JDRook's Revised DCA Builds - Blaze! Blockbuster(s)! Lady Vic!

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Ares
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Re: JDRook's Revised DCA Builds - Batwoman! Beast Boy! Big Barda!

Post by Ares »

RainOnTheSun wrote: Sat Oct 31, 2020 10:33 am The current big event at DC comics is a version of Batman taking over/destroying the multiverse.
Which is stupid both in concept and execution.
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Re: JDRook's Revised DCA Builds - Birds of Prey! Lady Blackbird! Misfit!

Post by JDRook »

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When Barbara Gordon was paralyzed from the waist down after an attack by the Joker, rather than giving up she developed her data skills and became Oracle, initially working for the Suicide Squad and then Batman and the JLA as she became more established in her role. Eventually she tired of the backseat role and called on her own connections to handle targeted missions around the world. Most were one-off jobs and favors, but soon she has a small central team which is eventually called Birds of Prey. (While this was the name of the comics series, apparently no one used that term until the 86th issue [literally years in] when Lady Blackhawk suggests it as a group name but is ignored by the others due to other distractions, which sounds like a self-aware gag similar to "Doctor Who". It does come into common use in-world sometime after that; about a decade after the first issue if I'm reading it right.)

From a game standpoint, BoP is an excellent resource to have. Oracle's finger on the pulse of the supers community and world events means she might hear about the PC group long before they know about her, so she could be keeping an eye on them if they do well or even cause chaos (or both, of course). Oracle can easily become a Connection or Contact for infomation for a PC as a one-off in a campaign, or she could make an offer or call in a favour from the PC or group to handle a mission for her. BoP would be a perfect way to transition street-level or city-bound heroes to a world stage, as well as meeting and working with other supers in the field.

Birds of Prey Role Call*
Current Members: Black Canary (Laurel), DOVE, HAWK, HUNTRESS, Lady Blackhawk, ORACLE
Former Members: Big Barda, BLACK ALICE, BLUE BEETLE, CATWOMAN, GYPSY, INFINITY, JUDOMASTER, LADY SHIVA, MANHUNTER, MISFIT, POWER GIRL, SAVANT, VIXEN

*note that this list is from 2011, pre-52 era. There may have been others since then but for consistency I'm sticking with the DCA books

The BoP Base of Operations has moved around a bit through the years. Originally hidden in a clock tower in Gotham, it was destroyed during a massive gang war. Their second base was mobile, a high-tech jet called the Aerie One piloted by Lady Blackhawk. They've based out of Metropolis, Platinum Flats and are "currently" back in Gotham in Kord Tower.

Kord Tower
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Kord Tower

Toughness 12, Size Large

Features:
Communications, Computer, Fire Prevention System, Garage, Gym, Hangar, Infirmary, Library, Living Space, Personnel, Power System, Secret 4 (+25 to DC), Security System 1, Workshop

Power Points
Abilities 2 + Powers 0 + Advantages 0 + Features 17 + Skills 0 (0 ranks) + Defenses 3 + Equipment 0 (0 ep) + Weapons & Armor 0 (0 ep) = 22

Aerie One Jet
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The Aerie One in the DCA is built as equipment under Lady Blackhawk, which hardly seems fair, even if she is the only pilot. It's also a lot simpler than the online wikis make it out to be; the DCA version mentions that it's "high-tech" but doesn't describe any of the Kord Industry upgrades, like cloaking or radar decoys or EMPs or force fields. I'm pretty sure at least one of those would be best as a power stunt, but cloaking is easy. This may be post-52 or just an oversight.
Aerie One Jet - PL 11

Strength 10, Defense -2, Toughness 10, Size Huge

Powers
Cloaking: Concealment 6 (All Visual Senses, Other Sense Type: Radio)
Decoy Radar: Illusion 10 (Affects: One Sense Type - Radar, Area: 1000 cft., DC 20; Limited: Only false Aerie Images)

Flight 12 (Speed: 8000 miles/hour, 16 miles/round)
Heavy Weapons
. . Machine Guns: Damage 6 (DC 21; Increased Range: ranged, Multiattack)
. . Rockets: Burst Area Damage 11 (DC 26; Burst Area: 30 feet radius sphere, DC 21 [8 ranks only], Homing 6: 6 extra attempts, Increased Range: ranged)

Offense
Machine Guns: Damage 6, +6 (DC 21)
Rockets: Burst Area Damage 11 (DC 26)

Power Points
Abilities 4 + Powers 78 + Advantages 0 + Features 0 + Skills 0 (0 ranks) + Defenses 3 + Equipment 0 (0 ep) + Weapons & Armor 0 (0 ep) = 85
Last edited by JDRook on Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:01 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: JDRook's Revised DCA Builds - Batwoman! Beast Boy! Big Barda!

Post by RainOnTheSun »

Ares wrote: Sat Oct 31, 2020 7:17 pm Which is stupid both in concept and execution.
Oh, it's spectacularly dumb. But it's how DC comics (and Marvel, really) does things. Spider-Man has his status as an underdog and an everyman tied tightly into his appeal, so you might see him lose a fight against a less popular character if it makes sense for him to. But that's about it.
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Re: JDRook's Revised DCA Builds - Birds of Prey! Lady Blackbird! Misfit!

Post by Ken »

My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

When the most powerful super hero on Earth marries an ordinary man, hilarity ensues.
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Re: JDRook's Revised DCA Builds - Birds of Prey! Lady Blackbird! Misfit!

Post by JDRook »

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Lady Blackhawk - PL 8

Strength 2, Stamina 3, Agility 5, Dexterity 6, Fighting 6, Intellect 2, Awareness 3, Presence 2

Advantages
Accurate Attack, Attractive, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 5, Equipment 16, Evasion, Fast Grab, Improved Disarm, Improved Hold, Improved Trip, Languages 4, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Skill Mastery: Vehicles, Teamwork

Skills
Athletics 6 (+8), Close Combat: Unarmed 6 (+12), Expertise: History 3 (+5), Perception 6 (+9), Ranged Combat: Heavy Weapons 6 (+12), Ranged Combat: Pistols 6 (+12), Technology 4 (+6), Treatment 5 (+7), Vehicles 10 (+16)

Equipment
Aerie One Jet, Aerie Two Helicopter, Commlink, Heavy Pistol
Aerie One Jet - PL 11

Strength 10, Defense -2, Toughness 10, Size Huge

Powers
Flight 12 (Speed: 8000 miles/hour, 16 miles/round)
Heavy Weapons
. . Machine Guns: Damage 6 (DC 21; Increased Range: ranged, Multiattack)
. . Rockets: Burst Area Damage 11 (DC 26; Burst Area: 30 feet radius sphere, DC 21 [8 ranks only], Homing 6: 6 extra attempts, Increased Range: ranged)

Offense
Machine Guns: Damage 6, +12 (DC 21)
Rockets: Burst Area Damage 11, +12 (DC 26)

Power Points
Abilities 4 + Powers 61 + Advantages 0 + Features 0 + Skills 0 (0 ranks) + Defenses 3 + Equipment 0 (0 ep) + Weapons & Armor 0 (0 ep) = 68
Aerie Two Helicopter - PL 9

(Alternate of Aerie One Jet)

Strength 8, Defense -2, Toughness 11, Size Huge

Powers
Flight 8 (Speed: 500 miles/hour, 1 mile/round)
Heavy Weapons
. . Machine Guns: Blast 6 (DC 21; Multiattack)
. . Rockets: Burst Area Damage 9 (DC 24; Burst Area: 30 feet radius sphere, DC 19 [8 ranks only], Homing 6: 6 extra attempts, Increased Range: ranged)

Offense
Machine Guns: Blast 6, +12 (DC 21)
Rockets: Burst Area Damage 9, +12 (DC 24)

Power Points
Abilities 2 + Powers 49 + Advantages 0 + Features 0 + Skills 0 (0 ranks) + Defenses 4 + Equipment 0 (0 ep) + Weapons & Armor 0 (0 ep) = 55
Offense
Initiative +5
Grab, +6 (DC Spec 12)
Heavy Pistol, +12 (DC 19)
Throw, +6 (DC 17)
Unarmed, +12 (DC 17)

Complications
Enemy: Killer Shark
Quirk: Lady Blackhawk is displaced in time. Her mannerisms seem outdated.

Languages
Choose any 8 languages, Native Language

Defense
Dodge 8, Parry 8, Fortitude 8, Toughness 8/3, Will 8

Power Points
Abilities 58 + Powers 0 + Advantages 37 + Skills 26 (52 ranks) + Defenses 15 = 136

Now this is the kind of creative anachronism I can get behind!

Blackhawk Squadron was a famous WW2 group of ragtag hotshot top gun air jockeys from several different Allied countries, and Zinda Blake of England was a huge fangirl for them and trained hard to be on the team, but the airmen had a strict code of "No Girls Allowed." Completely without daunt, Zinda managed to save the Squadron's bacon against sky pirates often enough to win their respect and the honourary nickname "Lady Blackhawk".

Eventually things got wibbly-wobbly and timey-wimey as DC starts throwing clocks out the window and making temporal crises like Zero Hour. Our GirlHawk eventually ends up working with everyone's favourite redheaded lantern Guy Gardner for a few years, adventuring with him and tending bar at his nightclub in the off-season. Most recently, LadyHawk Black Mambazo gets tapped by Oracle to join the as-yet-unnamed BoP and signs on to do all the piloting and most of the drinking.


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She's like Katee Sackhof's Starbuck in a cuter outfit

Are you done, Bug?

I'm just praising older women here. I was going to say they don't make 'em like that anymore, but I wouldn't be surprised if somebody somewhere's in the DCU has a gene-vat or Lazarus Pit or Chrono-Slicer-Dicer cranking out sassy pilot pin-ups and julien fries. I mean, there's at least two other Ladies BlackHawk that this book doesn't even mention, and it is an infinite multiverse . . .
. . .
I have to go
{POP!}

Good thing he left; there is a LOT of LBH upskirt fanart out there.

Lady Blackhawk comes in at a solid PL8, actually quite near RtP if you take out the aircraft, although that is her whole schtick. Outside the cockpit she has all capped defenses and hits her offensive cap with her pistol at +12/4dam. Her hand-to-hand isn't bad at PL7 but it's hard to compare it to the rest of the Birds.

Once she's in the pilot's seat, though, the gloves come off. The Heavy Machine Guns on both craft get her to PL9, and the Missiles, due to weird behaviour in partial ranks and updated weapon rules, are actually targetable, making the Aerie One rockets an effective PL11.5, and that Homing 6 makes it even more deadly. Also with the updated vehicle rules and LBH's high skill and Skill Mastery in Vehicles, she can take evasive maneuvers (essentially the Defend action for vehicles) for a Defense of 24, equal to a Dodge of 14 and therefore a PL12 defensively as long as she's focused on avoidance.

As mentioned in the BoP post, the Aerie One may have a few high-tech features like cloaking or EMPs as well, if you wanted to beef up the plane (or the A2 chopper) for various missions. One might also consider getting the Durable Extra for the plane, which effectively doubles its power point cost but makes it harder to damage than a normal object.

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Up next, that last girl on the left!
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Re: JDRook's Revised DCA Builds - Birds of Prey! Lady Blackbird! Misfit!

Post by JDRook »

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Misfit - PL 9

Strength 8, Stamina 3, Agility 3, Dexterity 3, Fighting 3, Intellect 2, Awareness 3, Presence 2

Advantages
Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 3, Equipment 2, Evasion, Interpose, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Seize Initiative

Skills
Acrobatics 5 (+8), Athletics 5 (+13), Close Combat: Unarmed 7 (+10), Ranged Combat: Batarang 7 (+10)

Powers

Bouncing: Teleport 20 (4000 miles in a move action, carrying 50 lbs.; Accurate, Change Direction, Change Velocity, Easy, Extended: 1 million miles in 2 move actions, Turnabout; Limited: Can’t Teleport Other Organic Matter)
Reassembly: Healing 6 (Limited: Must Teleport First)
Tech Cloak: Concealment 10 (All Senses; Limited to Machines)


Equipment

Batarang (Increased Range on STR Damage)
Batline: Movement 1 (Swinging)

Offense
Initiative +3
Grab, +3 (DC Spec 18)
Throw, +10 (DC 23)
Unarmed, +10 (DC 23)

Complications
Responsibility: To Oracle and the Birds of Prey
Rivalry: With Black Alice

Defense
Dodge 12, Parry 12, Fortitude 9, Toughness 6/3, Will 9

Power Points
Abilities 54 + Powers 99 + Advantages 11 + Skills 12 (24 ranks) + Defenses 30 = 206

Another character I'd never heard of until picking up DCA, but this one I actually managed to dig up actual comic appearances to read.

Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe first shows up as yet another Batgirl, surprising the hell out of Oracle and the rest of the BoP. Charlie turns out to be a girl orphaned by tragic circumstances, with her mother and brother dying in a fire in Metropolis and her only getting away because she has magical superpowers that were unfortunately insufficient to save them too. Driven by a pile of guilt and other traumas, Charlie "bounces" her way to Gotham, eventually locates the BoP and manages to shadow them undetected for a while until she decides that she needs to take on the mantle of the next Batgirl.

{POP!} MARY SUE!

What?

She's the Mary-Suest! This kid shows up all bat-geared, knows everybody's real names and kicks their asses without breaking a sweat. Gypsy, Huntress and freakin' Black Canary - bam! And the whole time she's dropping quips and "Daarrrk Vengeaaaance"ing and she even takes a bullet meant for Huntress all heroic like. And then she sneaks up on Oracle. ORACLE!!! In her own gosh-darn impregnable high-tech HQ! And calls her "Babs" and gets her to train her and--

Whoa, take a breath, Bug! Have a Yoohoo. If you're going to keep showing up I figured I'd stock up.

*pop*glug*gasp* I resubmit: Mary Sue!

I'll admit she does start off pretty OP, but that seems to wear out quick. She never seems to be that good in a fight again. When they encounter the Secret Six ft Harley Quinn, she pairs off with HQ and makes virtually no headway fighting her. She also does a Nightcrawler-special and 'port-kicks a handful of name muscle who drop but do not stay down, and they do turn on her. She does manage to hold the top of the ticket in an underground meta-fight ring while under mind-control though.

Her biggest "Anti-Sue" moment would have to be after she 'ports into the cockpit of a mecha running loose in downtown Metropolis and accidentally blows it up, making a crater and killing probably hundreds. It's so bad Superman shows up and gives Oracle one of those calm-voiced dressings down that are worse than getting yelled at. Misfit's in the room, but Supe does not acknowledge her directly in any way, which would be very Sue.

Well, I don't like her!

She does come off pretty self-important and bratty, but that's not really out of character for a 15 year old girl who's on her own. The patter is partly annoying and partly endearing since it adds some fun to the serious tone. And her powers, while overdone and not well-defined (of course they turn out to be magic) are really handy for inserting her in the field on the BoP international missions. In fact Oracle-

don't say it

-even says that she's-

don't say it

-the most powerful teleporter she's ever OHMIGOD you're jealous!

Ain't Neither!

It all makes sense now! I don't need to explain all this history to you, you already know it, but you're mad about it! Misfit is a wisecracking teleporter chock full of fangirl knowledge--she's practically stealing your schtick! Between her powers, attitude, and the red hair and freckles, she's like a combination of you and Pippi Longstockings. Hmm, maybe that's why she's so strong for no reason.

It's an insult, I tells ya! When Black Canary took a vacation from the Birds, Oracle sent out over a dozen invites for replacements and I didn't make the list! I am a far superior teleporter to Misfit. I can even take people with me without turning them into cold cuts! Of course, that would mean they wouldn't really need Lady Blackhawk on the team to drive the bus, and that might be a dealbreaker, but I think we could negotiate . . .

There's also the fact you're a dude.

Labels! Besides, they let Hawk in, and the newer Blue Beetle. He's even insect-themed!

Bugs of Prey?

Ya see, if you say it with that tone, anything would sound bad. I'm gonna talk to Jaimie, I think this idea has legs!

Six of them?

Don't quit your day job. {POP!}



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Mechanically, Charlie falls a little short on the Batgirl Template, but makes up for it with her meta abilities, which are eventually revealed to be magical. Her Attributes are pretty good for a teenager, with the exception of that STR 8, which seems a little extreme. While it would explain how she held her own against 3 Birds of Prey, she's never been seen picking up a vehicle or anything else that would show this strength, so I'm thinking it might be best as Damage bonus with a Magical descriptor.

Her Advantages seem to be split between combat training (largely from Oracle) and speed-related stuff like Evasion, Interpose and Seize Initiative that would probably fall under her teleport power. She doesn't have Agile Feint or Hide in Plain Sight, but since she can teleport and literally vanish from in front of someone, she doesn't really need it (although AgFe with her Teleport rank would be insane for feints and tricks). Her Batarang is weird equipment since it's built just as Increased Range on her STR damage, and with Power Attack could potentially do more damage than even Batman can, which seems a little much for equipment. FWIW, she doesn't seem to use the batarangs or batline again after taking on the Misfit persona.

Her skills are pretty limited, which makes sense for her age and background. Everything there is largely Oracle's training and personal practice. She doesn't have any Investigation or Stealth skills, although she did manage to follow the Birds for long enough to find Oracle, suss out all of their identities and never got caught, so that's a bit of a plot-hole. (MAGIC!)

On to her Powers! Like Ambush Bug, Misfit is a world-range teleporter that's been way overbuilt for what it needs to do. At rank 20, she can teleport 4000 miles in a single move action, and with Extended and Easy she can go about 5 light-seconds (way beyond the moon's orbit) in two move actions. Since she's certainly been shown to 'port internationally but with no signs of spaceworthiness, I'm going to assume we can limit her range to Earth, so rank 14 + Extended is enough for that. Also, the limit on organics probably shouldn't be a full Flaw. Base Teleport only allows 50lbs of cargo by default, and disallowing organics is probably a -1p flat flaw at best, or possibly better as a Complication. I've seen a build that suggests how to resolve the damage to organics as an attack, but if she deliberately attempted to do this, I'd probably make it a Power Stunt, and since as a character she's violently opposed to doing this, I might also require a Hero Point.

Her Healing also depends on her "bounce," although it's not clear if the teleport itself does the healing or triggers it to allow her to heal; the build models the latter moreso. My take would be a Regen 10 with Source: Teleport, so she'd just remove either 1 bruise or her worst condition every turn she 'ports, with the rest of her "accelerated healing" covered by the normal M&M mechanics of healing pretty fast. The Tech Cloak is pretty strong, but I'm not sure if she can turn it off or if it's permanent; they both cost the same and either works, but I'm leaning toward the latter.

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Misfit - PL 9

Strength 1, Stamina 3, Agility 3, Dexterity 3, Fighting 3, Intellect 2, Awareness 3, Presence 2

Advantages
Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 3, Equipment 1, Evasion, Interpose, Move-by Action, Power Attack, Seize Initiative, Throwing Mastery 7

Skills
Acrobatics 5 (+8), Athletics 5 (+6), Close Combat: Unarmed 7 (+10), Ranged Combat: Batarang 7 (+10)

Powers

Bouncing: Teleport 14 (60 miles in a move action, carrying 50 lbs.; Accurate, Change Direction, Change Velocity, Easy, Extended: 16000 miles in 2 move actions, Turnabout)
Dark Vengeance!
. . Magical Melee: Strength-based Damage 7 (magical, DC 23; Subtle: subtle)
. . Magical Throw: Enhanced Trait 7 (magical, Advantages: Throwing Mastery 7; Subtle: subtle)
Reassembly: Regeneration 10 (Every 1 round; Source: Must Bounce that round)
Tech Cloak: Concealment 10 (All Senses; Limited to Machines, Permanent)

Equipment
Batline [Movement 1, Swinging], Homemade Batarang [Damage 1, DC 16; Increased Range: ranged]

Offense
Initiative +3
Grab, +3 (DC Spec 11)
Homemade Batarang: Damage 1, +10 (DC 23)
Magical Melee: Strength-based Damage 7, +10 (DC 23)

Complications
Responsibility: To Oracle and the Birds of Prey
Rivalry: With Black Alice

Defense
Dodge 12, Parry 12, Fortitude 9, Toughness 6/3, Will 9

Power Points
Abilities 40 + Powers 97 + Advantages 10 + Skills 12 (24 ranks) + Defenses 30 = 189

Here's a cleaned up version of Misfit that's 17p less than the DCA one but still with all the same functionality, including the bat-gear and the tech-cloak that don't seem to come up again after her first appearance. I have some ideas involving a Dynamic Array that could probably shave another 30-odd points off of this and help explain her amazing situational powers, but I think I'll leave that for another day.
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Re: JDRook's Revised DCA Builds - Birds of Prey! Lady Blackbird! Misfit!

Post by Davies »

You neglected to include her most important complication.

Catchphrase: "Darrrrrrrk vengeance!"
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."
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JDRook's Ruined DCA Builds - Bizarro am not perfect, and that OK

Post by JDRook »

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Bizarro - PL 15

Strength 19, Stamina 14, Agility 2, Dexterity 2, Fighting 8, Intellect -2, Awareness -2, Presence 1

Advantages
Power Attack, Ultimate Effort: Toughness checks

Skills
Close Combat: Unarmed 3 (+11), Expertise: Bizarro World 15 (+13), Ranged Combat: Arctic Vision 8 (+10)

Powers
Arctic Vision: Blast 15 (DC 30)
Falling
. . Down, Down, and Here!: Flight 15 (Speed: 64000 miles/hour, 120 miles/round)
. . Earth Flight: Movement 1 (Space Travel 1: within solar system)
. . Slower than Speeding Bullet!: Speed 15 (Speed: 64000 miles/hour, 120 miles/round)
Flame Breath: Cone Area Damage 12 (DC 27; Cone Area: 60 feet cone, DC 22)
Super-Senselessness: Senses 14 (Acute Extended: Hearing 1: x10, Extended: Vision 3: x1k, Infravision, Microscopic Vision 4: atom-size, Penetrates Concealment: Vision, Ultravision; Quirk 2: can only see through lead)
Super-Slow: Quickness 8 (Perform routine tasks in -8 time ranks)
Super-Weakness: Power-lifting 4 (+4 STR for lifting)
Vulnerability
. . Immunity 5 (Environmental Conditions (All))
. . Impervious Toughness 18
. . Protection 4 (+4 Toughness)

Offense
Initiative +2
Arctic Vision: Blast 15, +10 (DC 30)
Flame Breath: Cone Area Damage 12 (DC 27)
Grab, +8 (DC Spec 29)
Throw, +2 (DC 34)
Unarmed, +11 (DC 34)

Complications
Acceptance: Everything he does, no matter how inexplicable, stems from a heartfelt desire to find his place in the (Bizarro) world.
Quirk: As best he can, he strives to uphold the Bizarro Code: “Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!”
Relationship: Blue kryptonite weakens Bizarro in the same manner the green variety hurts Superman. See the Blue Kryptonite sidebar.
Weakness: Despite their fittingly odd marriage, Bizarro Lois Lane is the most important person in his life.

Defense
Dodge 10, Parry 10, Fortitude 15, Toughness 18, Will 9

Power Points
Abilities 84 + Powers 137 + Advantages 2 + Skills 13 (26 ranks) + Defenses 22 = 258

There are several Bizarros in DC history, usually due to accidental or deliberate attempts to make a copy of Superman or Superboy, but the DCA version is the one created by the Joker while he had the powers of Mister Mxyzptlk. A twisted reflection of Superman, he has all of Supe's powers (or an opposite equivalent) but a child-like mind and a moral compass that never stops spinning. Superman feels responsible for him and does what he can to help him, or at least minimize his threat.

While he does try to keep to his own code of whatever qualifies as "good", his limited mental faculties and Oscar-the-Grouch logic make him an easy target for manipulation, with the Secret Society, Lex Luthor and even Zod making him commit heinous acts, although one of the worst things he ever did was beat the original Human Bomb to death because he liked the sparks flying off when he hit him.

For a mirror antagonist, he's kind of interesting, allowing for some philosophical play with identity not unlike Frankenstein's monster, but can also run the whole range of comic to tragic, which I imagine made him fun to write for. There's obviously some love for Bizarro in DC since they even gave him his own world that he could populate with Bizarro-versions of all kinds of characters, giving him sort of a happy ending but also keeping him around to be a moral challenge for Clark or a wreckless goon for anybody else.

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Mechanically he's of course meant to be an equal to Superman, at least physically, with DCA setting PL15 as "Superman Tier." Bizarro only hits offensive caps with unarmed combat, and is only around PL12 with his Arctic Vision, Heat Breath, and even throwing massive objects. His physical defenses come in at PL14 and F/W at PL12, although it's arguable whether his Will should even be that high.

His physical Abilities are identical to Superman's, putting him in the top tier of Strength in the DCA with about a dozen others, many of whom are also Superman-derived. He has below human average INT and AWE, as well as few Advantages and Skills. It should be noted that due to his low Abilities, common checks like Perception and Insight routinely hit 8, meaning that he would have trouble spotting even easy things or remembering stuff.

His powers are standard Kryptonian Template with different names and/or Descriptors. (I'll probably build a Krypto Template once I get up to Superman.) Note the Space Travel as a separate Flight Array slot compared to the combined Flight/Movement slot used by Lantern rings. There's also the Acute Hearing error in ALL Kryptonian builds since Hearing sense is Acute by default. I do like that his X-ray vision can only see through lead, which should totally be worth a full flaw.

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Bizarro RtP - PL 10

Strength 14, Stamina 10, Agility 1, Dexterity 1, Fighting 4, Intellect -2, Awareness -2, Presence 0

Advantages
Power Attack, Ultimate Effort: Toughness checks

Skills
Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+6), Expertise: Bizarro World 9 (+7), Ranged Combat: Arctic Vision 5 (+6)

Powers
Arctic Vision: Blast 10 (DC 25)
Falling
. . Down, Down, and Here!: Flight 10 (Speed: 2000 miles/hour, 4 miles/round)
. . Earth Flight: Movement 1 (Space Travel 1: within solar system)
. . Slower than Speeding Bullet!
. . . . Quickness 10 (Perform routine tasks in -10 time ranks)
. . . . Speed 10 (Speed: 2000 miles/hour, 4 miles/round)
Strengh Stunts
. . Flame Breath: Cone Area Damage 7 (Alternate; DC 22; Cone Area: 60 feet cone, DC 17)
. . Super-Weakness: Enhanced Strength 14 (Alternate; +14 STR; Limited to Lifting)
Super-Senselessness: Senses 14 (Extended: Hearing 1: x10, Extended: Vision 3: x1k, Infravision, Microscopic Vision 4: atom-size, Penetrates Concealment: Vision, Ultravision; Quirk 3: can only see through lead)
Vulnerability
. . Immunity 5 (Environmental Conditions (All))
. . Protection 3 (+3 Toughness; Impervious [10 extra ranks])

Offense
Initiative +1
Arctic Vision: Blast 10, +6 (DC 25)
Flame Breath: Cone Area Damage 7 (DC 22)
Grab, +4 (DC Spec 24)
Throw, +1 (DC 29)
Unarmed, +6 (DC 29)

Complications
Acceptance: Everything he does, no matter how inexplicable, stems from a heartfelt desire to find his place in the (Bizarro) world.
Quirk: As best he can, he strives to uphold the Bizarro Code: “Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!”
Relationship: Blue kryptonite weakens Bizarro in the same manner the green variety hurts Superman. See the Blue Kryptonite sidebar.
Weakness: Despite their fittingly odd marriage, Bizarro Lois Lane is the most important person in his life.

Defense
Dodge 5, Parry 5, Fortitude 10, Toughness 13, Will 5

Power Points
Abilities 52 + Powers 76 + Advantages 2 + Skills 8 (16 ranks) + Defenses 12 = 150

For fun, a PL10 Bizarro! He could be a really weird flying brick for your team, or a nemesis for your team's current Paragon or Powerhouse. Or you could make Zod's army of Bizarros just by making this build a minion and having lots of them.

I used a few cheesy cheats to get his points down. I created a Strength Stunt array based on Bizarro's STR Damage, giving me a 14p pool to make Flame Breath at rank 7 (previously Superman's Superbreath was assumed to be a Power Stunt that essentially did this) and a 14 rank Power-Lift that gives Bizarro an effective lifting STR of 28. I moved his Quickness into the Speed slot on the Flight array which just means he can't use Quickness while flying. I was tempted to make Super-Senseless an AE of Arctic Vision, but that's a bridge too far IMO; besides the conceptual problems, technically that would make the Senses all visible when in use.
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Davies
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Re: JDRook's Ruined DCA Builds - Bizarro am not perfect, and that OK

Post by Davies »

Y'know, there's something that's always sort of bothered me about Bizarro. He tries so hard to be Superman's opposite, and yet ... Superman is strong, and fast, and invulnerable. If Bizarro is the opposite, shouldn't he be weak, and slow, and easily hurt?

And then it hits me: if that were the case, he'd be Superman's perfect opposite ... and it am big crime to do anything perfect on Bizarro World.
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JDRook
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Re: JDRook's Revised DCA Builds - Black, Black Like My Soul . . .

Post by JDRook »

Man, I don't know how you guys keep up the pace. I'll have been posting these for 6 months come the end of November and I've done about a quarter of my target. I was hoping to do about 1 volume per year, but now I just want to see if I can make it to C by Christmas.

But onward! Now for a whole lot of entries that paint it black.

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JDRook's Revised DCA Builds - Black Adam! More Birds, but not in Hand

Post by JDRook »

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Black Adam - PL 16

Strength 19, Stamina 16, Agility 2, Dexterity 2, Fighting 10, Intellect 1, Awareness 10/3, Presence 3

Advantages
Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Eidetic Memory, Great Endurance, Improved Initiative, Jack-of-all-trades, Move-by Action

Skills
Close Combat: Unarmed 3 (+13), Expertise: Tactics 9 (+10), Insight 2 (+12), Intimidation 8 (+11), Perception 2 (+12)

Powers

Stamina of Shu
. . Immunity 10 (Life Support)
. . Protection 2 (+2 Toughness; Impervious [16 extra ranks])

Swiftness of Heru
. . Flight 15 (Speed: 64000 miles/hour, 120 miles/round)
. . Movement 1 (Dimensional: Rock of Eternity 1: one dimension, 50 lbs.)
. . Swiftness
. . . . Quickness 15 (Linked; Perform routine tasks in -15 time ranks)
. . . . Speed 15 (Linked; Speed: 64000 miles/hour, 120 miles/round)

Strength of Amon: Power-lifting 4 (+4 STR for lifting)

Wisdom of Zehuti: Enhanced Trait 18 (Traits: Awareness +7 (+10), Advantages: Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Eidetic Memory, Jack-of-all-trades)

Courage of Mehen
. . Enhanced Trait 5 (Traits: Will +5 (+16))
. . Impervious Will 10


Offense
Initiative +6
Grab, +10 (DC Spec 29)
Throw, +2 (DC 34)
Unarmed, +13 (DC 34)

Complications
Power Loss: Black Adam loses his powers and reverts to his mortal form when he speaks the magic word “Shazam.” His Strength, Stamina, and Awareness become 3.
Relationship: With his wife, Isis (Adrianna Tomaz) and brother-in-law, Osiris (Amon Tomaz).
Temper: Black Adam is infamous for his towering rages.

Languages
Native Language?

Defense
Dodge 11, Parry 11, Fortitude 16, Toughness 18, Will 16/11

Power Points
Abilities 112 + Powers 99 + Advantages 3 + Skills 12 (24 ranks) + Defenses 11 = 237

Black Adam was originally a one-off villain for the Marvel family, partly as a device to introduce the Marvel Family series from Fawcett magazines. In summary, 5000 years ago the Wizard Shazam decided the world needed a champion and gave Teth-Adam the powers of Shazam to be that champion, but T-A soon realized he was powerful enough to oust the pharaohs and rule himself and did so, so the Wizard cursed him as Black Adam and banished him to "the farthest star" 5000 light years away. The story in Marvel Family #1 has B-A arriving on Earth after having flown at light speed for 5000 years, the family desperately trying to stop him until the Wizard tells them to trick him into saying Shazam. (The trickery is actually handled by Uncle Marvel, or Uncle Dudley, who does not have powers but does have his own Marvel outfit he wears under his clothes and quick-changes when the others call the lightning.) The minute Black Adam changes into Teth, he ages and dies on the spot, essentially demonstrating that the Marvel Family can defeat foes with cunning as well as strength.

The Post-Crisis pre-52 Black Adam of the DCA books builds on to this. Teth-Adam lived in the fictionalized Middle Eastern country of Khandaq around 1300 BCE and was granted his powers by one known at the time as "The Champion" who would later be known as the wizard Shazam. As opposed to immediately going power-mad, the Mighty Adam (Teth-Adam apparently means "Mighty Human") acts as a true champion and protecter, essentially a pre-Christian Superman, for many centuries. However, a servant of Vandal Savage named Ahk-ton conquers Khandaq and kills Adam's wife and child*, enraging Adam who kills Ahk-ton and swears to reclaim Khandaq by any means. The Champion sees that Adam has Gone Black and says "Nuh-uh" and strips Khem-(Black)-Adam of his powers and contains them in a scarab. Like before, Adam's body mummifies, but this is only the beginning.

*considering the period, it would actually be unusual for someone so powerful not to have multiple wives and children, even ignoring the fact he's immortal, but killing them is certainly a viable reason for vengeance that never goes out of style.

Thousands of years pass until archaeological power couple CC and Marilyn Batson discover the tomb of Khem-Adam. Their assistant, Theo Adam, sees the scarab and is driven to kill the Batson and take it for himself. This prompts the Wizard to find their orphaned son Billy Batson and make him the new Champion. When Theo sees Captain Marvel and realizes how much he looks like CC Batson, he deduces that he could be the reincarnation of Teth, and tests this theory by holding the scarab and Shazaming. In short, it works, changing him into the modern Black Adam.

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B-A was originally a hero, came back as a villain and foil for Captain Marvel, but then tried to be a hero again with the JSA claiming that Theo Adam was to blame for his villainous impulses. However, Adam still has a temper and centuries of low justice shaping his actions, so he can come off as a brutal anti-hero. Actually, his arc is somewhat similar to Bane's, right down to reclaiming and liberating Khandaq, so as a mirror villain he's more a Bane-Zam than a Bizarro-Marvel.

His build is relatively simple for someone so powerful, has no obvious mistakes and pointwise even comes close to being a "starting PL16 PC" if there's such an animal. He's actually one PL over Captain Marvel, with his Unarmed Close Attack and Fort/Will defenses hitting the PL16 cap, making him a huge threat 1-on-1 and necessitating teamwork and/or cunning to oppose.

However, there are a few things that feel lacking.

His powers obviously affect his whole character, but it's not quite as spelled out as it could be, although that might have been a choice to keep it simple. Technically, his Stength of Amon should include STR 16 added to his base 3 mentioned in Complications, as well as STA 13 from Shu. Most of his Advantages are Enhanced in each god powerset and arguably the ones that aren't should be assigned to other gods. Wisdom of Zehuati should probably include Comprehend 3 to cover all languages and literacy (and gloss over whatever his native language should be). Power of Atun is the second "A" and not listed, but represents flight and other power, so it's sort of folded into the Swiftness of Heru array, which would also be a good source for power-stunting a redirected lightning blast. Impervious Will under Courage of Mehen is a rare, possibly unique use of Imperv in the book that is interesting but may not be as useful as something like a Half-Effect Will Immunity.

On the other hand, it's unclear what traits Teth has outside the boon of the gods. Fighting could be assigned to a god, but could also be part of his centuries of combat experience. The same could be said for some of his skills and Advantages, that may be effective in his normal form but boosted in full Shazam. He should probably also have an Age Immunity, although I guess it's assumed his Theo Adam form is modern and therefore wouldn't age thousands of years in his normal form; the question is whether he might need to "possess" another body when Theo gets old. Presumably he has a base Will of 11 since Courage of Mehen gives him +5, and while they've made the Great Endurance/Life Support redundancy error again, one could assume that Teth has Great Endurance in human form.

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Black Adam - PL 16

Strength 19/3, Stamina 16/3, Agility 2, Dexterity 2, Fighting 10, Intellect 1, Awareness 10/3, Presence 3

Advantages
Assessment, Beginner's Luck, Eidetic Memory, Great Endurance, Improved Initiative, Jack-of-all-trades, Move-by Action

Skills
Close Combat: Unarmed 3 (+13), Expertise: Tactics 9 (+10), Insight 2 (+12), Intimidation 8 (+11), Perception 2 (+12)

Powers

Courage of Mehen
. . Enhanced Trait 5 (Traits: Will +5 (+16))
. . Immunity 30 (Will Effects; Limited - Half Effect)

Stamina of Shu
. . Enhanced Stamina 13 (+13 STA)
. . Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support)
. . Protection 2 (+2 Toughness; Impervious [16 extra ranks])

Strength of Amon: Enhanced Strength 20 (+20 STR; Limited to Lifting [4 ranks only])

Swiftness of Heru
. . Flight 16 (Speed: 125000 miles/hour, 250 miles/round)
. . Power of Atun: Movement 2 (Dimensional: Rock of Eternity 1: one dimension, 50 lbs., Space Travel 1: within solar system)
. . Swiftness
. . . . Quickness 16 (Linked; Perform routine tasks in -16 time ranks)
. . . . Speed 16 (Linked; Speed: 125000 miles/hour, 250 miles/round)

Wisdom of Zehuti
. . Comprehend 3 (Languages - Read All, Languages - Speak All, Languages - Understand All)
. . Enhanced Trait 17 (Traits: Awareness +7 (+10), Advantages: Beginner's Luck, Eidetic Memory, Jack-of-all-trades)

Offense
Initiative +6
Grab, +10 (DC Spec 29)
Throw, +2 (DC 34)
Unarmed, +13 (DC 34)

Complications
Power Loss: Black Adam loses his powers and reverts to his mortal form when he speaks the magic word “Shazam.” His Strength, Stamina, and Awareness become 3.
Relationship: With his wife, Isis (Adrianna Tomaz) and brother-in-law, Osiris (Amon Tomaz).
Temper: Black Adam is infamous for his towering rages.

Defense
Dodge 11, Parry 11, Fortitude 16, Toughness 18, Will 16/11

Power Points
Abilities 54 + Powers 170 + Advantages 4 + Skills 12 (24 ranks) + Defenses 11 = 251

This is a slightly adjusted and incrementally more powerful version of Black Adam based on the DCA build. It includes a Comprehend power for all languages, a rank in Space Travel to represent his interstellar flight at light speed, and a bump in his Flight, Speed and Quickness to allow for full PL Slam Attacks and an even bigger Lightning Power Stunt. I moved Assessement to his own skillset, letting the Awareness boost cover his improved capability, but otherwise left most of the rest untouched. I don't know how useful the non-Shazam'd Teth should be (or who'd want him available), but it's tricky pulling the gods out of the man. With everything turned "off" he's still PL8 with high Defenses (which may be the domain of Heru) and excellent fighting skills but otherwise healthy human range.
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Re: JDRook's Revised DCA Builds - Black Adam! More Birds, but not in Hand

Post by Jabroniville »

Nice Black Adam! I forgot they decided to make him PL 16 or something in the book. Probably in order to make him a bigger threat to the Marvel Family (like, he's got to fight all three of them!).
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Re: JDRook's Revised DCA Builds - Black Adam! More Birds, but not in Hand

Post by JDRook »

Jabroniville wrote: Fri Nov 27, 2020 5:54 amNice Black Adam! I forgot they decided to make him PL 16 or something in the book. Probably in order to make him a bigger threat to the Marvel Family (like, he's got to fight all three of them!).
That was my guess. Here's his first fight with all three.
BlackAdamMarvels.jpg
BlackAdamMarvels.jpg (165.52 KiB) Viewed 2223 times
And here's Uncle Dudley nailing his Deception check 2 frames later.
BlackAdamDudley.jpg
BlackAdamDudley.jpg (90.79 KiB) Viewed 2223 times
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Re: JDRook's Revised DCA Builds - Black Adam! More Birds, but not in Hand

Post by Ares »

To be fair, that was from a time when the Marvels were more durable than they were strong. When Adam similarly punched Cap, Cap didn't feel anything either. Cap and Adam trading punches didn't harm either of them.
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Re: JDRook's Revised DCA Builds - Black Adam! More Birds, but not in Hand

Post by Ken »

Black Adam doesn't have centuries of combat experience. He spent most of his 5000 years just flying through space at the speed of light just to get back to Earth. He had no time to fight.
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