SHAMAN (Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen)
Created By: John Byrne
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #120 (April 1979)
Role: Team Mage, Swiss Army Power Guy, Ethnic Stereotype
Group Affiliations: Alpha Flight
PL 10 (137)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 0
Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Close Combat (Magic) 4 (+9)
Deception 5 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+4)
Expertise (Native Shaman) 11 (+14)
Treatment 9 (+13)
Perception 4 (+8)
Insight 4 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Magic) 5 (+9)
Stealth 6 (+7)
Advantages:
Artificer, Equipment ("Magical Bracelets"- Features: Quick Change), Ritualist, Set-Up, Tracking, Trance
Powers:
"Innate Magical Powers"
"Telepathy" Communication 2 (Mental) [10]
"Levitation" Flight 1 (4 mph) (Flaws: Low Ceiling) [1]
Senses 5 (Magical Awareness, Acute, Analytical, Radius) [5]
"Sarcee Mystical Pouch" (Flaws: Easily Removable -2) (Feats: Restricted 2- Shaman Only) [37]
Features 2: Anyone who Looks Within Will Lose Their Mind (2)
"Vaccuum into the Pouch" Movement 1 (Dimensional Movement- Pouch) (Extras: Affects Others 10, Attack 10, Area- 60ft. Cone 10) (32) -- (56)
- AE: "Image-Altering Powders" Morph 2 (Humanoids) (10)
- AE: "Anti-Flying Spell" Affliction 10 (Flight Rank; Hindered/Prone) (Extras: Area- 1000ft. Burst +5) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Limited to Flying Characters -2) (30)
- AE: "Astral Form" Remote Sensing 8 (Visuals & Hearing) (24)
- AE: "Bubble Protection" Movement 1 (Slow Fall) (Extras: Affects Others) (3)
- AE: "Clouding Dust- Dulls the Mind" Affliction 10 (Will; Entranced & Impaired/Stunned & Disabled/Incapacitated) (Extras: Cumulative, Extra Condition) (30)
- AE: "Mud Ball- Stone Spell" Affliction 10 (Will; Dazed & Vision Impaired/Stunned & Vision Disabled/Transformed & Unaware) (Extras: Extra Condition, Ranged) (30)
- AE: "Dust From the Realm of Dreams" Affliction 10 (Will; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Cumulative) (20)
- AE: "Phobia Manipulation" Affliction 10 (Will; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Extra Condition) (30)
- AE: "Deflection Wand" Immunity 20 (Energy Attacks) (20)
- AE: "Daylight Enhantment Stone" Affliction 10 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Flaws: Limited to "Calm Down") (10)
- AE: "Dimensional Portal" Movement 3 (Dimensional Travel 3) (Extras: Portal +2) (15)
- AE: "Eldritch Bolts" Blast 10 (20)
- AE: "Flame Barrier" Damage 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (20)
- AE: "Eagle Crest" Summon Eagle 5 (Extras: Heroic +2, Active) (Eagle with Affliction 10- Demons cannot attack, can use Remote Sensing) (25)
- AE: "Healing Powders" Healing 6 (12)
- AE: "Ice Powders- Shards" Blast 8 (Extras: Multiattack) (24)
- AE: "Ice Powders- Wall of Ice" Create 8 (16)
- AE: "Telekinesis" Move Object 8 (16)
- AE: "Magic Glob/Staff of Growth" Snare 7 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (28)
- AE: "Protection Spell" Force Field 10 (Extras: Impervious) (Flaws: Immobile -2) (5)
- AE: "Shrinking Spell" Shrinking 12 (Extras: Attack Only +0) (24)
- AE: Nullify (Magical Effects) 10 (Extras: Broad, Simultaneous) (30)
- AE: "Empathy" Mind-Reading 5 (Flaws: Limited to Emotions) (5)
- AE: "Weather Control" Environment 6 (900 feet) (Cold, Impede Movement 2, Light, Visibility) (31)
Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Eldritch Bolts +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Afflictions +8 (+7-10 Ranged Affliction, DC 17-20)
Afflictions +9 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Pouch Vacuum +10 Area (+10 Teleport, DC 20)
Initiative +1
Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +2 (+12 Force Field), Fortitude +6, Will +10
Complications:
Relationship (Elizabeth)- Shaman has an adversarial relationship with his daughter- she felt betrayed when he failed to save her mother from sickness.
Responsibility (Shaman)- Michael's position and power give him much responsibility- he is the primary defender of Canada from dark spirits.
Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 53 / Defenses: 19 (137)
-Michael Twoyoungmen was your standard "I use the white man's ways of science" doctor, until his wife and father both died within a day's time, despite his attempts to cure them. Thus, he abandoned Western Medicine and learned the ultra-pure way of his people- the Tsuu T'ina tribe within Canada. Using "Sarcee" (an old term for the tribe- a now-pejorative term given to them by the Blackfeet, who warred with the Tsuu T'ina- it means "stubborn ones") magic and a fancy mystical pouch, Shaman becomes a master mage. Shortly after assisting with the birth of Snowbird (who rapidly ages), the two are recruited to join Alpha Flight. He assists the team as a support character for a while, but we eventually meet his adult daughter Elizabeth, who discovers that she has innate magical powers, and soon becomes "Talisman". When he fails to save her from an enslaving "Coronet" that connects itself to her permanently, she begins hating him for his numerous failings. This causes a crisis of faith, and Michael loses his powers for a time.
-Shaman eventually learns to beseech "animal spirits" for help, and regains powers after Talisman forgives him, following a battle with a demonic being named Pestilence. After this, Michael joins the rest of Alpha Flight in "Marvel Limbo", showing up in scattered books here and there- he misses out on the "Radius/Flex" era, and the "Sasquatch Leads Some Goofs" era, but finds himself dead alongside the rest of the team at the hands of the Collective. He returns with the most recent Alpha Flight book, where he is opposed by Ranark the Ravager of "Alpha Strike", and is instrumental to Alpha Flight's victory through various spells (such as a spell of Stealth, hiding the Alphans from the rest of fascist Canada).
-Shaman's one my least favourite archetypes in comics: Guy Who Can Do Everything. Need a snowstorm? He's got it. Need a blast? Ditto. Stealth powers? Mind Reading? Snares? Teleportation? Moving Stuff? He's got it ALL! So much like Dr. Strange, he can basically do anything, making him the ultimate teammate, and so hard to write for that he often gets de-powered, KO'd, possessed, or loses his stupid pouch thingie. Basically, the walking Plot Device. Hell, I remember The Crossing, an Avengers arc, where Shaman stuck an entire town full of people, plus all these superteams, a nuclear blast and a submarine, into his pouch (something like five square miles of space), basically just sitting there teleporting the teams all over the place. That's the sort of thing that happens when you create a guy just to counter Storm for a single storyline, then have to actually WRITE that character. HOWEVER, I will give them credit- the fact that he's got all his powers packed into a little pouch on his side makes him much more vulnerable than the Power-Creeped-To-Hell Doctor Strange (remember when PILEDRIVER kicked his ass?).
-So Shaman's had a bumpy ride, being a good teammate sometimes, but then losing all focus and ability. And of COURSE since he's a Native person, he's got to have the "I was using the white man's ways of science, but have turned back to the ways of our ancestors" gimmick, which is offensive to both white AND non-white people. They added some extra stuff to him by giving him a daughter, Talisman, but she's a footnote. I actually think that a lot could be done with Native hero with the current climate towards natives in Canada (the vast majority are poor, a huge chunk in Canada's cities are homeless, and the rest live on crappy reserves), but Michael here kinda skips over all of it by being a smart, rich doctor. Too bad, really.
-Shaman comes up at WAAAYYY the frick cheaper than he should, all because he can't use 95% of his powers without the use of his magical pouch. I just statted as many of the Alphanex website's powers as I felt necessary. So yeah, his Restricted Device saves him about twenty points in this case, and I'd seriously reconsider letting a player do that. Perfectly legal, though. With that and four ranks of Luck, he can pretty much do almost anything. Note the Pouch's ability to mind-wipe people who look into it, and the fact that he can use Telepathy without the Pouch. On the plus side, unless he's using his Force Field (at which point he can't use his blasts or anything), Shaman's a real Glass Cannon, a pathetic PL 5 defensively.
-I could've used a Variable-style set of gadgets on his Pouch and made the same amount of sense (since he's often pulling individual items out of the Pouch to use- little powders and wicker men and stuff like that), but I felt like actually pointing out what most of his powers actually were. Since his most expensive power seems to cost 35 points (his "teleport a whole town and a nuclear blast into his pouch" trick is really an Extra Effort Plot Device more than anything), he would likely end up with Variable 7 (49 points), but the Device would cost 33 points, actually saving him a bit on points (since he's got so many Alt-Effects, boosting the price). But I would likely force any player trying that to put another Extra for "Broad Powers" on it or something.
SHAMAN (Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen)
Created By: John Byrne
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men #120 (April 1979)
Role: Team Mage, Swiss Army Power Guy, Ethnic Stereotype
Group Affiliations: Alpha Flight
PL 10 (137)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 0
Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Close Combat (Magic) 4 (+9)
Deception 5 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+4)
Expertise (Native Shaman) 11 (+14)
Treatment 9 (+13)
Perception 4 (+8)
Insight 4 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Magic) 5 (+9)
Stealth 6 (+7)
Advantages:
Artificer, Equipment ("Magical Bracelets"- Features: Quick Change), Ritualist, Set-Up, Tracking, Trance
Powers:
"Innate Magical Powers"
"Telepathy" Communication 2 (Mental) [10]
"Levitation" Flight 1 (4 mph) (Flaws: Low Ceiling) [1]
Senses 5 (Magical Awareness, Acute, Analytical, Radius) [5]
"Sarcee Mystical Pouch" (Flaws: Easily Removable -2) (Feats: Restricted 2- Shaman Only) [37]
Features 2: Anyone who Looks Within Will Lose Their Mind (2)
Variable (any magical) 7 (Extras: Affects Others) (56)
-- (58 points)
Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Eldritch Bolts +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Afflictions +8 (+7-10 Ranged Affliction, DC 17-20)
Afflictions +9 (+10 Affliction, DC 20)
Pouch Vacuum +10 Area (+10 Teleport, DC 20)
Initiative +1
Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +2 (+12 Force Field), Fortitude +6, Will +10
Complications:
Relationship (Elizabeth)- Shaman has an adversarial relationship with his daughter- she felt betrayed when he failed to save her mother from sickness.
Responsibility (Shaman)- Michael's position and power give him much responsibility- he is the primary defender of Canada from dark spirits.
Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 53 / Defenses: 19 (137)
-Here's an alternate Shaman, using Variable as the basis for his Pouch, with Affects Others so that he can hand some of his Powered Items to others. This actually costs the same, which is odd.