Jab’s Builds! (Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef! Sweetums! Gonzo!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (Elphaba! FIYEERRRRROOOOOO!!! Glinda! SHIELD!)

Post by Jabroniville »

I made this comment when I re-posted The Dark Riders, and the same fits for these guys:
* This is always an interesting batch to do- I first got a rep for "statting ANYBODY" back when I first included some of these dinks in my first big set- The X-Cutioner's Song build run, way back for 2nd Edition. Then I statted them on my more popular 3e thread, turning guys like Barrage into running gags (he's got NO HANDS!). I re-posted them on my Ronin Army thread a couple years back while I was on vacation, needing some "filler". This always makes me rather wistful/nostalgic, because the stupid Dark Riders of all people seem to pop up at random moments in my thread.
For example, here's how far back the M.L.F. and I go on Green Ronin-related forums:
http://www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopi ... 37#p414927: the first time I posted them, in Oct. 2007, almost ten years ago now. Back when I had nobody commenting except Servitor, and I didn't use any pictures :).

http://www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopi ... a0#p666471: Updated 2e Build, three years later, and when I had more people commenting- Thorp & Horsenhero are on this one!

http://atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.ph ... da#p829884: Only a single year later, Wildside is back, but with a THIRD Edition build!

https://roninarmy.com/threads/149-Jab-s ... post135044: Four years later, there was a new forum for posting guys, so I eventually decided to put up the Jobber Team builds once more, while I was on vacation in Japan.

Funnily enough, he's gotten worse with each incarnation- PL 8 (120) in 2e, then reduced to PL 8 (115), then PL 8 (103) in 3rd Edition, which is where he's stayed!

Notice that the commentary for these dildos hasn't changed much since 2010 in most of these instances? Hence the more-rapid speed of me re-posting them- it's the ULTIMATE in laziness otherwise :). This is the FIFTH TIME the Mutant Liberation Front has popped up in a thread of mine, which seems appropriate, as my "Rep" was made more off of builds of these douches than of anyone important, like Captain America or Spider-Man. Actually, I'm not even sure if anyone else DID build them! Maybe the one guy who statted up the entire Marvel RPG catalogue of guys into M&M within a couple of days?
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Zero (MLF)

Post by Jabroniville »

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I gotta say, this is probably the best design out of the whole M.L.F. My brother was obsessed with this guy's look back in the day.

ZERO (Ambient-energy Dampening Actualization Module [ADAM]- Unit Zero)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: The New Mutants #86 (Feb. 1990)
Role: Weapon Guy, The Snarky One
Group Affiliations: The Mutant Liberation Front
PL 6 (164), PL 10 (164) Nullifier
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA -- AGILITY 0
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+5)
Expertise (History) 8 (+11)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+8)
Investigation 4 (+4)
Perception 6 (+6)
Technology 8 (+11)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Assessment, Eidetic Memory

Powers:
"Android Body"
Immunity 40 (Fortitude, Mental Effects) [40]
Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]
Protection 6 [6]
Regeneration 5 (Feats: Regrowth) [6]
Senses 10 (Detect Powers- Acute, Analytical & Extended, Detect Energy- Acute, Analytical & Extended) [10]

Teleport 10 (Feats: Easy, Increased Mass 5) (Extras: Accurate, Extended, Portal +2) (Flaws: Extended Range Only, Limited to Locations It Has Been -1/2) (51) -- [53]
  • AE: Movement (Temporal Movement 3) (Feats: Increased Mass 4) (Extras: Accurate, Portal +2) (19)
  • AE: "Energy-Dampening" Nullify 10 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Broad- Energy Powers) (Flaws: Touch Range) (Quirk: Limited to Things He's Catalogued) (20)
Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Nullify +10 Area (DC 10)
Initiative +0

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +6, Fortitude --, Will +0

Complications:
Disabled (Mute)- Zero cannot speak. Stryfe has stated that he found it's comments sarcastic, and so he disabled this ability himself.

Total: Abilities: 12 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 125 / Defenses: 7 (164)

-Zero is one of the more iconic and long-lasting M.L.F. members, owing to his unique appearance. What's funny is that it's so SIMPLE: Just a guy in a completely white suit, with two "0"s on it. But that simplisity makes him stand out in stark contrast to his goofy team-mates, with their fat bodies, Eye Circles, pouches, claws attached to gloves, spikey hair, etc. That reason has allowed him to outlast his entire team, showing up in books as different as Deadpool, Excalibur, etc., as Stryfe's former Unspeaking Android Servant who suddenly gained autonomy and sentience post-Stryfe death. He got exploded anyways, though. Turns out he was originally an android designed by Apocalypse for the Nullifying of his threats, but got reprogrammed and Muted by Stryfe, then stuff happened and he turned good, or something.

-Zero is quite the pain to stat, since he's got very few showings (especially in combat) aside from beaming in and Teleporting guys, so I had to use Wikipedia and the "Deadpool: Rank and Foul" bio-book to stat up his various other abilities. Apparently he can Nullify any power in his vicinity, move through time & space, slowly Regenerate over time, fly, and more. His base Teleportation power is quite advanced, but limited much like Locus' was, but it DOES have a Time-based AP as well, making him a bit more useful. Plus a large application of the Portal Extra. For his Super-Senses, I used an Acute, Analytical Detect Power effect. It's actually REALLY WEIRD that M&M lacks a basic "Detect Powers" ability- considering it's got every kind of Vision, True Sight, Awareness, etc. available in comics. But they can't get EVERYTHING, I suppose, and they DO give you a standard "Detect" power, so that should work. So Zero ends up being quite expensive, and a little cheesy (Teleport AP'd to a super-powered Nullify is a MAJOR points-saver, but technically he can't do both at the same time, so I figure it's legal), but he's virtually an NPC, so I allowed it.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Dragoness

Post by Jabroniville »

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DRAGONESS (Tamara Kurtz)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: The New Mutants #93 (Sept. 1990)
Role: Flying Blaster, Femme Fatale
Group Affiliations: The Mutant Liberation Front
PL 9 (115)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Aerobatics 6 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+8)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Terrorist) 5 (+5)
Intimidation 3 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+4)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Bio-Blasts) 2 (+8)
Sleight of Hand 3 (+7)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive, Chokehold, Daze (Intimidation), Favoured Environment (Airborne), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Blast), Move-By Action, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6, Taunt

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Bio-Electric Blasts"
Blast 10 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating) [31]

"Wing Harness & Suit" (Flaws: Removable) [6]
Flight 5 (60 mph) (Flaws: Winged) (5)
Protection 2 (2)
-- (7 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Bio-Blasts +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +2 (+4 Suit), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Mutant Pride)

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 37 / Defenses: 14 (115)

-Dragoness was little-seen compared to most of the MLF. at first, showing up only in a Singapore... sorry, MADRIPOOR storyline in the late New Mutants years, hitting on Cannonball and squaring off with Sunfire for a while. Defeated, she vanished until the X-mop-up of the MLF., where the poor girl got TRIPLE-TEAMED by the "Messed-Up Hair Express" of Storm, Polaris and Rogue, which didn't really go well for her at all. I mean, seriously, all THREE of them? She didn't show up again until years later (eventually joining Reignfire's version of the team), and surprisingly popped up in recent X-Men stories, still with her powers (unlike the vast majority of her team, who were now conveniently de-powered), and living on Utopia. She is not seen after leading a brief attempt at rebellion.

-She's not a bad little character- adding a bit of vampishness to an overall creepy personality type (all tongue-sticking out and claw-fingered in the Jae Lee version) and a bit of a unique appearance- she's a little plain with her green unitard, but the bat-wings are okay. Why a woman whose powers came from her parents being exposed via the Hiroshima Little Boy explosion is in her 20s (AND without a Japanese name) has never been explained.

-Dragoness is a pretty simple build, revolving around being a Flying Blaster with little in the way of boosts, Alt-Effects or Extras. She just flies and Blasts and that's that. She's powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with Sunfire for a while (like a lot of guys who've fought Sunfire with similar powers- see Pele just a couple pages ago), but it won't last for long. At PL 9, she's better than most of the MLF, but costs the same as a PL 8.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (Elphaba! FIYEERRRRROOOOOO!!! Glinda! SHIELD!)

Post by Jabroniville »

This has always bugged me, ever since I first saw it in the comic:

Image

Of all the MILF jokes you could have made out of the M.L.F.'s name, that is quite possibly the most poorly-told, least-clever version you could have possibly made. Just TERRIBLE.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Locus

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

Is that REALLY tight spandex, or did she just paint her skin?

LOCUS (Rayna Piper)
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza & Mat Broome
First Appearance: X-Force #27 (Aug. 1993)
Role: Teleporter, Psycho Chick
Group Affiliations: The Mutant Liberation Front
PL 10 (156)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Aerobatics 3 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+6)
Close Combat (Rending Attack) 3 (+8)
Deception 5 (+6)
Expertise (Terrorist) 4 (+5)
Intimidation 5 (+6)
Investigation 4 (+4)
Perception 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Favoured Environment (Airborne)

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Flight & Teleportation"
Teleport 10 (Feats: Change Direction, Increased Mass 3, Reach 2) (Extras: Attack +0, Accurate, Extended) (Flaws: Limited to Locations She Or Target Has Been -1/2) [35]
Teleport 10 (Feats: Change Direction, Increased Mass 3) (Extras: Accurate, Extended) (Flaws: Limited to Locations She Or Target Has Been -1/2) (35) -- [36]
  • AE: Movement 3 (Space Travel) (Extras: Instantaneous) (Flaws: Limited to Locations She Or Target Has Been) (6)
"Rending Attack" Damage 10 (Feats: Reach 2) (Extras: Penetrating) [22]
Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Teleport Attack +10 (DC 20)
Rending Attack +8 (+10 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +1, Fortitude +3, Will +3

Complications:
Motivation (Mutant Pride)

Total: Abilities: 24 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 1 / Powers: 103 / Defenses: 14 (156)

-Locus is a later addition to the Mutant Liberation Front, debuting in the "Reignfire" arc, kidnapping Henry Peter Gyrich and generally being as homicidal as Wildside (the two immediately hit it off, of course). She excercised all of the NASTIEST feats & extras involved with Teleporter characters, slicing limbs and halves of people off, and had a "hook" in that she could only go to places where she'd been before, or where her Teleporting victim had been before (so she needed to go undercover as a pizza girl to get into Gyrich's home, for example). She was utilized to write Sunspot out of the series for a few years (I stopped reading comics before he returned, which was quite a few issues after this point), as an errant Psychic Arrow from Moonstar (doing a pointless "I'm an undercover agent... so it's time to beat my friends' heads in and act like I'm evil, just so I can bring down this elite cadre of four loser villains and their boss" thing) put her powers out of whack, teleporting them both to the far end of the galaxy.

-She returned, did some stuff (abandoning her team after being slapped by Wildside), then left. She came back, inexplicably black now (after being a white blonde in her first appearance), and teleported to Latveria with X-Force member Skids in tow. Then she died- being murdered by Sabretooth to spite the new Weapon X Program, who was attempting to recruit her. After that initial arc, there was really nothing making her interesting, you see. I kind of liked the concept of her powers (Teleporters, especially "Slice off a limb" ones, can be game-breakers in comics unless handled VERY carefully, but there was enough "fluff" to it to make it interesting), but her costume and personality were dime-a-dozen, so she's not really missed.

-Locus is very dangerous in the right hands. Mixing a common Teleporter build with a far nastier Damage-based one, she's got a few tricks. Her Teleport is as long-range as it GETS (allowing her to hit a huge swath of area- even more if her powers go out of control or if she pushes it)- Cable noted in their search for Sunspot that he could LITERALLY be almost anywhere, from Asgard to a Dyson Sphere in the far side of the Universe, given the New Mutants' antics. Increased Mass lets her teleport a team. Accurate means she doesn't have to see her target, and Attack lets her involuntarily take others with her (note that in 3e, those are Linked Powers, and have to be taken separately). For Flaws, she gets a Half-Flaw for the whole "only places I or the target have been" thing, since it's not QUITE worth a mega-discount price, but is worse than your usual Drawback, almost negating the Accurate benefit.

-The whole mess is Linked to "Rend", an option in "Ultimate Power", letting her cut a cyborg guard in half, for example, by teleporting a part of him away. This is a REAL game-breaker in comics, but she only did it to a couple people (likely under "if she uses it, the fight's over and you've got a dead character on your hands" rules, like Persuader's Axe in "Legion of Super-Heroes" stories), so it's presumably hard to hit with it. It goes out to ten feet, since the people she's used it on were outside of melee by a bit, and is Penetrating because of the nature of the attack. This is all fairly pricey, but since these are her only tricks, and she's a useless fighter with low Toughness, Saves, Skills & Advantages otherwise, it works well for her. She's fundamentally PL 9 in combat, but a PL 10 Teleporter.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:34 am, edited 3 times in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Reignfire

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

REIGNFIRE (Roberto da Costa)
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza, Greg Capullo (cover) & Matt Broome (interior)
First Appearance: X-Force #26 (Sept. 1993)
Role: Blaster
Group Affiliations: The Mutant Liberation Front, The New Mutants, X-Force
PL 11 (223)
STRENGTH
10 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 4 (+8)
Expertise (Business) 8 (+9)
Expertise (History) 4 (+6)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+5)
Expertise (Soccer Player) 4 (+7)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 6 (+10)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 6 (+8)
Persuasion 4 (+8)
Technology 4 (+6)
Vehicles 5 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Solar Blasts) 7 (+10)
Vehicles 5 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Daze (Intimidation), Fascinate (Intimidation), Improved Critical (Solar Blast) 2, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Startle

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Solar Absorption & Blasting"
"Physical Boosting"
Protection 3 [3]

"Solar Energy"
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
Solar Energy Aura 4 [16]

Solar Blast 12 (Feats: Split) (Extras: Penetrating) (37) -- [43]
  • AE: Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line, Penetrating) (33)
  • AE: Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Penetrating) (33)
  • AE: Damage 11 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Penetrating) (33)
  • AE: Solar Blast 8 (Extras: Autofire, Penetrating) (32)
  • AE: Solar Aura 6 (total 10) (24)
  • AE: Energy Force Field 1 (Extras: Impervious 8) (9)
"Mental Link with Sunspot"
Mind-Reading 4 (Flaws: Limited to Sunspot -2) [1]
Affliction 10 (Will; Dazed/Compelled/Transformed Personality) (Extras: Cumulative, Perception Range +2) (Flaws: Limited to Sunspot -3) [10]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Solar Blast +10 (+12 Ranged Damage, DC 27)
Area Blasts +11 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +10 (+11 Force Field), Fortitude +9, Will +9

Complications:
Secret (Genetic Clone of Sunspot)
Motivation (Mutant Pride)

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 74--37 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 85 / Defenses: 17 (223)

-Reignfire is a great example of why the X-teams never get any cool new villains. He burst onto the scene post-X-Cutioner's Song, looking like an energy-wielding Big Bad-type guy, renewing the Mutant Liberation Front and hunting down Henry Peter Gyrich. Cool enough, though at least one fan who wrote it was convinced his similarity to Exodus (it was THAT era of comics, where "Long haired guy with cape and glowing eyes" was the a dominant villain trend) was more than a coincidence. There were hints that he was more than just some random guy, and it was revealed before long that he was Roberto DaCosta, aka Sunspot, who had then been missing since the Reignfire/MLF (vs) X-Force melee. Fabian Nicieza had wrote it implying that this was DaCosta's future self who'd been teleported away and turned bad. A later writer miffed that, turning him into a genetic clone based off of some Celestial tech for no apparent reason, creating a whole new mess of continuity headaches which resulted in the character being casually killed off by a Celestial Golem while inside one of their ships. So this "Coulda Been" Big Bad was turned into a nobody sacrificial villain who hasn't appeared since.

-Reignfire is a powerful, Team-Killing PL 11 Blaster-type with some smarts, Intimidation, tons of energy powers, and some weird bits that only work on Sunspot (10 pp for a Brainwashing that only works on Roberto still seems a little steep, but he's a Mastermind-type, so his cost doesn't really matter). Definitely a dangerous guy to go up against, but not totally overwhelming. He has all of Sunspot's base powers, plus a little extra, with none of his "needs sunlight" weaknesses (which were lessened by that point anyways).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Tempo

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

TEMPO (Heather Tucker)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: The New Mutants #86 (Feb. 1990)
Role: Repentant Villain, Background Character, Status Affecter
Group Affiliations: The Mutant Liberation Front, The Acolytes
PL 9 (148)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+5)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Deception 4 (+5)
Expertise (Current Events) 3 (+4)
Persuasion 4 (+5)
Insight 4 (+6)
Intimidation 1 (+2)
Investigation 2 (+4)
Perception 5 (+7)
Technology 4 (+5)
Vehicles 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Equipment (Acolyte Gear), Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Time Control"
"Can Fly for Some Reason" Flight 5 (50 mph) [10]

"Time Control" (All Powers Linked)
Quickness 5 (Extras: Affects Others, Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (Flaws: Tiring) [15]
Speed 5 (60 mph) (Extras: Affects Others, Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (Flaws: Tiring) [15]
Enhanced Advantages 3: Improved Initiative 3, Close Attack 2, Ranged Attack 2 (Extras: Affects Others, Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (Flaws: Tiring) [21]
Enhanced Dodge & Parry 2 (Extras: Affects Others, Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) [12]

"Time Control Feats" [2]
  • AE: "Rapid Attack" Strength-Damage +0 (Extras: Multiattack 8, Affects Others 8, Area- 30ft. Burst 8, Selective 8) (Flaws: Tiring) (24)
  • AE: "Slow Enemies" Affliction 9 (Strength/Speed Rank; Dazed, Fatigued & Hindered/Stunned, Exhausted & Defenseless) (Extras: Extra Condition +2, Area- 30ft. Burst, Selective) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Instant Recovery) (27)
"Tempo Costume" (Flaws: Removable) [4]
Protection 2 (2)
"Mind Shield" Enhanced Will Check 4 (Flaws: Limited to vs. Mental Attacks) (2)

Equipment:
"Acolytes Gear" Communications, Protection (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Time Control Boost +9 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Slow Enemies +9 Area (+9 Affliction, DC 19)
Initiative +2 (+14 Time Control)

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (+11 Boost, DC 19-21), Parry +9 (+11 Boost, DC 19-21), Toughness +1 (+3 Suit), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Survival)- Far from having Mutant Pride, Tempo often seeks out a normal life and existence, rejecting the more brutal tactics of her comrades.

Total: Abilities: 26 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 79 / Defenses: 17 (148)

-Tempo (a member of the Mutant Liberation Front who later appeared as an Acolyte) has one of the more unusual powers in all of comics (I can't think of many others at all who possess it): Time Control. Not Travel or anything like that- she can slow people down or speed them up (like her teammates). She's also got one of my least-favourite power types: the Flying For No Reason power. I mean, how the heck does a TIME CONTROLLER fly? At least some people fire energy behind them, or have cosmic or gravity-based powers. This one just makes no sense. Her costume is awful as all hell, being an obvious Liefeld Bargain Basement Special. It's just a yellow unitard with a bucket helmet that AIM goons would be ashamed to appear in.

-Her characterization was more interesting: she was established as the only member of her team with morals (warning Dr. Tucker- presumably due to a shared last name?- at a clinic that did mutant fetus testing about an MLF attack, trying to keep Wildside from killing Peter Gyrich, etc.), leading to constant struggles. Finally, in an X-Force arc, she betrayed the team and joined X-Force temporarily, leaving to find a normal life. Of course, the next writer forgot that, and placed her casually with the group again. Modern times saw her join the Acolytes for some reason, but she again turned to the side of good, and she currently lives on Utopia. Oh, and she talked like a Southern Belle (think Rogue) at first, but dropped that as soon as Liefeld was gone from Marvel and Fabian Nicieza took over her characterization.

-Tempo's a bit complex, having some rarely-used powers. She has SEVERAL powers, all Linked together, allowing her and a Selective Burst Area of allies to gain Super-Speed, Improved Initiative, Improved Attacks and Improved Defenses. This is notably Tiring on all the Linked powers, so it's usually used at the beginning of a fight or with an HP spent (or given to the victimized PCs) to avoid the effects. As Alternate Effects, she can give everyone the Multiattack Strike power, or Slow enemies (her most common application in-book) with a fun Affliction effect that strikes across the Defenseless, Stunned & Tiring lines, but ends before it can hit a third condition (she can't FREEZE people, she can just slow them). One story had her "only affecting perceptions of time", but that was ignored apparently, as she has been shown holding a grenade in time before it exploded. It's Strength-based to allow tough people to fight through it, and Super-Speed types (like Quicksilver) may also fight against it. It's powerful enough to even slow QUICKSILVER to ten miles per hour if she goes all-out with it, in the latter case there.

-All of this leaves her a PL 9 Area Effecter with a few more points spent than a PC normally would get, but she's a pathetic combatant on her own- anyone worth their salt could beat the living CRAP out of her with a free shot (her Toughness is only +3), so she relies entirely on Slow Enemies or her status boosts for her allies. It's her ALLIES that are the huge danger when fighting Tempo, though- the MLF is a terrible team for the most part, but her boosting their powers gives every one of them a PL boost of at least +1, making them MUCH more dangerous, though it also leaves them Tired as well. Probably the ultimate Team Player support character, but only for a little bit. I love building characters like this, though- Affliction is a blast, and you rarely ever get to deal with all these powers.

-Fun fact: When people were doing some kind of "bragging about powers you're proud you came up with" thing on RoninArmy, I shared Tempo here- I liked how all of her powers came out. Then I was informed that I'd done it wrong, and you can't give Linked powers all a Flaw like "Tiring". Stupid rules- it makes sense, though I swear that's not a real rule, and more just a matter of common sense :).
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Stryfe

Post by Jabroniville »

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Fun test: try drawing that helmet from the side.

STRYFE (Nathan Summers' Clone)
Created By:
Louise Simonson & Rob Liefeld
First Appearance: The New Mutants #87 (March 1990)
Role: Big Bad, Super-Telekinetic, Monologuing Villain
Group Affiliations: The Mutant Liberation Front, The New Mutants, X-Force
PL 14 (325)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 7 AWARENESS 5 PRESENCE 6

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+11)
Deception 4 (+10)
Expertise (History) 8 (+15)
Expertise (Science) 4 (+11)
Expertise (Terrorist) 4 (+11)
Insight 3 (+8)
Intimidation 5 (+11)
Investigation 4 (+9)
Perception 4 (+9)
Technology 5 (+12)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Beginner's Luck, Diehard, Equipment 12 (Moonbase), Improved Aim, Improved Critical (TK Blasts) 2, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 12, Taunt

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Omega-Level Telekinesis & Telepathy"
"Telekinesis"
Force Field 8 (Feats: Increased Mass 2) (Extras: Affects Others, Impervious) [22]

"Nullify Powers" Affliction 14 (Fort or Power Strength; Impaired Powers/Disabled Powers/Transformed to Powerless) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative, Concentration +2) (Flaws: Distracting, Instant Recovery) (56) -- [61]
  • AE: Telekinesis 14 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Perception Range) (43)
  • AE: Damage 14 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst, Penetrating) (42)
  • AE: Damage 14 (Extras: Area- 60ft. Cone, Penetrating) (42)
  • AE: TK Blast 14 (Extras: Autofire) (42)
  • AE: Deflect 14 (28)
"Telepathy"
Mind-Reading 10 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Effortless, Cumulative, Sensory Link) Linked to Mental Communication 3 (Extras: Area, Selective) (69) -- [77]
  • Dynamic AE: Mind Control 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (49)
  • Dynamic AE: "Mental Stun" Affliction 12 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Cumulative) (49)
  • Dynamic AE: "Astral Form" Remote Sensing 15 (Visuals & Hearing) (Feats: Dynamic) (Flaws: Physical Body is Defenseless) (31)
  • Dynamic AE: "Mental Blast" Damage 12 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Perception Range +2, Will Save) (49)
"Mental Detection" Senses 4 (Mental Awareness- Ranged, Radius, Acute) [4]

"Stryfe's Armour" (Flaws: Removable) [8]
Protection 3 (Extras: Impervious 7) (10 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Mental Effects +12 Perception (+12 Perception Affliction, DC 22)
Mental Blast +12 Perception (+12 Perception Damage, DC 27)
TK Blasts +11 (+14 Ranged Damage, DC 29)
TK Effects +14 Area (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4 (+7 Armour, +15 Force Field), Fortitude +9, Will +12

Complications:
Secret (Genetic Clone of Cable)- Stryfe is actually the clone; Cable is the original.
Motivation (Revenge)- Stryfe is obsessed with those whom he has perceived as having wronged him. Included in this list are:
Enemy (Apocalypse)- Apocalypse took Stryfe under his wing in the future, but is responsible for the crappiness of said future.
Enemy (Cyclops & Jean Grey)- His "parents" (though Jean is not Nathan Summers' birth mother), who "abandoned" him to the future.
Enemy (Cable)- The original Nathan Summers, who has hunted and opposed Stryfe for decades of their lives.
Obsession (Monologuing)- Most major-league super-villains can be easily convinced to start Monologuing. Stryfe is not one of them. He doesn't NEED the help- he'll start doing it no matter what, going on for PAGES and PAGES of it.

Total: Abilities: 74 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 34 / Powers: 172 / Defenses: 23 (325)

-Stryfe was initially just some generic Powersuited villain at the helm of the M.L.F. in the New Mutants book, but became some kind of proto Big Bad once Rob Liefeld left and the remaining writers were left with a big event to write after the Image X-odus. Their idea: The most convoluted backstory in HISTORY, featuring Cyclops' son being sent into the future, cloned by the Askani, the clone being kidnapped & raised by Apocalypse while the original was made the cybernetic Cable, and then both of them going back in time, leaving Stryfe here with a series of mental complexes, the least of which was a tendency to ramble on faux-poetically for pages and pages of whiney exposition (that part of "The X-Cutioner's Song" doesn't age so well).

-What's funny is that he COULD HAVE been a huge success as a villain. The only problem was, his big peak story was also his LAST major story, as he DIED at the end of it. Sure, he gave us the Legacy Virus (aka "How do we write off all these damn useless mutant hangers-on?" Idea #1), and big stuff came about BECAUSE of the storyline, but this was basically the last we saw of him for years. He turned up in the afterlife once, got resurrected and died once (turning good in the process of a sacrifice, according to Wikipedia), and now he's apparently back again as a villain. So except for the X-Cutioner's Song & Legacy Virus, he's got nothing.

-Though re-reading Stryfe's old stuff, I get the impression that Fabian Nicieza was just doing "Claremont Lite" work on him. Claremont had a wordiness to his style, but Nicieza was just rambling on and on, and unlike Claremont, didn't actually have much to say. So Stryfe's dialogue came off as shallow and pretentious- that the arc was twelve issues long only made this worse. From my X-Cutioner's Song reviews:

-Stryfe is one of the bigger "ohhhhh..." moments for me. I always wondered why he never got a big resurrection or anything, being a mega-villain in this story, setting off the Legacy Virus, and more. Well it turns out that he's pretty damn awful. His dialogue is a combination of whining and Poor Man's Claremont wordiness. He comes off like a whiny baby because he was abandoned years ago, and he's so powerful, and all he ever does is talk to Zero or insult Scott & Jean... it's tiresome. He really doesn't get to do anything regarding any of the other heroes until the very end. And all of the villains are pretty bad, too- this would be Fabian Nicieza's major failing as a writer. His heroes are pretty good, and tend to interact well... but the baddies are just prone to "Monologuing" at length for pages upon pages, and it's all "filler". They're basically the Bray Wyatt of comics, to use a wrestling comparison.

-In another comic, Stryfe beats up Apocalypse for five pages, crying the whole time about how he was an "abandoned child!", calling Poccy "Father of PAIN, son of the MORNING FIRE!" and then saying "Yes, master of the timestream, destroyer of my past AND my future- it is *I*". Reading stuff like this reminds me of when I was first reading these books, thinking Fabian Nicieza was some kind of Claremontian Wizard of Words because of how he made these guys talk... but the years have not been kind. This stuff just REEKS of late Grade School faux-philosophical ramblings, and is easily Fabe's biggest weakness as a writer. Look through his X-Force or X-Men stuff long enough, and you'll find all of his baddies talk like Neil Gaiman wannabes, or like effete rich boys.

-With Stryfe, you just kinda gotta go balls-out. Overwhelming power to the extreme with this ultimate Big Bad- I'd argue he was more powerful than even Magneto. The fact is, he's basically Nate Grey but with age, experience and evil on his side. He lacks the multiple uses of Jean Grey's TK/TP array, but packs WAY more power. How ultimate is he? He wiped out the entire Dark Riders in about three seconds while joking about how useless they were, then kicked APOCALYPSE'S ass with laughable ease (granted, Apoc was weakened, but that "weakened" guy had taken out a team of X-Men easily). His Telekinetic power was so advanced that he was able to psionically restrain both Jean AND Scott's powers, FROM AFAR, while they were in another room. It took a massive free-for-all against Jean, Cyclops, Havok & Cable to even scratch him while he was distracted, and even then Cable had to activate a time vortex that nearly killed him to end Stryfe. He's a super-expensive menace, plain and simple.

-The points quickly add up with Mastermind types who also have huge amounts of power. He's strong, smart, Armoured, has a massive Nullify (Concentration Duration Affliction at Perception Range- allowing him to use Remote Senses and multiple victims, but once he drops it, they can use their powers just fine), high-powered Blasts, a Force Field, plus high-end Telepathic abilities. He's PL 14, and a VERY expensive build (325 points- 15 more than the same-powered dude in 2nd Edition).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Aug 23, 2022 10:58 am, edited 3 times in total.
scc
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Elphaba! Fiyero! Glinda! SHIELD! The MLF!)

Post by scc »

When I first saw the subject of your thread I thought it said the MILF so I clicked right away. Then I saw it was the Mutant Liberation Front. Still felt oddly satisfied seeing this.
Thorpocalypse
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Elphaba! Fiyero! Glinda! SHIELD! The MLF!)

Post by Thorpocalypse »

With my horrible random memory, when I saw MLF, I didn't think MILF, I had this equally crappy 90's thing pop into my head. :D

KLF...uh-huh, uh-huh...

And besides, Marvel already has a MILF.

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drkrash
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Elphaba! Fiyero! Glinda! SHIELD! The MLF!)

Post by drkrash »

Thorpocalypse wrote: Fri Jun 16, 2017 2:54 pm With my horrible random memory, when I saw MLF, I didn't think MILF, I had this equally crappy 90's thing pop into my head. :D

KLF...uh-huh, uh-huh...
I would like to go on record that the KLF's album is pretty interesting (and most of it doesn't sound like that song). The band themselves are pretty odd performance artists.
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Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

HLS/MLF II

Post by Jabroniville »

HUMANITY'S LAST STAND
Created By:
Unknown
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men Annual #19 (Nov. 1995)
Role: Racist Army
Leaders:
Simon Trask & Preacher

-These guys are a one-shot force that tried to create a "False Flag" against Mutants by pretending to be the Mutant Liberation Front. They were formed by the creator of The Sentinels' brother Simon Trask. A squad consists of Deadeye (Plasma Blasts from Eye), a clone of Deadeye, Blastfurnace I & II (robots that incinerated compromised members to prevent discovery of their secret), Corpus Delecti (Super-strong undead cyborg with Energy Field), Corpus' clone, Blindspot (Light Blasts), and Thermal (Blasts of heat or cold). All were killed.


THE MUTANT LIBERATION FRONT II (aka Humanity's Last Stand)
Created By:
Terry Kavanagh, Bryan Hitch & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men Annual #19 (1995)
Role:[/b] Forgotten Villain
Group Affiliations: Humanity's Last Stand/The Mutant Liberation Front II
PL 5 (57)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4)
Expertise (Anti-Mutant Bigot) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Equipment (Communications), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Personal Teleporters" (Flaws: Easily-Removable) [5]
Teleport 10 (Flaws: Limited to Long Distances) (8 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +3

Complications:
Hatred (Mutants)

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 5 / Defenses: 7 (57)

-Humanity's Last Stand's creation of the second "Mutant Liberation Front" was actually a pretty solid idea- a group of anti-mutant bigots who actually tried to discredit their targets with a "False Flag" operation- they would disguise themselves as Mutants (their powers come from largely-scientific methods), then engage in acts of public terrorism. Not that Mutants need any kind of HELP to look bad in that regard (this is when the ACTUAL Mutant Liberation Front was still a thing), but hey- A for Effort on the idea there. They were founded by Simon Trask, the forgotten brother of Bolivar Trask (the creator of the Sentintels), and also targeted humans with mutant sympathies- this led them into conflict with the Punisher. Alas, despite this pretty cool idea, most of them seem to be early '90s archetypes- the easiest way to tell is that EVERY ONE OF THEM IS A BLASTER. Also, they have a lot of those "Bad-Ass Names" that typify '90s characters. Though really, "Deadeye" is a pretty good name for a character- I can't believe it hasn't been used that much.

-A bunch of one-shot jobbers, they didn't do much in their first appearance (in fact, Deadeye and Corpus Derelicti were killed, along with Blastfurnace the robot), and in their second, they were killed off fighting the Punisher. Wikipedia actually lists some different names for the character on one page, but ComicVine, another Wiki page, and Marvel's Unnofficial Appendix all corroborate on the following. Seriously, I put way too much effort into figuring out the real names of these forgotten losers.
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Deadeye

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

DEADEYE I & II (Mark Randall & Jay Burnell)
Created By:
Terry Kavanagh, Bryan Hitch & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men Annual #19 (1995)
Role: Forgotten Villain
Group Affiliations: Humanity's Last Stand/The Mutant Liberation Front II
PL 7 (72)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4)
Expertise (Anti-Mutant Bigot) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Equipment (Communications), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Personal Teleporters" (Flaws: Easily-Removable) [5]
Teleport 10 (Flaws: Limited to Long Distances) (8 points)

"Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [15]
Plasma Eye Blast 8 (16)
Protection 2 (2)
-- (18 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Eye Blast +6 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +3

Complications:
Hatred (Mutants)

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 20 / Defenses: 7 (72)

-A former Mafiosi who was killed by the X-Cutioner. A second took over in The Punisher, but he died when their base burned down. Tiny robotic drones allowed him to track down his opponents.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
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Blastfurnace

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

BLASTFURNACE I & II
Created By:
Terry Kavanagh, Bryan Hitch & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men Annual #19 (1995)
Role: Forgotten Villain, Kill-O-Bot
Group Affiliations: Humanity's Last Stand/The Mutant Liberation Front II
PL 7 (98)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA -- AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4)
Expertise (Anti-Mutant Bigot) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Equipment (Communications), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Personal Teleporters" (Flaws: Easily-Removable) [5]
Teleport 10 (Flaws: Limited to Long Distances) (8 points)

Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 8 [8]
Fire Blast 8 [16]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Blast +6 (+8 Ranged Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +8, Fortitude --, Will +3

Complications:
Hatred (Mutants)

Total: Abilities: 20 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 59 / Defenses: 7 (98)

-A robot controlled via remote- its main job was to burn the corpses of dead members, to prevent autopsies from revealing their origins. It immolated itself after doing so to Deadeye, having been already defeated by the X-Cutioner. A second version was destroyed by the Punisher.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Corpus D.

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

CORPUS DERELICTI I & II (Michael Black & Adam Fisher)
Created By:
Terry Kavanagh, Bryan Hitch & Bob McLeod
First Appearance: The Uncanny X-Men Annual #19 (1995)
Role:[/b] Forgotten Villain
Group Affiliations: Humanity's Last Stand/The Mutant Liberation Front II
PL 6 (87)
STRENGTH
6 STAMINA -- AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4)
Expertise (Anti-Mutant Bigot) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Equipment (Communications), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Personal Teleporters" (Flaws: Easily-Removable) [5]
Teleport 10 (Flaws: Limited to Long Distances) (8 points)

"Undead"
Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Protection 8 [8]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +6, Fortitude +4, Will +3

Complications:
Hatred (Mutants)

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 43 / Defenses: 7 (87)

-A melding of a dead person and mechanics. He was incinerated by Blastfurnace when their mission was compromised. The second (Black's personality was placed inside another man somehow) was killed by the Punisher. He was apparently supposed to be super-tough according to his bios, but the actual description of his appearance shows him getting easily-curbstomped by the unarmed attacks of Frank Castle... so no. He's actually really weak.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Feb 23, 2022 8:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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