Jab’s Builds! (Beaker! Sam Eagle! Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Jaine Cutter! The Juggernaut! Joystick! Jack O'Lantern!)

Post by Jabroniville »

And since Jennifer Kale is the last "J" character to post, I'll re-post all four recurring characters from that series.
Jabroniville
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The Giant-Size Man-Thing

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE GIANT-SIZE MAN-THING (Theodore "Ted" Sallis)
Created By:
Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway & Gray Morrow
First Appearance: Savage Tales #1 (May 1971)
Role: Penis-Named Creature, Vengeful Spirit, Implacable Foe
Group Affiliations: The Legion of Monsters
PL 8 (157)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -1 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -3

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+8)
Expertise (Survival) 3 (+3)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack

Powers:
"Evil Detector" Senses 3 (Detect Villainous Beings- Extended & Acute) [3]
"Know Fear" Mind-Reading 6 (Extras: Reaction +3, Area- 60ft. Burst +2) (Flaws: Limited to Emotions, Touch Range -2) [24]
"Burning Touch" Pained Aura 8 (Flaws: Limited to Beings Currently Feeling Fear) [24]

"Throbbing Plant Creature"
Immunity 4 (Drowning, Aging, Disease, Poison) [4]
Regeneration 8 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) (Flaws: Source- Vegetation) [5]

"Boneless"
Insubstantial 1 (Flaws: Takes Several Rounds to Reform -2) [3]
Immunity 80 (All Physical Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [40]

"Fully-Erect, Giant Size"
Growth 2 (Str & Sta +2, +2 Mass, +1 Intimidation, -1 Dodge/Parry, -2 Stealth) -- (8 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [5]
Reach 1 [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Burning Touch +8 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +10, Fortitude +10, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Protect the Nexus of All Realities)- Man-Thing's swamp contains a powerful magical nexus, making it (and him) the target of numerous bad guys, criminals, land developers and more.
Relationship (Jennifer Kale, Others)- Man-Thing developed a large supporting cast, mainly because he didn't talk himself, and Chris Claremont as writer DEMANDED some people to be chatty, dammit!
Responsibility (Hates Fear)- Fearful beings enrage the Man-Thing, and causes him to attack. Other negative emotions (Anger, etc.) provoke similar reactions.
Weakness (Leaving the Swamp)- Man-Thing used to not be able to leave his swamp without dying after a short period of time. Eventually, this flaw faded.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 109 / Defenses: 9 (155)

-The Man-Thing debuted in Savage Tales, going on to become a bit of a cult character, notable amongst comics fans almost as much for the INSANE coincidence of his debut coinciding almost exactly with that of DC's Swamp Thing, ANOTHER green-hued swamp monster- the two were released closely enough together that it's nigh-impossible that one could be a rip-off of the other (though apparently Len Wein- who worked on Swamp Thing, was a roomate of Gerry Conway, and could have copied the origin or something). Stan Lee came up with the name and part of the concept, Roy Thomas wrote a plot, and Conway ended up scripting it. The first issue of Savage Tales ended up being the only one, but the character showed up in Ka-Zar's book shortly thereafter. After all that, Steve Gerber ended up becoming the "Real Daddy" of the character, working on most of the signature storylines.

-A solo book eventually came out, along with the INFAMOUS hilariously-named title Giant-Size Man-Thing (because, see, the books were larger than the other books on the rack, and his NAME was "Man-Thing", so the book is called... I'm not sure if they realized the joke when they made it), as Gerber had quite a bit of success (introducing Howard the Duck after a point, which caused him to become a multimedia sensation), but the book soon vanished, and a second series in the late '70s lasted only 11 issues. After this, the character essentially vanished except for the occasional one-shot appearance- he permanently ended up in Marvel Limbo.

-The Man-Thing was created when chemist Ted Sallis injected a prototype copy of the Super-Soldier Serum he'd been working on into himself, to get out of danger after being betrayed by unscrupulous businessmen. He crashes his car into the swamp, and becomes a pained vegetable creature who hunts out negative emotions like fear- Sallis's mind was mostly wiped out. He generally just kind of hangs out in his swamp and trouble just finds its way to him, since he's at the Nexus of All Realities and such. Most issues seem to just feature him fighting random bad guys who wander into the area. Over the decades since the character's irrelevance, he has shown up from time to time in other books, and recently showed up in the new Howling Commandos "this book is guaranteed to fail" thing.

-Man-Thing isn't much of a fighter, and is of a relatively low Power Level, but he is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to bring down (you might say... *puts on shades*... he's always erect), having a near-Immunity to all harm, 8 ranks of Regeneration, and various other powers. As such, villains or heroes will have a HELL of a time with him, as he just ambles forwards, eats all of their attacks, then burns the crap out of them in a few rounds. Yes, this giant-size Man-Thing burns to the touch.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jamie Braddock

Post by Ken »

MissRo wrote: Sat Feb 11, 2017 7:45 am
Jabroniville wrote: Sat Feb 11, 2017 2:35 am I wonder if this is how broads feel when they see Vampirella..
Nah, I just wonder how bad her back must get lugging that rack around with zero support.
Superhuman strength in her pectoral muscles.

Also, where she gets all that industrial strength double-sided tape.
No idea.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (The Juggernaut! Jack O'Lantern! The Giant-Size Man-Thing!)

Post by Ken »

I always thought someone at Marvel should have the chuzpa to write a story where Daredevil's ninja clan foes fight against ... well... a story where the Hand is up against the (Giant-Size) Man-Thing.
My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

When the most powerful super hero on Earth marries an ordinary man, hilarity ensues.
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Jennifer Kale

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

Her arch-nemesis: temperatures below 15 degrees Celsius.

JENNIFER KALE
Created By:
Steve Gerber & Rick Buckler
First Appearance: Fear #11 (Dec. 1972)
Role: Miss Fanservice
Group Affiliations: The Midnight Sons, The Legion of Night, The Witches, The Command
PL 9 (131)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+8)
Expertise (Survival) 3 (+3)

Advantages:
Artificer, Ranged Attack 5, Ritualist

Powers:
Teleport 8 (Extras: Extended, Accurate, Portal +2) (48) -- [53]
  • AE: "Mesmerize" Mind Control 6 (24)
  • AE: "Brainwash" Affliction 8 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Transformed Memories) (Extras: Progressive +2) (24)
  • AE: "Magical Bolt" Blast 8 (16)
  • AE: "Form Shields" Force Field 6 (Extras: Affects Others) (12)
  • AE: Movement 3 (Dimensional Travel 3) (Extras: Portal +2) (12)
Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Magical Bolt +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Brainwash +8 (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Mesmerize -- (+6 Perception-Ranged Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +3 (+9 Force Field), Fortitude +5, Will +7

Complications:
Motivation (Protect the Nexus of All Realities)- Man-Thing's swamp contains a powerful magical nexus, making it (and him) the target of numerous bad guys, criminals, land developers and more. As his ally, Kale is also devoted to the Nexus' protection.
Relationship (The Man-Thing)- Some women just can't stay away from those Giant-Sized Man-Things.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 53 / Defenses: 13 (131)

-Steve Gerber created Jennifer Kale to be a sort of expository character in his "Man-Thing" stories, basing her off of Jennifer Meyer, a friend of his. A girl who gained her family's magical knowledge and ability, she started teaming with Man-Thing while wearing a chainmail bikini for whatever reason. She's been part of some minor storylines over the years, like the Witches Limited Series, which used Marvel's rather-typical "we need female readers! And the way to do that is to rip off a TV series featuring women!"- in this case, it was a blatant knock-off of the "Is That Still On?" low-budget shlock-fest known as Charmed, known primarily for keeping the failed careers of its three female leads temporarily afloat.

-Jennifer generally takes a tenth-tier Mage role behind Dr. Strange and Brother Voodoo, among others. Like Man-Thing, she's gotten more use recently than she had for an entire decade previously, but most of this is "here are a bunch of random Mages talking" stuff, and a bit of "Hey! This character still exists!" nonsense, because none of it seems terribly important (like her time on The Command, an "Initiative" team consister of her, Wundarr & Siege, which briefly factored in to the Marvel Zombies mini-franchise, since they were all minor enough characters not to be worth worrying about). She was apparently killed recently by Victoria Hand while under possession. Then she resurrected herself with dark magic, but at the cost of half the skin on her face. Also, they decided years later that she was a lesbian (though possibly bisexual, as she'd been with guys previously- unless it's a more recent switch).

-Standard Mini-Mage build. Not elite or anything, but like most Mages, can Alt-Effect random stuff with a Hero Point.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:35 am, edited 5 times in total.
Jabroniville
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Korrek the Barbarian

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

KORREK
Created By:
Steve Gerber & Val Meyerik
First Appearance: Fear #19 (Dec 1973)
Role: Conan Homage
Group Affiliations: Dakimh & Jennifer Kale's Team
PL 9 (124)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 8 (+12)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Expertise (Soldier) 7 (+8)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 4 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Equipment 2 (Old-School Weapons), Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Fearless, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Sword), Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Improved Smash, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 8, Takedown 2

Powers:
"Magic Sword" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [8]
Magical Blast 6 (12) -- (13 points)
AE: Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Improved Critical, Penetrating 4) (8)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Sword +10 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Sword Blast +10 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4, Fortitude +6, Will +7

Complications:
Responsibility (Katharta)- Korrek rules his homeworld.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 25 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 15 (124)

-Korrek is basically a Conan the Barbarian riff by Steve Gerber for his Man-Thing feature, which came to sprout his wildly-popular Howard the Duck series. A Warrior King from Katharta (a world in another dimension), he becomes the traveling companion of Dakimh and Jennifer Kale. As they moved across dimensions, they encountered the giant-size Man-Thing, and some interdimensional cops who were chasing them. Korrek returned to Katharta, only to learn that his father had been slain and an evil Wizard had taken over; the Man-Thing later rescued him. Dakimh was killed, but the villain was stopped- Korrek would later appear in some adventures with Howard and his friends, but he's largely vanished from comic book history (I've never even heard of him).

-Korrek is basically Conan Lite in every way, but he's got a Magic Sword.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu May 19, 2022 8:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Dakimh

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

DAKIMH THE ENCHANTER
Created By:
Steve Gerber & Val Mayerik
First Appearance: Fear #14 (June 1973)
Role: Magic Buddy
PL 10 (128)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 6 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (History) 7 (+13)
Expertise (Magic) 9 (+15)
Insight 2 (+5)
Perception 2 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Magic) 4 (+10)

Advantages: 
Equipment 1 (Enchanted Crystal- Precognition- Limited Results), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Ritualist

Powers:
"Super-Duper Old" Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]

"Transmutation" Transform 6 (Anything to Anything Else) (Extras: Continuous) (36) -- [42]
  • AE: Concussive Blast 10 (20)
  • AE: Force Field 8 (Extras: Affects Others, Impervious 9) (25)
  • AE: Movement 3 (Dimensional Travel 3) (Extras: Portal +2) (12)
  • AE: "Mesmerism" Mind Control 8 (32)
  • AE: "Thought-Casting" Communication 3 (Mental) (12)
  • AE: Illusion (Vision & Hearing) 8 (24)
Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+18 Damage, DC 33)
Blast +10 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+11 Force Field), Fortitude +4, Will +9

Complications:
Enemy (D'Spayre)- The two have encountered each other much over the centuries.
Relationship (Jennifer Kale & The Man-Thing)- Dakimh has taken on the former as a charge, and is allied with the latter.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 43 / Defenses: 17 (128)

-Dakimh the Enchanter is your everyday Old Grey Wizard, being an ancient Atlantean (pre-sinking) who was made immortal by his now-dead mentor, living to this day as an eccentric wizard guy who ended up helping out Jennifer Kale & The Giant Size Man-Thing. He ended up dying of a heart attack while in a magical battle, but assisted his friends via the astral plane thereafter, which allowed him to still materialize in our world (the only comic I have featuring him is a Claremont/Byrne Marvel Team-Up issue with him in this state, having been captured by D'Spayre alongside Ms. Kale, while Spider-Man & Man-Thing team up against the demon lord). He would also describe the Man-Thing's adventures to Steve Gerber, apparently resulting in the comic book series.

-Allegedly better at magic than anyone on Earth besides Doctor Strange owing to his tremendous experience (being thousands of years old), I'm not buying it, as he never seems that tough in recollections or descriptions. Maybe he was once upon a time, but not any more- age seems to have slowed him.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:35 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Roswell

Post by Jabroniville »

THE ROSWELL CONSPIRACIES:

-Next up- a couple builds from a forgotten little show from the the late 1990s called The Roswell Conspiracies. Clearly inspired by a combination of Gargoyles and The X-Files, it featured a rebellious, plays-by-his-own-rules stereotypical hero teaming up with an ageless Irish Banshee, doing "X-Files Stuff" as secretive government agents investigating paranormal occurences.

The main character is Nick Logan, a man searching for the truth about his father's disappearance, while he gets recruited by "The Alliance" (an organization meant to corral & control alien life living on Earth at the time) for his ability to "see through" alien disguises. His partner is the gorgeous, platinum blonde Banshee Sh'lainn Blaze. Naturally, they have ridiculous amounts of sexual tension, as she constantly mocks him and predicts his death, but he gets snarky and makes flirtacious comments. Under the command of gruff, hard-to-like General Rinaker, they investigate stuff like "Yetis in Asia", discover that the Yetis are aliens, and either arrest or recruit whoever they find.

Generally speaking, everything in mythology is "Aliens". Loki & Odin? Aliens- among the most evil in the universe. The yeti? An alien who ends up teaming with the heroes. Sasquatch? The yeti alien's evil former ally, who betrayed the Yeti but exterminated his own race in the process. Prometheus is the "Giver of Fire", and one of the Tribune. Minotauri are alien bounty hunters. Oni control the Yakuza. Banshee are a race of energy-blasting, technology-hating aliens. Vampires are blood-drinking snake-like humanoids... who are also aliens... and rule an Evil Corporation. All of this was seen by ancient man and theorized as divine creatures and fables.

The general theme of the show is incredibly cynical- not only is the Alliance hush-hush and "The Masquerade" prevalent in order to keep the rubes from discovering that aliens walk the Earth, but there's a pair of characters whose job it is to LIE about this constantly- Fitz & Neema routinely make up stories by "unveiling" OTHER conspiracies (such as "We want to insure people that NO TOXIC WASTE WAS FOUND HERE!", then get caught carting "toxic waste" out of the site... when in actuality, it was an alien thing) in order to draw people off the scent. The Alliance also stages "UFO sightings" outside of Area-51. General Rinaker himself is an extremely dark figure, plotting things like the murder of innocent people in order to cover things up- it's usually up to his agents (Logan, Blaze, etc.) to disobey orders and make things right. Rinaker's motto: "We're The Alliance. DEAL with it."

Curiously, there was some "adult" stuff thrown in, to the point where I'm pretty sure the show wasn't targeted at kids. At one point, Fitz casually refers to the Minotauri as "Bad-Ass Bounty Hunters For Hire". In the first episode, Nick flirts with Sh'lainn, threatening that her powers could set her clothes on fire- "I doubt you'd appreciate running around bare-bottomed in the breeze" with a shit-eating grin on his face (she snarks right back at him). And then later on Sh'lainn warns Nick off of doing something dangerous, casually lecturing "I'd like tae make bairns with ye some day"- basically a somewhat PG version of "I want you to impregnate me".

The animation is a bit on the plain side- taking bits from Batman: The Animated Series (angular people), but haivng a weaker budget. All the male characters are very angular (some are downright box-shaped), and most of the aliens have weird character designs that I would hesitate to describe as "cool". The Lycanthropes, the key race of Mooks in the show, look kind of silly, with big horns and jaws that just snap up and down like a puppet's rather than a wolf. The animation is mostly simplistic, with only Sh'lainn, the show's resident hottie, getting any kind of detail or subtlety. It had some good stuff, but rarely got QUITE as good as they might have been hoping- that said, it got a 40-episode run, and really made a proper "Myth Arc" of it, with things building and building until a FULL conspiracy was unveiled, the villains staged an Alien Invasion, and Logan & Blaze forged a true, proper alliance of all the disparate alien races to stave off the invasion. And, in something you ONLY see in shows that do proper "Myth Arcs", you see characters and one-offs from prior episodes make their returns for the Grand Finale. And this is EPIC- a Supermanalogue dies blowing up an alien ship, Nick's father comes out of Suspended Animation to rally Earth's forces, Nick's adoptive father and the leader of the Lycanthropes die gloriously wiping out the Alien Mothership... this is the kind of Series Finale most shows DREAM about having.

But it was a very unique show, and kind of neat in various ways. It was "Monster of the Week" X-Files-rip-off stuff, but it was decidedly cynical. Their boss actively hid things from EVERYBODY, and they often went on rather morally-questionable missions, and made deals with nasty alien races. Nick Logan was a pretty generic protagonist, but he & Sh'lainn had a cute, somewhat flirtacious adversarial relationship (those are almost ALWAYS fun to watch, despite being cliched), and she's the only hot, super-powered platinum-blonde Irish chick I've seen on TV, and that activates like three fetishes right there.

Typical for the series, they made an episode that clearly drew homage to the "Superman" tale. An alien was found, had Flying Brick powers and also dressed up and saved the day. He became enormously popular, people loved him... and then the Alliance found out, sabotaged him, and it was revealed that he was actually a hideous alien, and his good looks were an illusion. This ruined his attempts at heroism, and he was forced to hide away- a true downer ending. And because the show had a pretty awesome story in plan for the finale, the dude made a triumphant return, eventually sacrificing his life to wreck an entire Invading Alien Ship. Very few shows make use of one-offs like that. Avatar: The Last Airbender was one of them, doing so for The Day of Black Sun and the Series Finale, and you can ALWAYS tell the work of skilled people goes into stuff like that.

The show lasted 40 episodes (it's expected run- it wasn't cancelled before it's time or anything), and disappeared as quietly as it came in. I remember watching it while I was in college, thinking the banshee chick was hot, but never really paying much attention- it got ignored by a LOT of people, and is an interesting little series. Worth checking out on YouTube (I don't expect a DVD run to come anytime soon)- there was actually a really awesome set that went up on YouTube over the course of a few months- I watched the hell out of it, thanked the guy repeatedly for putting the entire series on there, and FINALLY got to watch the finale. Of course, someone who owned the copywrite found out, got the guy banned, and I haven't seen it, or him, since. I don't imagine the DVDs are easy to find.

Fun Fact: Wow, I first posted about this show all the way back in 2011. I keep forgetting just HOW LONG 3e has been around. The time kind of just flew by. This was back when my thread was popular, but not as popular as it later got. I had some interesting sorts communicating on it back in the day, too- Woodclaw (he quit hanging around out of disgust over GR not producing any 3e stuff when it first came out) and Murkglow (ALWAYS with the rule questions!). I miss the hell out of those guys, actually. It's part of why I always try to randomly find old posters who've disappeared and find out what they're up to (hi, BlindPugh!).
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Re: Jab's Builds! (The Juggernaut! Jack O'Lantern! The Giant-Size Man-Thing!)

Post by Arkrite »

I loved this show when it first came out.
Nick was a little generic, but Sh'lainn... sweet, sweet Sh'lainn.

One of my favorite scenes involved Nick and Sh'lainn saving a baby lycanthrope. Nick just assumes that Sh'lainn would want to take care of it while he investigates, as she is a girl, only to have her look at him in utter disgust, informing him that taking care of babies was "man's work" before ditching him with the child to investigate on her own.

And then we get some terribly cute scenes of Nick bonding with the little guy ;~)

Though in my opinion Fitz and Neema really stole any scenes they were in.

All in all the series might not have done huge things in terms of animation, and the "everything is aliens" concept can be hokey, but the attention to detail in the story? The fact that they had a big overarching story from the first episode and that everything that happens gets refferenced down the line?
I loved this show.

My only problem with the series people who own the rights this have never made any real attempts to release it to the public. I think that Australia got a DVD release, but the last time I checked they had no intentions of releasing it again, and no mentions of putting it on any of the streaming providers.

But they will defend their copy-write to make sure that nobody enjoys their products!!!
*facepalm*
Is no money at all better than at least making some netflix dollars?


Oh, there was also a video game. It was hot garbage. Speaking from personal experience.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (The Juggernaut! Man-Thing! Roswell Conspiracies!)

Post by Jabroniville »

From Ares, when I last posted about the show:
Ah Jab, once again you prove yourself a man after my own heart. I actually got some boot-legged DVDs of the series (yes, I paid someone for bootleg copies of Rosewell Conspiracies, stop looking at me like that) and got a kick out of it. Like you said, it isn't Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes in terms of quality, but it was a pretty solid animated series, had some fun characterization and stories, and was unique for animation at the time by having a both a pretty dark premise AND a lot of mistrust amongst the heroes and their organization. The leader of the group was SUCH a complete tool that nobody trusted because he never gave them the complete story and often outright lied to them about what was going on. 

I did love how the Spin Doctors actually had a fairly important role in the story, misleading everyone about what was going on and so forth. The way they played with a lot of tropes could be fun on occasion as well, like when the Superman analogy came to Earth and tried to be a caped paragon, only for the agency to assume he was evil, make an enemy of him, and destroy the device that kept him human looking, revealing him to be a pretty fuggly, barely humanoid alien that normal people feared, forcing him to retire from hero work until he could get it repaired. I think he showed up again for some final showdown with an alien invasion, but I'd have to re-watch the series. 

So yeah, basically if it was animated in the last 30 years, I probably have not only seen it, but I have a copy of it somewhere.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (The Juggernaut! Man-Thing! Roswell Conspiracies!)

Post by Ares »

Ah, Roswell Conspiracies. That and Exo-Squad are due for a rewatch now.

I kind of view Roswell and Gargoyles as sibling series, as both focused heavily on Myth-arcs, both explained and embraced a lot of the fantastical elements of humanity, but while Gargoyles had sci-fi and magic, Roswell went completely alien. Which makes sense for what they were going for, but like how Ben 10 tried to explain away magic as aliens, it can get old.

But I do own and love the series, and it was a lot of fun, very dark and cynical with some great twists. It showed how the important people in this kind of series isn't just the people hunting the aliens, but also the cover up squad. This would actually make for decent RPG fodder where the drama nuts who want to use their social skills can do damage control while the action junkies fight the aliens.

It did get hilarious after a while how often Sh'lainn would go into "Death Counter" mode, which would be really useful if doing so didn't usually render her unable to move. I mean, you have the power to know when something immediately lethal is about to happen . . . but when it kicks in you're stuck standing still. It'd be like if every time Spider-Man's Spider Sense went off, his clinging power would activate to keep him rooted to where he was standing, forcing him to take the hit.
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- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Nick Logan

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

NICK LOGAN
Played By:
Scott McNeil
Role: The Hero, The Conspiracy Theorist, The Cynic
Group Affiliations: The Global Alliance
PL 8 (139)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 10 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 6 (+8)
Deception 4 (+6)
Expertise (Bounty Hunter) 9 (+12)
Expertise (Global Alliance Agent) 5 (+8)
Insight 5 (+9)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+9)
Perception 6 (+10)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Blaster) 2 (+10)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Technology 3 (+6)
Vehicles 4 (+8)

Advantages:
Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Benefit (Global Alliance Agent- Security Clearance), Benefit 1 (Damage Escape- Breaking Out of a Grapple Does Strength-Damage to the Grappler), Chokehold, Defensive Roll, Diehard, Equipment 3 (Blaster, Global Alliance Gear), Evasion 2, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Fearless, Grab Finesse, Great Endurance, Improved Aim, Improved Critical 2 (Improvised Weapon, Blaster), Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Improved Trip, Improvised Weapon, Luck, Ranged Attack 4, Tracking

Powers:
"The Eye" Senses 2 (Counters Illusion- Visuals) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blaster +10 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +8

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 10), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +8

Complications:
Responsibility (The Global Alliance)- Nick is a G.A. member, though he's hardly loyal. He was hired on because he has "The Eye" (like his father) and he survived after they attempted to kill him and failed.
Motivation (His Father)- Nick was raised by an adoptive father for most of his life- his father disappeared in an alien-related incident when Nick was three years old. He doesn't entirely believe General Rinaker's word that "we're still investigating" the senior Logan's disappearance.
Relationship (Sh'lainn Blaze)- Nick and Sh'lainn were abruptly thrown together when the Alliance and a group of Banshees tried to kill both of them to keep them from messing things up. When they survived, the agency paired them up. Though they fight and argue like an old married couple, they... oh c'mon. You've seen this relationship a billion times before. You know how they really feel about each other. Note: It's used a lot because it NEARLY ALWAYS WORKS.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 62--31 / Advantages: 30 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 12 (139)

-Nick is the main hero of The Roswell Conspiracies- a smart-mouthed, cynical agent who plays by his own rules and goes his own way. He bickers and flirts with his Banshee partner Sh'lainn, tells off his direct superior (General Rinaker) on a near-constant basis, and he mistrusts almost any alien he comes across. Basically, he's like every other solitary hero you find in most cartoons or action series (he's more than a little bit like Fox Mulder... OK, they could practically be the same dude except Logan's a bit more naiive and doesn't quite always know what's up). A lot of the show involves Nick's search for his father- General Rinaker suggests we're "still investigating" the elder Logan's disappearance. It turns out that Rinaker himself placed the man in suspended animation- he breaks out in the Series Finale, helping galvanize the alien forces against the Shedoen invasion. Nick's adoptive father, the man who trained him in secret (in order to fight the alien menace), dies heroically, leading a suicide mission to wipe out the Shedoen Mothership.

-Also... "Nick Logan"? Could they POSSIBLY have chosen a more generic hero name?

-He stats up as an elite Skillmonkey, and a PL 8 Gunfighter, but he tends to get involved in a lot of melee combat, where he's a mere PL 6, unless he finds an Improvised Weapon or two (as his father/trainer once noted to him: "Available weapons, son" and pointed to a lamp). He's good and pricey, but still limited.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sun Aug 13, 2017 11:58 am, edited 2 times in total.
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KorokoMystia
Posts: 1402
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2016 8:42 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (The Juggernaut! Man-Thing! Roswell Conspiracies!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

Huh. I feel like I've heard of this show before, but my memory fails me. Also, someone actually posted full, descriptive movesets on their website for the characters of the cancelled Primal Rage II, including the final boss, who was meant to be in the first game, but cut for whatever reason. (They still managed to get a toy released, though!) The game is apparently actually quite good, but it has the odd mechanic in that you had to select humans who could morph into the Gods, which is probably why the game was canned. (You could select the Gods normally via a secret, though)
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Sh'lainn Blaze

Post by Jabroniville »

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mmm.... snarky Irish lasses...

SH'LAINN BLAZE
Played By:
Janyse Jaud
Role: Female Sidekick, Stone-Cold Hottie, Deadpan Snarker
Group Affiliations: The Global Alliance
PL 8 (124)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+7)
Expertise (History) 8 (+10)
Expertise (Banshee/Alien) 6 (+8)
Insight 2 (+4)
Intimidation 5 (+7)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 5 (+7)
Persuasion 3 (+5, +7 Attractive)
Ranged Combat (Blast) 2 (+8)
Stealth 8 (+11)

Advantages:
Attractive, Benefit 2 (Global Alliance Agent- Security Clearance, Creature of the Earth- Earth Sometimes Speaks to Her), Diehard, Equipment (Global Alliance Gear), Great Endurance, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Blast), Ranged Attack 4, Teamwork

Powers:
"Banshee Alien Physiology"
Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]
Flight 3 (16 mph) (Flaws: Levitation) [3]

"Creature of the Earth"
Senses 5 (Direction Sense, Earth Awareness- Ranged 2 & Acute) [5]

"Predicts the Demise of Others"
Senses 4 (Precognition) (Flaws: Limited to Imminent Demise) [2]
Senses 1 (Danger Sense) (Extras: Affects Others Only +0) [1]

"Wailing Blast" Blast 8 (Feats: Split) [17]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Blast +8 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +6, Will +7

Complications:
Responsibility (The Global Alliance)- Sh'lainn is a G.A. member, though she's hardly loyal.
Enemy (The Banshee)- Sh'lainn rejected her people's anti-technology and modernization ways, and was branded a traitor and an outlaw. Queen Mab especially wants her dead.
Enemy (The Vampires)- Vampires & Banshee are natural enemies, as the Vampires are life-draining, technology-loving creatures who often use captive Banshees to help them teleport.
Motivation/Vulnerable (Creature of the Earth)- As a Banshee, Sh'lainn is a creature of the Earth. She loves animals and nature. Matters of technology are very foreign to her (she pilots like a crazed madwoman, though she did "come out in favour of the steam engine"), and she does NOT like buzzing around in Outer Space. AT ALL. Similarly, being in a technological unit (such as the ones that cure vampirism) may poison her fatally.
Involuntary Transformation (The Iron Death)- Sh'lainn's weakness to technology can lead to "The Iron Death", a condition that causes her to go mad, destroying all tech in range and converting it to organics. She shifts to metallic form as well, and will eventually succumb and die.
Relationship (Nick Logan)- Nick and Sh'lainn were abruptly thrown together when the Alliance and a group of Banshees tried to kill both of them to keep them from messing things up. When they survived, the agency paired them up. Though they fight and argue like an old married couple, they... oh c'mon. You've seen this relationship a billion times before. You know how they really feel about each other. Note: It's used a lot because it NEARLY ALWAYS WORKS.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 48--24 / Advantages: 13 / Powers: 28 / Defenses: 17 (124)

-Sh'lainn is a renegade Banshee of indeterminate age (she refuses to answer Nick's rude questions about the subject), having been driven out of her clan by Queen Mab over Sh'lainn's defense of humanity and technology. She & Nick are nearly killed in the opening two-parter of the show, but become partners in The Global Alliance afterwards, hunting down the various Monsters of the Week. They have the classic "Belligerent Sexual Tension" going on, but are different from the usual anime "Jerk vs. Mercurial Bitch" set-up- they flirt on occasion, don't moon over each other, and seem rather friendly as a pair despite constant jibes and poking fun (Sh'lainn does threaten to kill Nick when he tries to calm her down on a space flight- anathema to Banshee). Oh yeah, and she's totally hot, despite dressing like a schoolmarm (an ankle-length dress? On military-type missions? Really?). Snow-white hair, bright green eyes, an Irish accent (not one I imagined as hot previously, but there ya go) and super-powers on top of a snarky personality- what more could you want?

-My favourite scene is when they go crashing into the water after their ship explodes, and Nick worriedly screams out her name in a panic. After not getting a response, he comes upon her unconscious body floating in the water- he brushes her hair aside, and looks at her beautiful, serene face and moves his mouth to hers. At which point she suddenly grabs his hand and goes "What're ye doin'?" "Uh... (shit-eating grin) mouth-to-mouth?" "NICE TRY!" (with a "you fail at being smooth, idiot" face).

-In the show's weirdest moment, she has a fight with Nick, runs off to a dance club, and then, when he comes to find her... she starts dancing. At him. Angrily. This VERY weird, herky-jerky dance in a sexy outfit, all the while staring at him furiously. I remember chatting with the guy who posted all the episodes to YouTube, and he was like "yeah, this is by far the show's weirdest moment". It comes off like the creators wanted some great, epic dance scene, but limits to animation and a failure of intent kind of messed it up.

-Sh'lainn is the same PL as Nick, packing more power but less accuracy. She's also a bit cheaper, but I think her various powers (Energy Blasts, Levitation that somehow still requires her to try climbing up junk all the time, the Earth speaking to her- giving her guidance, directions, hints as to what's wrong, etc.) make up part of the difference. She's also very Stealthy- Nick mentions at one point that "she creeps like a ghost", despite the fact that she spends a rather large amount of time shrieking like a... well, you know. A banshee. The whole "Danger Sense" thing is a bit weird, as like all Banshee she can predict the upcoming demise of another person. This of course never ACTUALLY turns up being correct (it's a running gag that Nick sees her freak out with the "Imminent death in fifteen seconds!" thing, then deftly avoids her predictions), so it's effectively a Danger Sense Limited to Others, as well as a Limited Precognition (for things that are happening WELL in advance- like a deliberate rockslide or a missile attack from their own team) for the things that don't fit Danger Sense's "can't be surprised" thing. As a pair, her & Nick are quite powerful.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:47 am, edited 5 times in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Lycanthropes

Post by Jabroniville »

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LYCANTHROPES
Played By:
Various
Role: Mooks, Monsters
Group Affiliations: The Lycanthropes
PL 5 (84)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+6)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Alien Life Form) 5 (+5)
Intimidation 6 (+6)
Perception 7 (+7)
Stealth 4 (+6)
Technology 3 (+4)
Vehicles 3 (+5)

Advantages:
Equipment 3 (Blasters +6), Fast Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Ranged Attack 2, Startle

Powers:
"Lycanthrope Physiology"
Speed 2 (8 mph) [2]
Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]
"Animal-Like Senses" Senses 4 (Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent, Ultra-Hearing) [4]
Morph 1 (Human Form) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Blaster +4 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 18), Toughness +5, Fortitude +6, Will +0

Complications:
Motivation (Power, Slavery)
Enemy (The Yeti & Sasquatch)- The Lycanthropes used an EMP Bomb to destroy the homeworld of this race, then enslaved the people. The survivors despise the Lycanthropes utterly.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 6 (84)

-These are the Lycanthropes, the most common recurring foe on the series. They were responsible for humanity's "werewolf" myths, being giant alien wolf-like beings who could take human form. They're actually quite nasty threats for this world, being PL 5 expensive Mooks who go up against guys who max out at PL 8. However, like most Aliens, they're not THAT much more powerful than normal people- Nick can easily overpower most of them with some "available weapons", and most melee attacks or energy blasts are more than capable of knocking them out. They're evil slavers for the most part, having taken over races like Ti-Yet's people thanks to a massive EMP Bomb. This type of super-weapon ends up becoming a Chekov's Gun, however, when at the end of the series the OTHER EMP Bomb is used to destroy the Shedoen fleet.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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