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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
User avatar
Scots Dragon
Posts: 303
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 9:08 pm
Location: Trapped in England

Re: Jab's Builds! (NFL SuperPro! Instant Replay! Vampires! Morbius!)

Post by Scots Dragon »

Jabroniville wrote: Thu Jul 27, 2017 12:16 am Oh yeah, your comment here sounded familiar, so I looked it up, and when I posted Varnae last year (for the "V" section over at Ronin Army), BatgirlIII made the same comment about Varney, then you added the other stuff. It's pretty interesting- Carnilla in particular actually sounds like an interesting little novella.
There's actually a web-series that updates Carmilla for the modern day, albeit recasting it more as a romance along the lines of a much better written version of Twilight (kind of) rather than the horror novel it was originally intended as. I haven't gotten around to watching it, but it comes highly recommended by fans of vampire fiction. Alongside that we've actually had quite a few decent entries in the vampire fiction category lately, the inevitable result of what happens when Sturgeon's Law applies in reverse given the deluge of vampire-related films and novels after Twilight got popular.

I can pretty strongly recommend the films Only Lovers Left Alive and What We Do In the Shadows, the former of which stars Tom Hiddleston who plays Loki in the Thor films and the latter of which is directed by and stars Taika Waititi who is also the director for Thor: Ragnarok.
Formerly known as Narsil on the ATT and Ronin Army forums.
User avatar
Scots Dragon
Posts: 303
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 9:08 pm
Location: Trapped in England

Re: Jab's Builds! (NFL SuperPro! Instant Replay! Vampires! Morbius!)

Post by Scots Dragon »

Jabroniville wrote: Thu Jul 27, 2017 12:18 am I kinda like the idea of "tiers" of vampires- the regular rank & file can be barely tougher than people, but a vampire can get more powerful the older/more experienced they get (preferably through magical practice), so that "Master Vampires" are the elite of the elite.
It's notable that Vampire: The Masquerade handled this by implying that it was a generational thing. For each generation a vampire was divided from Cain, the more that their vampiric blood was watered down and ultimately they wound up being weaker. This could oddly enough translate into really strong vampires who were relatively young because they were turned by a far older vampire and thus were by technically from a much earlier generation than their peers.

It could well also easily be explained as vampires gaining more and more strength as a result of the dark necromantic blood-magic that originally created them having a tendency to build up over time. Not very quickly, but enough that given centuries of feeding and surviving the vampire in question is just plain working with a far more powerful baseline. Superman works the same way with sunlight.
Formerly known as Narsil on the ATT and Ronin Army forums.
Hoid
Posts: 3556
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 7:52 pm
Location: The Forever Tree

Re: Jab's Builds! (NFL SuperPro! Instant Replay! Vampires! Morbius!)

Post by Hoid »

What We Do in the Shadows is hilarious.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Werewolf By Night

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

WEREWOLF BY NIGHT (Jacob Russoff, aka Jack Russell)
Created By:
Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway & Mike Ploog
First Appearance: Marvel Spotlight #2 (Feb. 1972)
Role: Forgotten Hero, Werewolf Hero
Group Affiliations: The Night Shift, The Legion of Monsters
PL 9 (145)
STRENGTH
2/7 STAMINA 3/7 AGILITY 3/5
FIGHTING 11 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6/+11)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Arcane Lore) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Survival) 4 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 8 (+10)
Investigation 4 (+7)
Perception 5 (+8)
Stealth 4 (+9)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Ranged Attack 2, Startle

Powers:
"Werewolf By Night"
Enhanced Strength 5 [10]
Enhanced Stamina 4 [8]
Enhanced Agility 2 [4]
Enhanced Advantages 4: All-Out Attack, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons), Improved Trip [4]

"Animal Senses" Senses 8 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision, Scent-Tracking, Ultra & Extended Hearing, Infra & Ultravision) [8]
"Detect Mental State" Mind-Reading 4 (Flaws: Limited to Emotions, Limited to Surface Emotions) [2]
"Detect Physical State" Senses 2 (Detect Injuries/Health Problems, Acute) [2]
"Animal Physiology" Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]

"Nigh-Unkillable" Regeneration 8 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) [9]

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Werewolf +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3 (+5 By Night)

Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +3 (+7 By Night), Fortitude +4 (+8 By Night), Will +7

Complications:
Prejudice (Werewolf)- Few people on either side of the law trust lycanthropes overly-much.
Power Loss (Regeneration)- Several objects can cause Jack's regenerative power to not work. Silver and Magical attacks are chief among them- both affect him normally.
Power Loss (All Powers, by Day)- Jack is usually unable to take Wolf form at night, thus retaining his human stats and losing all of his Powers. This weakness has apparently disappeared in recent years, however.

Total: Abilities: 56 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 50 / Defenses: 11 (145)

-So like I said (boy this gets repetitive when doing all these builds at once), in the 1970s, Horror Comics were kind of making a comeback, and Marvel used it's age-old practice of "taking something popular and running it into the ground", starting with stuff like this- Stan Lee came up with the title (yeah... that sounds like a Stan title), Roy Thomas made up the story with Conway & Ploog. After a couple appearances in Marvel Spotlight (a test-run book to see if stuff would be popular), he got his own ongoing that lasted for 43 issues in the 1970s, before poor sales killed a lot of Marvel & DC Titles (A LOT of DC ones in particular). He disappeared for most of the 1980s, despite all the new books being added, and he made only sporadic appearances in the '90s, which is why I'd basically only heard of the title and never actually seen the guy in my youth of reading comics.

-In any case, Jack Russell is the descendant of a long line of dudes who got cursed with lycanthropy. His Wikipedia entry looks like one of those overly-detailed Marvel Handbook entries with a dump of boring information, so it's kind of a slog (seriously, it is ENORMOUS. I didn't write this much about Wicked! Okay, so I did, but at least Wicked is the most fabulous thing ever, unlike some forgotten Werewolf Comic from the '70s!), but let's just say he got up to a lot of self-contained stuff in his 1970s series fighting Darkhold-related dudes, had him raging against his nigh-uncontrollable alter-ego, witnessed the debut of Moon Knight (who promptly became MUCH more prominent and popular), and fought his demon-possessed sister. He started interacting with a few other super-people when he got hypnotised by Dansen Macabre into joining the horror-esque Night Shift team. By the end of that story-arc, he'd finally gained full control over both his human and his wolf-side.

-After a few more one-offs (appearing in Morbius and in the infamous "CapWolf" story arc), an attempted revival came about in 1998 during an influx of supernatuarl-themed stuff like Buffy and Charmed, but it failed in only six issues- he appeared in Strange Tales, which was ALSO immediately cancelled. Various people have tried to bring him back, but let's face facts... his comic barely sold in the era where Horror Comics were popular, much less today. Though you'd think the genre's resurgence could lead to SOME success... if Marvel didn't continuously bungle the Horror Books by releasing a whole new line of comics simultaneously. The character still appears semi-frequently, but only in stories that "need a werewolf" (Deadpool once shoots him for sleeping with his wife- Shiklah- and Wolfsbane gets a story involving all the other werewolves in X-Factor Investigations).

-Jack Russell is pretty tough overall, and fits well into a "Street Level" campaign with his low-level superhuman powers. He Regenerates really well, hits hard and is a good fighter, and has some neat Sensory powers as well. I'm not sure how often he could transform others into werewolves like himself, but that'd probably be a Continuous Transformative Affliction Linked to his Unarmed Damage.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Mar 16, 2022 12:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Horsenhero
Posts: 941
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 9:01 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (NFL SuperPro! Instant Replay! Vampires! Morbius!)

Post by Horsenhero »

Of course, you had to know if there was one guy who loved Werewolf by Night, it would be me. Face it, all those old horror books Werewolf by Night, Tomb of Dracula, The Living Zombie and Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein (over at DC) were faves of mine. Of course I also read Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu and Shang Chi: Master of Kung-Fu because the 70's were the start of my life long love of comics. I even occasionally picked up things like House of Mystery and Tales of Suspense.

I also have a tremendous fondness for inhuman looking protagonists and these types appealed to me as real outsiders ...because face it, the original X-Men were way too pretty to be true outcasts.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Vampire By Night

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

VAMPIRE BY NIGHT (Nina Price)
Created By:
Jeff Parker & Federica Manfredi
First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #10 (2007)
Role: Vampire Werewolf
Group Affiliations: S.H.I.E.L.D's Howling Commandos, S.T.A.K.E.
PL 9 (147)
STRENGTH
1/6/7 STAMINA 2/--/7 AGILITY 1/3/3
FIGHTING 6/10/10 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0/0/-3 AWARENESS 1/1/-1 PRESENCE 2/2/-2

Skills:
Expertise (Government Agent) 2 (+2)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 6 (+7)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Initiative, Startle

Powers:
"Super-Strong Vampire Transformation"
Enhanced Strength 5 [10]
Enhanced Agility 2 [4]
Enhanced Fighting 4 [8]

Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
Reduced Stamina 7 [-14]
Protection 6 [6]
Impervious Toughness 10 (Flaws: Not versus Wood, Fire, Silver or Holy Weapons) [5]
Regeneration 6 (Flaws: Source- Blood) [3]
Immortality 4 (Flaws: Not if Staked, Beheaded or Dealt With in Mystical Ways) [4]
Speed 3 (16 mph) [3]
Senses 2 (Low-Light Vision, Acute Scent) [2]
"Hypnotic Stare" Affliction 7 (Will; Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed) (Extras: Area- Visual Perception) [14]

"The Vampire's Bite" Strength-Damage +0 Linked to Weaken Stamina 8 (Flaws: Grab-Based, Limited to 1 Rank Per Minute) Linked to Affliction 8 (Fort; Entranced/Compelled/Transformed to Vampire) (Extras: Cumulative, Progressive +2) (Flaws: Grab-Based, Limited to Drained Victims) [18]

"White Wolf" Morph 1 (Feats: Metamorph) (Flaws: Limited to During Full Moons) [5]
Trades Vampire Powers For:
Enhanced Strength 6 (12)
Enhanced Stamina 5 (10)
Enhanced Agility 3 (6)
Enhanced Fighting 4 (8)
Reduced Intelligence 3 (-6)
Reduced Awareness 2 (-4)
Reduced Presence 4 (-8)
Enhanced Advantages 4: All-Out Attack, Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Natural Weapons), Improved Trip (4)
"Animal Senses" Senses 8 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision, Scent-Tracking, Ultra & Extended Hearing, Infra & Ultravision) (8)
"Animal Physiology" Speed 3 (16 mph) (3)

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Vampire's Strength +10 (+6 Damage, DC 16)
Vampire's Bite +8 (+6 Damage, +6 Weaken & +6 Affliction, DC 24, 16 & 16)
Wolf's Strength +10 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +5 (+9 Vampire & Wolf)

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18-20), Parry +6 (+10 Monster, DC 16-20), Toughness +2 (+6 Vampire, +7 Wolf), Fortitude +3 (-- Vampire, +8 Wolf), Will +5

Complications:
Weakness (Garlic, Fire)- Both are anathema to vampires, and will cause horrible pain.
Weakness (Holy Symbols)- Witnessing or touching a Holy Symbol is painful to vampires, but only if the wearer belives.
Weakness (Lack of Blood, Home Soil)- Though Immune to Fortitude Effects, They can effectively starve to death if deprived of blood- and are usually addicted to the substance.
Quirk (No Reflection)- Vampires do not cast reflections in any mirrored surface.
Power Loss (All Powers)- Nina has no powers whatsoever by day.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 98 / Defenses: 10 (147)

-One of the cooler episodes of the Real Ghostbusters cartoon show (something I'm WAY more familiar with than the movies) was one featuring a Werewolf/Vampire showdown between rival gangs. And, at episode's end, Egon comes to the conclusion that they'd better jet, as "If you get bitten by a vampire, you BECOME a vampire! But what happens if a WEREWOLF gets bitten by a vampire?", and suddenly, a legion of Vampire Werewolves and Werewolf Vampires renew their aggression. The Underworld movie also featured this with the main guy (your standard "Confused Normal Person Who Needs Things Explained To Them). And even Marvel got in on the game, with the creation of Vampire By Night.

-Created for the renewed Amazing Fantasy series (which featured a bunch of one-offs that really went nowhere), Nina Price is the neice of Jack Russell, the Werewolf By Night. Stricken by the same curse than affected Jack, she became a Werewolf on her 18th birthday. However, at some point, she was bitten by a vampire, who successfully "turned" her into a member of the undead. However, the change would only occur at night... and on full moons, she would transform into a white wolf. Since her mother married rich, Nina was able to afford a zoo where she'd imprison herself during the lupine change, but gleefully executed criminals as a vampire.

-Eventually, Nina was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and forcibly placed into their monster program, the new Howling Commandos. Yes, forced conscription was deemed to be a GOOD IDEA by these idiots. She was captured in the thrall of Dracula, but freed by Wolverine.

-Nina is a complicated build, owing to her Sometimes Vampire status (which makes her a rare character with an alternate form that includes an Immunity to Fortitude Effects), then the whole "Wolf Form" thing (a cheaper Metamorph, as it lowers her Mental Stats considerably). She's basically PL 8-ish most of the time, but has a PL 9 Bite and Wolf form. She'd be about forty points more expensive if you dropped the "Only At Night" Flaw across the board and made it a Complication.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Mar 16, 2022 12:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
StarGuard
Posts: 933
Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2016 12:23 am
Location: Indiana

Re: Jab's Builds! (NFL SuperPro! Instant Replay! Vampires! Morbius!)

Post by StarGuard »

Horsenhero wrote: Thu Jul 27, 2017 4:06 am Of course, you had to know if there was one guy who loved Werewolf by Night, it would be me. Face it, all those old horror books Werewolf by Night, Tomb of Dracula, The Living Zombie and Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein (over at DC) were faves of mine. Of course I also read Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu and Shang Chi: Master of Kung-Fu because the 70's were the start of my life long love of comics. I even occasionally picked up things like House of Mystery and Tales of Suspense.
I'm pretty sure we would have met at the same local drug store at the comic book rack when we were kids :)
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

The Living Mummy

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

THE LIVING MUMMY (N'Kantu)
Created By:
Steve Gerber & Rich Buckler
First Appearance: Supernatural Thrillers #5 (Aug. 1973)
Role: '70s Mystical Hero
Group Affiliations: S.H.I.E.L.D. Paranormal Containment Unit, Shock Troop, The Legion of Monsters
PL 9 (127)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA -- AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 2 (+1)
Expertise (Swarili Chieftan) 6 (+7)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 11 (+10)
Perception 4 (+7)
Stealth 7 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Daze (Intimidation), Diehard, Fascinate (Intimidation), Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Initiative, Improved Hold, Interpose, Precise Attack (Close/Concealment), Ranged Attack 6, Startle, Tracking

Powers:
"Undead Creature" Immunity 30 (Fortitude Effects) [30]
"Rock-Like Physiology" Protection 8 (Extras: Impervious 5) [13]
"Mystic Senses" Senses 5 (Magical Awareness, Radius, Ranged, Acute, Detect Descendents of Nephrus) [5]
Power-Lifting 1 (12 tons) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +8 (+3 Impervious), Fortitude --, Will +6

Complications:
Weakness (Fire)- Though he is highly durably, N'Katu's ceremonial papyrus wrappings are highly-susceptible to flame, and will set alight easily, doing extra damage over time.
Disabled (Mummy)- As he no longer produces saliva, N'Katu finds speech taxing and difficult, and thus will only speak rarely. He also walks very slowly, but is able to react at normal speeds.
Prejudice (Monsters)- Covered in bandages, and dessicated underneath them, N'Katu will not be able to pass for a human being without a Conspicuous Trenchcoat.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 20 / Powers: 49 / Defenses: 10 (127)

-Never even heard of this guy till I was flipping around Wikipedia looking at "Masters of Evil" stuff- this guy's yet ANOTHER mystic character (alongside Werewolf By Night, Zombie, Son of Satan and Dracula), all created in the relaxing of the Comics Code that suddenly allowed major comic book publishers to write stories about the supernatural again. He was a nobody, though, and his book and charater quickly vanished, only to be trotted out rarely (team-ups with Dr. Strange and The Thing). He's shown up a couple times in recent years, both in Civil War and "S.H.I.E.L.D."-related things. Only later did I uncover him as a background character in Captain America's legendary Bloodstone Hunt, where Cap means to give him back the Bloodstone, and later feels guilty at having to explain to the creature than the stone was lost.

-Last time I posted him, Ares recalled the fun little show Mummies Alive! (which basically made a ragtag group of Mummies- Stoic Leader, Dumb Big Guy, Effete Mystic and Fun Party Girl- into Power Rangers-style martial warriors). Which I'd stat if I remembered anything about it. Is their Wiki any good?

-I figure him for a PL 9 guy, as he's Class 10 and a pretty decent fighter, all things considered. He's got the abilities of the Undead, some Mystic Senses, and a good Grapple-based approach to fighting. His reaction times are normal, despite his classically-slow "Mummy Walk".
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Mar 16, 2022 12:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
MissRo
Posts: 364
Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2016 4:18 am
Location: Newfoundland, Canada

Re: Jab's Builds! (NFL SuperPro! Instant Replay! Vampires! Morbius!)

Post by MissRo »

Morbius's nasty-ass mouth hands gave me serious wiggins as a kid. I think that's part of the reason that Emplate from Generation X had such an effect on me.

Also, the next character I make is totally going to be Vampire By Day, whose only power is exploding in sunlight.
User avatar
KorokoMystia
Posts: 1402
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2016 8:42 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (NFL SuperPro! Instant Replay! Vampires! Morbius!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

I remember Mummies Alive, but only vaguely. (The theme song was great.) I tracked down the episodes online some time ago.

I checked to see if there was a Wiki, and there is: Mummies Alive Wiki
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Manphibian

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

MANPHIBIAN
Created By:
Marv Wolfman, Tony Isabella & Dave Cockrum
First Appearance: Legion of Monsters #1 (Sept. 1975)
Role: Creature From The Black Lagoon Knock-Off
Group Affiliation: The Legion of Monsters, The Howling Commandos, The Avengers of Supernatural, S.T.A.K.E.
PL 9 (102)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+10)
Deception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Alien Traveller) 4 (+7)
Stealth 3 (+6)
Technology 3 (+6)

Advantages: 
Chokehold, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improvised Weapon, Ranged Attack 4

Powers:
"Amphibious Physiology"
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Aquatic) [2]
Immunity 2 (Drowning, Pressure) [2]
Senses 1 (Low-Light Vision) [1]
Swimming 6 (30 mph) [6]
Regeneration 4 (Feats: Regrow Limbs) [5]
Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +10, Fortitude +10, Will +4

Complications:
Relationship (Children)- Manphibian has numerous children with a now-deceased mate. They are killed by an evil Monster Hunter in order to get Manphibian to reveal the location of the Legion of Monsters' hideout.
Responsibility (Not a Killer)- Manphibian tends to refuse to kill people, several times sparing the lives of enemies.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 17 / Defenses: 5 (102)

-Another character I've never heard of, Manphibian is an obvious riff on The Creature From The Black Lagoon, who is himself one of the least-popular (but still fairly well-known) of the classic Universal Monsters- Frankenstein, The Wolfman and Dracula are all more famous, but The Creature (often called "Gillman") has an iconic appearance, and the TERRIFIC name for his film means it's stuck in the public consciousness. Manphibian is an alien who landed on Earth to hunt his mate's killer- he is left raising his offspring by himself. In the '70s, he only appears the one time (it's a horror story involving him being unfairly hunted by a man whose wife was traumatized by the alien Manphibian was hunting).

-It's only in MODERN times that he's appeared a fair bit, but only in D-level books. He joins the Monster-themed Howling Commandos alongside John "Man-Wolf" Jameson, among others, then The Legion of Monsters, opposing some bad guys hunting monsters all over the world. He ends up captured by them, but is saved by FrankenCastle (The Punisher, reanimated after being killed by Daken). He's a side character with the rest of the Monsters, but doesn't really get up to much by himself.

-Manphibian is extremely strong (enough to uproot a tree), and extremely tough, but none of his backstory appears particularly bad-ass- he gets capatured alot. He's PL 9 offensively, PL 8 defensively.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Mar 16, 2022 12:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Spectrum
Posts: 3128
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:08 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (NFL SuperPro! Instant Replay! Vampires! Morbius!)

Post by Spectrum »

Jack Russell, as in the terrier.. for a werewolf. How fun!
We rise from the ashes so that new legends can be born.
Spectrum
Posts: 3128
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:08 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (NFL SuperPro! Instant Replay! Vampires! Morbius!)

Post by Spectrum »

One of my favorite vampire movies is the musical comedy Suck. Amazing how many musical guest stars in there: Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins.. Moby.

Edit: As I remember more, I would avoid the similar concept movie of Vampires Suck.. which truly sucks.
We rise from the ashes so that new legends can be born.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Frank Drake

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

FRANK DRAKE
Created By:
Gene Colan & Gerry Conway
First Appearance: Tomb of Dracula #1 (April 1972)
Role: Vampire Detective
Group Affiliations: The Nightstalkers, The Midnight Sons
PL 9 (130), PL 10 (130) to Occult Beings
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 4 (+7)
Expertise (Streetwise) 2 (+6)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 1 (+4)
Investigation 6 (+9)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+6)
Vehicles 1 (+5)

Advantages: 
Equipment 2 (Pistol +5), Favoured Enemy (Vampires & Supernatural Beings), Improved Critical (Guns), Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 7, Tracking, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Linda, aka The Exorcist" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [29]
"Nano-Technological Occult Disruptor" Blast 8 (Inaccurate -1) Linked to Affliction (Fort/Toughness; Dazed/Stunned/Paralyzed) 11 (Extras: Ranged, Cumulative) (Inaccurate -1) (47 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Pistol +11 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Linda +9 (+8 Ranged Damage & +11 Ranged Affliction, DC 23 & 21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3, Fortitude +4, Will +6

Complications:
Enemy (Dracula)- Frank Drake holds some responsibility for Dracula's resurrection, and is devoted to hunting him down.
Motivation (Hunting the Supernatural)- The Nightstalkers wish to slay all supernatural creatures- even Ghost Rider is a potential target of theirs.
Responsibility (Shaky Self-Confidence)- Drake was a failure for a number of years- this has done a number on his self-confidence.
Relationship (Rachel van Helsing)- The two grew close, but Rachel's fear of intimacy combined with Frank's insecurities made things difficult. Rachel was left an empty shell when Dracula was killed, and she was later killed after turning into a vampire by Wolverine.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 26--13 / Advantages: 14 / Powers: 29 / Defenses: 12 (130)

-Frank Drake was introduced as a foolish once-wealthy playboy, and it was his fault that Dracula was resurrected in modern times- scoping out an old ancestral castle that was his last piece of property, he stumbled upon Drac's skeleton and the monster was reborn. Guilt-ridden, Drake joined up with the group of main characters in Tomb of Dracula devoted to hunting down Vlad Tepes once and for all. He had a thing with Rachel van Helsing that went the way of ALL comic book relationships (ie. Will They/Won't They, but then it soured and one of them died- Rachel turned into a vampire and got killed by Wolverine), and pretty much vanished after Tomb ended its run, though he was seen with Blade & King a few times in Doctor Strange's book. They were instrumental in casting "The Montesi Formula" that removed vampires from the world, but it wasn't to be.

-Returning for The Nightstalkers, he suddenly carted around a goofy Anti-Occult Cannon in a trio that generally just fought Lilith and her Lilin, as part of the Midnight Sons line. Once the book was cancelled, King & Drake were thought dead fighting Dracula, but it turns out that both survived, but Drake was revealed off-panel to be a shell of his former self, being mentally and physically crippled. Which is... kind of a downer ending for the character, really. But I think ALL Dracula heroes are like that- as the villain is eternal and always comes back, his foes tend to fall to attrition more often than not.

-Frank is more of a Two-Fisted Detective type, and not that effective compared to his friends, but for "Linda", a gun designed to wipe out supernatural foes. In the one story I have of these guys, one shot of it freezes Ghost Rider so solid that he's helpless before a decapitation-ready Blade, and another hurts one of Lilith's goons named Meatmarket.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Mar 16, 2022 12:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
Horsenhero
Posts: 941
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 9:01 pm

Re: Jab's Builds! (NFL SuperPro! Instant Replay! Vampires! Morbius!)

Post by Horsenhero »

Love that pic of Frank with his oh-so-90's gun!

Kind of generally related to Frank...I've always thought it was kind of a mistake for Marvel to include Dracula in their canon universe. Dracula should be a top tier threat, playing the long game against his enemies. The problem is compared to Dr. Doom or Thanos or Dormamu or Ultron, he's kind of lacking. He has too many weaknesses and just lacks the overarching formidability an arch-villain needs. More than anything though, in a world where the science and magic of the MU exist and are widely used, his most crucial weapon, fear is seriously blunted. Super-heroes face threats as creepy and horror inducing as Dracula all the time.

This isn't to say he can't be a good villain, but it's hard for him to be a great one.
Post Reply