH); Immunity 10
(Life Support); Ranged Damage 10; Feature 1 (Skywire allows pilot to move
between flying Bug and ground), Enhanced Skill 6 (Investigation +6, Ranged
Combat: Heavy Weapons +6)
Other Equipment: Blue Beetle has 7 points to
spend on other equipment.
Advantages
Agile
Feint, Benefit 3 (Millionaire), Contacts, Defensive Roll 4, Equipment 15,
Evasion, Improved Initiative, Instant Up, Inventor, Luck 3, Move-by Action,
Power Attack, Redirect, Uncanny Dodge, Weapon Bind
Skills
Acrobatics
6 (+12), Athletics 6 (+9), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+12), Deception 5 (+7),
Expertise: Science 6 (+13), Investigation 8 (+15/+21*), Perception 6 (+10),
Persuasion 3 (+5), Ranged Combat: BB Gun 8 (+12), Ranged Combat: Heavy Weapons 6 (+12)*, Technology 10 (+17),
Vehicles 6 (+12)
*While
in the Bug.
Offense
Initiative
+8
Unarmed
+12 Close, Damage 3
Blinding
Strobe ― Close,
Cumulative Cone Area Affliction 8, Resisted by Fortitude
Air
Hammer +14 Ranged, Damage 8
Defense
Dodge 14 Fortitude 7
Parry 12 Toughness 7/3**
Will 8
**Without Defensive
Roll.
Power Points
Abilities 78 Skills 34
Powers 10 Defenses 20
Advantages 36 Total 178
Complications
Blue and Gold: Blue Beetle is best friends with Booster Gold, and their shared
misadventures and sense of humor is notorious.
Legacy: After he was
injured saving Ted Kord's life, the
dying wish of the first Blue Beetle
was that Kord carry on and continue his battle against evil. Kord's adventuring
as the Blue Beetle is a never-ending
effort to live up to the name and wishes of his predecessor.
Real
Name:
Theodore "Ted" Kord
Occupation: Inventor and
Entrepreneur
Base:
Chicago,
IL
Personality
The
Blue Beetle fights crime with a grin
on his face, trading quips with his friends as he trades blows with his foes.
Yet beneath the humor he takes his crime-fighting seriously, always improving
his equipment and studying new tactics.
Powers &
Abilities
The
Blue Beetle has no meta-human
abilities, but combines his skills in acrobatics and hand-to-hand combat with
his own genius inventions, including the non-lethal "BB-Gun" and the flying craft he calls the "Bug."
Allies
Blue Beetle's best friend is the
time-travelling hero Booster Gold, a
partnership that has led to as much trouble as success over the years.
Together, they served as members of the Justice
League, and later as part of the "Super Buddies." He has also
been a technical advisor to Oracle
and her Birds of Prey.
Enemies
Blue Beetle's own rogue's
gallery includes the indestructible battlesuit Carapax, the motley mercenaries called the Madmen, and the living pharmacopeia Catalyst. Alongside the Justice
League, he battled the robotic Manhunters,
the forces of Darkseid, Master Disaster's Injustice League, the
intergalactic conqueror Despero, and
the interdimensional villans called the Extremists.
Yet the villain who in the end defeated the Blue
Beetle was someone he once called friend: the mind-controlling businessman Maxwell Lord.
History
The
first Blue Beetle was mortally
injured defeating a robot army built by the uncle of young genius Ted Kord, and charged Kord with carrying
on the legacy and the battle of the Blue
Beetle. Unfortunately, Kord was unable to use the scarab that gave the
Beetle his powers, so instead constructed his own costume and equipment to
become the new Blue Beetle.
For
a time Blue Beetle fought crime in
Chicago while running his research company Kord
Omniversal, until he joined a new incarnation of the Justice League. There he met Booster
Gold, and between titanic battles with villains like Despero and Starbreaker
the duo found time for misadventures that included founding a Justice League-themed casino on the
Pacific island of Kooeykooeykooey.
But his time with the League also involved more serious challenges: for a time,
Blue Beetle fell under the mental
domination of the Queen Bee, and
while trying to prevent Doomsday from
reaching Metropolis, Blue Beetle was beaten so badly that he
was in a coma for several months.
Yet
the Blue Beetle stuck by the friends
and teammates he made as part of the Justice
League, even when businessman Maxwell
Lord formed a new and somewhat low-rent team he called the "Super Buddies".
He also helped other teams of heroes, such as the Birds of Prey, providing funding and financial assistance.
When
money began disappearing from Kord
Omniversal, Blue Beetle tracked
an increasingly worrying series of clues to a castle in the Swiss Alps, where
he discovered that the international espionage organization Checkmate had been taken over by Maxwell Lord, who planned to use Checkmate and his powers of mental
domination in his bid for power. To keep his secret, Lord killed Kord.
Along
with other heroes of the Blue Beetle
legacy, Booster Gold travelled
through time to save the life of Ted Kord.
Though they were successful, saving the Blue
Beetle created an apocalyptic alternate timeline. To save the world and
restore history, Ted Kord returned to
the time of his demise and accepted his fate.
Blue Beetle III PL10
Abilities
Strength 6 Fighting 4
Stamina 4 Intellect 1
Agility 4 Awareness 2
Dexterity 3 Presence 2
Powers
Beetle Wings: Flight 5 (60 MPH) •
10 points
Carapace: Protection 8 •
8 points
Reach Infiltrator: Array (16 points)
• Khaji Da: Senses 8 (Analytical (Normal Hearing),
Analytical (Normal Sight), Counters Illusion, Counters
Concealment (Invisibility), Danger Sense, Darkvision, Radio, Radius (Normal
Sight), Tracking), Enhanced
Advantage: Assessment, Enhanced Skill 5 (Insight +5) • 16 points
• Dimension Shift: Dimension Travel (Bleed) • 1
point
• Dimension Step: Concealment (total), Unreliable (may cause
Blue Beetle to skip forward in time up to +8 ranks of time he intended to stay concealed) • 1
point
• Energy Pattern Disruption: Effect Nullify 10 (Energy Effects), Randomize
• 1
point
• Rocket Booster: Flight 5, Stacks with Beetle Wings (2,000 MPH)
• 1
point
Reach Weaponry: Array (16 points)
• Energy Cannon: Ranged Damage 8 •
16 points
• Arm Blades: Strength-based Damage 3 • 1 point
• Shield: Protection 4, Impervious Toughness 12,
Distracting • 1 point
Strength of the
Scarab: Enhanced Strength 4; Enhanced Stamina 2; Enhanced
Agility 2; Enhanced Dexterity 2; Enhanced Fighting 3 • 26
points
Subdermal Scarab: Feature 1 (Scarab AI and Database), Feature 1 (Quick Change to armor) • 2 points
Advantages
Extraordinary
Effort, Language (Spanish), Power Attack
Skills
Close
Combat: Arm Blades 7 (+11), Close Combat: Unarmed 6 (+10), Expertise: Tactics 3
(+4), Perception 7 (+9), Ranged Combat: Energy Cannons 9 (+12)
Offense
Initiative
+3
Energy
Cannons +12 Ranged,
Damage 8
Arm
Blades +11 Close,
Damage 9
Defense
Dodge 8 Fortitude 12
Parry 8 Toughness 12/16*
Will 7
*With
Shield.
Power Points
Abilities 26 Skills 16
Powers 84 Defenses 21
Advantages 3 Total 150
Complications
Family and Friends: Jamie Reyes has shared the secret of his
super hero career with not just his family, but also a circle of friends, all
of whom help and support him in his adventures.
Hybrid Hero: The Blue Beetle was born when Jamie Reyes merged into a unique
symbiotic relationship with the scarab named "Khaji Da." Together they are
still figuring out the exact nature and extent of their abilities.
Identity: Blue Beetle isn't always super-powered,
sometimes he's a normal teenager -- with an alien probe implanted in him.
Regardless, when the scarab isn't active Jaime doesn't have any powers.
Lone Star: Blue Beetle is not only a new hero, he
is a hero in a Texas city that has not previously had many super heroes.
Real
Name:
Jamie Reyes
Occupation: Student
Base:
El
Paso, Texas
Personality
The
newest Blue Beetle is a young hero,
and along with his youthful enthusiasm comes inexperience ― but
he has also proven more than willing to seek out and accept help when needed.
Powers &
Abilities
The
scarab bonded to Jamie Reyes can
surround him with a suit of shape-shifting armor that enhances his physical
abilities, grants him protection, and allows him to fly. It can also manifest a
variety of weapons from blades to energy cannons, provide him with a variety of
enhanced senses, and allow him to slip into the transdimensional space known as
the Bleed.
Allies
Jamie Reyes greatest ally is
the scarab, which has named itself "Khaji Da." Jamie's family and
friends also know of his adventures and help when they can. Jamie is a member
of the Teen Titans and made a number
of allies through the legacy of the Blue
Beetle, including Danielle Garrett
(the granddaughter of the first Beetle) and the second Blue Beetle's friends from the Justice
League and the Birds of Prey.
Enemies
The
alien Reach vow to destroy Blue Beetle, and he has already tangled
with a wide number of Earth's villains, including the Parasite, the Ultra-Humanite,
and Eclipso.
History
Jamie Reyes was walking home
from school with friends when he discovered a strange scarab in a vacant lot
and took it home. That night, the scarab bonded to Jaime while he was sleeping
and the new Blue Beetle was born. After helping Batman
defeat the orbiting Brother Eye
satellite during the Infinite Crisis,
Jaime returned home to El Paso and launched his heroic career with a lot of
help from his family and friends.
Investigating the
true nature of the scarab, Blue Beetle
discovered it had been created by an alien race called the Reach, ancient enemies of the Guardians
of the Universe who had designs on conquering Earth. With the help of the
scarab and his many allies, Jamie defeated the Reach. He continues to defend El Paso and adventure alongside the Teen Titans and his many allies.
All characters, their distinctive likenesses, and related
elements are trademarks of DC Comics © 2011. All rights reserved.
MEET THE BEETLES
My name is Seth
Johnson, and I love the DC Universe. A lot.
If there's one
thing I love about the DC Universe, it's Ambush
Bug. But if there are two things I love about the DC Universe, it's Ambush Bug and the legacies. Ambush Bug should be self-explanatory,
but let me talk about the legacies for a minute.
Growing up reading
DC Comics, I think the first time I was ever really aware of a legacy was the
early 1980s, when the name and costume of Robin
passed from Dick Grayson to Jason Todd. Part of me remained a Dick Grayson fan and followed him on to
his adventures as Nightwing in the Teen Titans, but another part was still
a fan of Batman's sidekick and kept
reading about Robin. Then we had to
vote about whether to kill him or not, but we can talk about that childhood
trauma another time.
In the mid-80s, I
started noticing a new character popping up during the Crisis on Infinite Earths ― the Blue
Beetle! Eagerly, I started reading the new Blue Beetle comic... and discovered that this was not the first Blue Beetle. The first Blue Beetle had been a two-fisted hero
powered by a magic scarab, nothing like the gadgeteer acrobat I knew about.
This wasn't just a costume being passed from one teenager to another ― this was
a more interesting legacy, where a hero carried on the mission of the one who
came before, but did it in his own way.
I'm legally barred
from talking about the backroom deals and knife-fights among M&M
writers about who got to write up Robin
for DC
Adventures, but I can tell you I was lucky enough to write up a few of
my favorites ― including the Blue Beetles.
It was a lot of fun to try and echo their very distinctive styles and powers in
writing them up, while also being true to that very real feel of legacy.
Blue Beetle I is a PL12 character, drawing on the full
power of the mystic scarab he discovered buried beneath the African desert. Yet
his power set is reasonably straightforward:
Chainmail: Protection 4 •
4
points
Kaji Dha!: Feature 1 (Change
into costume as a free action)• 1 point
Lightning Blast: Ranged Damage 10•
20
points
Soar Like a Beetle: Flight 6 (120 MPH) • 12 points
Strength of the Scarab: Enhanced Strength 7; Enhanced Stamina 6; Enhanced Agility 3; Enhanced Dexterity 4; Enhanced Fighting 8 • 56
points
Only one of his
powers has more than one effect, as the scarab charges up mild-mannered
archaeologist Dan Garrett into the
azure avenger of Hub City.
Compare those
powers to those of Blue Beetle II. Ted Kord is a PL 11 character, a power
level that represents his experience but also his lack of the mystic power that
belonged to his predecessor. Dan Garrett
gave Kord the scarab and passed on his mission with his dying breath ― but
didn't pass on the magic words Kaji Dha!
that would activate its powers. So in becoming Blue Beetle II, Kord was forced to rely on his own natural athletic
abilities and gadgeteering genius to create the weapons he needed for his war
on crime. His main weapon, the BB Gun,
is represented as a power array that gives him a variety of handy effects:
BB
Gun:
Array
(16 points), Easily Removable (-8 points)
• Blinding Strobe: Cumulative Cone Area Affliction 8 (Resisted by Fortitude;
Impaired Sight, Disabled
Sight, Unaware), Limited--Visual Only • 16
points
• Air Burst: Cone Area Move
Object 3, Diminished Range 3, Instant Duration, Limited Direction: Straight Away • 1 point
• Air Hammer: Ranged Damage 8 • 1 point
But
Kord packed even more features into his flying fortress, the Bug:
The Bug: Vehicle • 68 points
Huge; Str 8, Speed 8
(Flight), Def 8, Tou 9; Alarm 3 (DC 30), Navigation System, Remote Control; Swimming 6 (30 MPH);
Immunity 10 (Life Support); Ranged Damage 10; Feature 1 (Skywire allows pilot to move between flying Bug and ground),
Enhanced Skill 12 (Investigation
+6, Ranged Combat: Heavy Weapons +6)
Two characters that
couldn't be more different, right? That's why it's particularly cool that
during the Final Crisis, in the
tragic aftermath of Ted Kord's
murder, young Jamie Reyes found Dan Garrett's scarab (or was it that the
scarab found him?) and was thrust headlong into a new heroic career as Blue Beetle III.
Still young and
inexperienced, Blue Beetle III is a
PL10 character. But he's a PL10 character packed with the potential of the
Beetles who came before him ― reflected first and foremost in how he possesses
some powers very similar to Blue Beetle I:
Strength of the Scarab: Enhanced Strength 4; Enhanced Stamina 2; Enhanced Agility 2; Enhanced Dexterity 2; Enhanced Fighting 3 • 26
points
Beetle Wings: Flight 5 (60 MPH) •
10 points
Carapace: Protection 8 •
8 points
Subdermal Scarab: Feature 1 (Quick Change to armor) • 1 point
Yet Jamie Reyes has discovered the truth of
the scarab ― that it is, in fact, not a mystic artifact, but actually a
creation of the alien race known as the Reach,
symbiotically bonded to the young human. In that discovery, Blue Beetle III has a power array that
has a name familiar from Blue Beetle I
― Khaji Dha, not magic words but the
name of the scarab ― and in calling upon it he has a whole new range of
effects:
Reach
Infiltrator:
Array (16 points)
• Khaji Da: Senses 8 (Analytical (Normal Hearing),
Analytical (Normal Sight), Counters Illusion,
Counters Concealment (Invisibility), Danger Sense, Darkvision, Radio, Radius (Normal Sight), Tracking), Enhanced
Advantage: Assessment, Enhanced Skill 5 (Insight +5) • 16
points
• Dimension Shift: Dimension Travel (Bleed) • 1
point
• Dimension Step: Concealment (total), Unreliable (may cause Blue Beetle to skip forward in time up to +8 ranks of time he intended to
stay concealed) • 1 point
• Energy Pattern
Disruption:
Effect Nullify 10 (Energy Effects),
Randomize • 1 point
• Rocket Booster: Flight 5, Stacks with Beetle Wings (2,000 MPH)
• 1
point
But in my mind, Blue Beetle III's connections to the
past aren't only to Dan Garrett. On
his character sheet, Jamie Reyes has
one last power array that to me echoes the days of Ted Kord charging into battle with courage and his 16-point weapons
array:
Reach Weaponry: Array (16 points)
• Energy Cannon: Ranged Damage 8 •
16 points
• Arm Blades: Strength-Based Damage 3 • 1 point
• Shield: Protection 4, Impervious Toughness 12,
Distracting • 1 point
As a game designer,
it's fun to try and play out the truths of a character in their game stats, to
try and capture the essence of a hero in powers and stats. But the real truth
comes when they make their appearance in your campaign and we see if they live
up to their heroic legacy. I hope you include one of the Blue Beetles in your game, so we can see where the legacy goes in
your series. They're some of my favorite DC heroes.
Along with Ambush Bug. Whom I also got to write up,
thanks to winning a three-way sudden death overtime chessboxing match against
Kenson and McGlothlin. But that's another story...
Blue Beetle I PL12
Abilities
Strength 9 Fighting 10
Stamina 9 Intellect 4
Agility 5 Awareness 2
Dexterity 5 Presence 3
Powers
Chainmail: Protection 4 •
4
points
Kaji
Dha!: Feature
1 (Change into costume as a free action)• 1 point
Lightning Blast: Ranged Damage 10•
20
points
Soar Like a Beetle: Flight 6 (120 MPH) • 12 points
Strength of the
Scarab: Enhanced Strength 7; Enhanced Stamina 6; Enhanced
Agility 3; Enhanced Dexterity 4; Enhanced Fighting 8 • 56
points
Advantages
Fast
Grab, Interpose, Languages 2, Power Attack, Takedown, Ultimate Effort
(Athletics)
Skills
Athletics
3 (+12), Close Combat: Unarmed 5 (+15), Expertise: Archaeology 4 (+8),
Perception 6 (+8), Ranged Combat: Lightning Blast 7 (+12), Vehicles 3 (+8)
Offense
Initiative
+5
Unarmed
+15 Close, Damage 9
Lightning
Blast +12 Ranged, Damage 10
Defense
Dodge 10 Fortitude 12
Parry 11 Toughness 13
Will 7
Power Points
Abilities 38 Skills 14
Powers 93 Defenses 14
Advantages 7 Total 166
Complications
Sacred Charge: Dan Garrett is charged by an ancient
power with eradicating evil from the Earth as Blue Beetle.
Seclusion: Garrett takes his
mission as the Blue Beetle so
seriously that he has virtually abandoned his former life.
Real
Name:
Dan Garrett
Occupation: Archaeologist,
adventurer
Base:
Hub City, IL
Personality
Dan Garrett is supremely
focused on his mission to battle evil, with room for little else in his life.
Yet he maintains a passion for archaeology, and is often drawn to museums and
archaeological digs.
Powers &
Abilities
From
the scarab that gives him his name, the Blue
Beetle gains superhuman strength, the ability to fly, and the power to
shoot bolts of a lightning-like energy. When he says the magic words "Kaji
Dha", Daniel Garrett is
transformed into his costume, made of a chain-mail material the protects him
from harm.
Allies
Though
he has few regular allies in his war against evil, in his civilian identity Dan Garrett he is a mentor to Ted Kord, who would carry on his legacy
as the second Blue Beetle. However,
years earlier, when the alien Apellaxians
nearly conquered the planet, the Blue
Beetle fought alongside the Freedom
Fighters and the newly-formed Justice
League to defeat the invasion.
Enemies
The
Blue Beetle's enemies are many and
bizarre, from the insane ecologist known as the Praying Mantisman and the rampaging Red Knight to the lightning-powered Mr. Thunderbolt and the robotic Mentor
the Magnificent.
History
Archaeologist
Dan Garrett was on a dig in north
Africa when he discovered the tomb of the Pharoah
Kha-ef-re, and with it a blue scarab lying atop the pharoah's tomb. Picking
up the scarab, spirits taught Garrett the magic words that would unlock the
power of the scarab and charged him to battle a never-ending war on evil ― beginning
with the mummy of Kha-ef-re!
After
defeating the mummy, the Blue Beetle
returned to Hub City and carried out
the spirits' mission, with only occasional breaks to return to archaeology as a
visiting professor. While teaching at Midwestern
University he met student Ted Kord
and travelled with him to Pago Island
in the south Atlantic ― where the Blue Beetle fell in battle, but passed his mission to fight evil on
to Kord, who would battle on in his name.
All characters, their distinctive likenesses, and related
elements are trademarks of DC Comics © 2011. All rights reserved.
Hi, I'm Christopher McGlothlin. You may remember me
from such sourcebooks as DC
Adventures: Heroes & Villains Vol. I, DC Adventures: Heroes & Villains
Vol. II, and the ones I did under my pen name "Steve Kenson."
Line developer Jon Leitheusser -- not to be confused with the Reverse
Leitheusser or Bizarro Leitheusser (always check to see if the uniform
colors are reversed before trusting "Jon")--asked me for an after-action report
on designing the Freedom Fighters for Heroes & Villains Vol.
I. This is the red, white, and blue result.
Some of you are no doubt going, "Freedom Fighters? Grant Morrison! Jimmy
Palmiotti! Justin Gray! Cool!" Others are exclaiming, "Len Wein! Totally
radical!" Somebody else is probably going, "Ah, the Quality Comics characters."
The best part is, like a peewee league soccer game, everybody wins! You're all correct.
That's just a fact of life for most DC Comics characters: they've been around
since Fibber McGee & Molly ruled all media (and a most
Happy 75th Anniversary to Major Wheeler-Nicholson's progeny,
while I'm at it!). Not only have the characters associated with the Freedom
Fighters been around since rumble seats, they've been invented,
re-invented, re-imagined, and resurrected for each new generation of comic-book
readers.
Enter yon middle-aged game designer. Golden Age idolater that I am, any mention
of the Quality characters brought visions of Stormy Foster and Bozo
the Iron Man to mind (no, that's not Robert Downey, Jr. in
a clown suit). Then I was informed of the sourcebook's sub-Rowling page-count,
and away went the obscurities, much to the Ghost of Flanders' sorrow.
That still left the Bronze Age/Golden Age retcon version of the Freedom
Fighters, the iteration that did red-shirt duty in Infinite Crisis,
the current team, and many, many more words than I had room for. So like an
afterschool special, I talked to some groovy adults, resisted peer pressure
from the popular kids, and made the right choices. And you know something? I
grew up a little in the process.
The first step was to make sure the Freedom Fighters' whole history was
retold, from their big move to the DC metro area back in ‛42 to their
long-running feud with the Silver Ghost to JLA: Year One (did
you miss their cameos?), right on into the new millennium. So even when I
lacked the room to quantify a particular character, I made sure he wasn't
erased from memory. The Red Torpedo would've wanted it that way.
This made escaping the love-square between me and
the Len Wein, Geoff Johns, and Morrison/Palmiotti/Gray versions of the team a
lot easier. You see, all these talented creators know well the Freedom
Fighters' long history (Uncle Sam debuted in 1940) is part of their
appeal, and each rendition of the team took care to preserve their heritage.
Therefore, focusing on the game statistics of the current version of the Freedom
Fighters still left enough room to include the most significant differences
between its present members and their predecessors. So whether you're a Richard
Grey/Thomas Wright voter or a Ryan Kendall fanatic, it's not too much work to have
your preferred Black Condor soaring through your DC Adventures series with the
information presented.
Now I know there's no getting you into the tent without a little peek at what's
inside, so peep this and get ready to buy your ticket. Yessiree, this book has
the Red Bee in it. Yes, the Red Bee--my personal test for how big
a DC fan someone really is. If you know Superman, that
just shows you've been alive since 1938, but the people who know the Red Bee...
someday, Johnny DC himself will look upon you and call you his own.
The Red Bee(s--there've been two so far) has
appeared in three RPG books. I've written two of them. That's what I call an
accomplished life, and herein lies the proof:
The Red Bee II PL10
• 150 points
Abilities Str 7, Sta 3, Agl 4, Dex 3, Fgt 4, Int 4, Awe 4, Pre 3
Powers Exoskeleton (40 points, Removable, -8 points): Stinger Blasts
(electricity; Ranged Damage 8), Flight 5 (60 MPH; Wings), Impervious Protection
5, Enhanced Strength 4, Senses 1 (Communication Link with Robot Drones)
Advantages
Beginner's Luck, Inventor, Minion 6 (2
Robot Drones)
Skills Close Combat: Unarmed 7 (+11), Expertise: Entomology 9 (+13),
Expertise: Robotics 9 (+13), Expertise: Science 8 (+12), Perception 7 (+11),
Ranged Combat: Stinger Blasts 9 (+12), Technology 7 (+11)
Offense
Initiative +4, Stinger Blasts +12 (Ranged
Damage 8), Unarmed +11 (Damage 7)
Defense
Dodge 12, Parry 10, Fortitude 9, Toughness
8, Will 10
Totals Abilities 56 + Powers 32 + Advantages 8 + Skills 28 + Defenses
26 = 150
Complications
Thrills: Freed from the laboratory, the Red Bee quickly found
the excitement of costumed super-heroics to her liking.
Relationship: The Human Bomb's hatred towards her drove her away from
the team. She apparently harbors some degree of attraction to Andre Twist,
but guilt over her actions while under the control of alien insects caused her
to abruptly cease all contact with him, leaving their mutual feelings
unresolved.
History
Jenna
Raleigh is the grand-niece of Richard Raleigh,
who fought crime and Axis saboteurs during the early 1940s as the costumed Red
Bee. Uncle Sam saw to it her grand-uncle's notes and crime-fighting
gear found their way into her hands, and coupled with her extensive knowledge
of insects and robotics, she was able to outfit herself as the second Red
Bee.
The new
Red Bee made her public debut helping to free Uncle Sam and the Freedom
Fighters from the clutches of S.H.A.D.E., and with that accomplished
accompanied the team back to its extra-dimensional base "the Heartland."
Excited by her first super-heroic outing, Jenna eagerly accepted Sam's offer to
join the team, and remained steadfast even after witnessing the Invisible
Hood II's slaying by the traitorous third Ray.
Jenna's
assumption of the Red Bee mantle changed her life entirely. She experienced
the first sparks of romance with her teammate Andre Twist, and was
groomed by S.H.A.D.E. to become the team's public face after Stormy
Knight became a drunken embarrassment. The greatest transformation of all
occurred as a result of her encounter with a swarm of alien invaders which
secretly took over her mind and forcibly mutated her body into a more
insect-like form.
Under
their domination, Jenna seized control of the Freedom Fighters and
forced them to do her bidding in preparation for a full-scale invasion of
Earth. Eventually Jenna regained her free will and normal human form with the
help of her teammates, and was instrumental in defeating the insect conquerors.
Despite her redemption and other mitigating factors, Jenna's relationships with
Andy Franklin (whom she forced to mate with her) and Andre Twist
were strained to the point she felt compelled to leave the team. She returned
to her research, and it remains to be seen if she will ever resume her career
as the Red Bee.
Richard
Raleigh
The original
Red Bee had no super-powers, but relied on his hand-to-hand combat
training, swarm of trained bees, and "stinger gun" (Damage 8) to fight crime.
Unlike Jenna, his Expertise was in practicing law and bee-keeping.
Robot Drone PL6
Minions • 46 points
Abilities Str -5, Sta ―, Agl 4, Dex -2, Fgt 0, Int ―, Awe 0, Pre ―
Powers Stinger Blasts (electricity; Ranged Damage 6), Shrinking 8
(Continuous, Permanent, Innate), Flight 5 (60 MPH; Wings), Immunity 40
(Fortitude Effects, Mental Effects)
Offense
Initiative +4, Stinger Blasts +6 (Ranged
Damage 6), Unarmed +8 (Damage -5)
Defense
Dodge 12, Parry 9, Fortitude Immune,
Toughness 0, Will Immune
Totals Abilities -26 + Powers 71 + Advantages 0 + Skills 0 + Defenses
1 = 46
I can hear the scoffers in the back snorting, "So yer game kin
handle a guy who wears a belt full o' bees! What about a guy who can level
Manhattan with his sweat, huh? Stat that, nerd boy!" So without any
further ado, here's the new Human Bomb:
The Human Bomb
II PL12
• 234 points
Abilities Str 3, Sta 4, Agl 2, Dex 2, Fgt 2, Int 4, Awe 4, Pre 2
Powers Explosive Physiology: Array (132 points): Nuclear Blast (Burst
Area 12 (16 Miles) Damage 12, Side Effect (same as base effect, always
occurs)), AE: Tissue Grenades (Ranged Burst Area Damage 10,), AE:
Thunderclap (Cone Area Damage 8); Fibro-Wax Containment Suit (Protection 6)
Advantages
Extraordinary Effort
Skills Expertise: Chemistry 12 (+16), Expertise: Science 7 (+11),
Technology 7 (+11)
Offense
Initiative +2, Explosive Physiology
(Damage 12, 10, or 8), Unarmed +2 (Damage 3)
Defense
Dodge 12, Parry 12, Fortitude 8, Toughness
10, Will 14
Totals Abilities 46 + Powers 140 + Advantages 1 + Skills 13 +
Defenses 34 = 234
Complications
Acceptance: The Human Bomb feels almost completely cut off from
humanity, and hopes his heroism will somehow overcome the fear he engenders in
others.
Temper: The highly emotional Andy has a tendency to overreact when he
believes his teammates have been harmed, retaliating with extreme (sometimes
lethal) force.
Accident: If not immersed in a fibro-wax bath or given special daily
medication prepared by S.H.A.D.E., Andy's explosive physiology reaches
critical mass in 24 hours and uncontrollably explodes at maximum Damage rank.
Honor: Though his Temper complication sometimes overwhelms him, Andy
is normally governed by a strong moral concern for the well-being of others.
Andrew
Franklin was a young research scientist working in
Blüdhaven when the villain Chemo's exploding poisonous form
ravaged the area. Like other city residents, Franklin gained meta-human
abilities as a result, and his entire physiology become dangerously explosive.
Contact with his bodily tissues, even his perspiration, could level cities. The
government agency S.H.A.D.E. kept Andy immersed in liquid fibro-wax to
keep his power in check until, at Father Time's behest, he was equipped
to serve the organization as the new Human Bomb.
Of the
various meta-humans working for S.H.A.D.E., Andy had the most qualms
about its aims and means, and eventually deserted it to join Uncle Sam
in forming a new Freedom Fighters. In time, his teammates lost their
trepidations about his volatile abilities, and his awesome powers were a major
asset in defeating Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard and its corrupt allies
in S.H.A.D.E..
Later
incidents threatened Andy's new hard-won friendships with his teammates. While
both under the influence of invading alien insects, Jenna Raleigh forced
Andy to mate with her, something he has yet to forgive her for. Andre Twist
in turn harbored a grudge against Andy for the incident because of his feelings
for Jenna, but the two have since reconciled. With the Freedom Fighters
in abeyance, Andy ponders his future in the team's "Heartland"
sanctuary.
Roy
Lincoln
The original Human Bomb's abilities were similar to Franklin's, but with a top-rank Damage 9. Lincoln also did not have the Accident complication.
And that, gentle readers, is my testament to a legacy handed down from Lou Fine to Travis Moore & Trevor Scott, with many, many other talented folks involved along the way. It's equally humbling and an honor to have chronicled them, and I am left with but two words for the DC Adventures-buying public: En-joy!
***
Join us
next time as Seth Johnson takes a look at what it's like to create different versions of a legacy character... just like Blue Beetle!
Putting Off-the-Wall Characters and Powers
Under the Microscope
It's not every day a writer finds himself assigned a job quite
so interesting as cobbling together character stats for the likes of a talking
gorilla in love with a brain in a fish bowl, or an interstellar mercenary with
a weapon that can cut through just about anything (including reality), but
that's the situation I found myself in while working on DC Adventures: Heroes & Villains, Volume I. As
you'd expect, unusual characters make for unusual power builds, and so I was
faced with some... creative... and fun complications while approaching this
assignment.
Expectedly, there are always challenges when working with a new
game system, and DC Adventures was
no different. Having written plenty of material for previous editions of the
rules upon which this system is based, I came into the project with certain
expectations and habits regarding power construction, but I immediately found
many of these preconceptions no longer applied. The increasingly modular,
"toolbox" approach to power building provided by the DC Adventures Hero's Handbook took some getting used
to, accustomed as I was to the pre-built power constructs used in previous
editions, but I quickly found my footing and even the unusual power concepts
some of my assigned characters demanded ended up flowing from the new rules
rather easily.
Deadman, by way of
example, certainly qualifies as an oddball character with the potential for
tripping up a designer operating within a new and not entirely familiar system.
When first approaching the task of writing this ghostly character, I found
myself scratching my head over his ability to possess people by displacing
their minds and walking around in their bodies. Although previous editions of
the rules presented a Possession power that would have fit the bill, the DC Adventures' rules contained no such
animal for me to work with. I therefore approached the task by breaking the
concept down to its core elements; by figuring out the crux of what the power
was meant to do I believed I would find the solution to merging concept and
game mechanics into a satisfying result.
I began with the realization that a ghost entering a living
host in order to possess it was merely an ethereal (no joke intended) concept
wrapped around the ability to take command of someone else's body, and so the
control aspect rather than that of possession was the perspective from which I
decided to approach the task. The fact that it was an incorporeal, invisible
ghost slipping on someone else's skin like a new suit wasn't really relevant to
how I needed to build the power. Once I understood the new rules accommodated
such a fluid approach to power building, I found their avoidance of nailing
everything down in a unique and separate power to be rather liberating, and the
possession ability I believed would be complicated became incredibly simple.
Because this power was tied to Deadman's phantom state, however, I found it only natural to first construct his spectral body, an aspect of the character existing independently of his ability to possess people. Designing this power required combining a number of elements, resulting in a somewhat expensive power, which I called "Spectral Form," that fit the bill rather handily.
Spectral Form: Insubstantial 4 (Intangible; Not versus magic), Continuous, Innate, Permanent; Concealment 10 (All Senses), Continuous, Permanent; Flight 4 (30 MPH); Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects); Senses 4 (Vision Counters Invisibility, Auditory Counters Spiritual Concealment), Dimensional, Limited to Spirits/Astral Entities • 83 points
As you can see, Insubstantial covers his walking through walls, Concealment accounts for his invisibility, and Flight is... well... his ability to fly around like a ghost. His Immunity covers the full spectrum of just about anything one would associate with no longer being alive, such as the need to sleep or eat, whereas his Senses power represents being able to see other ghosts and the like, even if they are not fully on the same plane of existence ― but doesn't allow him to see a living person who's invisible. DC Adventures allows all the component powers to be presented under a single entry, "Spectral Form," a handy design policy that makes power building much easier and far more thematic. This format also helps impose a context that translates into an easy-to-read, understandable presentation that makes good sense.
Having decided how I would represent Deadman's ghostly
state, I moved on to the ability I initially thought would give me the most
trouble: his possession power. Truly, the whole process became much more
straightforward once I decided not make it a direct aspect of his Spectral
Form. Once this conceptual decision was made, the actual write-up came easily.
Possession: Affliction 10 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Compelled, Controlled), Affects Corporeal 10, Concentration, Cumulative, Insidious, Instant Recovery, Subtle 2, Limited to creatures with Int -3 or higher, Limited--Cannot access target's thoughts or memories • 18 points
The broad spectrum of possibilities now covered by the wide-ranging Affliction power (in my opinion, perhaps the most adaptable and useful effect in the game) easily handled the controlling nature of Deadman's possessing ability, whereas the simplified power modifier system took care of the remaining details. Because Affliction allows you to choose the conditions you wish to apply at each degree of success, I was allowed the exact result I was looking for in that regard, while Insidious and Subtle combined to represent the subject's inability to recall that he had been possessed. Add in the Instant Recovery flaw from the Affliction power along with Deadman's inability to access his host body's memory and voila!
Once accustomed to the DC Adventures' system, I found there wasn't a need to pin everything down within the confines of rules, as the system naturally allowed the concept to wrap around the mechanics without fuss, thus completing how the end user views the power in a way that is both effortless to understand and easy to implement during actual play.
Deadman PL10
Abilities
Strength 2 Fighting 2
Stamina 3 Intellect 1
Agility 6 Awareness 6
Dexterity 5 Presence 4
Powers
Possession:
Affliction 10 (Resisted by Will; Dazed, Compelled, Controlled), Affects
Corporeal 10, Concentration, Cumulative, Insidious, Instant Recovery, Subtle 2,
Limited to creatures with Int -3 or higher, Limited -- Cannot access target's
thoughts or memories • 18 points
Spectral Form:
Insubstantial 4 (Not versus Magic), Continuous, Innate, Permanent; Concealment
10, Continuous, Permanent; Flight 4 (30 MPH); Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects);
Senses 4 (Vision Counters Invisibility, Auditory Counters Spiritual
Concealment), Dimensional, Limited to Spirits/Astral Entities • 83 points
Advantages
Connected, Defensive Roll 5, Luck 3, Power Attack, Skill
Mastery 2 (Acrobatics, Athletics)
Skills
Acrobatics 6 (+12), Athletics 6 (+8), Close Combat: Unarmed 6
(+8), Close Combat: Possession 8 (+10), Expertise: Magic 2 (+3), Expertise:
Supernatural 4 (+5), Investigation 4 (+5), Perception 4 (+10), Persuasion 2
(+6)
Offense
Initiative +6
Possession +10 Close, Affliction 10
Unarmed +X* Close, Damage X*
*Depends on Fgt and Str of body possessed.
Defense
Dodge 10 Fortitude Immune
Parry 5 Toughness 8/3**
Will 8
**Without
Defensive Roll
Power Points
Abilities 58 Skills 21
Powers 101 Defenses 9
Advantages
12 Total 201
Complications
Spiritual Responsibilities:
As a spirit in service to Rama Kushna, Deadman is frequently
called upon to perform "other-worldly" duties, such as guiding other spirits to
their final rest and defending the living against supernatural evils.
***
Join us next time as Christopher McGlothlin takes a look at the challenges of updating some classic older characters from the Golden and Silver Age!