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

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
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Manbot

Post by Jabroniville »

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MANBOT (Bernie Lanchenay)
Created By:
Steven T. Seagle & Scott Clark
First Appearance: Alpha Flight (vol. 2) #1 (August 1997)
Role: Team Robot, The Mole
Group Affiliations: Alpha Flight, Beta Flight, Departmen H
PL 9 (205)
STRENGTH
12 STAMINA -- AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Expertise (Computers) 10 (+12)
Perception 8 (+8)

Advantages:
Equipment 2, Ranged Attack 8

Powers:
"Mechanical Body"
"Natural Size" Growth 4 (Str & Toughness +4, +4 Mass, +2 Intimidation, -2 Dodge/Parry, -4 Stealth) -- (12 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [9]
Immunity 45 (Fortitude Effects, Mental Effects, Interaction Skills) [45]
Protection 8 (Extras: Impervious 13) [21]
Quickness 2 (Flaws: Limited- Mental Tasks Only) [1]

Communication (Radio) 2 [8]
Comprehend 2 (Languages) [4]
Super-Senses 8 (Acute & Analytical Scent, Infra-Vision, Radar 4) [8]
Flight 9 (1,000 mph) [18]

"Net" Snare 10 (30) -- [34]
  • AE: Blast 10 (Feats: Split, Variable Descriptor) (21)
  • AE: "Chi-Omicron Missiles" Blast 9 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Burst) (27)
  • AE: "Nerve Toxin M-11" Affliction 8 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Cumulative, Area- 30ft. Burst) (24)
  • AE: "Focused Nerve Toxin" Affliction 10 (Fort; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Cumulative, Ranged) (30)
Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Blast +8 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Chi-Omicron Missiles +9 Area (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Net +8 (+10 Ranged Affliction, DC 20)
Nerve Toxin +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Focused Toxin +8 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness 12 (+7 Impervious), Fortitude --, Will +2 

Complications:
Secret (Department H Agent)- Manbot's true mission is to report on Alpha Flight's activities to General Clarke.
Responsibility (More Robot Than Man)- Manbot has none of his original personality left.

Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 18--9 / Advantages: 10 / Powers: 148 / Defenses: 10 (205)

-Manbot's the most forgotten of the second Alpha Flight team (and that's saying something); a guy who was built into the recovered Box armour, and turned into a government spy for Alpha Flight. He eventually overcame his programming and turned good or something, but he basically vanished with the end of the series (reassigned to Beta Flight) and never reappeared. He is such a minor character that there are only two pictures of him available on ComicVine.

-Robots can be very expensive in 3e, especially if they've got a whole swack of powers and abilities on them. Manbot here is a mere PL 9, but costs over TWO HUNDRED POINTS, because he's got a ton of junk attached to him. Snares, Missiles, Blasts, Immunities, the works.
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Doctor Malsyn
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Prodigy! Mercury! Rockslide! Wither! Alpha Flight!)

Post by Doctor Malsyn »

Amazing how a character that looks that distinct could become a forgotten character, but that's comics for ya.
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Thorpocalypse
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Prodigy! Mercury! Rockslide! Wither! Alpha Flight!)

Post by Thorpocalypse »

Wow. They've had more sucky members than I realized. They REALLY need to recruit Captain Canuck! :D
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Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Murmur

Post by Jabroniville »

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SOMEone's on the Ally McBeal diet.

MURMUR III (Arlette Truffaut)
Created By:
Steven T. Seagle & Scott Clark
First Appearance: Alpha Flight (vol. 2) #1 (August 1997)
Role: Mind Controller, Forgotten Character
Group Affiliations: Alpha Flight, Beta Flight
PL 10 (103)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 3

Skills: 
Acrobatics 4 (+6)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+8)
Deception 5 (+8)
Expertise (Government Agent) 4 (+5)
Insight 4 (+5)
Perception 4 (+5)
Persuasion 4 (+7)
Stealth 4 (+6)

Advantages: 
Animal Empathy, Defensive Roll, Improved Defense, Set-Up

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Touch-Based Mind Control"
Affliction 11 (Will; Entranced/Compelled/Controlled) (Extras: Cumulative, Concentration) (33) -- [35]
  • AE: "Sleep Command" Affliction 11 (Will; Fatigued/Exhausted/Asleep) (Extras: Cumulative) (22)
  • AE: "Death Command" Weaken Stamina 11 (Extras: Will Save +0, Concentration) (21)
Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Mind Control & Sleep +8 (+11 Affliction, DC 21)
Death Command +8 (+11 Weaken, DC 21)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +1 (+2 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (Flirtacious & Arrogant)- Arlette's overconfidence led her to openly flirt with Mac, Heather's sorta-husband (he was a clone), and often leads her into danger.
Responsibility (Canadian Government)- Arlette was raised in "Hellhouse", an orphanage funded and controlled by the Canadian government.

Total: Abilities: 30 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 4 / Powers: 35 / Defenses: 18 (103)

-Murmur's probably the weakest of the 2nd Generation Alpha Flight members. She could command people by touching them, and was mostly seen flirting with people (including Heather Hudson's estranged husband; producing some strife within the team's ranks) or desperately avoiding physical combat. She's currenly de-powered thanks to M-Day (having been reassigned to Beta Flight much earlier), and really wasn't that interesting.

-Murmur's pretty cheap, for obvious reasons. Not much in the way of Skills or Avantages (though she can control the bestial Sasquatch, giving her some Animal Empathy), and she's mostly dependant on keeping the hell away from fights. She's about as weak as a Power Level 10 hero can actually get, since her Mind Control only works at Touch range, despite its relatively hard-to-overcome effects. This makes her a PL 9.5 on offense, as its a powerful Mind Control effect (keep in mind that in comics, nearly EVERYONE fails a test against Control, and it takes some big force of will to break it- that's part of why I give most guys pretty low Will Saves). She can also force people to fall asleep, or even DIE!
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:26 am, edited 3 times in total.
Jabroniville
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Earthmover

Post by Jabroniville »

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EARTHMOVER (Chuck Moss)
Created By:
Matt Nixon & Ethan Van Sciver
First Appearance: Wolverine #179 (Sept. 2002)
Role: Forgotten Character
Group Affiliations: Alpha Flight
PL 9 (159)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Athletics 4 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 1 (+9)
Close Combat (Swords) 1 (+9)
Expertise (Survival) 7 (+8)
Expertise (Hockey Player) 2 (+5) -- Uses Agility
Expertise (Mysticism) 5 (+6)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+4)
Perception 5 (+8)
Ranged Combat (Earth Attacks) 2 (+8)
Stealth 7 (+10)
Treatment 2 (+3)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 6, Tracking

Powers:
"Earthmover Totem"
"Summon Earth Elementals" Summon 4 (Extras: Active, Controlled, Horde, Multiple Minions 3- 8 Elementals) [32]

"Earth Binding" Snare 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable) (32) -- [36]
  • AE: "Earth Hammer" Blast 9 (18)
  • AE: "Earth Wave" Blast 9 (Extras: Area- Burst) (27)
  • AE: Movement 3 (Permeate 3) (Flaws: Limited to Earth) (3)
  • AE: Earth Control 8 (16)
Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Earth Hammer +8 (+9 Ranged Damage, DC 24)
Earth Wave +9 Area (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Earth Binding +8 Area (+8 Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +3

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +5, Fortitude +8, Will +7

Complications:
Responsibility (Omega Level)- Earthmover has vast potential for power, and must learn to master it, or it shall master him.

Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 68 / Defenses: 13 (159)

-Earthmover's just... bizarre. Created by a newbie writer Matt Nixon for a guest arc in Wolverine, he was the supernatural equivalent of an "Omega Mutant", in Professor Xavier's own words, and it came to Logan to train the guy. He ended up getting the animal totem of the Earthworm, and he became a Geokinetic shaman-type using various types of "Earth Magic". He also became a great survivalist with tons of skill that even Logan envied (he was able to walk up to an Elk buck and put his arm on it), and in general this could be a decent concept, if done right. Unfortunately, it was devalued by having him run around in an Edmonton Oilers t-shirt (sure, he was an aspiring hockey player, but come on- REAL Edmontonians wear the whole jersey when they really care) and generally look like an almighty tool.

-Hilariously, this guy was given the big Mary Sue treatment of "so good and full of potential it's scary", only to COMPLETELY vanish from comics! He showed up in an X-Men book, and as a rescued member of Alpha Flight in that goofy book Lobdell wrote, and after that... nothing. Part of the problem was that they created the character for ALPHA FLIGHT, a team that suffers Doom Patrol-like cancellation rates. Then there's his goofy look and silly origin. The whole Mary Sue "He's Omega Level!" thing is just icing on the cake. Who knows if we'll ever see the guy again?

-Okay, the guy's a goof, but he's rather powerful. Despite being a newbie, he's a PL 9, and he costs a SWACK of points for that level (nearly thirty points over)- he's very strong normally, and also packs the ability to Summon a Horde of Earth Elementals, then toss a bunch of earth at people in a few different forms (Standard Blast, Wave, Snare, Permeate and Earth Control). The fact that the two sets of powers aren't linked boosts his costs a lot- he can use the Horde AND his various powers simultaneously.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:26 am, edited 3 times in total.
Jabroniville
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Centennial

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

BOY, that Scott Lobdell sure is one creative genius, huh?

CENTENNIAL (Rutherford Princeton III)
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & Clayton Henry
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 (2004)
Role: Flying Brick
Group Affiliations: Alpha Flight
PL 9 (143)
STRENGTH
11 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 5 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+7)
Deception 6 (+6)
Expertise (History) 6 (+8)
Expertise (Police Officer) 6 (+8)
Insight 6 (+8)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Investigation 4 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+3)
Ranged Combat (Eye Blasts) 3 (+8)
Vehicles 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 5

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Superman Rip-Off"
Protection 2 (Extras: Impervious 9) [11]
Flight 7 (250 mph) [14]
"Energy Blasts" Blast 8 [16]

Offense:
Unarmed +7 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +6 (DC 16), Toughness +12, Fortitude +11, Will +6

Complications:
Relationship (Lost Love, Amelia)- Rutherford lost the woman of his dreams many years ago, and is unaware that she was his teammate, Nemesis.

Total: Abilities: 64 / Skills: 46--23 / Advantages: 5 / Powers: 41 / Defenses: 10 (143)

-Just what Marvel called for- a Superman rip-off that's actually AN OLD MAN!! Who's black! And a 90 year-old former coma victim! Yeah, I have no idea what Lobdell was thinking either. He could almost be a passable writer SOMETIMES (except for the time he ruined the X-Men in the '90s), but that Alpha Flight series he did just SUCKED. I loved Clayton Henry on art, but Lobdell just seemed like he was throwing crap against the wall to see what would hit big. Centennial's an old man, suddenly developing superhuman powers (basically Superman's), who had old love- his teammate, Nemesis. The two are depicted as being buried next to each other in the last issue of the series. He hasn't appeared since that series, for obvious reasons.

-A balanced PL 9, actually (I refuse on general principle to make him any more powerful). And about as cheap as a pretty powerful Flying Brick is gonna get, with slightly lower levels in all his powers, and much less accuracy and Defense.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
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Major Mapleleaf

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

MAJOR MAPLELEAF II (Louis Sadler, Jr.)
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & Clayton Henry
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 (2004)
Role: Fake Hero, Captain Ethnic
Group Affiliations: Alpha Flight, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police
PL 8 (103)
STRENGTH
3 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 7 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+9)
Deception 5 (+7)
Expertise (RCMP Officer) 7 (+8)
Expertise (Animal Handling) 8 (+10)
Insight 4 (+5)
Investigation 4 (+5)
Perception 5 (+6)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Stealth 1 (+5)

Advantages:
Defensive Roll, Sidekick 20 (Thunder), Move-By Action

Powers:
Senses 1 (Communication Link- Thunder) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4 (+5 D.Roll), Fortitude +7, Will +4

Complications:
Secret (Father Beat Him)- Louis Jr.'s father beat him frequently as a child, believing him to be responsible for the death of Junior's mother.
Secret (Has No Powers; Only Thunder Does)- This is Louis Jr.'s most closely-guarded secret.

Total: Abilities: 44 / Skills: 42--21 / Advantages: 22 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 15 (103)

THUNDER
Role:
Flying Steed
PL 8 (100)- Sidekick Rank 20
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 7 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE -4 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE -2

Skills:
Athletics 2 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 5 (+9)
Expertise (Survival) 2 (+3)
Insight 3 (+4)
Intimidation 6 (+5 Size)
Perception 4 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Blasts) 8 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Attractive (To Women), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Hooves), Interpose, Power Attack

Powers:
"Magical Horse"
Blast 8 [16]

Senses 1 (Communication Link- Major Mapleleaf) [1]
"Animal Senses" Senses 3 (Acute Scent, Low-Light Vision, Radius Sight) [3]

Flight 6 (120 mph) (12) -- [13]
  • AE: "Animal Physiology" Speed 3 (16 mph) (3)
"Natural Size" Growth 3 (Str & Sta +3, +3 Mass, +1 Intimidation, -1 Dodge/Parry, -3 Stealth) -- (10 feet) (Feats: Innate) (Extras: Permanent +0) [7]
Reach 1 [1]
Protection 2 [2]

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +2

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +9, Fortitude +9, Will +5

Complications:
Disabled (Animal)- Horses cannot speak to humans, nor use their hooves to easily manipulate objects. Thunder is no exception.

Total: Abilities: 18 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 43 / Defenses: 18 (100)

-Major Mapleleaf II is another Silly Lobdell Creation, being a big dorky milk 'n' cookies super-hero type with a dark secret or two (see Complications). He kicked around with Thunder, was goofy, hooked up with Puck II, and then got killed by The Collective- why he was with the Alpha Flight team that faced off against the villain is mysterious, but he was not resurrected after Chaos War like the other Flight members. Total throwaway character.

-His father was a one-shot hero who had his son die of AIDS off-panel in the horrible Northstar limited series, which kind of annoys me, because they FINALLY created a Canadian Golden Age hero, only to make him a Captain Ethnic big dumb Mountie, a probable bigot (the Limited Series makes no mention of the word "gay", but it's implied that Major Mapleleaf's son was homosexual, as the elder has a massive hatred for Northstar), and an abusive father. Plus that Northstar series had some of the worst Liefeld rip-off art in history, which makes ACTUAL Liefeld art look like the Sistine Chapel's centerpiece by comparison.

-Pretty easy set-up; a weak hero (PL 6 offense, PL 7.5 defense) with a PL 8 Blaster steed that's actually significantly better than he is. Maybe not something you'd normally want to see a hero Sidekicking around with, but then that's kind of why he sucked.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Yukon Jack

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

YUKON JACK (Yukotujakzurjimozoata)
Created By:
Scott Lobdell & Clayton Henry
First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 (2004)
Role: Flying Brick
Group Affiliations: Alpha Flight
PL 9 (141)
STRENGTH
7 STAMINA 8 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+9)
Athletics 4 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+11)
Expertise (Tribesman) 9 (+9)
Intimidation 7 (+8)
Perception 6 (+6)
Ranged Attack 3 (+9)
Stealth 3 (+8)

Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Diehard, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Bone Knife), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6, Takedown

Powers:
"Demigod" Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]

"Bone Knife" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [6]
Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 7) (10 points)

"Bone Claws"
"Bone Blast" Blast 9 (Feats: Improved Critical, Split) (Extras: Penetrating 10) (29) -- [32]
  • AE: "Mentally-Controlled Bones" Blast 8 (Extras: Area- 30ft. Shapeable, Selective) (32)
  • AE: "Bone Barrage" Blast 9 (Extras: Multiattack) (27)
  • AE: "Flare" Dazzle Visuals 6 (12)
Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Bone Knife +9 (+9 Damage, DC 24)
Bone Blast +9 (+10 Ranged Damage, DC 25)
Mentally-Controlled Bones +8 Area (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +8, Fortitude +9, Will +6

Complications:
Responsibility (Tribe)- Yukotujakzurjimozoata is destined to one day rule his tribe. He has little desire to see the outside world.

Total: Abilities: 60 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 39 / Defenses: 11 (141)

-Another Lobdell creation, Yukon Jack mixes a stupid name with actually decent powers, though they're a COMPLETE rip-off of Marrow's, to the point of being silly (I mean, why not just bring in Marrow?). Sasquatch recruited him for the new Alpha Flight from a mystical tribe that had never appeared before or since, and he stuck around for a bit, disappearing by the series' cancellation.

-Think of Yukon Jack as part Wolverine/part Blaster, as he can cut guys up pretty good, but his most lethal attack is a long-range "Bone Claw" attack that fires his bone spikes out from his chest. He's been shown damaging some very durable characters (Box, Diamond Lil), so he gets +9 to Damage, plus Power Attack. He's still a PL 9 though, since he's a rarely-appearing side-character who'd probably end up jobbing out HARD in a real fight.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ghost Girl

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

GHOST GIRL (Lilli Stephens)
Created By:
Steven T. Seagle & Scott Clark
First Appearance: Alpha Flight (vol. 2) #2 (Sept. 1997)
Role: Non-Combat Girl
Group Affiliations: Alpha Flight, Beta Flight
PL 2 (48)
STRENGTH
-1 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+5)
Insight 3 (+3)
Perception 2 (+2)
Persuasion 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Set-Up, Teamwork

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Phasing"
Insubstantial 4 (Feats: Increased Mass 2 on Affects Others) (Extras: Affects Others) [26]

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (-1 Damage, DC 14)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +4 (DC 14), Parry +4 (DC 14), Toughness +0, Fortitude +2, Will +3

Complications:
Responsibility (Canadian Government)- Lilli was raised in "Hellhouse", an orphanage funded and controlled by the Canadian government. Because of her powers, she has little difficulty going on "excursions".

Total: Abilities: 4 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 2 / Powers: 26 / Defenses: 10 (48)

-Ghost Girl showed up in the failed '90s run, doing a "Phasing" gimmick and not really engaging the rest of the team too much. Pretty much vanished after a "reshuffle" in the ranks. Between the name (even the Legion of Super-Heroes showed more originality than that with Shadow Lass & Phantom Girl) and the rip-off of Shadowcat's powers, that's not very surprising.

-Hard to properly stat someone for whom very little information exists, but she's essentially a Phaser who can create 'portals' in solid objects that others can use (basically Affects Others). So she's kind of a handy teammate, but I can't imagine her beating anyone herself, so her PL stays very low.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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The Flight

Post by Jabroniville »

THE FLIGHT:
-This group of losers came about as a "Behind-The-Scenes" Retcon that established the clumsy origins of Alpha Flight. It was written by Scott Lobdell & Bob Furman in 1992, and featured Wolverine prominently, in order to increase sales. Initially called "The Flight", the team was gathered in the early days of the Silver Age by Scott Hudson and led by his friend Wolverine, and meant to be the beginnings of Canada's super-defense-froce. However, when this group of untrained, possibly-psychotic people are sent to face down Egghead's Emissaries of Evil, they're a complete disaster. The guy wearing the Groundhog armor quits. Stitch appeared unprepared for combat and mentally disabled. St. Elmo was killed rescuing everybody. This is said to be the incident that makes Scott consider splitting up the "Flight" teams into multiple levels (Alpha, Beta, Omega), thus preventing situations where unprepared people are thrown against high-level threats.
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Re: Major Mapleleaf

Post by bsdigitalq »

Jabroniville wrote:Plus that Northstar series had some of the worst Liefeld rip-off art in history, which makes ACTUAL Liefeld art look like the Sistine Chapel's centerpiece by comparison.
But at least they had actual feet in that series, and not just little pointy arrows. :)
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Prodigy! Mercury! Rockslide! Wither! Alpha Flight!)

Post by Jabroniville »

I swear, the refrain every time I post Alpha Flight builds is always "I never realized there were so many of them". I think it was Horsenhero who once said "When I said I liked Alpha Flight, what I guess I meant was that I liked Snowbird & Sasquatch". Because there are almost FORTY of these guys!

And what's continuously bizarre to me is that the "iconic" roster is actually a group that almost never teamed up- it's basically the Byrne Originals, minus Marrina, plus Puck. The writers of the most recent AF series actually pointed out that the iconic roster split up in the VERY FIRST ISSUE, and every subsequent group has been a varied roster. Sasquatch is usually around, but the only AF comics I own feature Heather, "white" Sasquatch & Box as major characters, without any of the other originals. Both reboots of the series were of the Giant-Size X-Men variety, with only a few originals, piling on untested newbies. Snowbird, a Byrne Original, was vacant from about 90% of the team's run, as far as I can tell, yet remains an "iconic member".
Jabroniville
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Groundhog

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

GROUNDHOG (Sean Bernard)
Created By:
Bob Furman, Scott Lobdell & Pat Broderick
First Appearance: Alpha Flight Special #1 (June 1992)
Role: Retroactive Rookie
Group Affiliations: The Flight, The Royal Canadian Mounted Police
PL 7 (82)
STRENGTH
1/7 STAMINA 1 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 4 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Close Combat 1 (+5)
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (RCMP Officer) 5 (+7)
Insight 4 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+7)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+4)
Vehicles 5 (+6)

Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Pistol, +5), Ranged Attack 6

Powers:
"Groundhog Terraforming Suit" (Flaws: Removable) [25]
Enhanced Strength 6 (12)
Protection 7 (Extras: Impervious 3) (10)

"Terraforming" Burrowing 8 (16 mph) (8) -- (9)
  • AE: Flight 3 (16 mph) (6)
-- (31 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +5 (+1 Damage, DC 16)
Suit Strength +5 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Pistol +6 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +1 (+8 Suit), Fortitude +4, Will +4

Complications:
Responsibility (RCMP)- Sean is a cop on the run, after some people on his own force (whom he had informed upon for drug-running) went after him.

Total: Abilities: 22 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 8 / Powers: 25 / Defenses: 11 (82)

-Behold, it is here! The build of Groundhog, a guy who was a one-shot character introduced in "The Flight", the pre-team to Alpha Flight (along with St. Elmo, Stitch & Smart Alec, all retcon characters on the rookie squad). He threw a fit when his team met with disaster (he was furious that a mentally ill woman and other lunatics were put on a squad in which life was on the line), and quit in that issue, declaring that his terraforming suit was lame, and that if Mac Hudson liked it so much, HE should wear it. Naturally, this would be the inspiration for Mac to wear the Guardian armor.

-Groundhog's such a nobody, no site I could find for 2e had stats for him, but it looks like Wikipedia, Alphanex (which has since gone offline during a server switch) and the Handbook Appendix all got around to it by now. The terra-forming suit was later formed into what became the Guardian costume. Sean Bernard was an RCMP officer investigating his partners for drug trafficking, by the by. He hasn't appeared since his one appearance, but the armor was used prominently in the Pak/Eaglesham Alpha Flight series, with the heroes training a bunch of civilians to fight The Master of the World's forces. Mac pays the Taskmaster to train this army, and they're instrumental to the gang ass-kicking suffered by the Master.

-Standard "Guy in Power Armour" build, minus anything that's reasonably decent or effective. He's basically a brick who can dig (and fly, poorly). He's PL 6.5 on defense, PL 6 on offense, being really pathetic overall since he's basically an Advanced Cop build plus a suit.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

St. Elmo

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

Great- now I have that '80s movie's theme song stuck in my head again. THANKS, Alpha Flight!

SAINT ELMO (Elmo Erasmus)
Created By:
Bob Furman, Scott Lobdell & Pat Broderick
First Appearance: Alpha Flight Special #1 (June 1992)
Role: Retcon Rookie
Group Affiliations: The Flight (Precursor to Alpha Flight)
PL 7 (105)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 2
FIGHTING 6 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 1 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 1

Skills:
Insight 4 (+6)
Perception 4 (+6)
Persuasion 4 (+5)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 6, Teamwork

Powers:
Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]

"Light Body" Alternate Form (Activation -1) [-1]
Insubstantial 3 [15]
Flight 7 (250 mph) [14]

"Turn Things Into Light and Absorb Into Himself" Damage 8 (Flaws: Limited to Objects) Linked to Weaken Toughness 10 (Extras: Objects Only +0) (14) -- [15]
  • AE: Dazzle Visuals 8 (Quirk: Limited to Degree of Objects he's Absorbed -2) (14)
Offense:
Unarmed +6 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Light Transformation +6 (+8 Damage & Weaken, DC 23 & 18)
Dazzle Visuals +6 (+8 Ranged Affliction, DC 18)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +7 (DC 17), Parry +7 (DC 17), Toughness +2, Fortitude +7, Will +7

Complications:
Weakness (Over-doing It)- Saint Elmo can destroy objects of up to ten tons in size, but higher levels will leave him very physically drained. Moreover, something the size of a nuclear missile will straight-up kill him if he absorbs it into himself.

Total: Abilities: 32 / Skills: 12--6 / Advantages: 7 / Powers: 44 / Defenses: 16 (105)

-Saint Elmo's a one shot character from "The Flight". He claimed to be some kind of immortal god and he was generally pretty goofy, then sacrificed himself to save the team from a nuclear explosion. And that was the last of him- a Heroic Sacrifice in his first appearance. He made some mention of possibly being St. Erasmus, the fabled "Saint Elmo" who became Patron Saint of sailors, and whose name is given to the atmospheric phenomenon "St. Elmo's Fire", by which light is emitted from a point during a thunderstorm (usually on a ship at sea).

-Powerful but lacking the accuracy of full-blown heroes; he could turn objects into light and absorb them (which I chose to stat as a Corrosion-type thing, since that's an identical effect, really-- Transform into Light is quibbly and isn't a permanent effect like Weakn & Damage are), pass through solid objects, and can fly. Nothing I can find says he can Dazzle people, but since he's made out of light, I figured I'd add that in as a logical Alt-Effect. As a result, he ends up as an actual PC-level PL 7 (105) build, not that I'd recommend playing as him.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
Posts: 24689
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Stitch

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

Behold the terrifying ferocity of the sewing needle.

STITCH (Jodi Furman)
Created By:
Bob Furman, Scott Lobdell & Pat Broderick
First Appearance: Alpha Flight Special #1 (June 1992)
Role: Retroactive Rookie, The Loner
Group Affiliations: The Flight
PL 6 (27)
STRENGTH
0 STAMINA 0 AGILITY 1
FIGHTING 2 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Ranged Combat (Metal) 4 (+7)

Advantages:
Ranged Attack 3

Powers:
"Mutant Powers: Metal Control"
"Needle Shot" Blast 4 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Penetrating) (Flaws: Requires Needles) (5) -- [6]
  • AE: "Magnetic Lifting" Move Object 3 (Feats: Precise) (Extras: Perception Range) (Flaws: Limited to Metallics) (4)
Offense:
Unarmed +2 (+0 Damage, DC 15)
Needle Shot +7 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +1

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +5 (DC 15), Toughness +0, Fortitude +2, Will +1

Complications:
Phobia (Egophobe)- Jodi is afraid of herself and her own powers, leaving her a recluse. Some evidence suggests that she may be autistic.

Total: Abilities: 4 / Skills: 4--2 / Advantages: 3 / Powers: 6 / Defenses: 11 (26)

-Stitch is another member of "The Flight", and didn't do much other than be weird (she was afraid of her powers and everybody around her other than teammate Groundhog) and get attacked by a feral Wild Child once. The Marvel Appendix suggests that she may be autistic. She had a semi-unique power: Low-Level Magnetic Control, utilizing a needle with precision. She's actually a PL 5.5 despite only appearing once, and she even held off The Swordsman for a bit with her powers, but she'd probably never hold up to actual heroics, especially since these characters were apparently around during the Silver Age (where most heroes were weaker).
Last edited by Jabroniville on Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:28 am, edited 2 times in total.
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