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

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

Broo

Post by Jabroniville »

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Image

BROO
Created By:
Christos Gage & Juan Bobillo
First Appearance: The Astonishing X-Men #40 (Sept. 2011)
Group Affiliations: X-Students, The Brood
Status: Alive
Role: Whacky Alien Kid, Nerdy Monster
PL 7 (123)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 5 (+7)
Expertise (Science) 5 (+9)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 5 (+5)
Stealth 3 (+7)
Technology 2 (+6)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Close Combat 2, Equipment (X-Student Uniform- Communications), Fast Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Ranged Attack 2, Startle

Powers:
"Sleazoid Physiology"
"Stinger" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach 2) Linked to Weaken Strength 4 (Extras: Progressive +2) [16]
"Six Legs" Extra Limbs 2 [2]

"Bug Wings" Flight 4 (30 mph) (Flaws: Winged) [4]
"Chitinous Exoskeleton" Protection 1 [1]
Senses 3 (Low-Light Vision, Acute & Extended Scent) [3]

"Brood Hive Mind" Mental Communication 5 (Extras: Area) (Flaws: Limited to Brood) [20]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Stinger +10 (+4 Damage & Weaken, DC 19 & 14)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4, Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Monster)- Broo looks like a Brood Alien.
Responsibility (Compassion)- Unlike most of his species, Broo has a sense of compassion, and thus does not fit in.
Relationship (Idie)- Broo is closest to Idie amongst all of his classmates (most of whom make fun of him).
Involuntary Transformation (Psychotic Rage)- In moments of great anger or frustration, Broo may go completly psychotic, and begin tearing into someone, eating them alive.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 46 / Defenses: 9 (123)

-Broo debuted in Astonishing X-Men, but became a favourite of Jason Aaron on his run, and he was one of the most important students. He is of course yet another example of the Good Member of a Bad Race, much like No-Name of the Brood (in Hulk's Warbound), having compassion instead of sadism as a personality trait. He mostly runs around dressed like a nerd from the 1960s and acts cute and oblivious to the insanity around him (and the cruel jibes of many of his classmates), yet there is also a great likelihood that he will tear someone open at eat them when his mind breaks. And break it does, when some religious nuts shoot him to send a message to his friend Idie, and he pretty much descends into a non-talking animal. He was finally cured after biting one of the Bamf creatures that populated Logan's school, and rejoined the team.

-Broo is a low-end version of The Brood's Sleazoids, packing a lot of scrappy power into a tiny package.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24695
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Armor

Post by Jabroniville »

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ARMOR (Hisako Ichiki)
Created By:
Joss Whedon & John Cassaday
First Appearance: The Astonishing X-Men #3 (Oct. 2004)
Group Affiliations: X-Students, Young X-Men
Status: Alive
Role: The Snarky Kid
PL 8 (112)
STRENGTH
1/9 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Expertise (Computers) 4 (+5)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 3 (+4)
Insight 3 (+4)
Perception 4 (+5)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Close Attack 2, Equipment (X-Student Uniform- Communications), Improved Critical (Armor Punch), Interpose, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 3, Takedown, Taunt

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Energy Armor"
"Boosted Power" Enhanced Strength 8 [16]
Force Field 9 (Extras: Impervious 13) [22]
Immunity 6 (Heat, Falling Damage) [6]
"Long Arms" Reach 1 [1]
"Psionic Blast" Blast 8 (Flaws: Unreliable) (8) -- [9]
  • AE: "Shaping Armor Claws" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Reach 2) (3)
Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Energy Armor +6 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Armor Claws +6 (+10 Damage, DC 25)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +1 (+11 Force Field), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Becoming an X-Man)
Power Loss (Protection)- Hisako's Armor often does not hold up against light-based attacks, such as laser.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 14--7 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 54 / Defenses: 11 (112)

-So during Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing, he decided to give a little something back to Marvel rather than just take and use their best toys. He left them "Armor", your typical teenage girl who was snarky and frequently mouthed off (so basically, Whedon's favourite type of character- my Firefly watching friend insists that he wrote Cyclops the same way as Mal Reynolds, and copied the Firefly cast from his Aliens movie, too), but ultimately had the fighting spirit necessary to be an X-Man, showcasing this after being stuck with the rest of the team (all professional fighting adults) on the Breakworld. She's a great little character, too, easily surpassing most of the "teen stereotypes" present in the New X-Men roster of bad girl, smart nerd, wallflower girl, leader girl and depressed boy, because she's got a unique sense of entitlement and bravery that comes from action in the field, growing quickly from a scared little girl early on. The fact that her powers are totally unique makes her even better, as only Unuscione of the Acolytes shares that power concept, and it's handled differently.

-Alas, very few writers have really used her since, despite the love Whedon's run gets. The "Teen X-Men" books had their OWN cast, so the writers probably didn't want to just add somebody else's, and later authors also tended to avoid her, so she's only had an arc or two of focus since then.

-Hisako isn't really PC-worthy, as she's not been shown with too many Skills or Advantages, like a lot of the other New X-Men kids. She's a pretty tough cookie, and really durable for a PL 8, but certain things can still get through her armor (lasers & light, Wolverine's claws- though his hands still stop at the edge of the field). She even has a limited Blast, but usually just hits stuff with her fists or 'claws'. The armor also bestows upon her some mild superhuman strength, and the ability to fall hundreds of feet with damage. It's made of the power of Memories, which is pretty weird, but allows her to justify Power Stunts because of the strong memory of her deceased mother or something.

Image

WING (Edward Jackson)
Created By:
Joss Whedon & John Cassaday
First Appearance: The Astonishing X-Men #3 (Sept. 2004)
Group Affiliations: X-Students
Status: Committed Suicide
Role: One-Shot Character
PL 3 (38)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 3 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Self-Propelled Flight"
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]

Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +1, Fortitude +3, Will +2

Complications:
Motivation (Flight)- Wing REALLY liked to fly. When it's taken away... the results aren't pretty.

Total: Abilities: 14 / Skills: 4--2 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 8 (38)

-Wing's a one-shot kid who was in Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run. He could fly, and was Hisako's best friend. When he was de-powered by Ord's "Mutant Cure" (hey, remember when THAT was the biggest news story to hit the X-Men in years? Funny how it's no longer even relevant, despite being an awesome idea that was enough to get used in the third X-Movie), he was distraught (compared to the many happy mutants wanting to be free from their deformities) and ultimately killed himself in the Danger Room, that act being what "Danger" needed to become fully self-aware and powerful. He DID manage to get one of the most killer lines in Whedon's X-run, getting to call Kitty Pryde a "F*@#ing Retard" when she suggested that Mutants would fight throught he histeria surrounding "The Cure".

-Just the standard Template plus Flight. Lazy build, but hey, he was your standard smart-mouthed teenage kid- he doesn't need anything else.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Harley Quinn! Batgirl! The Young X-Men! Broo! Armor!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Oh, and I'm done with spamming them out, now :). Now we're getting into the characters with actual notability & change since 2013.
Jabroniville
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Beak

Post by Jabroniville »

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Image

BEAK (Barnell Bohusk, aka Blackwing II)
Created By:
Grant Morrison & Ethan Van Sciver
First Appearance: New X-Men #117 (Oct. 2001)
Group Affiliations: X-Students, The New Warriors, The Teen Brigade, The Exiles, The Brotherhood of Mutants
Status: De-Powered after M-Day
Role: Ugly Hero, Regular Guy
PL 7 (96)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 3 (+4)
Insight 4 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+4)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 6 (+6)

Advantages:
Daze (Persuasion), Equipment (X-Student Uniform- Communications, Protection +1, Baseball Bat- Strike +2), Inspire, Luck, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Rallying Cry, Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Birdlike Physiology"
Senses 2 (Extended Sight, Low-Light Vision) [2]
"Half-Wings" Flight 2 (8 mph) (Flaws: Gliding) [2]
Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]
Protection 1 [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Baseball Bat +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +4 (+5 X-Uniform), Fortitude +4, Will +5

Complications:
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Beak looks like a gigantic baby bird, and is even MORE disgusting than most baby birds.
Relationship (Angel)- Beak has several freak-children with fellow X-Student and love of his life Angel, though they often argue.

Total: Abilities: 38 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 7 / Defenses: 9 (96)

-Beak was a neat little character- a legitimately ugly (to the point where he may be the most grotesque Mutant character ever created- something Ethan Van Sciver is good at, judging by Kryb of the Sinestro Corps *shudder*), scrawny, weakling of a mutant with the crappiest powers ever, but was nonetheless kind of lovable. His scenes were even done well when he got transplanted to the "Exiles" team, frequently moping over how useless he was and how much he missed his family, but actually saved the day a couple times (he's the only one smart enough to figure out that the "Timebrokers" could just bring in a couple Hyperions from alternate worlds to fight the evil King Hyperion). He got depowered by M-Day, one of those cases where it was easily a BENEFIT, and went off with his wife Angel to the New Warriors team, gaining techno-powers and a bigger physique for some reason. And so, arguably the biggest of all the early X-Students in importance became one of hundreds of forgotten characters, as he hasn't appeared in about a decade.

-Beak is a classic "Joke" character, being PL 6 on offense & PL 6.5 on defense, because he's just this gawky, kinda-strong physical specimen with a baseball bat and a silly helmet on. His "Powers" are more "moderate bonuses", and I think the only super-character he has a hope of defeating MIGHT be Boomslang.

-As "Blackwing" of the New Warriors, he gains a powersuit giving him Enhanced Strength 6, Protection 5, Blast 8 & Flight 6, costing 36 points (29 over his current value, since he drops his Mutant Powers).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:16 am, edited 3 times in total.
Jabroniville
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Elixir

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

ELIXIR (Joshua Foley)
Created By:
Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir & Keron Grant
First Appearance: New Mutants #1 (July 2003)
Group Affiliations: X-Students, The New Mutants, The Young X-Men, X-Force
Status: Alive
Role: Villain-Turned-Good, Team Healer
PL 9 (133)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+6)
Athletics 2 (+3)
Deception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Intimidation 2 (+4)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Science) 12 (+12) -- (Flaws: Limited to Biology) 
Treatment 8 (+8)
Perception 3 (+3)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Daze (Deception), Equipment (X-Student Uniform- Communications, Protection +1), Luck, Ranged Attack 2, Set-Up, Taunt, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Healing Touch"
Healing 12 (Feats: Stabilize, Persistent, Regrow Limbs) (Extras: Restoration, Resurrection) (Flaws: Resurrection Requires Skill Check: Treatment) (45) -- [46]
  • AE: "Death Touch" Weaken Stamina 10 (Extras: Disease +2) Linked to Damage 6 (36)
Regeneration 4 (Extras: Affects Others) [8]
"Knows the Sickness" Senses 3 (Detect Disease- Analytical) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Death Touch +7 (+10 Weaken & +6 Damage, DC 20 & 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3 (+4 Uniform), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Relationship (Rahne, Laurie, Loa)- Josh briefly hooked up with Wolfsbane when she was going through a "phase". He also had a Love Triangle with Wither over Wallflower. He eventually hooks up with Loa.
Guilt (The X-Students' Deaths)- Joshua failed to save the X-kids killed in the Busplosion, as well as Laurie. He became introspective and "zen-like" as a counter to this.
Prejudice (Obvious Mutant)- Josh either has golden or black skin.

Total: Abilities: 36 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 57 / Defenses: 12 (133)

-How in the living hell did it take comic book superheroes SEVENTY YEARS to create a major character with a Healing power? Seriously- friggin' D&D used it in, what? The '70s? Video Games, other RPGs, etc. had all used this power a dozen times. Guys like Wolverine popularized Regeneration as a power as well. Dr. Mid-Nite's a DOCTOR type of healer I guess, but Elixir's something new. He can basically bring people back from the brink of death, which, in an era where people regularly take horrific "realism-based" levels of damage from super-combat, is about the most useful thing ever. I still remember laughing when I read Joss Whedon's "Astonishing X-Men" and it revealed how the team survived their "SURELY Joss can't write them out of THIS one!" horrific beating at the hands of Danger (Kitty & Peter were IMPALED)- Josh just came in and healed them all! I Mean, DUH!! It's not even an Ass Pull- he'd been an established student for years! And I was all worried and crap!

-He had the unique starting point of being a Anti-Mutant Bigot who discovered his mutant nature later in life, creating a major situation with his team... but it then got glossed over. And really, they eventually went a little too nuts with him. Having him make out with a teacher (RAHNE!! NO! How dare they ruin your character!), then turn golden, then gain KILLING POWERS as he murders William Stryker (this makes him an offensive fighter, too), then get philosophical, then go through weird power-shifts... well, it's too crazy and they should've kept him as the healing-guy. Then they added him to the newer incarnation of X-Force (aka Cyclops' personal "dirty mission" team), giving the Vanisher a fatal tumor to ensure his loyalty to the squad- he later reveals to the villain that the tumor was removed ages ago, but his previously-contracted SYPHILIS is what's keeping him sick. Hee.

-During Necrosha, Elixir kills Wither (his old friendly-rival turned into a super-villain mass-murderer) in a one-on-one fight to the death. He quits X-Force afterwards, getting tired of all the death. He resurfaces a couple of times in smaller stories, but is executed by Gauntlet of the Dark Riders (?!?), who have been murdering mutants with healing powers. Which... was really kind of a waste of the character- he kind of had the most happen to him out of his "generation" of Mutant Kids, and it's kind of a shame to wipe him out, what? Twelve-ish years after his debut? Sure, he'd gone down all kinds of crazy roads in that time, but timeline-wise, MOST of the X-Men kind of had after a point, y'know?

-Of course, he was a fast-learner even as a rookie, because sure as shootin' Elixir CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD, regenerating thanks to... well, being a Healer. He killed, resurrected and then killed the Dark Riders over and over again in revenge for his slaying, being quite mentally deranged by the whole experience. He is apparently still alive.

-Elixir is more costly (and a straight-up PL 9) than the other teammates, mainly because he can make someone erupt in a pus-filled explosion just by touching them (a "Death Touch" that mixes Damage with Weaken Stamina- he can even give specific cancers & tumors, enabling 2e's "Disease" Extra that takes effect later), do a TON of stuff with his Healing (bring back powers, raise the recently-dead, regrow limbs and even organs, etc.), and has a few Advantages & Skills to his name as well (particularly the ones he gained telepathically from The Beast- wonder why the REST of the X-Men don't just do that if it's so easy... stupid plot holes). He can also gain a Healing Factor, and enhance those of others (such as X-23). He needs a Skill Check on the Resurrection Extras of his Healing power, which adds up to a Half-Flaw, but other than that, he's kind of all-around decent at PL 9.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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KorokoMystia
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Batgirl! Broo! Armor! Beak! Elixir!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

Since Rogue One came out recently, any chance of you ever returning to Star Wars builds? Force Awakens builds I doubt, because there's still two movies left to go in the "new trilogy" and plenty of room for the characters in it to grow in PL, so building them now would just result in a new build for each movie, most likely. I haven't seen Rogue One yet, but I assume the characters in it would be a lower PL than the main SW cast, like the Rebels cast are.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Batgirl! Broo! Armor! Beak! Elixir!)

Post by Horsenhero »

KorokoMystia wrote:Since Rogue One came out recently, any chance of you ever returning to Star Wars builds? Force Awakens builds I doubt, because there's still two movies left to go in the "new trilogy" and plenty of room for the characters in it to grow in PL, so building them now would just result in a new build for each movie, most likely. I haven't seen Rogue One yet, but I assume the characters in it would be a lower PL than the main SW cast, like the Rebels cast are.
Donnie Yen's character took out 20 Stormtroopers with a stick. The characters in Rogue One are by and large more bad ass, not less.
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Batgirl III
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Batgirl! Broo! Armor! Beak! Elixir!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Horsenhero wrote: Donnie Yen's character took out 20 Stormtroopers with a stick. The characters in Rogue One are by and large more bad ass, not less.
Donnie Yen took out a platoon of Stormtroopers by being Donnie Yen.
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BriarThrone
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Batgirl! Broo! Armor! Beak! Elixir!)

Post by BriarThrone »

Batgirl III wrote:
Horsenhero wrote: Donnie Yen's character took out 20 Stormtroopers with a stick. The characters in Rogue One are by and large more bad ass, not less.
Donnie Yen took out a platoon of Stormtroopers by being Donnie Yen.
To be fair, the Stormtroopers were also Stormtroopers. The EU likes to pretend that they're unstoppable badasses, but I like to be That Guy and remind Star Wars fans that Stormtroopers were defeated by a race of teddy bears doing a massive Home Alone LARP.
Hoid
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Batgirl! Broo! Armor! Beak! Elixir!)

Post by Hoid »

BriarThrone wrote:
Batgirl III wrote:
Horsenhero wrote: Donnie Yen's character took out 20 Stormtroopers with a stick. The characters in Rogue One are by and large more bad ass, not less.
Donnie Yen took out a platoon of Stormtroopers by being Donnie Yen.
To be fair, the Stormtroopers were also Stormtroopers. The EU likes to pretend that they're unstoppable badasses, but I like to be That Guy and remind Star Wars fans that Stormtroopers were defeated by a race of teddy bears doing a massive Home Alone LARP.
In my Star Wars campaigns, I explain the disconnect between Clone Wars-era badasses to A New Hope's Cannon fodder as this: it turns out continually cloning the same guy OVER and OVER and OVER again leads to all sorts of physical/cerebral degenerations.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Batgirl! Broo! Armor! Beak! Elixir!)

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Hoid wrote:
BriarThrone wrote:
Batgirl III wrote:
Donnie Yen took out a platoon of Stormtroopers by being Donnie Yen.
To be fair, the Stormtroopers were also Stormtroopers. The EU likes to pretend that they're unstoppable badasses, but I like to be That Guy and remind Star Wars fans that Stormtroopers were defeated by a race of teddy bears doing a massive Home Alone LARP.
In my Star Wars campaigns, I explain the disconnect between Clone Wars-era badasses to A New Hope's Cannon fodder as this: it turns out continually cloning the same guy OVER and OVER and OVER again leads to all sorts of physical/cerebral degenerations.
I thought they didn't use clones as stormtroopers anymore by that era?
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Batgirl III
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Batgirl! Broo! Armor! Beak! Elixir!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Sigh. I don't even like 'Star Wars' all that much and once again I gotta come to the defense of the damn Stormtroopers... The elite soldiers of the Galactic Empire seen in the original trilogy are not bad soldiers. They are, in fact, rather damn effective.

For one thing, let's all acknowledge the obvious: these are Action-Adventure movies. The hero(es) of such genre pieces always have "plot armor." You just need to suspend your disbelief a wee bit here... Aragorn ain't gonna get fatally wounded by an arrow fired by Anonymous Goblins #204; the Batman doesn't misjudge a leap between the speeding Batmobile and the bad guy's getaway van and get splattered all over the Aparo Expressway; Dory and Marlin don't get eaten by a predator before they can find Nemo...

But, let's analyze things strictly from an in-universe perspective. We see Stormtroopers engage in a couple key actions: boarding the Tantive IV; stopping the heroes from rescuing Leia on Deathstar I; the Battle of Hoth; the raid on Cloud City; and the Battle of Endor.

They absolutely massacred the rebels on the Tantive IV...

They were presumably under orders to (re)capture Leia alive after Han, Luke, and Chewie broke her out. She was an extremely high value prisoner with a lot of knowledge of the Rebellion...

They absolutely massacred the rebels on Hoth...

At Cloud City, they were presumably under orders not to kill Luke, since by that point Vader and Palpatine were actively trying to convert him to their cause. But the Stormtroopers didn't seem to have much trouble with Han, Chewie, Lando, or Lando's security forces...

The did fairly well against the rebels on Endor... until the cannibal midget Wookies went all 'MacGyver' meets Viet Cong on their asses. That's not a fault of the individual Stormtrooper platoon(s). Someone higher up the chain of command really should have done something to pacify / neutralize / recruit the indigenous population of that moon. (Seriously. They all bowed down in worship of the first protocol droid they encountered! The Empire could have had the Ewoks on their side easily. Send in one xenocultural expert and one protocol droid that didn't have C-3PO's aversion to deification. Hell, Vader, himself, probably would have seemed like the Super Saiyan Kwisatz Haderach Übermensch Messiah to them. He's a robot AND he has magic powers.)
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BriarThrone
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Batgirl! Broo! Armor! Beak! Elixir!)

Post by BriarThrone »

Hoid wrote:
BriarThrone wrote:
Batgirl III wrote:
Donnie Yen took out a platoon of Stormtroopers by being Donnie Yen.
To be fair, the Stormtroopers were also Stormtroopers. The EU likes to pretend that they're unstoppable badasses, but I like to be That Guy and remind Star Wars fans that Stormtroopers were defeated by a race of teddy bears doing a massive Home Alone LARP.
In my Star Wars campaigns, I explain the disconnect between Clone Wars-era badasses to A New Hope's Cannon fodder as this: it turns out continually cloning the same guy OVER and OVER and OVER again leads to all sorts of physical/cerebral degenerations.
Only if you're extremely shortsighted and using poor technology. What you're talking about comes from the cloning of clones. The clone-generating aliens had Jango Fett in one place for a long time. I assume that was to obtain regular tissue samples, each providing millions of viable cells to start a clone from - otherwise, he could've done it as an out-patient. That could've easily covered their short-term needs, to produce all the Clone Wars clones directly from source material. With the sort of installation that these aliens appeared to have, I assume gene sequencing wouldn't have been a problem, so they should have been able to use his tissue to create self-contained tissue banks, and monitor and control them for unacceptable mutation. In fact, with good enough sequencing tech, the clone-of-a-clone issue could be readily overcome in an emergency, taking the most faithful reproduction of the lot, correcting any flaws, and starting over with perfect DNA.

The only real problem arises if the data on Fett's DNA is lost at the same time as the tissue banks. Basically, hugely successful enemy action is required.

Hey, how 'bout these mutant builds, eh? Man, Elixir should be the stuff of legend, not a nobody character. With a power like that, he'd be the centerpiece of a campaign showing the world how mutants can be awesome and beneficial to humanity.
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KorokoMystia
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Batgirl! Broo! Armor! Beak! Elixir!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

Elixir's powers would have been useful during the events of One More Day, too..
BriarThrone
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Batgirl! Broo! Armor! Beak! Elixir!)

Post by BriarThrone »

Batgirl III wrote:Sigh. I don't even like 'Star Wars' all that much and once again I gotta come to the defense of the damn Stormtroopers... The elite soldiers of the Galactic Empire seen in the original trilogy are not bad soldiers. They are, in fact, rather damn effective.
As someone who also doesn't like 'Star Wars' all that much - I did, but then fanboys happened, and joy died - I remind you that I'm about 95% kidding. That said, since the debate is joined in earnest... no, not really.
Batgirl III wrote:For one thing, let's all acknowledge the obvious: these are Action-Adventure movies. The hero(es) of such genre pieces always have "plot armor." You just need to suspend your disbelief a wee bit here... Aragorn ain't gonna get fatally wounded by an arrow fired by Anonymous Goblins #204; the Batman doesn't misjudge a leap between the speeding Batmobile and the bad guy's getaway van and get splattered all over the Aparo Expressway; Dory and Marlin don't get eaten by a predator before they can find Nemo...
Well, yes, genre conventions. But genre conventions exist to make the heroes look good. In this case, the stormtroopers fail visibly, for no apparent reason. Good writing doesn't put so much stress on the suspenders of disbelief. "These awesome soldiers miss wildly for no apparent reason!" is overtaxing it a bit.
Batgirl III wrote:But, let's analyze things strictly from an in-universe perspective. We see Stormtroopers engage in a couple key actions: boarding the Tantive IV; stopping the heroes from rescuing Leia on Deathstar I; the Battle of Hoth; the raid on Cloud City; and the Battle of Endor.

They absolutely massacred the rebels on the Tantive IV...
The Tantive IV was a Corellian corvette, allegedly used for humanitarian missions, not equipped for military action. There were some Rebel forces on board, but since the ship's main purpose was subterfuge, I assume that the Rebellion's crack troops - or what they had of them, which I'm not so sure about - were not on board. Those would be out on the front lines. The Tantive IV was under attack by an Imperial Star Destroyer and its full crew. We only saw the end of the fight, but Vader could throw resources at the problem until it stopped being a problem. Virtually unlimited Stormtroopers of even very poor quality vs a squad of goons squatting in a hallway is not a fight that's going to last long, ever.
Batgirl III wrote:They were presumably under orders to (re)capture Leia alive after Han, Luke, and Chewie broke her out. She was an extremely high value prisoner with a lot of knowledge of the Rebellion...
Blasters have stun settings. We saw Leia taken down that way once. Why not do that again?
Batgirl III wrote:They absolutely massacred the rebels on Hoth...
With a massive advantage in numbers and equipment. And the Rebels were never shown to be particularly effective soldiers, either. In fact, from what we know of them, their fighting force is almost entirely irregulars with no military training.
Batgirl III wrote:At Cloud City, they were presumably under orders not to kill Luke, since by that point Vader and Palpatine were actively trying to convert him to their cause. But the Stormtroopers didn't seem to have much trouble with Han, Chewie, Lando, or Lando's security forces...
Again, numbers and equipment work wonders against non-military personnel, without requiring them to be any more skilled than street thugs. And why didn't they stun Luke and bring him to Vader? That would probably have been valuable.
Batgirl III wrote:The did fairly well against the rebels on Endor... until the cannibal midget Wookies went all 'MacGyver' meets Viet Cong on their asses. That's not a fault of the individual Stormtrooper platoon(s). Someone higher up the chain of command really should have done something to pacify / neutralize / recruit the indigenous population of that moon. (Seriously. They all bowed down in worship of the first protocol droid they encountered! The Empire could have had the Ewoks on their side easily. Send in one xenocultural expert and one protocol droid that didn't have C-3PO's aversion to deification. Hell, Vader, himself, probably would have seemed like the Super Saiyan Kwisatz Haderach Übermensch Messiah to them. He's a robot AND he has magic powers.)
A futuristic "elite" military is doing well against farmers, until the farmers' new alien teddy bear friends mount a token resistance, and everyone is completely unprepared for the possibility of low-tech opposition. The "elite" faction didn't even feel the need to consider the local population as a factor. There's no part of this that suggests that anyone on any level of the Imperial military was competent.
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