Char: Ergo

[jkwleisemann]

Call it Backworld, Mirror World, Bizarro World, Left-Hand Earth (Teen Champions, look it up....), a world with inverted morality is one of the oldest tropes of comic book fiction. What happens when one of the villains from such a world shows up on our Earth?

 

What happens when that villain is Ergo, her world's equivalent of the Ogre?

 

HD Char sheet attached

 

[b]Ergo - Jacqueline "Jackie" Stevens[/b]
[b][u]VAL[/u]   [u]CHA[/u]   [u]Cost[/u]   [u]Total[/u]   [u]Roll[/u]      [u]Notes[/u][/b]
65    STR     55   65      22-       HTH Damage 13d6  END [6]
19    DEX     27   19      13-       OCV 6 DCV 6
32    CON     44   32      15-
21    BODY    22   21      13-
10    INT     0   10      11-       PER Roll 11-
13    EGO     6   13      12-       ECV: 4
26    PRE     16   26      14-       PRE Attack: 5d6
14    COM     2   14      12-
30    PD      1   30             30 PD (16 rPD)
23    ED      5   23             23 ED (12 rED)
4    SPD     11   4                 Phases:  3, 6, 9, 12
19    REC     0   19
64    END     0   64
71    STUN    1   71
6    RUN      0   6"                END [1]
2    SWIM     0   2"                END [1]
23    LEAP     10   23"                23" forward, 11 1/2" upward
[b]CHA Cost: 200[/b]
[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]POWERS[/u][/b]
52     [b][i]Hardened Body[/i][/b]: Armor (16 PD/12 ED), Hardened (+1/4) (52 Active Points) - END=0
5     [b][i]Hardened Body[/i][/b]: Lack Of Weakness (-5) for Normal Defense - END=0
40     [b][i]Brick Tricks[/i][/b]: Multipower, 60-point reserve,  (60 Active Points); all slots Requires A Brick Tricks Roll  (-1/2) - END=
2u     1)  [b][i]The Big Wrap Up[/i][/b]: Entangle 6d6, 6 DEF, Side Effects (Side Effect only affects the environment near the character; May cause considerable damage to the environment; +0) (60 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses about a third of its effectiveness (DEF depends on material used; -1/2), OIF (Materials of Opportunity; -1/2), Requires A Brick Tricks Roll  (-1/2) - END=6
2u     2)  [b][i]Super Strength Smash Through[/i][/b]: Tunneling 1" through 13 DEF material (41 Active Points); Requires A Brick Tricks Roll  (-1/2), Limited Power Power loses about a fourth of its effectiveness (Only "thin" structures (walls, doors, vaults, etc.); -1/4) - END=4
2u     3)  Explosion (+1/2) for up to 65 Active Points of Strength, Hole In The Middle (+1/4) (40 Active Points); Extra Time (Extra Segment, -1/2), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (-5 DCV; -1/2), Requires A Brick Tricks Roll  (-1/2) - END=4
[b]POWERS Cost: 103[/b]

[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]SKILLS[/u][/b]
1      Computer Programming (Personal Computers) 8-
0      Language:  Backworld English (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)
3      Language:  Earth English (completely fluent)
2      KS: Backworld Superhero World 11-
2      KS: Federal Law 11-
2      KS: Federal Police Procedure 11-
2      KS: Charity Organizations 11-
4      Survival (Temperate/Subtropical, Urban) 11-
2      PS: Farming 11-
3      Paramedics 11-
3      Hoist 11-
3      Teamwork 13-
5      Power:  Brick Tricks 14-
6      +2 with Brick Tricks powers/skills
[b]SKILLS Cost: 38[/b]
[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]PERKS[/u][/b]
9      Contact:  PRIMUS (Good relationship with Contact), Organization Contact (x3) (9 Active Points) 11-
[b]PERKS Cost: 9[/b]
[b][u]Value[/u]  [u]DISADVANTAGES[/u][/b]
20     Psychological Limitation:  Code Versus Killing Common, Total
15     Psychological Limitation:  Devoted to Helping the Weak/Unfortunate (Common, Strong) [Notes: Sucker for a sob story; unable to respond to hostage situations in a way that would endanger the hostage]
10     Psychological Limitation:  Reluctant to use full strength (Common, Moderate) [Notes: Typically, can only use up to STR 48 without an Ego roll.]
15     Vulnerability:  1 1/2 x Effect Mental Powers, generally (Very Common)
15     Physical Limitation:  Confused about Right-Hand Earth morality/standards/"who's who" (Frequently, Greatly Impairing)
10     Physical Limitation:  Difficulty Controlling Strength (Frequently, Slightly Impairing)
15     Hunted:  PRIMUS 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Watching)
25     Hunted:  ARGENT 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Harshly Punish)
15     Social Limitation:  Public Identity Frequently (11-), Major
10     Distinctive Features:  Huge, hulking, and green-skinned (Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)
[b]DISADVANTAGES Points: 150[/b]
Base Pts: 200
Exp Required: 0
Total Exp Available: 0
Exp Unspent: 0
Total Character Cost: 350

 

Background:

 

Backworld. A place where everything, from morality to the dominant hand of the majority of the population, is twisted and reversed. A world where strength and self-sufficiency is valued over kindness and weakness, where the greatest criminals would be considered among Earth's greatest philanthropists.

 

Jacqueline Stevens used to be a normal person on Backworld. She looked out for #1, took what she wanted where she found it, and considered herself a good, upstanding citizen. Then she was kidnapped by the non-profit organization AURUM, and subjected to hellish tortures and treatments... at least by her world's standards. By the time they were done with her, she was one of the strongest people on Backworld... though she was a little dim-witted, her mind and personality heavily subdued by the brainwashing she had endured. Now, she was a gentle, caring giant, willing to put her life on the line to protect the weak, fighting against corruption and exploitation, not only working for free, but actually working to *help* people for free....

She had become a supervillain. She was called Ergo, after a powerful creature of legend that was widely feared and reviled for its selfless, caring nature, and she worked beside AURUM to try and make the world a gentler place.

 

Of course, eventually the forces of law and order caught up with AURUM and Ergo. Unfortunately, they did so just as AURUM scientists discovered a world that seemed more in line with their philosophies. Government agents broke into the base, and Ergo fought hard... but there was only so much she could do alone. Eventually she fell, and a stray blast hit the machine the scientists had used to find Earth. One of the researchers, realizing that the malfunctioning device had opened a portal *to* Earth, quickly decided that the only way to be sure that any of them survived, and that Ergo got the medical attention she needed, would be to get her through the portal. With a herculean effort (given her size) a few of the scientists managed to get her through... just before a grenade destroyed the portal generator, and the AURUM operatives.

 

Fortunately (?), the portal had opened up in the middle of an UNTIL lab that was trying to figure out how to generate teleportation gates. When Ergo woke up, she was heavily restrained in a medical bay. Seeing the men in uniform, she assumed that she had been captured, and resigned herself to her fate. After some work with a translator device, they managed to get her story... and to explain where she was. Ergo was offered training and a possible position with UNITY... but she ultimately declined, saying she wanted to learn about her new world starting with her home-country. UNTIL put her in touch with PRIMUS agents, and Jacqueline (after some people explained, once again, that she was now a super*hero* and not a super*villain*) started to work with them, going back to her old tricks... and trying to figure out how to live in a world where she isn't a wanted criminal for helping people.

 

Personality/Motivation:

 

Ergo isn't quite as slow as her Earth counterpart, Ogre. Unfortunately, she still isn't exactly brilliant, which makes it even harder for her, at times, to figure out exactly what's going on. You see, the world she's in now *looks* almost exactly like her own. She knows what cars are, what cell phones are, she used to be a computer programmer (not that she has more than the vaguest ideas of how to do so now)... but everything's turned around.

 

Here, the superheroes *help* people, they do the right thing by their world's standards... things that, back home, were sometimes considered capital offenses. As a result, she's a little leery of anybody in a uniform that she doesn't know (cops and flagsuits alike make her *extremely* nervous, having been a supervillain in her own world). Worse, sometimes she gets confused about the fact that the bad guys here *aren't* trying to accomplish the things she is. She can easily be duped by somebody from an organization like VIPER or ARGENT... and doesn't tend to learn her lesson well, as it wasn't uncommon for moles to try and get into such groups and bring them down in Backworld, hoping to collect a hefty reward for their efforts.

 

Still, she does her best. Easily won over by a sob story, most of her PRIMUS salary goes to one charity or another (she spends a *lot* of time living on PRIMUS resources rather than her own, but it's not bad PR, so they don't complain too much. Usually.)

 

Quote:

 

"But... isn't VIPER on our side? Oh... not here... right."

 

Powers/Tactics:

 

Ergo, like the Ogre, is phenomenally strong and not particularly bright. She doesn't use much in the way of tactics, simply whaling away at whatever target looks the biggest and most dangerous until it stops being a threat, then moving on to the next one and repeating. Unlike the Ogre, she doesn't like Haymakering very often, being greatly concerned that her incredible strength could cause someone serious harm if she isn't careful enough. Indeed, she actually needs to make a mental effort to convince herself to take the chance of even *using* her full strength.

 

Appearance:

 

Ergo (she rarely goes by Jacqueline these days) is a hulking, heavily muscled woman with deep green skin. Her costume is similar to Ogre's in most ways, though unlike him she isn't bald (instead she has shoulder-length black hair), and doesn't have the pronounced brow-ridges caused by his exposure to the Devolutionizer Ray (her own treatments being somewhat different than his).

[Mr. R]

Re: Char: Ergo

 

Nice idea. Bizarro in reverse. I could see this as a PC even.

 

Also bumping for other's comments.

 

Jerome

[jkwleisemann]

Re: Char: Ergo

 

Original idea, actually, had been as a PC. Ended up with a different character in that game but... well... there's still room for Ergo to show up places, I think...

 

And thanks for the free bump.

[Zed-F]

Re: Char: Ergo

 

I thought it was cute. It wouldn't really work well with a character smarter than Ogre, so I imagine that's why you chose Ogre as a model.

[jkwleisemann]

Re: Char: Ergo

 

At least in part (actually, in the original build the Int was only at 8, but I was asked to go to at least 10, so....)

 

Of course, I've always figured the big lug didn't get half the lovin' he really deserved. I mean... heck, even compare him to the other "rampaging monstrosity" villains out there, and he's the most sympathetic one there. He didn't choose any of it. The Monster... who knows what his background is, but it's safe enough to assume that he wasn't a particularly nice person.

 

Even Grond started out as a crook. Ogre... he was just a normal guy who had his brain run through the wringer. And yet when he shows up, folks just punch him in the face and send him to prison with hardly a thought.

 

Ah well. Maybe one of these days he'll find himself a nice social worker, shrink, and/or girlfriend to help him calm down a bit.

[Shaft]

Re: Char: Ergo

 

Cool character. I like.

 

It's nice that Ergo actually means something: "consequently" or "Therefore". I'm wondering if there's a way to work that in? Perhaps her existence in the main continuity is a consequence of Ogre's actions somehow?

 

It might seem counter-intuitive to make her a scholar, but it would save her a character point since you could shave a point off each KS. If you can scrounge up another point (maybe drop her STUN to 70?) you can boost her DEX to 20 for the 7 OCV/DCV (the third point comes from not having to buy that extra 0.1 SPD)

 

Also, shaving a point of off ED and PRE and putting those points to get a 33 CON will give you that point of ED back, still give you 5d on PRE, and add to your STUN, REC & END. Just a suggestion.

 

A cool power for future growth might be a transfer (limitation: self only -1/2) which temporarily shifts points from her Strength to her INT. The explanation is that in this opposite reality, the forces that gave her the strength she gained as as a result of her diminished intellect are less rigid, and she can summon her old intellect. Another corresponding disadavange might be some kind of multiple personality where her more intelligent, villainous personality occasionally coming back (perhaps this is an accidental change), but retaining the stregth and toughness of her Ergo form (side note to that old persona, perhaps the pre-brick version of her was a brilliant, evil scientist with a High INT, who hates the loss of her intellect and ambition in the brick form).

 

As I said, these are just suggestions and springboards for ideas, of course. This character is fine as is.

[Weldun]

Re: Char: Ergo

 

At least in part (actually, in the original build the Int was only at 8, but I was asked to go to at least 10, so....)

 

Of course, I've always figured the big lug didn't get half the lovin' he really deserved. I mean... heck, even compare him to the other "rampaging monstrosity" villains out there, and he's the most sympathetic one there. He didn't choose any of it. The Monster... who knows what his background is, but it's safe enough to assume that he wasn't a particularly nice person.

 

Even Grond started out as a crook. Ogre... he was just a normal guy who had his brain run through the wringer. And yet when he shows up, folks just punch him in the face and send him to prison with hardly a thought.

 

Ah well. Maybe one of these days he'll find himself a nice social worker, shrink, and/or girlfriend to help him calm down a bit.

Hell, I could see a whole plot seed wherein Jacqueline encounters Ogre and tries to reason with him. She's already reluctant to use her full strength directly against someone. Let's face it. If anyone's going to sympathise with the poor sod, she will.

[David Johnston]

Re: Char: Ergo

 

I find Backworld to be a bit problematic as a concept. For example, why would a benevolent organisation kidnap someone who was relatively harmless (sure she wasn't particularly nice, but she was no worse than average, just another member of the crowds cheering at the public executions) and put them through a process that will forcibly change their minds? It would explain to some extent why altruists are feared in that world but...

 

What if, instead she was a volunteer? After all, that is the reverse of what happened to Ogre. Altruists can still of course be feared because the normal inhabitants of Backworld are afraid their minds will be forcibly corrupted.

[jkwleisemann]

Re: Char: Ergo

 

In response to a couple points:

 

The stat build: I'd originally set her up as a character proposal for Kirby's game on HC. One of his 'house rules' was that no two non-derived characteristics could have the same 'ones' digit. Hence a lot of the bizarre numbers (21's, 22's, etc.) up there.

 

The meaning of the name: It had occurred to me, but I couldn't find a way to work it in with her as-is.

 

Backworld: Actually, "Backworld," as a name, is just me filing the serial numbers off of "Left-Hand Earth" from Teen Champions, since Kirby (and me, honestly) weren't fond of the name "Left-Hand Earth" (LHE from here on forward.)

 

For those of you who have the book, look up Janus. For those of you who don't have it, LHE is a world where morality is completely reversed - to the point where Dr. Janice Stevens, on finding a way into RHE while working on a teleportation project, didn't mention it largely because she was afraid that the non-profit organization she was working for (which was trying to find a way to teleport food and medical supplies to places it was needed) would handle the news of another failure... poorly.

 

So I figured that, in a world where places like the Red Cross are apparently as bad as VIPER at dealing with failures and disloyalty, their version of ARGENT (while dedicated to making life honestly better for people through technology) would be just as likely to kidnap somebody and make them into a nice person there as ARGENT is to kidnap them and subject them to a Devolutionizer Ray here. But that could be tweaked with too, potentially.

[Weldun]

Re: Char: Ergo

 

...I figured that' date=' in a world where places like the Red Cross are apparently as bad as VIPER at dealing with failures and disloyalty, their version of ARGENT (while dedicated to making life honestly better for people through technology) would be just as likely to kidnap somebody and make them into a nice person there as ARGENT is to kidnap them and subject them to a Devolutionizer Ray here. But that could be tweaked with too, potentially.[/quote']Pretty sound reasoning. I just might nab Ergo for my own campaign, if you don't mind. I'll probably make a few tweaks of my own first, though.

[jkwleisemann]

Re: Char: Ergo

 

Go ahead.