Jab’s Builds! (Whomp 'Em! Plumbers Don't Wear Ties! ToeJam & Earl!)

[Tattooedman]

It looks like all your builds on the Roninarmy site have been deleted.

More like the entire Roninarmy site has been deleted.

[catsi563]

Yeah Ive been trying to find the forums and bupkus

[Jabroniville]

They're probably still trying to deal with the forum being hacked. This is why I have my "Build Dump" topic on the main page here, lol. Hopefully I put all the stuff there, but I have enough backups to potentially mass re-post if I need to. It'd be a shame to lose the old comments, though.

[HalloweenJack]

The Swamp Beast actually got a good bit of play in the MIMP comic book.

He was able to gather up all sorts of slimy things and such to grow to enormous size (about ten feet or so) to do battle with the similarly sized Tyrannosaurus Rex after it had absorbed enough radiation to grow back to that size (comic T-Rex was a clear Godzilla homage with radioactive breath)

The Swamp Beast grappled with the T-Rex and then split itself into several different bodies to drag the T-Rex down, with the captions going on about how it may have raged for minutes or hours before the T-Rex decided this was just too gross and ran off and shrinking down again due to expending its radiation (and gradually getting put in the main character's aquarium as a pet lizard)

Swamp Beast shrunk back down too, not wanting to upset the ecosystem by his staying that size. so yeah he could kaiju size relatively speaking.

[Jabroniville]

106) CREATURE FROM THE CLOSET
Origin: Folklore (1548 England)
Role: Swamp Monster, Hidden Killer, Scary Children's Story
PL 7 (100)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+8)
Expertise (Survival) 4 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Investigation 2 (+5)
Perception 4 (+7)
Stealth 9 (+12)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Hold, Improved Initiative 2, Startle, Takedown

Powers:
Senses 1 (Low-Light Vision) [1]
"Hides in Closets" Movement 1 (Dimensional Travel- Closet Dimension) [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +6, Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Frightening Children)

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 3 / Defenses: 7 (96)

-This guy largely represents the "Boogeyman" tale as I'm familiar with it- the monster in the closet. The MIMP figure is decently monstrous and has a pretty good reptilian face, but the tiny little "closet" around his head looks more like a wooden stock.

[Jabroniville]

44) WITCH
Origin: Folklore (All Human History)
Role: Evil Woman, Curse-Tosser
PL 8 (113)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (Survival) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Magic) 10 (+12)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 3 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Spells) 4 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Artificer, Ranged Attack 2, Ritualist, Startle

Powers:
"Witchcraft"
"Transformation Spell" Affliction 8 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Transformed) (Feats: Subtle- Invisible) (Extras: Ranged) (24) -- [27]

• AE: Move Object 5 (10)
• AE: Concealment (Vision) 2 (Extras: Attack) (6)
• AE: "Hex" Luck Control 1 (Force Re-Rolls) (3)

Flight 6 (120 mph) (Flaws: Source- Broom) [6]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Transformation +8 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3, Fortitude +6, Will +7

Complications:
Motivation (Evil)- Witches are typically just super bad people.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 33 / Defenses: 13 (113)

-I think as long as there've been women, there've been stories about witches. If you ask me, it's a universal fear of the abilities women are perceived to have- whereas male strength is easily-determined from physical size and superior athletic capabilities, women were forced to find other avenues for success. So you have things like "The Queen who rules her husband as he rules the Kingdom", women who use poison, women who use their wiles, etc.- it's harder to quantify, and it's thus seen as more insidious and "darker" than the more obvious powers that men have. And from all that comes The Witch- magically-powered women, oftentimes lovely (the fear of The Seductress, as Circe was in Greek Mythology), but even more often hideous (combining fear of women's power with the fear of gross older women).

-Witchcraft was seen as especially heretical in the Bible, and crosses gender lines (leading to "witch hunts", most famously at Salem, Massachusetts), while many other cultures also believe in it as a form of quackery, which can prevent proper education about real diseases (the AIDS epidemic in particular). Other people believe in the more modern modification of "Wicca" as a religion, though it's often dismissed these days as a fad (certainly having peaked a while ago), especially since it's largely based off of discredited "historical" books about witchy religious practices.

-Evil Witches are among the more common kind of stock foes out there, with the Wicked Witch of the West proving to be an iconic Hollywood villain, and covens of three appearing in Macbeth, Gargoyles and other places.

-The MIMP figure is a pretty generic "This is what a witch looks like" figure, which is fine, but fairly ininventive. Just some big-nosed lady with a pointy hat and a broom. They're a Stage One foe in the NES game, too, being able to fly around and shoot energy beams at the player.

-This Witch build takes on a few powers explained in the figure's information guide, such as being able to hex people, turn them invisible, and transform them into other things. This makes them among the more versatile Monsters in this set.

[Ares]

Depending on who you talk to, the idea that the Bible is referring to witches in particular is a more relatively modern thing. Scholars debate on the actual term used at the time, "mekashaph", which apparently could mean anything from "someone who uses poisons" to "someone who practices evil magic", since Jewish doctrine actually allowed for magic and differentiated between good magic and evil magic, placing them in the same company as necromancers. But supposedly when King James got involved, he had his own personal beef against women in general and magic in particular, so when he commissioned his translation of the Bible, he had "mekashaph" changed to "witch".

What's sad is that for a good chunk of time and in a lot of places, persecuting witches was seen as stupid. We had Popes specifically telling people NOT to do it, it was generally believed that people claiming to have magical powers were a bit touched in the head, and that it was wrong to kill people for different beliefs. Before the 15th century, witchcraft accusations were relatively rare and more seen as a way to get rid of political problems, such as Joan of Arc, who was charged with witchcraft amongst other things. Apparently there was some kind of occult Renaissance among the wealthy, the nobility and the educated in the 15th century, which lead to the publishing of books like the Malleus Maleficarum ('Hammer against the Evildoers/Witches'), though said book was soon banned by the Church and the Inquisition was told to ignore what was written in it.

According to Wikipedia, there were approximately 80,000 witch trials between 1450 and 1750, resulting in roughly 35,000 executions. Apparently Protestant controlled territories like the British Isles, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Lorraine, Austria, Czech territories and the like account for 55,000 trials and 30,000 deaths across all that time. Ironically, despite it's use in pop culture, the Spanish Inquisition never burned people for witchcraft and generally considered witch trials in general to be backwards and barbaric, and didn't even conduct such trials after the 16th century.

[Jabroniville]

63) ELBOW WITCH
Origin: Folklore (Ojibwa Story)
Role: Cannibalistic Sisters
PL 7 (74)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS -1 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+8)
Expertise (Survival) 5 (+4)
Intimidation 7 (+7)
Perception 4 (+3)
Stealth 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Initiative, Startle

Powers:
"Awls In Elbows" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split, Improved Critical) [3]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Awls +7 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +6, Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Eating People)

Total: Abilities: 46 / Skills: 22--11 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 3 / Defenses: 11 (74)

-Possibly the most obscure creature in the entire MIMP line, the Elbow Witch is based off of a Native American Ojibwa story featuring the hero Aayaash, who is captured by a pair of old women with awls (like straight screwdrivers) in their elbows. They plan on eating him, but are blinded by the smoke from their cooking fire, and killed each other accidentally in their attempt at making a meal of the hero. They... must be pretty dumb. Pretty weak figure, too- it's a legless blob of an old woman with some pointy elbows, and that's it. Full points for going for a rare creature in Series II, though- they're so obscure that their Wikipedia page actually mentions the toyline!

[Ares]

Wow, someone that that Foxbat from Riders of the Storm can finally, barely feel superior to.

[KorokoMystia]

Wow, someone that that Foxbat from Riders of the Storm can finally, barely feel superior to.

What about THE MIGHTY BOOMSLANG, of the Serpent Society? Pretty sure even Foxbat wouldn't lose to him.

[Woodclaw]

What's sad is that for a good chunk of time and in a lot of places, persecuting witches was seen as stupid. We had Popes specifically telling people NOT to do it, it was generally believed that people claiming to have magical powers were a bit touched in the head, and that it was wrong to kill people for different beliefs. Before the 15th century, witchcraft accusations were relatively rare and more seen as a way to get rid of political problems, such as Joan of Arc, who was charged with witchcraft amongst other things. Apparently there was some kind of occult Renaissance among the wealthy, the nobility and the educated in the 15th century, which lead to the publishing of books like the Malleus Maleficarum ('Hammer against the Evildoers/Witches'), though said book was soon banned by the Church and the Inquisition was told to ignore what was written in it.

According to Wikipedia, there were approximately 80,000 witch trials between 1450 and 1750, resulting in roughly 35,000 executions. Apparently Protestant controlled territories like the British Isles, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Lorraine, Austria, Czech territories and the like account for 55,000 trials and 30,000 deaths across all that time. Ironically, despite it's use in pop culture, the Spanish Inquisition never burned people for witchcraft and generally considered witch trials in general to be backwards and barbaric, and didn't even conduct such trials after the 16th century.

Here's one funny bit: the expression "Devil's Advocate" actually comes from the Inquisitorial practice of assigning one of their own (usually a Franciscan monk) to defend those accused of witchcraft or heresy during the official trials. Since the vast majority of the European population was illiterate and had little knowledge of both legal procedures or religious doctrine, it was considered unfair to condemn someone who wasn't able to properly debate his/her own case. Unfortunately, this didn't stop some Inquisitors from tricking some people into cornering themselves or using "empirical" methods to discover possible witches.
According to the "Museum of Witchcraft" of Triora (an Italian town that was the site of the biggest witch trial of the 16th century), the various branches of the Inquisition actually burned numerous women at the stake, but significantly less than pop culture generally assumed. It's interesting that, during the Triora's Trial, a number of low ranking Inquisitors kept pushing for swift justice, whereas the higher ranks actually worked to stop the entire thing and free most of the accused, after one of them died under torture.

[Jabroniville]

"Hey Drude... don't make it bad
Take a sad song, and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better..."

111) DRUDE
Origin: Folklore (German Middle Ages)
Role: Nightmare Spirit
PL 7 (94)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 6 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+8)
Expertise (Magic) 5 (+7)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 4 (+7)
Stealth 8 (+11)

Advantages:
Fast Grab, Improved Initiative, Startle

Powers:
Senses 1 (Low-Light Vision) [1]
"Slides Through Keyholes" Movement 1 (Permeate) (Flaws: Source- Tiny Openings) [1]
"Nightmares" Affliction 6 (Will; Compelled/Controlled/Transformed) (Feats: Subtle 2) (Flaws: Limited to Dreams, Limited to Sleeping Victims) [4]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Nightmares +8 (+6 Affliction, DC 16)
Initiative +7

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +6, Fortitude +7, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Frightening Children)

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 28--14 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 6 / Defenses: 7 (94)

-Drudes are German spirits said to cause nightmares, and were participants in the "Wild Hunt". They are said to be able to slide through keyholes and "possess" men (in one of those things representative of "Hags" that people suffering from sleep paralysis are said to see). The MIMP figure is actually pretty good, with a wild face, skulls in its belly, and maggots on its skin.

[Jabroniville]

51) WARLOCK
Origin: Folklore (All Human History)
Role: Magic Man
PL 7 (149)
STRENGTH 1 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (Survival) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Magic) 10 (+12)
Insight 5 (+8)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 3 (+6)
Ranged Combat (Spells) 4 (+8)
Stealth 3 (+6)

Advantages:
Artificer, Ranged Attack 2, Ritualist, Startle

Powers:
"Witchcraft"
"Eldritch Blast" Blast 6 (12) -- [14]
AE: Move Object 5 (10)
AE: "Hex" Luck Control 1 (Force Re-Rolls) (3)

"Transform to Animals"
Shapeshift 5 [40]
Morph 3 [15]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Blast +8 (+6 Ranged Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +11

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +3, Fortitude +6, Will +7

Complications:
Motivation (Evil)- Witches are typically just super bad people.

Total: Abilities: 42 / Skills: 40--20 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 69 / Defenses: 13 (149)

-A "Warlock" is typically just a term for a male magic-user- the masculine version of "Witch". That's how the occult documentary comic Sabrina the Teenage Witch explained it, anyways. The name derives from Old English "waerloga" ("oathbreaker/deceiver"). The MIMP figure is interesting, in that he's some Dr. Strange-looking dude with a cane and a goatee. He's said to be "famous" and getting his powers from a magical necklace, and you can beat him by placing a mirror in front of his face, so his curses are reflective against him. He's an odd choice for a Main Villain, but there you have it- he is the boss of the bad guys in both the NES game AND the comic book!

[Ares]

Evil magic users as the last boss are pretty much a trope as old as fiction. Lord knows how many evil wizards Conan put to the sword.

[Jabroniville]

17) BIGFOOT
Origin: Cryptid (North America)
Role: Hidden Forest Creature, Wildman
PL 8 (99)
STRENGTH 6 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -3 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 4 (+8)
Expertise (Survival) 8 (+10)
Insight 3 (+5)
Intimidation 8 (+6)
Perception 8 (+10)
Ranged Attack (Rocks) 5 (+5)
Sleight of Hand 3 (+3)
Stealth 15 (+16 Size)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Fearless, Hide In Plain Sight, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Hold, Power Attack, Startle, Ultimate Strength Check, Ultimate Stealth Check

Powers:
"Animal Senses" Senses 3 (Acute & Extended Scent, Low-Light Vision) [3]

"Natural Size" Growth 2 (Str & Sta +2, +2 Mass, +1 Intimidation, -1 Dodge/Parry, -2 Stealth) -- (10 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [5]
"Ape Strength & Long Arms" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach) [3]

Concealment (All Visual Senses) 4 (Extras: Action- Reaction) (Flaws: Limited to Recording Devices, Limited to Crap-Ass Grainy Footage) [4]

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

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +8, Fortitude +9, Will +7

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- Sasquatch cannot speak to humans.
Reputation (Hidden)- Sasquatch must always remain hidden from human eyes, and disappear into the forests.

Total: Abilities: 26 / Skills: 60--30 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 15 / Defenses: 18 (99)

-I love Cryptids- ever since I was a little kid. The idea of all this mysterious megafauna that had somehow escaped detection after all these years is something that drives any child giddy, and Sasquatch is, along with the Loch Ness Monster, the cream of the crop, the veritable symbol of all Cryptozoology (alongside the Giant Panda & the Coelocanth- who are "Cryptozoology proven right" symbols). Known to Native American/Canadian legends (though almost every ancient/primitive culture had stories of "Giant Hairy Dudes" to use a scientific term), those descended from Europeans started encountering signs of these creatures decades ago. Eventually, pranksters hit (many of the famous "Footprints" are known to be created by simple moulds and casts, were by admitted pranksters), and a full-on legend was born. Now, cryptid Giant Apes are "found" all through North America, but this one is primarily in the Western portion of the continent, hitting Washington and British Columbia for the most part. And peculiarly, all sightings are made by crazy hillbilly-looking folks.

-There've been so many famous incidents regarding these things it's not even funny- from mysterious one-offs to full-bore malarky like "I was kidnapped by a family of them and barely escaped being married to their daughter". There's that fascinating piece of footage that goes between Hoax/Maybe Not a Hoax periodically over the years, the footprint casts, the hoax costume a few years back (You have NO IDEA how much I wanted that to be real). Honestly, it's pretty clear that these things don't exist. Grainy photos existing decades ago, I can imagine because cameras sucked. But now every douchebag on the planet has a Cellphone Camera, and there's no way our massive encroachments into nature wouldn't turn SOMETHING up by this point, especially with so many lifelong trackers using modern equipment. I'd love to see one... but I just can't see it happening anymore.

-A standard Sasquatch is a PL higher than a Gorilla, being a HUGE ten-foot man-like being of furious power. It's Stealth is so nuts that you'll almost never see it, it's incredibly strong, and it fights as well as any Gorilla, with the same Advantages (but with Hide In Plain Sight). And you'll never take a good photo of it thanks to it's 4-point Concealment power (I was gonna go with a Half-Nullify, but it cost 20 points to get nearly the same effect), and it's one of the few animals with higher Dodge than Parry (how many people have shot one? Exactly).

-Some nifty "Sasquatch Sounds": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeGPNC6qQCY. Though I'd argue that something this noisy would have a much harder time avoiding being spotted.

-The Bigfoot MIMP figure is one of the weaker ones, unfortunately, despite a lot of detailing for his fur. His pose is just very static, symmetrical and plain, with his arms held up awkwardly, with an inexpressive, tiny-nosed face and a slit-mouth. He is the Second Stage Boss in the NES game, slowly stalking forwards in the refridgerator while shooting out a small amount of ice breath.

-Bigfoot is a PL 8, powerhouse creature, the same as when I did my "Animal Builds".




119) THE WILDMAN OF CHINA (Yeren)
Origin: Cryptid (China)
Role: Hidden Forest Creature, Wildman

-Another "Deep Cut" of the MIMP line, the Wildman of China is likely based off of the Yeren (literally "Wild-Man"), China's own hairy hominid cryptid. Yerens have been "sighted" hundreds of times in the past few decades, owing to a huge, supersticious populace. You won't hear much about them, but The Life and Times of Juniper Lee featured one. The figure is pretty weird- a hairy, more gaunt figure, with a head like a Xenomorph from Aliens.