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

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Jabroniville
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Ms. America

Post by Jabroniville »

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MS. AMERICA II (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Dan Slott, Christos Gage & Patrick Scherberger
First Appearance: Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1 (2008)
Role: Background Fodder
Inspired By: Miss America I (Marvel's longest-lived Golden Age female heroine)
Group Affiliations: The Initiative
PL 7 (79)
STRENGTH
8 STAMINA 9 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Deception 4 (+5)
Perception 2 (+2)
Expertise (Soldier) 2 (+2)

Advantages: 
Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
Power-Lifting 1 (12 tons) [1]
Impervious Toughness 3 [3]
"Flying Brick" Flight 5 (60 mph) [10]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +5 (DC 15), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +9, Fortitude +9, Will +2

Complications:
Responsibility (The Avengers Initiative)
Secret (Different Personality)- The Liberteens aren't actually catchphrase-spouting dorks- they are party-hardy horn-dogs.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 8--4 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 14 / Defenses: 5 (79)

-Ms. America is a new version of the first, a Golden Age heroine who was bumped from cover duty on her own series after issue #2 (at which point it became a standard teenage girls' magazine... alongside Miss America strips and Patsy Walker's debut), but she did get on some random super-teams back in the day as well. The new version didn't really do much other than fly once, and then take Flag-Smasher's best attack head-on, ignoring the big mace like it was nothing, and then knocking his ass out. It's good enough to get her a solid PL 7 status, as she's got your standard boring Flying Brick power-set firmly in place.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Mar 19, 2022 10:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Bengal

Post by Jabroniville »

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BENGAL (Duc no Tranh)
Created By:
Fabian Nicieza & Ron Lim
First Appearance: Daredevil #258 (Sept. 1988)
Role: Third-String Martial Artist Villain
Country of Origin: Vietnam
Group Affiliations: The Shadow Initiative
PL 9 (130)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills: 
Acrobatics 5 (+11)
Deception 4 (+6)
Sleight of Hand 8 (+8)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Expertise (Mercenary/Assassin) 5 (+6)
Expertise (History) 4 (+5)
Perception 8 (+10)
Insight 2 (+4)
Ranged Attack (Bow & Arrow) 2 (+12)
Stealth 5 (+11)

Advantages: 
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Elusive Target, Equipment 3 (Weapons), Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Aim, Improved Critical 3 (Arrow, Sai, Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Concealment), Ranged Attack 10, Takedown, Uncanny Dodge

Powers:
"Self-Trained Elite Tracking Skills"
Senses 2 (Acute Scent, Tracking- Scent) [2]

Equipment:
"Bow & Arrow" Blast 4 (Feats: Split) (9) -- (11)
  • AP: "Extendable Sais" Strength-Damage +2 (Split, Improved Disarm) (Extras: Ranged 5) (9)
  • AP: "Shuriken" Blast 3 (Extras: Multiattack) (9)
Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Sais +12 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Bow & Arrow +12 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Shuriken +12 (+3 Ranged Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Wife & Son)- Bengal is now married, and his family is the most important thing in his life, surpassing his old desires for revenge on the men who abandoned him in Vietnam.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 30 / Powers: 2 / Defenses: 11 (130)

-Bengal was an all-too-common sight in the 1990s- the Mercenary Ninja Dude With Weapons & A Grudge. He actually fought Daredevil in his debut, having been wanting to gain revenge upon the American soldiers who massacred his family when he was a young child living in Vietnam. DD defeated him, and within a couple of years, creator Fabian Nicieza, as creators who like their creations do, moved him over his his NEW book. This, of course, was The New Warriors, where he kept fighting the other martial arts dudes.

-He was never overly successful, but did his thing, and was mostly not that popular- he eventually just fades away after a few shots at Night Thrasher & Silhouette, who are usually protecting more people Bengal thinks committed atrocities. Fast-forward to The Initiative, and he's a first-day recruit, shipped immediately over to the "Shadow Initiative", doing black-ops super-secret missions, Suicide Squad/Freedom Force-style, for Uncle Sam. They... weren't overly successful at that, either, but still, it was more character than this guy ever showed beforehand, and he learned proper English and got a family to go along with it. He didn't do too much later (Constrictor got most of the "Shadow" stuff done, character-wise), but it's certainly more than most forgotten D-League ninjas got. The character has since entered retirement, forming a gym in Brooklyn and refusing to grant interviews about his various costumed activities... that is, until the NEXT writer comes artist comes along and needs a guy for a background shot.

-Bengal is PL 8.5 all-around, being very accurate and agile, but not to the point where he's ultra-elite or anything. He's solid enough in melee to challenge the PL 9 Night Thrasher or the PL 10 Daredevil quite effectively, and he has varied weapons as well. Like most Martial Artist set-ups, he's got a ton of Advantages, quite a few Skills, and even two Powers- trained Scent & Tracking.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Mar 19, 2022 10:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Scots Dragon
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Re: Ms. America

Post by Scots Dragon »

I was gonna remain inactive, but...
Jabroniville wrote: Sat Sep 02, 2017 7:54 pm Image

MS. AMERICA II
Created By:
Dan Slott, Christos Gage & Patrick Scherberger
I hate to do this to you, but she's actually the fourth Miss America, not the second. The second and and third were technically not in comics, though were part of a Marvel Comics co-production. This gets into some weird bits of Marvel history, but ties in with their co-productions with Toei, which started with the now-infamous Japanese Spider-Man. Who actually is canon in the Spider-Verse comics, giant robot and all. The second co-production started out as an attempt to adapt the Captain America material, though it eventually evolved into being the third series in the Super Sentai line-up; Battle Fever J, which was still a Marvel co-production.

The idea of patriotic superheroes tied to specific countries was kept, and the five Sentai members were thus nationally-themed; red was 'Battle Japan', blue was 'Battle France', yellow/orange was 'Battle Cossack', and black was 'Battle Kenya', with pink being 'Miss America'. Aside from Miss America none of them really had any genuine connection to their countries of origin. There were two of these in succession, Diane Martin and Maria Nagisa, the first having been forced to retire half-way through the series and pass the mantle and outfit on to the second.

Their costume looked like this;

Image

The following two Super-Sentai series were also Marvel co-productions, though didn't have anything to do with Marvel Comics properties directly, those being Denshi Sentai Denziman and Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan. The reality that Battle Fever J all takes place in was subsequently named as Earth-79203, though isn't listed as such any more IIRC, which given that the Tokusatsu properties from Toei all have their own shared universe potentially means that Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, and Metal Heroes are all canonical to the Marvel Universe. Fun times.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Cloud 9! Hardball! Constrictor! Bengal!)

Post by Jabroniville »

I never really count alternate universes as "real" versions that require numbers (god, which number would Miles Morales be, then?). Though I guess if we're being pedantic, those are all Miss America, while this one is America Chavez's predecessor as Ms. America.
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Gyrich

Post by Jabroniville »

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"My father died of Alzheimer's, Betty. I took a year’s leave to care for him so he wouldn’t be watched over by strangers that my crummy salary couldn’t even afford. I cleaned up after him, tended to him, and his last words as I cradled his dying body were, 'Who in heck are you?'"
-Gyrich, to Betty Banner, after she criticizes his unfeeling nature over her pain over her own father's death


HENRY PETER GYRICH
Created By:
Jim Shooter & George Perez
First Appearance: The Avengers #165 (Nov. 1977)
Role: Lord High Dickhead of the Marvel Universe, Government Liaison
Group Affiliations: The U.S. Government, The Initiative, S.W.O.R.D.
PL 4 (66)
STRENGTH
1 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 3 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 4 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Deception 6 (+6)
Expertise (Civics) 4 (+8)
Expertise (History) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Government) 8 (+12)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 5 (+5)
Investigation 3 (+6)
Perception 2 (+4)
Technology 6 (+10) -- Flaws: Limited to Computers
Vehicles 3 (+3)

Advantages: 
Benefit 3 (NSA Clearance), Connected, Contacts, Equipment 2 (Pistol +5), Ranged Attack 3

Offense:
Unarmed +3 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Gun +3 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +3 (DC 13), Parry +3 (DC 13), Toughness +2, Fortitude +3, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (The Government)
Obsession (Holding Down Metahumans)- Gyrich hates metahumans and superheroes in general, and believes they should all be put away and locked up.
Hatred (Mutants)- Gyrich believes that all mutants are uncontrollable, anti-human, and extremely dangerous.
Reputation (Douchebag)- Gyrich is unlikeable even by Government standards- Maria Hill and Agent Brand virtually have cults of personality compared to him. Literally nobody can be expected to like him.
Phobia (Dying of Alzheimer's Like His Father)- Gyrich's greatest fear is catching the same disease that took his father.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 7 (66)

-Ah, H.P. Gyrich... what a character. As a kid, I HATED HIM, and wanted him to die a thousand deaths. That X-Force comic where Cable slugs him one after he STILL mocks the team (and mutants in general), despite them saving his sorry ass from the Mutant Liberation Front... MAN, what a tool. It wasn't until adulthood that I fully "got it" about him- you're SUPPOSED to hate him, because he's the physical manifestation of Intrusive Governmental Bureacracy, and he's PERFECT for that role. Unimpressive look, silly flat-top haircut, perma-sunglasses, abrasive personality, jerk-ass tendencies, and his micro-management all made him a fascinating personality to watch, and he's amazing at what he does. Funny coming from a very left-wing group such as comic book writers to have the Government guy also be a giant obstructive arsehole, but then, the Government is also "The Man" for the left, so it makes a bit of sense.

-Gyrich debuted as the Liaison to The Avengers, created by Jim Shooter & George Perez on their long run (Peter David has suggested that Shooter based Gyrich off of Shooter himself. It actually makes a bit of sense, though I can't imagine someone parodying themself like THAT). He interfered with the team constantly (in a hilarious early bit, he breaks in to "prove" that they have shit security, only to be grabbed and hog-tied by Hawkeye), forced them to accept The Falcon as a member to meet racial quotas, and threatened to take away all their gear if they didn't comply. Little hints here and there humanized him slightly once he left The Avengers (he personally took care of his Alzheimer's-ridden father during his final years, and he didn't break under torture- preventing Avengers' personal information from being disclosed to the Red Skull).

-In a stroke of pure Fiction Reflecting Reality, no matter HOW badly he screws things up, pisses people off, or obstructs our heroes, he will always be promoted or "moved sideways" into another department, thus allowing him to take part in The Avengers, X-Men, Alpha Flight or The Initiative's business. It was GYRICH who blasted Storm with the device that de-powered her for years of comics (accidentally, but still), and later tried to forcibly depower every superhuman on Earth. Years later, he's kidnapped by the Mutant Liberation Front and threatened with death, only to be saved by X-Force- when Cable says "PLEASE tell me this mission was worth losing TWO of my soldiers over" (Feral had defected, and Sunspot vanished into a portal), Gyrich only says that "this just FURTHER proves that Mutants pose a direct threat to humanity". Cable punches him square in the face, pretty much speaking for all comic book fans. He later helps Bastion's "Operation: Zero Tolerance" until he himself is targetted for whatever reason.

-Of course, he was perfect for The Initiative, with his dream of Registration finally coming into reality after all. He deliberately covered up MVP's death in training (which had MAJOR effects down the line, on many characters), tried to make Trauma his personal Magic Bullet that could off ANYONE doing naughty things, and lied to a federal investigation into Camp Hammond's practices. A run-in with Iron Man (one of the few times post-Civil War that you wanted TONY STARK to win ANYTHING) resulted in him being ousted as the NSA "guy in charge". 

-He later tries to remove all the aliens from Earth as part of S.W.O.R.D., tries to brainwash Dennis Dunphy into becoming the new criminal-murdering Scourge of the Underworld, and insults heroes even after they save his life. And unlike all the super-villains in the Marvel Universe, you can't just make a big Event Story and go kick his ass- he's Big Government, and he'll always rear his ugly head. And in this role, he is basically PERFECT. Ever-ready to intrude, ever-ready to take their cut, it's the government up in your business, and he is its bespectacled, intrusive assholish head. Best of all, Gyrich is the perfect kind of villain- he's not doing it to be a prick; he's doing it because he thinks he's right, and that his way is the only way to keep everyone else safe.

-Gyrich is a middling physical presence on a battlefield (he gets beaten up a LOT, and provides little resistance), but he's not supposed to be any good there: he's a government stooge first and foremost, and so he's got some good Mental Abilities (NO CHARISMA WHATSOEVER, though- he only has PRESENCE 0 because he makes use of Deception & Intimidation, amongst others) and high Skills, along with some Advantages to go with it. 
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Mar 19, 2022 10:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Cloud 9! Hardball! Constrictor! Bengal!)

Post by Scots Dragon »

I could go into a lengthy discussion about how being pro-government or anti-government doesn't really correlate with left or right wing ideologies, and in fact it's a damn good reason why the whole topic ought to be given more axes on which to judge things, but I'm gonna try avoiding arguments this time around. Emphasis on try. I'm Scottish. We are, to quote the Simpsons, a contentious people.

One thing I will say is that there is a pretty damn popular anti-government tradition on the left, and it forms the basis of a lot of anarchist thought, often corresponding to variations on socialism, communism, and Marxism that de-emphasise government and instead emphasise worker organisation and direct democracy. This can be contrasted to the top-down structures and centrally planned approach of the more famous Marxism-Leninism that was the basis for the Soviet Union. I tend to favour anarchy myself, and think that most of the problems of society can be summarised by far too much authority in society being in the hands of a relative few, whether by politics, wealth, or other means.
Jabroniville wrote: Sat Sep 02, 2017 11:49 pm I never really count alternate universes as "real" versions that require numbers (god, which number would Miles Morales be, then?).
The Ultimate Universe where Miles Morales hails from was officially labelled as Earth-1610, though currently he's on Earth-616 thanks to the recent Secret Wars IIRC. I don't mind labelling alternate realities.

Incidentally the home universe of Spider-Gwen, where she has most of her adventures incidentally (which removes some of the problem of having so many Spider-People around, though Jessica, Cindy, Miles and Pete are still about), has the incredibly high number of... Earth-65. This makes me wonder if about potential instances where Marvel Earths kinda intersect with the numbering of various DC Earths given that DC always goes for lower numbers, something that I'll be getting to .
Though I guess if we're being pedantic, those are all Miss America, while this one is America Chavez's predecessor as Ms. America.
They mean mostly the same thing so... :P

More seriously, I'd kinda like to see someone tackle the Super Sentai stuff. It'll probably have to be me though.
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Re: Ms. America

Post by Jack of Spades »

Scots Dragon wrote: Sat Sep 02, 2017 9:48 pm Image
My eyes! It burns!

Good Lord, that is hideous.
Jack's Deck build threadFantasy Geographic Society campaign web site
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The Taskmaster

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE TASKMASTER (Anthony "Tony" Masters)
Created By:
David Michelinie & George Perez
First Appearance: The Avengers #195 (May 1980)
Role: Skill-Master, Copycat Fighter, Recurring Mercenary, Bad-Guy Trainer
Group Affiliations: Agency X, The Cabal, The Frightful Four, The Initiative/Shadow Initiative, S.H.I.E.L.D., The Thunderbolts
PL 12 (191)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 10/14 DEXTERITY 5
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+8)
Athletics 5 (+9)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Criminal) 10 (+13)
Insight 4 (+7)
Intimidation 5 (+8)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 7 (+10)
Stealth 2 (+8)

Advantages:
Diehard, Equipment 8 (Arsenal), Extraordinary Effort, Great Endurance, Ranged Attack 4, Taunt, Well-Informed

Powers:
"Photographic Reflexes"
"Powers of Observation" Enhanced Advantages 3: Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Jack-of-All-Trades [3]
Variable (Skills or Advantages He's Seen) 2 (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Continuous, Move Action) [19]
Features 1: Sound Mimicry [1]
Enhanced Skills 8: Insight 8 (+15) (Flaws: Limited to Detecting Disguises) [1]

Enhanced Abilities: Fighting 4 [8]
"Permanent Traits" Enhanced Advantages 27: Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Chokehold, Defensive Roll, Evasion, Fast Grab, Improved Aim, Improved Critical 5 (Unarmed, Shield, Sword 2, Arrow), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Precise Attack (Ranged/Concealment), Quick Draw, Ranged Combat 5, Takedown 2, Uncanny Dodge [27]
"Permanent Skills" Enhanced Skills 8: Acrobatics 6 (+14), Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+15) [4]

Equipment:
"Chainmail" Protection 1 (1)

"Arsenal of Weapons"
"Guns" Blast 6 (Extras: Multiattack) (Inaccurate -1) (17) -- (22)
  • AE: "Sword" Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Improved Critical, Penetrating 2) (6)
  • AE: "Lasso" Snare 5 (Feats: Tether) (Flaws: Limited to One Target -2) (Diminished Range -2) (4)
  • AE: "Grenade" Blast 6 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (Diminished Range -1) (17)
  • AE: "Bow & Arrow" Blast 4 (8)
  • AE: "Billy Club" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Ricochet 2) (Extras: Ranged 5) (8)
"Rip-Off of Captain America's Mighty Shield"
Enhanced Advantages 2: Evasion (Total 2), Withstand Damage (2)
"Shield Toss" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Dynamic, Ricochet 3, Split 2) (Extras: Ranged 5) (Diminished Range -1) (12) -- (15)
  • Dynamic AE: "Shield Bash" Strength-Damage +3 (3)
  • Dynamic AE: "Bouncing Shield" Strength-Damage +1 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable 5, Selective 5) (11)
  • Dynamic AE: Enhanced Dodge 2 & Parry 2 (Extras: Sustained +0) Linked to Enhanced Strength 2 (Flaws: Limited to Resisting Movement) (6)
Offense:
Unarmed +16 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Sword +14 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Guns +14 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Lasso +14 (+5 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Grenade +6 Area (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Bow & Arrow +13 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Billy Club +13 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Shield +13 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Bouncing Shield +5 Area (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (+13 Shield, DC 22-23), Parry +13 (+15 Shield, DC 23-25), Toughness +4 (+5 Chainmail, +6 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +9

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)- A mercenary at heart, The Taskmaster can always be bought.
Phobia (Water)- Taskmaster was afraid of water for many years, following a near-drowning accident as a child.
Power Loss (Combat Bonuses)- Though he can easily advance himself in Skill over battle, even against new opponents, Taskmaster's boosts can fail him. When fighting unfamiliar foes, people doing crazy movements (Deadpool did this once), or something like that, he will be stuck at a "mere" +10 accuracy- his baseline.
Responsibility (Forgets Things)- Though his powers allow him to copy any movement down to an iota, The Taskmaster's memories often fail him regarding things in his personal life. He cannot remember past affairs, conversations, or even friends. His wife, Mercedes Merced, is a complete mystery to him.

Total: Abilities: 76 / Skills: 44--22 / Advantages: 17 / Powers: 62 / Defenses: 14 (191)

-The Taskmaster is a great villain- a simple mercenary at heart, he got down to business training the Mooks that other villains use, which is a GREAT gimmick- his more impressive grads include Jessica Drew, Agent X, Crossbones & Diamondback. He's also got the unique Power-Set of "Photographic Reflexes", allowing him to not only copy the moves of Captain America, Daredevil & Hawkeye, but it enables him to gain skill over the COURSE of a fight. He debuted by beating the CRAP out of The Avengers as all good debuting villains should, but he's since settled into a more "High-end Street Level" type of guy, threatening the Deadpool crowd as much as anything.

-The curious thing about him is that he'd vanished for a long period of time- his Mook-Training thing appears to be a Gruenwaldian twist (one of his classic "explanations for why things work in comics the way that they do"), because he wasn't around. It really wasn't until the 1990s that the character saw SERIOUS use, and he's kept up a pretty high-tier status even today, despite the occasional "Journeyman Villain" stuff as a mercenary being taking out by Moon Knight or somebody. He even got his own Limited Series!

-He was fascinating in The Initiative during the aftermath of the Civil War, as he was amoral and nasty as usual, but a great drill-instructor-type character, often forced to fight in a weight class FAR above his comfort zone (Norman Osborn was pushing him to hang with DOCTOR DOOM). His Photographic Reflexes have become a fairly well-known set of powers to rip off for other guys- as both Echo and Finesse are basically take-offs of his concept. They've given him some more personality, as he's started to forget basic things as he piles in new memories, and has to deal with the blur that is his life story. He has gone back to being a common Mercenary, but gets solo spots here and there, as one of those villains that can easily be top-tier if necessary.

-Taskmaster is always a tricky guy to stat up. Basically, what we have here is an elite physical athlete with a lot of natural ability. His Reflexes give him a boost to Fighting, Ranged Attack, his Acrobatics and Close Combat Skill (it's more time-consuming to list them separately from his base stats, but if he was ever NULLIFIED, he would lose all of it, so I felt like leaving it in). He has the natural ability to look closely at people and figure out what's going on- it gives him Assessment, Beginner's Luck & Jack-of-All-Trades, plus he can recognize how people move enough to see through disguises easily. He can Mimic Sounds, and he has a big "base" of Advantages to draw upon which never get shifted out (Power Attack and the like). He has a Continuous Variable Effect, meaning he can copy Skills & Advantages and not have them "cycled off" until he wants to, and he can gain them as a Move Action. Generally, he can boost his Skills to "Close Combat: Unarmed" or "Sword" or whatever, pushing him to max out his PL in combat against certain opponents.

-He's also got a HUGE arsenal of weapons based off of famous comic book dudes- Daredevil's Billy Clubs, Hawkeye's Bow, Cap's Shield, and an assortment of Guns. He's PL 10 at his baseline level, as you can see above, but he can use Variable to boost himself over time, allowing him to be a PL 12. He generally operates in the Street Level weight class, but he's easily the most dangerous guy of human-level opponents.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Mar 19, 2022 10:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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The Order

Post by Jabroniville »

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THE ORDER:
-The Order is the Initiative team of California- it was initially going to be called The Champions, but Heroic Publishing owns the rights to the name, so it got switched. The Order's less generic anyways, so I approve. I've pretty much NEVER heard of it or any of the members, but it sprung out of Civil War and was mostly a series of flashback-driven stories of the characters. Matt Fraction ended it around issue #10 rather than let it turn into something else (I think that's Writer Code for "Marvel was going to force me to make changes to increase sales, and I killed it instead"), and Fraction did the usual comic book writer trick of including the characters in various other stories he'd written (mostly in Iron Man).

The core concept is that some charity-focused celebrities are given superpowers based off of Greek Gods that will last for one year, as part of a P.R. movement for The Initiative program. After getting caught drinking after a fight, the team is fired and replaced with newbies. They do some stuff, fight some guys (zombie hobos!), and then their powers are made permanent.

The initial "fired" group are mostly one-shots with no real statistical leanings:

MAUL (Jamal Peoples): Energy Mallet, Flight, Ability to Reduce Problems to Their Component Parts (???).
HEAVY (Dennis Michael Murray): Flying Brick. A crippled soldier given powers by Stark and who trained much of the later team, he died when Ezekiel Stane removed his powers.
PIERCE (Pamela Pierce): Olympic-level Archer with enhanced Agility.
CORONA (Carlos Araujo Carvalho): Living conduit of the Sun- controls it via an exo-suit. He gets fired, then murdered.
BANNERMAN BROWN & BANNERMAN GREEN): Two Stark Enterprises Androids that get destroyed.
APHRODITE: A former supermodel.
AVONA (Avery Allen): A Swordswoman with a sword that had A.I. She was fired, then murdered.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Mar 19, 2022 10:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Cloud 9! Hardball! Constrictor! Bengal!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Scots Dragon wrote: Sun Sep 03, 2017 12:20 am
They mean mostly the same thing so... :P[/quote]
Not true! The mean teachers always corrected us to "Ms." :).
More seriously, I'd kinda like to see someone tackle the Super Sentai stuff. It'll probably have to be me though.
Yeah, prob'ly. My only experience with the genre was about three seasons of Power Rangers.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Cloud 9! Hardball! Constrictor! Bengal!)

Post by Scots Dragon »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Sep 03, 2017 5:27 amNot true! The mean teachers always corrected us to "Ms." :).
To solve this Marvel could always just introduce a non-binary legacy hero to the tradition and call them Mx America, with the Mx being pronounced 'Mix'. Which would actually be really cool from a personal perspective since non-binary heroes are extremely rare. I can only really think of one given Xavin of the Runaways, and there was meant to be another one upcoming from DC Comics called Dr. Endless but their connection to the Sandman comics is causing a bit of a rights dispute with Neil Gaiman.
Yeah, prob'ly. My only experience with the genre was about three seasons of Power Rangers.
It's more or less the same set-up, but in Japanese and with slightly more consistent location shots and costuming. Despite a lot of obvious rivalry between the Power Rangers and Super Sentai fandoms, the quality is somewhat variable in both and there are instances where a really good Sentai was adapted into a shitty Power Rangers season, but also where a shitty or lacklustre Sentai became an amazing Power Rangers season.

For what it's worth I personally prefer Super Sentai thanks to the volume of extra material that was never adapted into Power Rangers in any real form, or only adapted partially in the case of seasons like Dairanger, Kakuranger, and Gokaiger.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Cloud 9! Hardball! Constrictor! Bengal! Taskmaster!)

Post by Jabroniville »

I was gonna say "the terminology for that kind of stuff changes so rapidly that it'd be outdated in five years", but then, comics always has this kind of endearing thing where it's dated to read stuff that's supposed to be contemporary to the modern-day characters, so I guess it doesn't matter. But I've read a TON of stuff on the subject in the past couple years, and even I'VE never heard the term "Mx" before. I swear, all of the non-binary terminology reads lame and exceptionally awkward for some reason (hir, zi, etc.).

But yeah, it IS kind of weird that comics DIDN'T bother to throw in identities like that beyond "supporting character in Batgirl with little characterization". I mean, the "T" part of LBGT sort of became a huge deal in the past couple of years, and given Marvel's surge at appealing to various groups, you'd think it'd be a natural fit.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Cloud 9! Hardball! Constrictor! Bengal! Taskmaster!)

Post by KorokoMystia »

Since Sentai is functionally the same as Power Rangers, any Power Rangers build would easily work for them, too.
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Cloud 9! Hardball! Constrictor! Bengal! Taskmaster!)

Post by Scots Dragon »

Jabroniville wrote: Sun Sep 03, 2017 10:41 am I was gonna say "the terminology for that kind of stuff changes so rapidly that it'd be outdated in five years", but then, comics always has this kind of endearing thing where it's dated to read stuff that's supposed to be contemporary to the modern-day characters, so I guess it doesn't matter. But I've read a TON of stuff on the subject in the past couple years, and even I'VE never heard the term "Mx" before. I swear, all of the non-binary terminology reads lame and exceptionally awkward for some reason (hir, zi, etc.).
While I on some level vaguely agree on neopronouns, and use they/them-as-singular myself given that my own gender is about as clear overall as a noncommittal shrug, it's probably got a lot more to do with the fact that we just aren't used to a gender-neutral pronoun in widespread use and it looks out of place because we're so used to it just being he, she, and they that we don't have much of a mental headspace for xhe. I think it's something we'd get more and more used to with time and exposure though, and I'm starting to get used to them personally.
But yeah, it IS kind of weird that comics DIDN'T bother to throw in identities like that beyond "supporting character in Batgirl with little characterization". I mean, the "T" part of LBGT sort of became a huge deal in the past couple of years, and given Marvel's surge at appealing to various groups, you'd think it'd be a natural fit.
Honestly I don't think Marvel is undergoing that much of a surge at appealing to various groups, and DC Comics is doing way better on that front with regards to representation and inclusion. I personally kinda feel somewhat alienated by the direction at Marvel Comics, which makes it almost hilarious to me that they're the ones viewed as the 'SJW' company when the only really good thing they're doing that I like is Thor.

And for what it's worth, basically all of my queer social justice aligned friends are far more DC Comics fans and actively hate most of what Marvel's putting out because it's genuinely bad representation most of the time. In contrast, DC Comics Bombshells and Harley Quinn might as well have their own sub-fandoms.
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Anthem

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

ANTHEM (Henry Hellrung)
Created By:
Matt Fraction & Barry Kitson
First Appearance: The Order #1 (April 2007)
Role: Weather Guy
Group Affiliations: The Order
PL 9 (123)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+4)
Deception 1 (+5)
Expertise (Acting) 3 (+7)
Insight 3 (+4)
Intimidation 1 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Lightning) 2 (+9)

Advantages:
Benefit (Fame), Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
Electrical Blast 9 (Feats: Dynamic, Precise) (Extras: Multiattack) (29) -- [33]
  • Dynamic AE: "Living Supercell Thunderstorm" Environment 6 (900 feet) (Visibility 2, Impede Movement 2) (Feats: Dynamic) (25) -- [29]
  • Dynamic AE: "Lightning Bolt" Damage 9 (Feats: Dynamic) (Extras: Area- 30ft. Line) (19)
Flight 6 (120 mph) [12]
Senses 5 (Detect Electricity- Ranged 3, Acute) [5]

Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Electrical Blast +9 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Lightning Bolt +9 Area (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Addiction (Alcohol)- Hellrung is a recovering alcoholic, and Tony Stark's own AA sponsor. His addiction ruined his career and his life, and he is only now recovering.

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 50 / Defenses: 15 (123)

-Anthem is a former drinking buddy of Tony Stark, but now a recovered alcoholic and the leader of his team. He has vaguely-stated Weather Powers, making him a PL 9 Storm Lite.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Mar 19, 2022 10:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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