[Character] Dead Head

[Dr Archeville]

Another character I've played for a while in other games, finally converted to a Standard (350 points) HERO System format. This version's background was one I'd used for a Freedom City (Mutants & Masterminds) game, but can easily fit into the Champions universe with little work.

 

[b]Background/History[/b]: John Lee grew up as a more-or-less typical American growing up in a small rural American town, with blue eyes and platinum-blonde hair. His mother was an x-ray technician (and later a full nurse), while his father worked at a family-owned "Mom-and-Pop" hardware store. John had 2 siblings, a brother and a sister, both younger than him. John was a fairly bright child growing up, excelling in most all his classes, but especially in the various math and science courses. He also had a good deal of artistic ability, though little confidence in it, so it never blossomed much. John also had a history of chronic headaches, nothing overly-crippling, but disconcerting nonetheless, but none of the doctors he went to could find the source. 
John was accepted to Freedom City University in the Fall of [2 years prior], majoring in Biological Sciences, with plans to move on to either Biochemistry or Neurology; John felt the Hanover Institute of Technology was far too stuffy. A weekend "classics of horror" movie marathon on the Sci-Fi Channel (hosted by Christopher Lee) caught his attention, and he was quickly hooked on horror and science fiction movies and television. He made a few close friends from his classes and his circle of fellow horror fans, and his college life seemed almost perfect. Except for the headaches. 
John began having visions, glimpses of the future, along with his headaches, though the visions were most always distorted in some way. Other times, he could peek into someone's mind while incapacitated with a headache, see what they saw, hear what they heard, and read their innermost thoughts. With supreme effort he could focus on specific people and events with his precognition and telepathy, but since the powers only manifested during his headaches, the effort expended on consciously focusing his power drained him even more. Of course, John never let on to anyone that his headaches were anything more than that, for fear of being locked up in some ultra-secret government laboratory. 
While home for Thanksgiving last year, halfway through the meal with his family, a headache more intense than any John had ever experienced hit him, knocking him into a coma. Rushed to the nearest hospital, he was closely monitored and, to everyone's relief, awoke 3 days later. What he told no one, of course, was that while in his coma, he was contacted by... Things, Things which told him a great change was coming, and that the very fabric of reality was going to be torn asunder. Many would die, many more would go mad, but a few would be changed, some for good, and some for ill. These Things went on to tell John that he would be a key player in the future development of Earth, but would not say in what way. One of the Things reached out and touched John's astral forehead with a hand/claw/tentacle and whispered "That is not dead which may eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die," and then John awoke. 
John dismissed his coma-vision as nothing more than random neuron firing, piecing together images and phrases from various movies he'd seen and stories he'd read (he recognized the Thing's parting words as from a work by H.P. Lovecraft, for example). On returning to college, some of his friends invited him to their "Millennial Send-Off," a huge New Year's Eve bash. John accepted, looking forward to attending the party, especially since his headaches had completely disappeared. He did better on his final exams than he had ever done before, and went home to spend Christmas with his family. Some presents were exchanged (with more to follow the next morning), and a joyous time was had by all. 
And then on midnight, Greenwich Mean Time, of Christmas Eve, just as he was getting ready to go to bed, John Lee had a precognitive vision, with no accompanying headache, clearer than any he'd had before, of the end of the world in 7 days. He clearly saw people dying and warping and twisting and mutating, and a sinister group of robed & hooded cultists and costumed villains in the background, directing it all. He feared he was going mad, but the last thing he wanted was to go in for more neurological scans and tests, so he did as he always did, and kept his vision hidden. 
The next few days went well enough, with more presents exchanged and family members seen, and then the day of the big New Year's Eve party came. The party was to be held at one of his friend's homes, whose parents owned a well-off restaurant; they were off on a cruise, leaving the large house available to their daughter and her friends, with two well-stocked fridges. Much alcohol was brought, a DJ was rented for the party, the pool and hot-tub were prepped, and a grand time was had by all. 
Or, rather, a grand time would have been had by all, if not for the Dark Priest's Ceremony. At 11:47 pm local time on New Year's Eve, right as the party was reaching a crescendo, 6 Dark Priests plunged their daggers into the hearts of 6 sacrificial victims in 6 locations around Freedom City, at the behest of their master Baron Samedi, in an attempt to bring forth powerful spirits that could be described only as "corruption & death incarnate" into the world. Fortunately for the world, Siren and the Freedom League were able to stop the Dark Ceremony from being completed, but were not able to save the lives of the sacrificed victims. Though the foul beings Samedi tried to summon forth did not come through, a portion of their reality-rending energies were funneled through the telepathic "circuits" in John's mind, and lashing out like lightning and killing everyone at the party before John himself dropped dead.
That was not the end of John Lee, of course, but merely a transition. After John fell dead, he saw the Things again, who again told him "That is not dead which may eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die." The foul spirits had anticipated Samedi’s failure, and so had created in John’s mind a contingency, a "back door" of sorts through which at least a portion of their power could be made manifest. John's body arose, and he was shocked at the sight of many of his friends lying there dead. Stumbling around, looking to see if anyone else had survived what he assumed was some sort of power surge in the DJ's station, he saw himself in a hallway mirror, and was aghast at his appearance. His long, platinum blonde hair, which had won him many compliments from not a few women, was now a pale grey, and his skin had gone from slightly pale to a greyish-purple, and felt like leather. These changes, though, were nothing compared to his rictus grin and the glowing green ectoplasmic flames burning in his eyes. He slowly realized he had become some sort of zombie, though he retained most of his memories and intellect, truly surprising since the back of his head had been blown out. Despite his massive head wound, John slowly he continued on through the house, looking for any sign of survivors, but finding none. While in the kitchen, he found a plate of burger patties that a friend of a friend was taking to the grill outside, and he was overcome by an aching hunger. He devoured the raw hamburger, then felt a tingling sensation in the back of his head; delightfully, the back of his head was regrowing, but the new flesh that grew over looked as dead as the rest of him. 
John had no idea what to do next. He had no idea what had happened, and couldn't think of how to begin explaining it to anyone else. As he sat on a couch in the living room, also realized there were a lot of bodies around him, and a macabre part of him wished they would rise up and go bury themselves. A few minutes later, one of the corpses closest to him, the body of Kimmie, hostess of the New Year's Eve party, did just that -- it stood up and began shambling towards a shed outside, took one of the shovels, and began digging. This put an even stranger twist on John's predicament. 
Running outside, John stopped Kimmie the zombie-hostess from digging, but when he tried to speak to her, all she would do was moan softly. Grabbing her with both hands, he shook her hard and demanded she answer, and she did -- from behind him. Turning around, John saw her spirit, a ghostly, incorporeal version of her, floating a few inches above the ground. She told John things only the two of them would know, then explained to him the cause of her death. She then went on to describe how she came back to the mortal world after hearing John's summons, though where she had come from she did not know, for she could not remember the time during her death. Shocked at his role in the numerous deaths, John tried to undo it, starting with Kimmie's -- he willed her spirit back into her corpse, and the two were merged, though Kimmie still remained a zombie. John then went about animating and spirit-bonding all the other party-goers, a process that took many hours, for even though John knew better how to do so, it still took intense concentration for several minutes to get a corpse to rise up. 
Some of the reanimated people pondered on their new condition, on just what they were, but many returned to partying, happy to be given a second chance. John still worked on getting all of them reanimated, when some of the partiers noticed a bright light out in the streets, coming closer to the house. It was a man, apparently set on fire, but the burning man ran through the streets, wailing in agony (a Mutant whose flame powers had just manifested for the first time). This burning person ran into the house, setting it and any zombie he touched a-fire, as he sought some one way extinguish his flames. Some of the zombies, both spirit-bound and those awaiting their spirits, fought against the burning man, trying to smother him in blankets, but his pain was so great that he lashed out at everyone. One zombie was knocked into the kitchen with such force that it dislodged the gas stove from it's supply line, and gas began filling the room. John, outside working on merging another spirit to it's body, ran inside to see what was going on, and was horrified at seeing all his friends being killed again, burned to cinders by a flaming madman. He used the shovel zombie-Kimmie had brought out and used it to poke and prod the burning man outside and into the pool, where the burning man was promptly extinguished and then drowned. John turned to check on the others, when the house exploded, the gas igniting on one of the burning corpses inside. John was thrown several dozen yards away, and could do nothing to save his friends, since by the time he got back to the house, several policemen and fire trucks had arrived on the scene, and he had no idea how to explain any of this to them. 
Everyone assumed John Lee died that night, consumed in the conflagration that was blamed for the deaths of so many others.  He wanders now, hitchhiking from place to place, taking up discarded clothes where he can, and trying to help whenever he can -- passing on messages from to loved ones, reclaiming treasures from grave robbers, etc. [with a (reported) murder occurring approximately every 57 hours in Freedom City, he seldom lacks for ‘work‘].   He is very selective about whom he reanimates as a zombie, for he does not want to give a "second chance" to anyone he feels would squander or abuse the gift. When he's not sure what to do, John clears his mind by crawling into a sewer or cave and "sleeping" for a few days, and rises with a fresher view.  One of the spirits he talked to gave him the nickname "Dead-Head," on account of how his abilities seems psychic in nature, and the name stuck. 
[b]Personality/Motivation[/b]: In life, John lead a fairly carefree and easy life, though he lacked self-confidence.  The rigors (pun intended) he has gone through in undeath have made him tougher and more self-assured.  He’s met few obstacle he could not handle, and he approaches what he feels is his “lot in unlife” with a good deal of confidence.  His terrifying methods may seem exceedingly harsh, but he does get results, and thus far none of the souls he’s helped have complained.  Two decades of relative isolation have eroded his social skills somewhat, but his natural theatricality allows him to get his points across when needed.  When not actively pursuing some goal, he’ll sometimes spend a bit of free time clowning around, spooking teenagers he catches defacing cemeteries or hanging out at Horror conventions.
[b]Quote[/b]: “Brrraaaiiinnnsss…. Brrraaaiiinnnsss…. Ha!  Gotcha!  Ah, I never get tired of that one…”
[b]Powers/Tactics[/b]: John's body is dead, and thus fairly resistant to most environmental concerns.  The strong ties of his unlifeforce to his body also make it 'heal' faster than usual, especially when in death-tainted areas.  Being in death-tainted areas also 'supercharges' his own internal reserves of necrotic power, which he can use to control undead, seeks out the spirits of the deceased, fade into shadows, or summon spirits to protect him from physical harm. His most ptent ability is  his ability to raise the dead and truly bring a person back to life, though doing so requires a soul-less body.  He prefers placign a soul back into it's own body, but has worked with others when unable to find the original, if all parties were willing.  He has one attack ability, an ability to drain the life force from others and use it to supercharge himself, though he is loathe to do this.
[b]Appearance[/b]: Dead-Head is a nightmarish horror to look upon.  His skin is shriveled and desiccated, and purplish-gray in color. The trauma of his death changed his hair from platinum blonde to white-gray, and his eyes glow with green, ectoplasmic flames.  His mouth has been partially frozen into a rictus-like grin, and his voice usually sounds like a harsh, strained whisper. Additionally, a sliver of the Cthonic energies of the Things that animated him leaks out around him at all times, cloaking him in a subtle but definite aura of corruption and death.  Having had no real job nor source of income, he wears whatever he can get from wherever he can get it. Currently, he's wearing discarded Army boots, old blue jeans, a t-shirt full of holes, a well-worn black trench coat and a broad-brimmed high-crowned hat that leaves his face in perpetual shadow.  Now that he’s an active member of the Global Guardians, though, he’ll probably improve his wardrobe.

[Dr Archeville]

Re: [Char] Dead Head

 

Over a week later, and not one reply?

[Darkfire]

Re: [Char] Dead Head

 

while the background and concept is certainly developed, it looks good to me although I do wonder if those he resurrects have the same craving as him. I have some questions his regeneration and mystic power reserve only active in death tainted areas seems rather limiting.

instead of an endurance reserve why don't you just buy 20 pts of END and additional reserve +40 End (only usable in death tainted areas -2)

 

second his defenses are low very low, with low DEX, Low stun, no martial arts and only a MP 12PD/12ED Force field his survivability in combat is questionable. an average 12 DC attack will stun him.

 

If your GM allows you to building him as an automaton this would be less of a problem.

 

also you might just want to buy a VPP instead of the the MP and his astral vision that way he could be a true necromancer.

[Tigereye]

Re: [Char] Dead Head

 

That's not bad; other than the tweaks like Darkfire listed above, he'd fit right into my GM's universe on our Beta (NPC) team.

 

I would actually build him with the Does Not Take Stun power, and a 20PD/20ED+ defense or Regen. Or perhaps lots of Combat Luck?

[Vestnik]

Re: [Char] Dead Head

 

I don't have Hero Designer...

[Princedarkstorm]

Re: [Character] Dead Head

 

I would go with the Combat Luck!

[Dr Archeville]

Re: [Character] Dead Head

 

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions, all!